I can still remember the first time I met Snake. I was at university, and the person in the next room from mine had a PS1. I remember seeing loads of legendary games for the first time sitting on their couch as their PS1 sat upside down – it was one of those with the wonky laser. Snake, though? Snake was special.
I hadn’t played games in a while, so bundled up with my memories of stuff like Metal Gear Solid and Tomb Raider was my confusion and delight and concern about the ways that games were embracing 3D, and possibly leaving people like me behind. MGS felt like it was leaving me behind for sure. Snake crawled out of the chill waters into Shadow Moses at the start of the game, and I saw patrolling guards, puddles on the ground, complex formations of rock and electrical equipment and it made me think: this is so realistic! This is so much more serious than the Mushroom Kingdom! Games have grown up too much!
A few minutes later I had one of those slight reorienting moments. The point where Snake is getting ready to infiltrate the base, and he has to move past two spotlights that cast their beams on the ground. You have to find the moment to slip by them both while staying in darkness. Oh, I remember thinking – there is a game here that I could maybe understand. It’s not just grown-up architecture and special forces. This is almost Pac-Man.
