Metal Gear Solid by Raymond Benson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Metal Gear Solid
Book Review: Good Read but has issues
Summary: 4 Stars
Im a huge, huge, Metal Gear fan and its all because of the story. The story connects with me so well that i was ready to cry in MGS4. So when i saw the book I had to pick it up and read it ASAP.
When I first started reading i got what i was expecting, something new. The story opens up with a new prologue with Snake in Alaska and this really helps explain events that take place a little bit later. So i was expectong the whole book to be this way, through in extra detail and help organise the MGS story a bit better.
The main concern is that the book didnt do this. Instead it follows the game almost exactly. Yes he did change up a bit of things and also changed parts to fit a new style, in other words your not playing parts so he has to write those parts out and make up things. For example fighting metal gear, your not running around shooting it, so instead he has to make snake think of a plan and go with that. This was alright though because this is why i love metal gear. Its just a few parts in the story where your thinking "ok he didnt change this at all lets just skim throuh it" and i think that would hurt fans reading the story. He did add depth to thins like phsycho mantis and such though so dont worry too much.
Im a huge meryl fan haha, and she is probably the only game character ive had a game crush on lol. Well he did a good job of developing snakes feelings toward her but lacks depth in the end. He builds it up and builds it up then all of a sudden she disapears and it tumbles down hill. He made Snake too senstivie toward her at this point which takes away from the character of snake. Which is an occasional problem with character developement on all the characters. If you didnt play the game im not sure you will get as far into it.
The only real problem i had with the story was how it was written and quality of the book. He used alot of "kiddish" words and didnt do an amazing job with detail or depth. Was an extremely easy book to read and could use a bit better word choice. For example the characters use "um uh" a whole lot. Then Snake also uses alot of cheesy lines, which could be funny, but are too toned down to be funny. Also the end with the two characters, im not gonna ruin it for you, i was hoping would be alot stronger than it was. I love that part of the game ALOT and when i read this i was thinking "thats it? am i missing pages? there has to be more" because i was a bit disapointed.
Overall its Metal Gear your gonna love it, he didnt ruin it which is why i give the book 4 stars. It could be better though.
Book Review: Good novelization, but falls flat in a few places.
Summary: 3 Stars
Raymond Benson has captured the essence of Metal Gear Solid very well and even makes it a touch believable--within reason of course.
This book is a great introduction to any newcomers to the Metal Gear Solid series. Perhaps you're considering picking up Metal Gear Solid 4? Well, this book is a great gateway to the Metal Gear Solid world. The story has it's quirks. You have to suspend your beliefs for a while because the story is unrealistically realistic... if you catch my drift. That said, the story is good and is a great quick read.
For those who are already fans of the series, this book is a double edged sword. It's great to see that Benson faithfully recreated the original Metal Gear Solid into a novel, and he does it well for the most part. The problem is, is that many die hard MGS fans will feel short changed, that the book offers nothing new. And they'd be right.
The book adds a few scenes to the story for more background info, which is fine by me. The problem I have with the book is that boss battles seem incredibly abbreviated and overall inconsequential to the story. Which is a shame because in the actual game, these were some of the best parts. What Benson does do superbly is that he created Solid Snake to be a human. Gone is the idea that he can carry 30 different weapons... Rocket Launchers, Sniper Rifles, etc... and he writes this very effectively.
All in all, it's a good book, but it just feels like he rushed the end and cut out some of the best scenese.
Book Review: Good primer for MGS4
Summary: 5 Stars
What do you expect from a novelization of a video game. Well this was not to bad. I started playing Metal Gear Solid 4 and have not played the original for a long long time. I did not have the time to pop in the old PS1 game and play through it again, as great as it is, to get caught up on the story. So I was pleased to find this book and hoped it would be a good primer for my new game. That it was. It follows the original Metal Gear Solid game scene for scene. It is all pretty farfetched, but it actually turned out to be a good story in itself. Now, for someone not familiar with the game there may be some things that seem out of place (what is the deal with the cyborg ninja?), but in the mythology of the game series it all works. This is not for everyone, but it is excellent if you have not played the original game and want to jump into the later versions. I would love to see the novel of MGS2 and MGS3 in the near future.Book Review: Good, but could of been better
Summary: 3 Stars
I liked how Benson put elements from all four of the Metal Gear games into the plot which makes it all one clear story. But I didn't like how the author made Snake say things that were totally out of character. Also, some of the lines from the game were changed and some of the sections get really boring. For example, there is a one and a half page section in the book where Snake decides whether or not to go grab a box... There are more sections like this too. But overall it was mostly loyal to the game but don't expect it to be exactly like it because it is still far from it. When I was reading it, at times I would say "Wow, I could write this scene better than that." But in conclusion I'd have to say it was a pretty good effort by the author to turn the game into a novel.Book Review: Great Deal
Summary: 5 Stars
Amazon Service: it was great ,, i selected free super saver shipper (4-5) days ,, yet it was delivered in 3 days , great packaging no problems what so ever.
The book: it is very essiential for any metal gear fan ,, it represents the events of MGS1 from defferant perspectives and in great details
i really recommand it to all MGS fans , and for non-MGS fans to get to know the series