Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Official Strategy Guide (Bradygames Take Your Games Further) [Paperback]

When it comes to some guides, BradyGAMES doesn't slouch. If you look at guides like their Final Fantasy X guide and their Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, you know they make some good guides, trying to please the customer. Sometimes, however, they DO slouch, and when they do, it isn't pretty. Unfortunately, since the coming of their Signature Series, they've slouched a lot. Unless a guide is a part of the Signature Series, you're risking a lot by buying it. Sadly, this guide is not a Signature Series guide so you know they didn't take it seriously.

It seems as though the staff assumes that people who buy this guide have already played the original Metal Gear Solid on PSX. It's chalk full of spoilers! They even mention this on the first page. They also encourage you to use the guide only when you're stuck.

It is kind of cool that the first few pages of the guide tell you all the differences between the original version and this one, but that seems to be there to take up space. The game basics is also grand, but I wish they'd tell us the differences between game modes. The walkthrough, for those of you who don't know how a BradyGAMES MGS guide works, is written based on the "Normal" difficulty setting.

The walkthrough is where you get the biggest mix. I can't figure out if the author thought the people playing the game were retarded or not. In one spot the text even reads "Switch to First Person View, hold down the A button to raise the SOCOM Pistol.." as if we don't know the A Button fires a weapon (and if you don't know that, you're playing the wrong game). The walkthrough is also sluggish, especially in the beginning. It picks up, perhaps a little too much. The boss strategies are not all that helpful for example, they don't mention that when fighting the M1 Tank or Metal Gear REX, you can use Chaff Grenades to jam the radar.

The walkthrough did have its good points though. The maps are VERY detailed and pin-point out items. They also show guard patrol routes, although some are confusing (way too many arrows on some pages, the way they did the guard route in the MGS2 and MGS3 guide was much better). The screenshots were clear enough, and they did lead you through each area OK.

However, I'd say the biggest problem with this guide is simple. Who would need it? Especially if you played through the original MGS on the PSX? The changes made to the game are so minimal (and they did a bit of tweaking to the game, such as for Psycho Mantis to do EVERYTHING he did on the PSX version you have to play on EXTREME) that you should already know everything about it.

It's also sad that for all the secrets you have to go fishing through the walkthrough. I was also disappointed that, as usual, BradyGAMES wouldn't get to the point. They take time to explain every cutscene to you. For the love of God, I'm playing the game, and watching the cutscene, why does the guide have to explain it to me? Does the author really think I'm that dense that I can't watch a simple cutscene?

They did have a dog tags list, and they did have a list for all the spirits. Sadly, they didn't bother to explain game rankings, and they even ruin the ending for those who have yet to play through MGS for the first time.

My advice is this, unless you collect strategy guides, leave this one on the shelf. The game, for one thing, is so simple to figure out that you really shouldn't need it. Also, if you've already played the original on PSX, you'd be wasting your money by buying it anyway. Leave this one on the shelf, unless you're a collector of strategy guides or MGS accessories.

With a Bradygames Strategy Guide, you get everything you need and more. this book will cover everything you need to know about the game. as well as the little things you did not know. from some goofs to things you did not noticed the first time around. you learn something new every time.