Metal Gear Solid Touch

When the whole iPhone gaming scene first started, I joked with a friend about the day we would see Metal Gear Solid on the iPhone, fast forward half a year later, Metal Gear Solid is now on the iPhone, unbelievable.

Of course with the initial announcement that MGS was headed for the iPhone, many gamers had high expectations, subsequently lowered after an interview with MGS creator Hideo Kojima, who described MGS Touch as a simple yet fun game, aimed at allowing gamers new to the MGS series to become familiar with the story line, setting up the groundwork for possible future titles with more in-depth gameplay.

MGS Touch is essentially a gallery shooter, you play as Snake who is always stationary, he can only stand to fire or duck behind cover. Enemies appear on the screen with circles on them, these circles indicate how much time you have before the enemy fires. This is an important part of the game, you’ll need to pay attention to the circles to help prioritize targets, or duck for cover if you aren’t able to dispose of enemies in time.

Gallery shooters are by no means easy to make on the iPhone, mainly because the iPhone’s touchscreen makes hitting targets too easy and the problem of fingers obscuring enemies. In terms of controls, MGS Touch was able to solve both problems, by allowing players to move a crosshair on the touchscreen using gestures, the crosshair moves relative to the position of your finger on the touchscreen. Having to guide the crosshair towards targets is much more challenging than simply tapping on them, and this also solves the problem of fingers obscuring targets, to fire simply tap any where on the screen.

MGS Touch gradually increases challenge with each stage, now this may sound like a mundane characteristic of a game, but it’s not always so easy to do. Some games play the same from beginning to end, other games ramp up the challenge so quick it leaves the player overwhelmed. MGS Touch strikes a good balance, introducing new enemies and power ups every few levels.

It may be tempting to fire at everything you see, but you’ll need to exercise  some restraint, there will be civilians that love to pop out of no where asking to be shot. Just go inside and watch some TV until I’m done shooting all the baddies, is that so much to ask for? As a reward for not shooting the civilians you’ll regain health.

There will also be chicks and frogs that will appear throughout the stages, shooting  chicks will heal you. Shooting frogs will give you an item that turns you invisible or a RPG, so you may want to wait until you see a RPG worthy enemy appear on the screen before shooting the frog.

Overall I had a great time playing MGS Touch, it’s a great way for casual gamers to be introduced to the world of MGS and become familiarized with the story line. My only gripe is the game is too short for the price. My first time through, I was able to complete the game in roughly one hour, replaying through the game I completed it in 30 minutes. Hopefully Konami adds additional levels in future updates to provide more hours of entertainment value.

Gameplay Video

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