You may have noticed that Metal Gear Solid has become the subject of a few regular features this week on TSA and Lunchtime Discussion will be no different.  It’s probably safe to say that the Metal Gear Solid saga will go down in history as one of gaming’s most-loved; but do you feel this way? With storylines that would confuse Tom Clancy and cut-scenes taking hours and hours of your time, is MGS a work of genius or is it just hype?

From my personal point of view, Metal Gear Solid on the first Playstation is one of my favourite games of all time. Sure, the story was very long and some of it went over my head when I first played, but it was also very engaging and completely different to anything that I played before. MGS 2, whilst I still like, was lacking something in my opinion. I’ll blame Raiden, everyone else does.

I’ll be honest with you, I have played roughly 1 hour of MGS3 (Snake Eater?) and I hated it. Too stealthy, too fussy and and a step too far for my enjoyment. MGS 4, due to it being the first ’next-gen’ MGS, was a must buy for me and overall, I absolutely loved it. Again, there were a few self-indulgent cutscenes and a few sections of gameplay that weren’t on par – most noticeably the bike chase – and again, I’m still not entirely sure that I understood all of it.

Overall, I would have to say that Kojima has created a genius franchise, which has proved that video games can rival (or even out-do) the film industry for content, enjoyment and longevity. It appears to be a ‘marmite’ game though; it has its legions of fans but it also has its haters.

Which are you?