A long, long time ago (the very first article I wrote for this site, actually) I wrote about how Humble Bundle was doing a bundle of everything Boss Fight Books published up to its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic book. I’ve read a few of the company’s books before, but I’ve gone back to re-read some of them, with hopes of reading through the whole collection.

I decided to start off with the Metal Gear Solid book, by Anthony and Ashly (or Ash) Burch. The two lead the web series, Hey Ash, Whatcha Playin’? and both have worked on Borderlands 2, with the former being the lead writer and the latter voicing Tiny Tina. Their book is very conversational and informal, with each sibling jotting down a bunch of paragraphs before tossing the ball to the other to give their take. The style of writing even continues into the annotations, which are often them interjecting with side commentary, rather than pointing to sources. Together, they examined the various aspects of the game in an appealing and relatable way.

To them, Metal Gear Solid is a mixed bag, though part of it may be because it hasn’t aged well. However, in some instances, that mixed bag creates something more nuanced. To them, Snake is a character that embodies a male-power fantasy, yet he’s dumbed down from the hardened warrior image to be more relatable to the audience. A climactic moment against Gray Fox becomes more powerful to them, as the game subverts both images with Snake refusing to do the badass thing of killing Gray Wolf, regardless of whether or not the player wills it.

The gameplay is criticized to be an aged thing, especially with regards to its messaging. Characters comment on Snake’s willingness to kill despite the very gameplay encouraging players to avoid killing normal enemies; they also criticize the fact that there are so many items that go against the game’s encouraged playstyle, like the multitude of guns and explosives that are ultimately most useful in the boss fights.

“A part of me wanted to grow up to be like Kojima, and now I’m as far from him as a game writer can get,” Anthony writes. With Anthony, the game displays a conflict in ideology in what defines a game. Anthony has a stated distaste for linearity in games and acknowledges that he has a more cynical writing style compared to Kojima’s. While Anthony comes off as a bit stubborn with his belief in what games should be, it highlights an interesting contrast and shows that people have different philosophies about what makes a game.

The biggest (and most valid) criticism of the first Metal Gear Solid is their criticism on how women are treated in Metal Gear Solid, and Kojima’s games in general. Kojima’s games have frequently been criticized for sexism lest we forget “She Breathes Through Her Skin” Quiet; but the first Metal Gear Solid really shows that this is a decades long issue. They discuss that such depictions are bad because they can imprint on younger audiences; the messages of femininity led a younger Ash to reject that and it took years for her to realize that it wasn’t wrong and that she’s cool regardless of how she expresses her gender.

In particular, a whole chapter is dedicated to Meryl, the game’s heroine, if she can even be called that. “During the course of the game, she apparently learns that being a solider is “ugly” and terrible… Meryl is naive, eager to prove herself, she likes Snake and… that’s it? We get the general gist that she’s “good,” but no real sense of what that means,” Ash writes. They have a lot of criticisms on how some of the side characters are presented, but Meryl easily stands out as the most poorly handled.

Now, the thing is, your reception to the more general writing criticisms really depends on how you viewed Borderlands 2’s writing. Borderlands 2 has been decried by many people of being “memey” and overly reliant on jokes that don’t land. Though Anthony isn’t the writer of Borderlands 3, that spirit has been carried onto that game to some criticism. At times I felt myself wondering, “does he really have the right to be calling something cheesy?”

In general, the Burches’ Metal Gear Solid book is an engaging book that criticizes the classic game while going into their personal histories with it. There’s definitely some stuff to disagree with, with regards to design philosophy and whether or not the guy that wrote Borderlands 2 has the right to judge writing. However, like my review of this book, it’s a matter of perspective and reading criticism is always about getting the perspectives of others.

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Boss Fight Books: Metal Gear Solid

$14.95 (Paperback) / $4.95 (ebook)

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Analyzes Metal Gear Solid with approachable language
• Personal stories creates an emotional connection to the game that readers may also relate to
• Covers a lot of aspects of the game

Cons

• Personally don't think the guy that wrote Borderlands 2 should be judging writing