Metal Gear Solid
by Raymond Benson
List Price:
Our Price: $7.32
You Save: $5.63 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.55 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Raymond BensonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-27
ISBN: 0345503287
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of Metal Gear Solid
Book Review: A Solid Snake of Crap
Summary: 2 Stars
You know when you take a really long crap, and when you stand up and look in the toilet and it looks like you just pooped out a snake? Well that sums this book up pretty nicely: a solid snake of crap.
Both as a book and as a video game adaptation, this book was a solid snake of crap.
The concept was interesting enough: turn a video game with a movie in production into a book. But, it just didn't translate well.
Boasting 321 pages, this book was actually a very short read, because it was an easy read; I was able to complete the book in about twelve hours. The font size is larger than most books, and there are a lot of one- or two-word "sentences." The vocabulary and sentence structure in the book is really simple, reminding me of my days in third grade.
There is a lot of discontinuity in the book, also. Right from the start, where a chapter reads "Two Days Earlier" and the characters say they have only 24 hours to complete the mission, so their 24 hours have already expired by "Now." Then the author randomly changes Snake's equipment, giving him things he never found and taking away things he once had. Maybe people who aren't so sensitive to details won't notice, but I did.
And so for that reason, the author's really vague descriptions of areas is really frustrating. The only way I could even imagine what the environment looked like was because I had played the game, and so I had a sort of idea what the environments should look like. But there were some environments the author just completely redid (the place with the Ocelot fight, the M1 tank canyon, the Metal Gear hangar). Also, the "villain redemption" scenes after Snake kills off the Fox-Hound members are incredibly forced and sort of, "What the frag?" Again, if I hadn't played the game, I wouldn't have a clue what's going on here.
So, that leads me to comparing it to the video game.
First of all, okay, I understand the author was trying to make this story "realistic" by taking out video game elements of health bars and stuff. Fine. And tie up some loose ends, such as what happened to the civilians and where Otacon went after the "Meryl ending." And there were some instances where the author tried to tie in elements from the other games (Revolver Ocelot mentions his fight with Big Boss in MGS3, Psycho Mantis predicts Snake to grow old and put a gun in his mouth in MGS4). And the whole incident with Master Miller was explained a little bit more realistically.
But what in the blazes did the author do to Solid Snake? The author turned him into some kind of lunatic who kills everyone, instead of a sneaky guy who waits and then makes a move. And to top it off, Snake is constantly spewing one-liners as he kills off people. And sure, Snake is a sort of idiot at times, but he's just downright stupid in this book.
And then the ending. The author tries to tie in the "Meryl ending" of finding a bandanna in the snow. After trying to make the book be realistic, this element suddenly comes out of nowhere.
There was maybe one fun part in reading the whole book, and that was the fight with Psycho Mantis. After all, it's not like Snake can "plug the controller in a different socket," so the approach with Psycho Mantis undergoes a very big change. And it's definitely the best scene (and probably only good scene) in the entire book.
Metal Gear Solid: A Solid Snake of Crap
Summary of Metal Gear Solid
This explosive Metal Gear Solid novel ventures beyond the thrilling videogame and delves into the dark heart of Solid Snake's world!Highly skilled former FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake is called out of retirement to do what he does best-neutralize a crisis of epic proportions. A deadly team of renegade FOXHOUND operatives has taken over the nuclear disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island in the icy Aleutians. If their demands aren't met, a powerful, top-secret weapon will be unleashed upon the world.
Solid Snake's mission is to breach the heavily fortified base to rescue hostages and to destroy the superweapon. His only obstacles are brainwashed commandos, DNA-enhanced troops, and six first-rate killers with extraordinary abilities. All alone in hostile territory, armed with nothing but his wits, Snake has only a snowball's chance in hell of taking out his target and keeping nuclear nightfall from descending on the earth.
But nothing is as it seems. Somebody is hiding something. Somebody has a hidden agenda. And somebody wants Snake to learn secrets about his dark past-secrets that would shake any man to his core.
Movie Tie-Ins Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Books I have read in 2008 Part 2
The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Editionby J. K. Rowling
Harper Collins Publishers; Children's High Level Group; Published: 2008-12-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.77
Price in other shops:
Just After Sunset: Storiesby Stephen King
Scribner; Published: 2008-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.44
Price in other shops:
Gears of War Aspho Fieldsby Karen Traviss
Del Rey; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
The Force Unleashed (Star Wars)by Sean Williams
Del Rey; Published: 2008-08-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops:
The Color of Magicby Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch; Published: 2000-03-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.58
Price in other shops:
Coraline Movie Tie-in Editionby Neil Gaiman
HarperFestival; Published: 2008-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.15
Price in other shops:
Deep Fathomby James Rollins
Harper; Published: 2001-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.99
Price in other shops:
Going Postalby Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch; Published: 2005-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops:
The Academyby Bentley Little
Signet; Published: 2008-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops:
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)by Jim Butcher
Roc; Published: 2004-08-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Metal Gear Solid Portable OpsKonami; Konami; Release date: 2006-12-05; Sony PSP; Video Games
Best price: $73.50
Contact Harvest (Halo)by Joseph Staten
Tor Books; Published: 2007-10-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Watchmenby Alan Moore
DC Comics; Published: 1995-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.15
Price in other shops:
![Batman Begins [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Batman-Begins-Blu-ray-B000PC6A3E-X.jpg)
Batman Begins [Blu-ray]Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-07-08; DVD
Best price: $12.94
Price in other shops:
The Cole Protocol (Halo)by Tobias S. Buckell
Tor Books; Published: 2008-11-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.67
Price in other shops:
Gears of War Aspho Fieldsby Karen Traviss
Del Rey; Published: 2008-10-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots -- Limited Edition Collector's Guide: Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides)by Piggyback
Prima Games; Published: 2008-06-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $55.93
Halo, Books 1-3 (The Flood; First Strike; The Fall of Reach)by Eric Nylund
Del Rey; Published: 2004-09-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.74
Price in other shops:
Metal Gear Solid: The Essential CollectionKonami; Konami; Release date: 2008-03-18; PlayStation2; Video Games
Best price: $35.81
Complete Metal Gear Solid: Sons Of Libertyby Alex Garner, Ashley Wood, Rufus Dayglo
IDW Publishing; Published: 2008-08-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $34.65
Price in other shops: