I’ve been enraptured with games for much of my 20 years - ever since I saw the
mustachioed face of Mario on my sister’s TV screen back when I was just a lad, I was
hooked. That was the defining moment in which I knew I wanted to continue to play
games. With time, I eventually got my own home consoles (obscure as they may be) and
got to enjoy many differing experiences from shooting aliens to kicking soccer balls at
Asians with cameras.

Although I got to play through these fantastical settings, I never really got sucked into any
of the stories these games tried to convey. Story was really an afterthought for many the
games that I enjoy, being primarily action/adventure titles. Because of this, I got into the
nasty habit of picking them up once or twice and then never playing again. I can only
remember one game that I ever finished on my 3DO (my first console): Star Wars: Rebel
Assault. Similarly, I can also only remember one game that I ever finished on my Genesis:
Gunstar Heroes.



I don’t blame it completely on lack of enthrallment in the story these games provided.
Many of the games at this time (and all that I owned) didn’t include any sort of save
system. I was a pretty busy kid with school, piano and swimming lessons - I didn’t have all
that much time to spare to work my way through Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure.

Even when I got my GameBoy Color (the first console I had which had games you could
save), this habit I had developed stuck with a lot of games. Quest: Brian’s Journey was
never finished just because of this. Even though I started to enjoy games more at this
time, I was never utterly compelled to complete one.



This all changed back in 2004 when I borrowed Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes from
one of my friends. I remembered hearing about the original Playstation game back in
elementary school but never paid it any attention since I had an N64 (I only had the choice
of one console). When I saw my friend had it for GameCube, I decided to give it a try.

I took it home and immediately got lost in the story. On my first sitting, I played right
through to the Psycho Mantis fight (which also happened to be the end of the first disc).
The game was finished the next day, with me utterly astounded at not only the quality of
the story contained in this game but at the realism with which the whole setting was
portrayed, with much help from fabulous voice acting across the board.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=45dZLYkuub4 <-- Click here to watch Meryl vs.
Sniper Wolf, as Embed isn't working right now :(

Moments like when Meryl was shot by Sniper Wolf had me in tears - this character that I
had grown attached to was hurt and I, as Solid Snake, was helpless to help her. Talk about
fantastic storytelling.

Learning that action oriented games could contain stories that draw me in and keep me
captivated was a fantastic moment. To think that not only could I watch the actions of the
characters I cared about and participate in the story as a character absolutely blew
my mind!

Fortunately for me, I’ve come across many other games with this degree of storytelling
with gameplay I enjoy. My hope is that developers of action/adventure will continue to
realize that games don’t have to be just a simple pastime - it really is a medium through
which an incredible story can be told!

[i]As an aside, I just want to point out that I know many RPGs contain stories that are as
good (if not better) than what MGS offers. At the point of playing MGS:TTS, I had played
FFVII - FFX and none of them happened to captivate me in the same way. No matter how
much the story intrigues me, I can never seem to get past the level grinding that is
required (probably due to me skipping plenty of battles at the beginning).[/i]