Pros: A very long, engaging, entertaining storyline. Good action.
Cons: Over too quickly after the 1st time. Not much incentive to play multiple times.
The bottom line: I recommend this for gamers new to the genre and to fans of the original. A shining example of an interactive movie.
My library of GameCube games consists of mostly games that are exclusive the the GameCube, so after hearing that Konami and Silicon Knights were remaking this game only for the Cube, I was interested. I had not played either of the Metal Gear Solid games on the PS or the PS2 but I had heard much of the hype and satisfaction from many gamers. Since I do like the mature games that are on the Cube such as Resident Evil and Eternal Darkness, a game with a compelling storyline is a major plus for me. And what a storyline it is!!

I can't even begin to tell you how many cut scenes there are in this game. If it isn't a Full Motion Video (FMV), it's just a scene rendered in real time on the screen. As another treat, there are a few FMV sequences with real life images and video having to do with nuclear weapons and waste. A very nice touch, indeed.

If you are unfamiliar with the Metal Gear series, don't let that get in the way of your decision whether to get this game or not. The only Metal Gear game I've ever played was the very first one that was on the NES.(And I couldn't even get past the third screen!) I don't want to give away much of any of the story, (otherwise, it'll spoil much of the experience) so I'll just ask you to look at one of the descriptors in the title itself: "Tactical Espionage Action". Basically, you are a spy, meaning you infiltrate different buildings, take out guards, slip past security systems, and so on. Don't get this confused, though, with games like Splinter Cell. In Splinter Cell you have major consequences as a result of blowing your cover. In this game, all that happens is that some more guards come and see what happened in the area. Not a big deal.

Graphics for this game are really not top notch to get a really high rating from me, but they are very decent. Most of the time, the game runs really smooth with no slowdown during most of the action. The only time I have seen a noticeable slowdown is when you are discovered when you are in a small room such as someone's office. The slowdown occurs when a small window appears on the screen showing the door to the room that you are in. The window has real time video going in it and this is the main reason for the slowdown.

In the sound department, I have no complaints other than in some of the cut scenes the voices of some of the characters are drowned out by the background music going on. Thankfully there are subtitles throughout all the cut scenes, so you don't miss a bit of dialog.

Control is a mixed bag. While moving around is easy and flawless,(except when you come across those darn holes) shooting could be a pain for some people. Shooting can be done 2 different ways. One way is to switch to 1st person mode and have the viewpoint from your eyes. This is done by pressing the small Z button. This mode is best when using the pistols and automatic gun when engaged in gunfights with enemies. The other mode of shooting is in the standard, 3rd person, mode. This is best when you are just moving around and you happen to come across an enemy. It's easy enough just to press the A button to fire whatever weapon you have equipped or just to throw a grenade. My recommendation is to use the 1st person view when you are trying to be accurate and sneaky and the 3rd person view when passively exploring and taking out enemies.

Replay value is where gamers are going to feel left in the dust (or snow). I've had the game for 4 days and I've already beaten it twice and am working on doing it again. Of course, if you watch all the cut scenes-as I did the first time I played it-you will get a lot more time in with the game. After skipping most of the cut scenes the second time I played it, I noticed that the game was over quite quickly. Granted, I did have the difficulty setting to Easy. That probably played a part in it as well. Unfortunately, Konami didn't really include too many incentives to beat the game over and over again. While I won't tell you what they are, let's just say that there are two items that you can unlock that are actually pretty cool and useful, but other than that, there's nothing that I know about.

If you're unsure of whether or not to go out right now and buy this game, let me give you some advice.
1. Keep reading reviews. They help a lot.
2. See if any friends have played it, or have it for you to borrow.
3. If there is a store in your area that has a demo station, go there and see if this game is available for demo.
4. Rent it. If you can't find it anywhere else, spend a fraction of the purchase price to rent this game and see if it will be worth more money to actually own the game.

As far as the mature content of this game, I'll list some of the more adult oriented material:
1. Physical Violence - shooting with guns to kill or tranquilize, using grenades to kill. Punching & kicking to knock out enemies.
2. Violent dialog - Much talk of revenge, killing, war and other angry conversations within cut scenes. Foul language is kept to a minimum. There's nothing you won't find in any PG movie or on even family TV shows.
3. Suggestive themes and dialog - The main characters talk to each other with a lot of sexual innuendo, but nothing specific or graphic. Basically, just flirting. Nothing too serious. You see this kind of stuff in PG-13 movies and sometimes even Teen rated games.
4. Blood and Gore - Well, there is blood when you shoot a person and blood collects on the ground after the enemy dies and other than a small glimpse of a dead body decomposing, there is no "gore" to speak of.

As far as recommendations go:
1. I do not recommend this game for children for obvious reasons.
2. If you are looking for a great story with good acting (in a video game?) then you will definitely like playing this game at least once. If not, I recommend just watching someone else play it. The story is that good to watch.
3. If you're looking for a game in which you are just running around shooting and killing everything you see, this is not a game for you.
4. If you've been interested in getting into a game genre like this, this game is a great start for newbies and gaming veterans alike.
5. If you have a hard time taking in a long story and remembering it, you will have a hard time understanding a lot of the plot.

My Ratings
Graphics: 8
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 8
Value: 6
Overall: 8