You Won’t Feel Asleep Playing the ‘Metal Gear Solid’ Board Game
With included cardboard box mini, fans will be delighted at how good the Metal Gear Solid board game feels to play.
Metal Gear Solid was one of the first games I ever played where I completely didn’t understand it at first. I was so used to being able to run into, guns blazing and expect to come out on top. I was, after all, the protagonist. Of course, I would survive those insurmountable odds. But such is not the case in metal gear solid.
Once it all clicked for me, I was hooked. I made sure to get through the entire game without alerting the guards once. and as the years went on, I learned to love stealth games, like Thief, Tenchu, Sly Cooper, and more. But that stealth focused game play never quite made its way into board game, with a few notable exceptions. But that all changes now.
Metal Gear Solid Board Game Overview
Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game is a cooperative board game set during the events of the Playstation 1 title. Players take the role of Solid Snake, Otacon, Meryl, or Gray Fox. The game is focused around a campaign mode that will take players through the story of the video game, but its still fully playable as a one shot game as well. As with any scenario based game, the objectives will change depending on the scenario being played.
Each character has their own unique powers and abilities and will use action tokens to do their actions on their turn. This includes, move, shoot, interact, and special abilities. So far, nothing too too wild. But the game really starts to separate itself from the crowd of similar games in how players interact with the enemies.
Just Like the Video Game
As you’d expect from a Metal Gear game, players are meant to sneak more than they are meant to fight. Throughout the game, certain game effects will cause the players to potentially make noise. When that happens, they place a token under their miniature, indicating where that sound occurred.
If the guards are alerted to the noise, they will make their way to that source of the sound. Hopefully by the time the guards get there, the players are long gone. This mechanic works similar if a player is spotted, the guards are aware of the player’s last known position and will act accordingly.
This simple but unique mechanic allows for a level of tactics you simply cant have in other similar board games. Players can intentionally make noise to distract guards away from their post, allowing another play to sneak by. or perhaps a player needs to weigh the risks and rewards of making a dash to reach a door before the patrols return, risking making too much noise and drawing the guards even faster.
With a lengthy campaign laid on top, the Metal Gear Solid board game is a surefire hit for fans of the video game series, fans of stealth games, or anyone looking for a new twist on the action adventure board game genre.
