What’s In The Box?
- 5 Character Figures (Snake, Meryl, Otacon, Meryl In Disguise, Gray Fox)
- 5 Boss Figures (Ocelot, Liquid Snake, Sniper Wolf, Psycho Mantis, Vulcan Raven)
- 12 Guard Figures
- 2 Cardboard Box Figures
- 16 Double Sided Tiles
- 4 Player Dashboards
- 6 Boss Dashboards
- 1 Guard Dashboard
- 171 Cards
- 225 Tokens
- 1 Boss Tracker
- 1 Rule Book
- 1 Codec Book
- 1 VR Book
- 15 Dice
- 1 Metal Gear REX Figure (Integral Edition only)
- 1 Campaign Book (Integral Edition only)
It’s a CMON game, so I’ve got to at least give some attention to the impeccable minis. This game does a great job working as tribute to the original classic by using Yoji Shinkawa’s art as much as possible for inspiration both on the page and in how each mini is sculpted. There’s a beautiful dynamism to every mini that I truly love, from Snake’s flowing headband to Psycho Mantis’s famous psychic levitation (complete with tiny Playstation). Oh and the cardboard box minis are so good I think I’m going to be keeping one on my desk.
The design of each Stage isn’t quite as interesting but that is also true to the original game: lots of grey, lots of shadow. They do use enough color and shading to make things pop out on the board.
How’s It Play
Gameplay for Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game is fairly straightforward. You as the player (always Snake, with extra characters available depending on the mission and player count) will battle through different scenarios and stages. These are broken up into Stealth and Boss Stages, which I’ll talk more about in a bit. Each character has a set number of actions each turn and different ways to spend them. These are things like Sneaking, Dashing, or basic attacks. How you combine these moves differs from encounter to encounter, and each character has their own unique abilities and benefits to help you along. Like you’d expect for a Tactical Espionage Action game like this, the real play is in the tactics. Where you are, where your opponents are, and making sure you can anticipate their actions are your best tools to succeed here.
The core of the title is the Campaign, which takes you all the way through the original story of Metal Gear Solid from first landing on Shadow Moses to the big confrontation between the Twin Snakes. For fans of the MGS series like me, this is absolutely the main selling point and CMON did a fantastic job rendering it into the game. There’s a whole booklet of codecs that you can call in from the map for little tips (just like the game) as well as plenty of story direct from the game to help you relive classic moments. The boss fights all slot in well and while they don’t have ALL the fun of the original (there’s no way for Psycho Mantis to judge your Shelf of Shame), the essence is there. VR Missions are where you can play shorter, more intense matches if you don’t want to do the campaign. These often add little challenges and, best of all, actually let you play a EVERY character in the game. Want to test out the Best Gun Ever as Revolver Ocelot or act out a Japanese Anime as Otacon? This is your shot.
Sneaky Sneaky
Sneaking missions are the bread and butter of the whole Metal Gear Solid franchise, and the board game is no different. This will be most of your time during the Shadow Moses campaign, but it’s not a mode I found that tiresome. These are as much puzzles as they are combat scenarios. Try to move around, take out who you need to without their bodies being discovered, and avoid being heard. The Line of Sight for characters is essential here and represents a whole rectangle of squares around them and it is this rectangle you must be wary of. For sound, you have to be aware of what actions make noise and ensure that if you do get attention from guards, its not the kind that kills you.
Big Bosses
The Bosses are my favorite part of the game and I’m incredibly glad they added in the VR missions to let you spend more time with them. Each of them can work as their regular villain role or (Except for Metal Gear Rex) be used as player characters in the VR missions. They’ve each got unique abilities just like the heroes but they’re just a little more powerful to help them stick out. Boss fights require close attention to make sure you know where to position yourselves and as well as making sure you took the right equipment. And don’t worry, you’ll still get a monologue.
The Verdict?
Resurrected from the dead like Liquid himself, Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game goes above and beyond a simple reprint. The core fun of tactical espionage action is not lost on the tabletop thanks to a fun and easy to learn rules base that allows you to focus more on careful movement and action choice. The engaging and well-rendered Shadow Moses campaign will make longtime fans happy and provide fodder for plenty of ongoing play sessions. I especially of the Codecs that let you call Campbell and other characters to get hints on each level. It really captures the proper voice of the series while adapting the old hints to fit the new format. It’s small details like this that prove how much of a labor of love the game is.
If you need something faster you can try one of the extremely fun VR missions as any character just to see how the other half lives. My only real complaint is the rather eye-watering triple digit sale price. The minis are INSANELY Good (as you’d expect from CMON) but they’re not HUGE and you don’t even get a HIND or Metal Gear Rex for that. Packaging materials and trays are well made and work well but again, over one hundred bucks? While enthusiasts like me will naturally love everything about this, it’s not something you pick up on a whim. If you do get the chance to drop in, however, don’t skip it.
You can grab Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game on Amazon or your FLGS at an MSRP of 109.99.
Images via CMON and Konami