Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel [PSP]

Unlike most other games in the Metal Gear series, which usually feature the series trademark action-sneaking gameplay blend, Digital Graphic Novel is just that: a novel. Or, to be more precise, it's an adaptation of the Metal Gear Solid series of comic books, written by Kris Oprisko and drawn by Ashley Wood. Reading a comic book on a PSP screen may not sound like a compelling concept, but based on this imaginative interpretation it's one that's well worth further exploration.

The novel's story will be familiar to most Metal Gear fans, dedicated or otherwise, because it's largely the same as the original Metal Gear Solid's plot, complete with familiar villains like Revolver Ocelot, Psycho Mantis, and Sniper Wolf. It might be an old tale, but it's told in great style, and it proved very agreeable to relive some of the first game's events from a different perspective.

That's not all that Digital Graphic Novel offers. By searching the novel for highlighted hotspots, you acquire memory fragments, then link them together to form chains, discovering more about the characters, events, and history of the Metal Gear world. It's nicely implemented, and gives you an incentive to really study the artwork closely, but doesn't provide much gameplay in a traditional sense. Think of it more as a diversion than the main meat of the title, although trying to complete your collection might provide some added long-term interest.

To put it bluntly, the game's presentation is outstanding. Good thing, too; the imagery is the game, as it were. Hand-drawn throughout, many scenes still contain inventive elements of movement, sound, or animation. When you're exploring the image in the memory-search mode, characters and scenery objects are often layered on top of each other, and you can zoom through the higher ones to reveal previously hidden details. It's a memorable experience, just as much for the gorgeous, stylish art as for the concealed intricacies it contains.

On the sound front, it's a minimal experience. Little audio content beyond the occasional spot effect and an appropriate soundtrack is included. It might have been nice to have the comic-book frames read aloud -- MGS games have always had outstanding voice acting -- but the novel doesn't suffer too much for this omission.

Does it qualify for "game" status? No, not really, if that matters. Interaction with the plot is zero. Hell, interaction with the thing itself is pretty much zero, being limited to scrolling around still pictures every so often. Mind you, that's more interaction than some significantly-sized chunks of past Metal Gear games.

It's hard to see how this clever new concept could be implemented better. If you buy MGS: Digital Graphic Novel and to be playing... well, anything at all, then you're going to be disappointed. But if the (somewhat) interactive comic book form interests you, it's an amusing way to while away a few hours. Twenty bones for a good read isn't a bad deal by any means -- especially one as well illustrated as this. Add in its extra features, and it's approaching a bargain.