Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is a stealth-based game that was developed by Silicon Knights and Konami for the GameCube and released in March 2004. It is an enhanced remake of the 1998 PlayStation classic Metal Gear Solid, the third game in the Metal Gear series.

The changes made are mostly to the graphics and gameplay, in order to include new features from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty on the PlayStation 2. The voice acting was re-recorded, with all of the original voice actors from Metal Gear Solid returning.

Division of work

The Twin Snakes is interesting as a collaboration between Nintendo's then-secondparty developer Silicon Knights, Konami, and Ryuhei Kitamura.

In 2002, Nintendo entreated Konami to create a Metal Gear game for the GameCube. Series creator Hideo Kojima agreed, but decided that it should be a remake instead of a brand new game. It was also decided that a new developer should work on it. Kojima claimed there was no point in having the staff repeat their earlier work, while his team at Konami Computer Entertainment Japan had little experience working with the GameCube, and was already busy developing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater).

Nintendo ultimately found an available team with suitable experience. Silicon Knights' lead designer was casually offered the "commission" by Shigeru Miyamoto during a lunch meeting.

Silicon Knights

Silicon Knights handled the bulk of gameplay development and technical work. They created the character and stage models, and their in-house music staff also created some of the in-game music.

Ryuhei Kitamura

Cult director Ryuhei Kitamura was responsible for directing the new cut scenes for the game. The action sequences are far more dynamic than those in the original and utilize bullet-time photography and choreographed gunplay extensively.

Konami

Konami developed all of the game's cut scenes under Kitamura's direction. Kojima oversaw the game as a whole.

Music

The game's composition duties were split: Some of the in-game music was handled by Silicon Knights' music staff, while the rest of the music (in-game, menus and cut scenes) were handled by Konami's music staff, including Metal Gear Solid 2 co-composer Norihiko Hibino.

As with previous games in the series, cut-scene music has a more orchestral/choral basis than the in-game music, which is more electronic with an emphasis on strong beats during action sequences. As the game is a remake, many of the themes recall the music in the original game. Hibino composed a military-themed take on the "Metal Gear Solid Main Theme" for the game's trailer; "Mantis' Hymn" was transformed into a driving battle theme. While many fans of the original were unhappy with the changes, most were pleased with the new interpretations, leading to frustration as Konami failed to release a soundtrack album.

See also

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater