But today Snake looks blocky and simple: you can practically count the polygons that make up his head, and the textures (two-dimensional images laid over the polygonal models like wallpaper to give them definition) are blocky and pixelated. Metal Gear Solid was cutting edge at the time, offering some of the most impressive 3D graphics available on any console. Here’s a look at what Solid Snake, of the venerable Metal Gear franchise, looked like in Metal Gear Solid in 1998.
Back then both the characters and environments in 3D games were simple, as developers were just coming to grips with the tools of a new art form. Wind the story back about 20 years, to the early days of 3D gaming.
