Angels and Summer: Play Arts Kai Liquid Snake Review

One of the most anticipated figure on my hitlist for 2013 barely made it in 2013. Yeah, that's the bad-@$$ Evil half of the Twin Snakes, product of Les Enfants Terribles, the dominant clone with inferiority complex and daddy issues: Liquid "goddamn" Snake! And oh, he really hated his twin brother, believing he's got all of Big Boss' recessive traits. Well, I'll be reviewing this figure a bit late...AGAIN, and i'm gonna blame it on the Holiday Season...AGAIN.

If you are an MGS fan and you are reading this i don't think i still need to convince you to get him, i am 99% sure you got him already. If you have Solid Snake you simply need to have his brother and even if you are collecting MGS on a budget Liquid Snake is still an important piece together with Solid, Solidus and of course, one of the many incarnations of Big Boss.

Though comparatively not that well equipped like, say, MGRR Raiden, Liquid Snake's Arsenal is still pretty good considering he's packing a frigging Stinger. I honestly don't remember him wielding this in the PS1 version of the game, in fact i don't remember seeing him using any type of gun against Solid except for a FAMAS Rifle. I think though that the weapons are practical enough since it will pose problems if they packaged him with a Hind D or Military Jeep for that End Game chase scene with his brother...that would be SO awesome though.

"We have no past, no future..."

To be honest i personally think they could have done a better job on Liquid's likeness but, hell, i'll live with it! He looks like Solid still - although i still wonder how come he's blonde when Solid and Big Boss got brown hair and all? (Trivia from Mel Bryan Villegas: "... he DID had brown hair during his time in the middle-east but due to the heat of the region, his hair became bleached and turned blonde. "). Anyway, the released version of Liquid's head sculpt underwent a few changes from the prototype shown before. I think they made it thinner and therefore closer to the game model - or more accurately, to the wispy MGS art style. The body sculpt is good, no shiny chest or overdid paint applications and the muscles are well-rendered. I think his form (i.e. his BODY PROPORTIONS not the figure itself) was the most accurate and perfectly translated in all MGS PAKs though the trenchcoat hides the tattoo on his left arm (The "Rod of Asclepius" in case you're curious) I still can't imagine him wearing that goddamn trenchcoat though in the deep cold of Shadow Moses, errr...on second thought, his previous missions in the Arabian deserts may have strengthened his natural resistance to the elements.

Unless his bad-ass bloodline acts as a natural anti-freeze

Have at you Snake!

The Dog Tags are a very neat addition to the 2 new MGS PAK figures (MGS2 Jack also got one!). They are not much but they add flair to the details of Liquid though i believe they were added only to the gameplay during the Twin Snakes remake and they weren't present in the original design of Liquid for MGS. On the other hand, his trench coat seemed to be lacking some extra details and texture (not a good sign IMO, (Reon) Leon's jacket is also lazily created!). I'm also not very fond of how they "structured" the coat to fit his body (i.e. built-in sleeves on the upper arm areas connected to the actual coat to create the illusion of a complete coat) but i guess it's the best they can do, he isn't 1/6 after all, but damn! I wish HT creates a Liquid Snake!

As for his weapons, the Stinger's enough (he's got a handgun and holster also if you want to know) though, of course, it's pretty light and hollow so i wouldn't leave it lying around if i were you. One good encounter with a slippered-foot can easily mess it up. I'm just glad it fits perfectly on Liquid's alt-trigger hand. I'm not sure if other characters can carry it, maybe i'll try it out some time.

What i do know is that he looks pretty cool carrying the Davy Crockett launcher of The Boss. Since Liquid is taller than most MGS PAKs the 1/6 items don't look awkward on him.

MGS fans got another well-deserved figure this year and, finally, the Family of Big Boss was complete. If you are also an MGS fan then there is absolutely no reason for you not to grab Liquid Snake. I doubt he'll be as rare as Solid Snake but i suggest you secure one for yourself instead of testing (or proving wrong) my hypothesis.