Metal Gear Solid (electronic game)

Metal Gear Solid is a 1998 video game developed by Kojima Productions that became the defining title of the popular video game series of the same name. Preceded by Metal Gear (1987) and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990), Metal Gear Solid was a breakthrough game that pioneered the use of in-engine cinematic cutscenes and helped popularize the stealth genre. Upon its release, Metal Gear Solid sold more than six million copies and earned widespread praise from critics and players alike. The game featured a soldier protagonist name Solid Snake who is tasked with infiltrating a nuclear weapons facility in order to neutralize a terrorist threat. Metal Gear Solid reinvigorated the previously dormant Metal Gear franchise and ultimately spawned a whole new series of sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. Even decades after its release, Metal Gear Solid remains widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games of all time.

Background

The narrative of Metal Gear Solid unfolds as the player works through a series of missions as the retired soldier Solid Snake. At the outset of the story, Snake is lured out of retirement to take on FOXHOUND, a special forces unit turned terrorist organization that has taken over the Outer Haven nuclear weapons facility on Alaska’s Shadow Moses Island. After developing a giant, nuclear-capable tank robot called Metal Gear REX, FOXHOUND takes a group of hostages and threatens to use their doomsday device against the US government unless they are paid a $1 billion ransom. At the government’s behest, Snake is tasked with infiltrating Outer Haven, rescuing the hostages, and neutralizing the terrorist threat. His primary adversary is Liquid Snake, the FOXHOUND leader and Snake’s own genetic counterpart. Encountering a number of unexpected twists and turns along the way, Snake eventually learns that there is more to his mission than he ever realized.

Developed primarily for the Sony PlayStation, Metal Gear Solid featured 3D graphics and third-person gameplay seen from an angled top-down point-of-view. Unlike most third-person shooters and other similar style games that simply involve running through an environment and openly killing enemies, Metal Gear Solid places a distinct emphasis on the use of stealth. As a result, player must learn to use various techniques and tools to approach and eliminate enemies while remaining undetected. In addition to making the game more challenging, the required use of stealth makes the game considerably less violent than other games of Metal Gear Solid’s ilk. While the player does have access to firearms and other powerful weapons, such armaments are largely used only against the boss characters that appear at the end of each level. Throughout the game, Snake and the player are also aided by various allies who each provide a specific type of support. Snake’s former commanding officer, Colonel Roy Campbell, for example, offers the player helpful information and tactical suggestions. Similarly, Naomi Hunter provides medical assistance, Natasha Romanenko gives advice on weapons and items, and Mei Ling oversees all mission data.

Overview

The road to Metal Gear Solid began in 1987 with the release of Metal Gear. Developed by rookie lead designer and eventual video game legend Hideo Kojima for Konami, Metal Gear was an overhead action-stealth game that featured the debut of special ops commando Solid Snake. In the game’s narrative, Snake infiltrates Outer Haven on orders from his superior officer—Big Boss—and sets out to destroy a doomsday tank called Metal Gear. As story unfolds, Big Boss is revealed to be the game’s main antagonist. Originally developed for the MSX2 computer system and released exclusively in Japan, the initial version of Metal Gear was well received. However, a later version of the game that was poorly ported for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and released internationally received less than stellar reviews. Nevertheless, Metal Gear was successful enough that a sequel was quickly green-lighted. That sequel was Metal Gear 2: Solid Strike. Similar in most respects to its predecessor, Metal Gear 2 again followed Snake as he infiltrated a military facility and ultimately squared off against Big Boss for a second time.

While Metal Gear 2 was just as popular as Kojima’s original game, the Metal Gear series subsequently went dormant for the better part of a decade after its release. That finally changed when Kojima returned to develop Metal Gear Solid. Unlike the series’ two previous entries, Metal Gear Solid featured 3D graphics and a more immersive style of gameplay. When it hit store shelves in 1998, Metal Gear Solid was an immediate hit, selling more than six million copies and earning stellar critical reviews. Moreover, with its emphasis on stealth gameplay and its inclusion of stunning cinematic cutscenes, Metal Gear Solid set new standards for video game production that helped pave the way for many modern titles. With the success of the initial release, an expanded edition of the game called Metal Gear Solid: Integral was later released for both PlayStation and personal computer (PC). A GameCube remake called Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was also produced.

Beyond its own alternate versions and remake, Metal Gear Solid also revived the Metal Gear series and spawned several sequels and spin-offs. The first of these was 2001’s Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. While Snake is part of the game’s narrative, the main protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 is a rookie agent named Raiden who must infiltrate an offshore clean-up facility called Big Shell that has been taken over by terrorists. Other sequels Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008), Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010), Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (2014), and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015). Other Metal Gear franchise games that exist outside the main series include such titles as Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (2000), Metal Gear Acid (2004), Metal Gear Acid 2 (2005), Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (2006), Metal Gear Solid Mobile (2008), Metal Gear Solid Touch (2009), and Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops (2012), among others.

Bibliography

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