Metal Gear wants the player to fail. The gameâs rough edges are part of the growing pains of an early genre, but taken in the context of the entire Metal Gear series, these challenges also feel like horrifying defense mechanisms. As Solid Snake infiltrates Outer Heaven, the player intrudes upon the gameâs world. Neither are welcome, and if theyâre caught, they will be destroyed.
Released in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer in Japan, Metal Gear helped lay the groundwork for the stealth genre. It created one of the most iconic video game protagonists and launched the career of one of the most fanatically acclaimed video game auteurs, Hideo Kojima. The Metal Gear series has become a fixture across console generations. Looking back at the game that started it all reveals something less glamorous. It is formative and also tragic.
Metal Gear Retrospective
This story is part of an ongoing series analyzing the Metal Gear games.
Metal Gear peppers the screen with a mixture of guards and fatal hazards meant to stave off progress. Instant death pits open up without warning, tanks fire missiles from multiple screens over, and important doors remain locked until you figure out you need to call an unmentioned ally on your radio. Metal Gearâs narrative mirrors its malicious design. At the end of the game, the leader of Outer Heaven is revealed to be Snakeâs own commander, Big Boss. He sent Snake on this mission, expecting he would fail. Metal Gear expects the player to fail, too. But Snake, and the player, succeed anyway.
Outer Heaven, a paradise for career soldiers, is undone by a raw recruit. Metal Gear, a playground for its designer, is undone by the player. Big Boss and his descendants spend numerous games attempting to rebuild this paradise. Itâs hard not to see the parallel to Hideo Kojima, making game after game and attempting to rebuild his private, player-resistant fortress.
Viewed in this light, the Metal Gear series as a whole is about a creator versus their offspring. Solid Snake is a clone of Big Boss, although this will not be revealed until Metal Gear Solid.Snake gets sent on a crash course against his father by the shadowy organization known as the Patriots. As the series progresses, more and more games attempt to clarify Big Bossâ motives. Eventually, his vainglorious need to build a soldierâs sanctuary gets painted in a softer light; he is a victim of bureaucratic manipulation looking for a place to express himself. Snake is merely the means that the Patriots use to foil those attempts.
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Like Big Bossâ goal in creating a soldierâs paradise, Kojimaâs design of the Metal Gear world reflects a yearning for full creative freedom. Both of these endeavors are foiled by the need to design for the player. The Patriots send Snake to undermine his father. Konami sends the player to shatter Kojimaâs aspirations. It will take decades, and many more Metal Gear games, before father and sonâor player and designerâreconcile.
In Metal Gear, Snake needs to rescue hostages and destroy a dangerous superweapon called Metal Gear, a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank. To accomplish this, Snake must sneak his way through Outer Heaven, gather items, and proceed through the base. Gameplay involves finding the easiest way pass guards on the way to the next objective. If Snake is spotted, the enemy goes into an alert phase and attacks with overwhelming force.
Thereâs only one criteria for getting spotted in Metal Gear: whether you crossed the enemyâs line of sight. Later games introduce a slew of other mitigating factors and intricate systems that create a spectrum of possibilities for concealment. Metal Gear Solid, for example, featured a small cone of vision and the ability for guards to check for footprints and sound. These flourishes were initially attempted in Metal Gear 2 before their refinement and codification in Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid 3 features camouflage outfits and tall grass to hide in. In Metal Gear, concealment is a binary state: seen or not seen. Guardsâ vision extends across the entire screen. Wander even a pixel into their sight and enemies will descend like a swarm of white blood cells attacking a foreign threat.
Detection being a binary state with sight as the only contributing factor leaves the player completely reliant on geometry in order to survive. Outer Heaven is littered with massive crates and other forms of cover that the player can move behind and remain unseen. Combat is costly in both health and ammo, so traversing Metal Gear revolves around careful positioning. Metal Gearâs tactical action feels like tactical Tetris. Snake fits into bent hallways and tiny nooks as comfortably as a puzzle piece. He navigates around hazards towards safe positions that set him up for explosive moments of success. The gameâs spatial design contorts itself into a variety of lanes and hiding spaces of increasingly improbable arrangements. Metal Gear escalates the challenge of each encounter by removing geometry to safely hide behind, or by increasing the amount of enemies and, therefore, limiting the amount of places players can go without being spotted.
Even the slightest adjustment to enemy placement can seriously inhibit the playerâs options. Because of this, it is possible to encounter rooms or situations where the player is inevitably doomed to detection. Early in the game, the player comes across a hallway full of security cameras that move up and down the walls. The first camera moves upwards and can be avoided by hiding behind a nearby box. A second camera patrols on the other side of the box; you cannot move to the other side, because the first camera will not move in time. Entering this screen all but assures an alert phase. The solution is to hide using the cardboard box item, which is something the player might never find and will likely not have the first time they enter this screen. The game has no mercy in this room. In other parts of the game, enemy patrols may change depending on where you enter, which ensures players have a chance to hide. But this room never changes.
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Moments like this show the core of what Metal Gear is. It is an experiment meant to entertain the designer (Big Boss, or Kojima). Snake, and the player, are the test subject in a series of miniature trials. Some are rigged and some are fair, but they all seem to be in service of satisfying Hideo Kojimaâs curiosity, not the playerâs needs. For instance, an early game room is full of poison gas and requires a mask to proceed safely. In order to leave the room, the player must remove their gas mask and equip a cardkey to open the door. Situations like this exist to ensure the player faces difficulties; they are made to hurt. The series would later abandon this framework for design that emphasizes creative problem-solving, but in Metal Gear, the game couldnât give a damn about your comfort.
Snake faces off against a group of Outer Heaven soldiers in Metal Gear.
Snake is ambushed by the Four Horseman in Metal Gear 2.
Snake and Meryl fight a unit of Genome Soldiers in Metal Gear Solid.
Snake repels Gurlukovich Special Forces in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
Snake battles Haven âFROGâ Troopers in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Early experiments aim to inconvenience the player, but later encounters get even more sinister. Metal Gear strikes directly at the player through boss fights. Unlike the later games, which tend to give a deeper context to antagonistsâ arrivals, these fights arrive with next to no warning. The player enters the screen and gets immediately attacked.
Nearly every boss fight in Metal Gear births future variations. A fight against a rooftop helicopter morphs into the Hind-D battle in Metal Gear Solid. A surprise face off with a tank in Metal Gear sets the groundwork for the first Vulcan Raven battle in Metal Gear Solid. An early fight against four soldiers births the recurring trope of a once-per-game battle against a squad of enemies: Solid Snake will fight the Four Horsemen in Metal Gear 2, a squad of Genome Soldiers in Metal Gear Solid, have a gunfight against Gurlukovich Special Forces in Metal Gear Solid 2âs opening chapter, and fight the nanotech FROG squad in Guns of the Patriots. These repetitions and remixes feel like iterations upon Metal Gearâs first failed attempt to stop the playerâlike a desperate scramble to find some way, any way to finally put an end to the playerâs tyranny.
Metal Gearâs design philosophy becomes more stark in comparison with another watershed stealth game series: Wolfenstein, which preceded Metal Gearâs 1987 release. Silas Warnerâs original Castle Wolfenstein (1981) and its sequel Beyond Castle Wolfenstein (1984) focus on the tools and systems of stealth. The player can use disguises to get around and pick locks to find weapons. They interact directly with Nazi guards who ask for code phrases. If you beat Castle Wolfenstein, you can load the game again and attempt to complete an entirely new level configuration. Wolfenstein is about what you do and is comprised of items that create emergent gameplay scenarios.
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Metal Gear is a game about where you are. It has more in common with The Legend of Zelda than Wolfenstein. Items are a means to facilitate further exploration. They incentivize backtracking and memorization of the game space. Consider how Metal Gear handles disguises in comparison to Wolfenstein. In Metal Gear, the player gains access to a disguise whose sole use is to sneak past a guard blocking the way to Building 2. If you donât have the disguise, it is necessary to circle back and hunt through the rest of the game world until you find it. In Wolfenstein, a disguise is just another tool; there can be more than one way to advance. In Metal Gear, disguises are context-dependent. Puzzles only have one good answer, and if you donât know what it is, you better figure it out.
There is one scenario in Metal Gear that can render the game unwinnable. Throughout the game, as Snake rescues hostages and defeats bosses, his class rank increases, measured by a number of stars at the bottom of the screen. Higher ranks grant more health and the ability to hold more ammo. In order to destroy Metal Gear, the player must detonate 16 C4 explosives on the mechâs right and left legs in a specific sequence. Before this, they encounter a villain named Coward Duck who hides behind a hostage. Shooting the hostage lowers the playerâs rank. If they somehow make it to Metal Gearâs location without the necessary rank, they will not have enough C4 to destroy it. Because the door locks behind them, they cannot leave to rescue spare hostages and increase their rank again.
They are forever trapped inside that room. In a multiverse full of failed attempts to foil the player, this is the only scenario where the game succeeds. It is a devious and cruel last-ditch effort to save Outer Heavenâand, by extension, the game worldâfrom destruction. It is the one time that Kojima successfully engineers failure, but even that can be undone once the player reloads an older save.
Metal Gear designs for failure but, still, it is surmountable. Because of this, thereâs an immense satisfaction to beating the game. The player gets a taste of what itâs like to be Solid Snake, overcoming supposedly impossible odds. If it took cleverness and perseverance for the player to clear Metal Gearâs obstacles, then Snake must possess these qualities in even greater quantity within the gameâs fictional world.
Metal Gear creates an intoxicating image: the tough, lone soldier. Players share in Snakeâs victories. They inhabit his body. The gameâs punishing design encourages them to feel, in some way, the same fears that Snake feels. Each victory helps them identify with him and, eventually, as him.
This is counter to the in-game theme of Metal Gear: to design a fortress so impenetrable and challenging that no soldier (or player) would ever return. In crafting for failure, Kojima set the stage for an escalating series of empowerments that players began to crave like a drug.
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Subsequent Metal Gear games are monuments to the first. Big Bossâ failure reverberates outwards narratively, creating dangerous echos. The memory of Outer Heaven never fades within the gameâs fiction, and players will find themselves playing through familiar set pieces for the entirety of the series.
Metal Gear is the framework upon which every other game in the series is built, often in extremely literal ways. Its structure has been exaggerated, recontextualized, reaffirmed, mocked and parodied. It will never be completely forgotten.
Rightfully or wrongfully, the Metal Gear saga is inextricably linked with its creator Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear marks the birth of the myth of Kojima as supreme auteur; even this analysis couldnât help but see the creator in his creation. However, the tensions at the core of the franchise are larger than any single man. They are the inescapable tensions of a genre where players are always the intruder. The player is not welcome in Outer Heaven; they will not be welcome anywhere. And Metal Gear is the moment where that previously unspoken sentiment is finally voiced.
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'OUTER HEAVEN is the name of heavily armed land in the depth of southern Africa where the dreadful weapon called METAL GEAR is developed. It is the mission of SOLID SNAKE, one of the members of secret army 'FOX HOUND' to sneak into OUTER HEAVEN and destroy METAL GEAR. GO AHEAD SOLID SNAKE!'
â Official plot synopsis from the MSX2 and Famicom versions.
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Released in 1987 for the MSX2 computer platform in Japan and Europe, the first game in the Metal Gear series is considered to be one of the earliest examples of the stealth action game genre.note It marked the debut of the now world-renowned Hideo Kojima.
The game came into existence when Kojima's superiors, noticing the success of overhead military shooters in the arcade such as Commando and Ikari Warriors, asked him to create one for the MSX2. However, Kojima quickly discovered that a fast-paced shooter would be impossible on the MSX2, thanks to the system's own hardware limitations that limited the number of sprites that could be grouped together on the same horizontal plane before the sprites would start flickering (a hardware limitation that the MSX2 shared with the Nintendo Entertainment System, and which many old-school NES players are familiar with). Kojima decided to retool the game around avoiding combat instead, designing the play mechanics around stealth and infiltration.
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The player controls Solid Snake, a rookie member of special forces group FOXHOUND, who is sent on a mission to infiltrate the fortified state of Outer Heaven and destroy their top secret weapon Metal Gear, a walking tank capable of launching nuclear missiles from any angle. The game's story is mainly remembered for the plot twist near the end that would serve as the foundation for future games in the series.
Konami also produced an NES version, which was developed without the involvement of the original team (which led to Kojima disowning the NES version in later years). While the plot is the same, the NES version, due to some of the NES' own hardware limitation, lost a few gameplay elements that affected the overall difficulty: enemy guards no longer drop rations or ammo when they're punched to death, there's no invincibility window when the player sustains damage (allowing enemies to easily bull-rush the player to death in early stages), checkpoints are now based on the player's rank rather the current location, the higher alert mode was removed, (making it easier for players to escape from enemy guards by simply moving to the next screen), and enemy reinforcements now come in single file.
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The NES version also replaced a couple of the bosses: namely the actual Metal Gear itself was replaced by a Super Computer that Snake must destroy in its place. The level layout was also changed drastically: Snake begins his mission in a jungle prior to reaching the first base, the enemy transport trucks are now used as a means of getting around (due to the aforementioned lack of checkpoints) instead of setbacks, and the basement floor that connected the first two bases is now a separate building. The soundtrack of the NES version is a mix between rearranged music from the MSX2 version and new themes.
For many years, the NES version of Metal Gear was the only version of the game officially available in North America, since the MSX format was never commercialized in that region. The NES version sold surprisingly well in the U.S. despite the changes made, as players at the time were unaware of the original version. In fact, it was so successful that Konami ended up commissioning the development of a sequel aimed at the NES marked in the west, called Snake's Revenge, which was developed without Kojima's involvement or even, at first, knowledge. Kojima would eventually learn of the game from one his colleagues who was working on the development team, something which inspired him to immediately begin work on an authorized sequel for the MSX2, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
The MSX2 version provides examples of:
The Famicom/NES version provides examples of:
Index
Metal Gear[a] is an overhead military action-adventurestealthvideo game originally released in 1987 by Konami for the MSX2 computer in Japan and parts of Europe. Considered to be the progenitor of the stealth game genre, it was the first video game designed by Hideo Kojima, who would go on to direct most of its sequels.[3] A reworked port of the game was released for the Famicom a few months later, which later saw release in international markets for the NES over the following two years; this version was developed without Kojima's involvement and features drastically altered level designs, among other changes.[4] A more faithful port of the MSX2 version was later included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2, as well as in the HD Edition of the same game released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation Vita, with these newer ports featuring a revised translation and additional gameplay features.
The game revolves around Solid Snake, an operative of the special forces unit FOXHOUND, who goes on a solo infiltration mission into the fortified state of Outer Heaven to destroy 'Metal Gear', a bipedal walking tank capable of launching nuclear missiles from anywhere in the world, as well as rescue a number of fellow agents who have been captured by the enemy. The game was a major international success, with the NES version selling 1million units in the United States.
Gameplay[edit]
Solid Snake avoiding a visual encounter with enemy soldiers (MSX2 version).
The player controls a military operative codenamed Solid Snake, whose objective is to infiltrate the enemy's base while avoiding visual contact and direct confrontation with patrolling guards. If the player is seen, the game enters the 'Alert Mode.' In this situation, Snake must escape from enemy's sight in order to resume infiltration. The method of escaping varies depending on the circumstances behind discovery:
Snake starts his mission unarmed, but can arm himself with numerous firearms and explosives that can be obtained throughout the enemy's stronghold. Each weapon has limited ammunition or supplies and can only be replenished by obtaining ammunition caches or additional supplies. A suppressor can also be obtained that allows the player to fire the handgun and submachine gun without making a noise. Some weapons can also be used to clear obstacles such as hollow walls and electrified floors. Snake can also use his fists to punch and defeat patrolling enemies. Occasionally, if the player defeats a guard with punches without alerting anyone, the defeated guard will yield a single unit of rations or an ammo box that can be picked up. In addition to enemy guards, the player will also be confronted by mercenaries who will challenge the player to combat, serving as the boss characters.
The enemy base consists of three different buildings, with multiple floors (including basement levels) within them. The player uses key cards and other items to unlock doors and explore new areas. Each door will only open to its corresponding key cards. Information can be obtained by rescuing hostages being held within the buildings. After rescuing five hostages, the player's rank will increase by one star (with the maximum rank being four stars), allowing for increased carrying capacity and maximum health. However, if a hostage is killed, the player is demoted to the previous rank.
A transceiver is available for Snake to keep in touch with his commanding officer, Big Boss, or one of the resistance members operating covertly near Outer Heaven (Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer). Each of Snake's allies specializes in a specific subject and will usually provide information or advice based on the player's current area, although a reply is not always guaranteed. The player must keep track of each character's frequency number in order to remain in contact with them throughout the game.
The MSX2 version requires the use of a tape drive (such as the Sony Bitcorder) in order to save and load game progress from checkpoints. A Game Master II cartridge can also be used to enable save states via floppy disks at any point. Versions on later platforms eliminated these complicated requirements thanks to standardized storage devices such as memory cards and internal disk drives.
Plot[edit]Characters[edit]
The player's character is Solid Snake, a rookie member of the special forces group FOXHOUND sent on his first mission. He is assisted via radio by his commanding officer Big Boss, who offers information about mission objectives and items; as well as a local Resistance movement composed of leader Schneider, a former architect who guides Snake through the layout of the fortress and knows the locations of key items; Diane, a former positive punk vocalist who provides information on the enemy forces from her home; and Jennifer, who infiltrated Outer Heaven's medical staff to find her missing brother and assists Snake as an inside agent. Among the prisoners Snake rescues includes Grey Fox (Gray Fox in the later versions), a FOXHOUND agent who was captured during a previous mission; Dr. Pettrovich (Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar in later releases), a robotic engineer who is working for Outer Heaven against his will; and the doctor's daughter, Elen, who was kidnapped by the enemy to coerce her father into developing Metal Gear.
The bosses include Shoot Gunner (renamed Shotmaker in later versions), a former Spetsnaz agent specializing in the riot gun; Machinegun Kid, a former SAS operative armed with a machine gun; Fire Trooper, a former GSG 9 operative who uses a flamethrower; Coward Duck (Dirty Duck in later releases), a boomerang throwing terrorist who shields himself with hostages; Arnold (Bloody Brad in later releases), two TX-11 class androids designed by Dr. Pettrovich; and the legendary mercenary who founded Outer Heaven, whose true identity is unknown until the end.
Story[edit]
Near the end of the 20th century,[b] the West discovers that a weapon of mass destruction is being constructed inside Outer Heaven, a fortified state founded by a 'legendary mercenary' 200 km north of Galzburg, South Africa. The special forces unit FOXHOUND sends top agent Gray Fox to infiltrate the fortress, assess the situation and neutralize the threat. FOXHOUND loses contact with Gray Fox a few days later, with his last transmission being 'METAL GEAR..' To discover what happened to Gray Fox, FOXHOUND commander Big Boss sends his newest recruit, Solid Snake, into the area in an operation codenamed Intrude N313.
Upon insertion into Outer Heaven, Snake makes contact with local resistance members Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer. Using all of his skills and the equipment he procures on site, he manages to rescue Fox. Fox explains that Metal Gear is the codename of a nuclear-equipped bipedal walking tank, which can engage in all forms of combat and launch nuclear weapons from any location. Outer Heaven plans to use Metal Gear to impose itself as the new world superpower.
To destroy Metal Gear and topple the Outer Heaven mercenaries, Snake rescues lead Metal Gear engineer Dr. Pettrovich and his daughter Elen. The scientist explains how Metal Gear can be destroyed, and Snake takes on Outer Heaven's troops. However, he begins to notice that the traps put in his way are too precise and wonders how information on his activities are being tracked. Big Boss begins to act strangely, giving misleading advice that leads Snake into several traps, and eventually ordering him to abort the mission (breaking the fourth wall by telling the player to turn off the system). Moreover, Schneider is ambushed by hostiles and is presumed dead after losing contact with Snake.
Snake penetrates Outer Heaven's main base and takes out Metal Gear before it reaches completion. As he safely escapes the compound's basement, he is confronted by the mercenary leader of Outer Heaven, who turns out to be Big Boss. The corrupt leader reveals that he had been using his connections to steal military intelligence, establish his own mercenary force, and fund his activities. It was his aim to have Outer Heaven become the world's greatest superpower, able to bring even the West to its knees. He had the rookie Snake sent in, hoping to have him captured and feed misinformation to authorities but had quite obviously underestimated Snake's capabilities.
Having lost Metal Gear and much of his force, Big Boss seemingly starts the self-destruct sequence for the compound, and promises he will not die alone; Snake will join him. Snake defeats Big Boss in the last battle and escapes the Outer Heaven compound as it crumbles in flames behind him.[c] After the end credits, a message from Big Boss is displayed saying that he will meet Solid Snake again.
Development[edit]
Kojima was asked to take over a project from a senior associate. Metal Gear was intended to be an action game that featured modern military combat. However, the MSX2's hardware limited the number of on-screen bullets and enemies, which Kojima felt impeded the combat aspect.[6] Inspired by The Great Escape, he reversed the focus of the gameplay from shooting down the enemy to avoiding capture.[7] The game was titled Intruder during the early planning stages.[8]
The packaging illustration used for the retail releases of the game, which depicts the protagonist Solid Snake holding a gun, was traced over a publicity still of Michael Biehn posing as his character Kyle Reese from the 1984 film The Terminator.[9] Kojima, who was still newly employed at Konami at the time, had no involvement with the production of this illustration.[10]
Releases[edit]MSX2[edit]
Metal Gear was originally released on the MSX2 home computer in Japan on July 13, 1987, with an English version released in Europe during the same year. Due to memory constraints, the Japanese version was written entirely in katakana (with character names presented in roman letters), while the English version is written entirely in uppercase, has numerous instances of erroneous grammar and misspellings, and features fewer radio calls than the Japanese version (with only 56% of the calls kept) and shortened messages.[8][11]
On August 18, 2004, Konami released a port of the MSX2 Metal Gear for feature phones through their Konami Net DX service in Japan as a promotional tie-in for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This updated port served as the basis for the version included on the second disc of Subsistence (the expanded edition of Metal Gear Solid 3) for the PlayStation 2 released in 2005, and later in the HD Edition released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011 and for PlayStation Vita in 2012.[12][13]
The MSX2 Metal Gear would be released as a Virtual Console download for the Wii in Japan on December 8, 2009.[14] The ROM used for this emulated re-release has been modified to bring it more in-line with the later versions of the game released for other platforms.[15]
Famicom / NES[edit]
The level designs were altered for the NES version, which includes an extensive outdoor sequence prior to reaching the first building.
New Metal Gear Solid 6
A port of Metal Gear for the Family Computer (or Famicom) was released in Japan on December 22, 1987. This was followed by an English localization for the Nintendo Entertainment System (or NES) released in North America in June 1988 (published by Konami's Ultra Games division) and in Europe and Australia sometime in 1989. This was notably the first version of Metal Gear that was released in North America since the MSX2 platform was not commercialized in that market.
According to Kojima's account, the port was developed by another Konami division at Tokyo which was given the source code from the MSX2 version without the consent of the original team. Many changes were made during the porting process that later led to this version being publicly disowned by Kojima himself.[4][16][17][18] Masahiro Ueno, who worked as a programmer for the NES version, has stated that the staff who worked on the port were given a three-month deadline and were ordered to make the port as different as possible from the MSX2 version by Konami executives. Due to hardware limitations with the mapper used, the Metal Gear boss ended up being replaced by a Supercomputer guarded by four enemy soldiers.[19]
Another big change made to the game was in the level designs. Instead of the underwater infiltration from the original version, the game starts with Solid Snake parachuting into the middle of a jungle alongside three other soldiers (who are never seen nor mentioned outside of the intro). After landing in the jungle, the player must reach a transport truck at the end that will take Snake to the entrance of the first building. The player can also use other transport trucks to reach the entrances of the other buildings quicker since they travel in a cyclical pattern. The basement floors of Building 1 and 2 in the MSX2 version were made into separate buildings, Building 4 and 5 respectively, which are only reachable by going through one of two jungle mazes located in the outdoor areas between the other three buildings. The correct path to take in the jungle maze is never revealed in the game.[20] In addition to the removal of the Metal Gear tank, the Hind D boss on the rooftop of Building 1 was also replaced by a pair of armed turret gunners called 'Twin Shot'.[4][17] The NES version also lacks the higher alert phase from the MSX2 version and the jetpack-wearing soldiers on the rooftops of Building 1 and 2 lost their ability to fly (making them act more like regular guards). On the other hand, enemies no longer drop ammo nor rations when punched to death. Much like the MSX2 version, the English localization of the NES versions contains numerous instances of erroneous grammar, such as 'Contact missing our Grey Fox',[21] 'Uh-Oh! The truck have started to move!',[22] and 'I feel asleep!!'[23]
Passcodes are used in this version to save progress. When Snake is killed by the enemy, the player is given a choice to continue the game from the last checkpoint or quit and resume later with the given passcode. The passcode keeps track of Snake's rank (which also determines his checkpoint in this version), inventory, hostages rescued, bosses defeated and certain event flags.[24] One particular passcode featured in the Japanese and North American version, in which the player types the expletive 'fuck me' and fills the remaining spaces with '1', will transport the player to the final battle with no equipment. This resulted in the passcode system being altered for the European versions of the game, with all of the vowels being removed.
Because the MSX2 version was not released in North America at the time, the NES version was the one that served as the basis for a couple of home computer ports released by Ultra Games in 1990 for the MS-DOS and Commodore 64.[25] An emulated port of the Famicom version was also included in a bonus disc packaged alongside Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes in a limited edition GameCube console bundle released exclusively in Japan.[26]
Reception[edit]
The MSX2 version of Metal Gear was ranked on MSX Magazine's top 20 best selling MSX games in Japan for five months, debuting at no. 4 on the October 1987 issue and peaking at no. 3 the following month. The Games Machine gave a positive review of this version, giving the game a 79% global note. They praised the graphics and the size of the game area, underlining the fact that it ensured 'that the action and suspense never wanes'. They also wrote that the game was rapidly addictive, and that 'the urge to get further into the game is quite strong'. They concluded positively on the quality of the game, saying that 'If this standard of Konami software is maintained then maybe more people will think hard about joining the other 200,000 MSX owners'.[27]
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Computer Gaming World called the NES version's graphics 'acceptable', but criticized the control system and the player's great vulnerability when unarmed at the start of the game. It nonetheless stated that Metal Gear 'shows great promise for future Ultra Games entries. It attempts to move beyond the standard run/jump/shoot format' of most NES games, and concluded that the game was 'a potential super-hit that, unfortunately, is sabotaged by its own weaknesses'.[28]
The NES version of Metal Gear was ranked the 104th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games list.[29]GamesRadar ranked it the sixth-best NES game ever made, and the staff felt that it popularized its genre.[30]
The NES version was a major international success, selling 1million units in the United States.[31]
Metal Gear Wiki Outer Heaven
Its success led to the creation of two separately produced sequels; the first one, Snake's Revenge, was produced specifically for the NES in North America and Europe in 1990 and the other, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, was the sequel developed by Hideo Kojima and released in Japan for the MSX2 during the same year as a response to the former's creation. The latter was followed by Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation in 1998, which was in turn followed by numerous sequels and spinoffs (see Metal Gear series).
The intro theme ('Operation Intrude N313'), main theme ('Theme of Tara') and game over theme ('Just Another Dead Soldier') from the MSX2 version were reused for the VR Training theme in Metal Gear Solid, which in turn was reused in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel and Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. 'Theme of Tara' is one of the tunes that can be heard in the 'Shadow Moses Island' stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, the music for the beginning section of the Battleship Halberd Interior stage of the Adventure mode, where Snake officially enters the storyline, and can also be selected as music with an iPod item in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Related media[edit]
In 1988, Konami published a gamebook adaptation of Metal Gear in Japan as the second installment in their Konami Gamebook Series. The gamebook is set two years after the events of the game, in which Solid Snake is called back into action after FOXHOUND receives intelligence on a terrorist group who have obtained the plans for Metal Gear and are now mass-producing the mech. The book portrays Solid Snake as an unsuccessful illustrator in his personal life outside his job as a FOXHOUND agent.[32][33]
In 1990, a novelization of Metal Gear was published in the U.S. by Scholastic Books as part of their Worlds of Power series of novelizations based on third-party NES games. The Metal Gear book was written by Alexander Frost under the pen name F.X. Nine, the same pen name used for all the authors in the Worlds of Power series.[34] This book adheres much more closely to the localized version of the backstory as presented in the North American packaging and manual, as opposed to the actual in-game plot which was not changed to reflect this difference. Big Boss is not featured in the book, but instead, two different characters, Commander South and Colonel Vermon CaTaffy, serve as Solid Snake's commanding officer and Outer Heaven's leader respectively. The book also gives Solid Snake the identity of Justin Halley and changes the name of his organization from FOX HOUND to the Snake Men. Because the book was targeted at young kids, the cover illustration was altered, with Snake's handgun being airbrushed out.
Remake attempts[edit]Official[edit]
During a public Q&A event conducted at London with Geoff Keighley on March 13, 2014, series' creator Hideo Kojima expressed interest in developing remakes of the MSX2 Metal Gear games in order to reconcile plot discrepancies that have since been introduced into the series, but had no plans at the time due to the ongoing development of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (itself a prequel set before the events of the original Metal Gear).[35] However, Kojima has since departed from Konami following the release of The Phantom Pain, leaving the possibility of such remakes in question.
Unofficial[edit]
A Metal Gear remake mod for Alien Swarm was in development that was granted permission by Konami to use copyrighted material with the agreement that they don't make a profit from the recreation or accept donations for the production.[36] It was canceled on June 3, 2014.[37]David Hayter was set to voice Solid Snake.[38] A new fan remake is currently in development using Unreal Engine 4 titled Outer Heaven.[39]
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External links[edit]
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