Misplaced Pages

Metal Gear

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 62.171.194.5 (talk) at 08:30, 31 March 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 08:30, 31 March 2006 by 62.171.194.5 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
File:Mgs logo.gif
The Metal Gear Solid logo. It has been used since Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The typeface is Helvetica Ultra Compressed.
File:SolidSnakeMGS2.jpg
Solid Snake is the most common protagonist in the Metal Gear series.

Metal Gear is a series of stealth based games created by Hideo Kojima and developed and published by Konami. The player takes control of an elite military operative (usually Solid Snake) repeatedly facing off against the latest incarnation of the eponymous superweapon, "Metal Gear", a bipedal walking tank with nuclear launching capabilities.

The games

The original Metal Gear debuted on the MSX2 computer in 1987 in Japan and Europe. The game was one of the first games, if not the first, in which using stealth was emphasized over direct confrontation with the enemy. This was due to the MSX hardware's limitations when it came to handling more conventional action games. Many of the series' trademark aspects were already present, including the wireless communicator used by the player's character. This game was later released in North America, Europe and Japan on the NES/Famicom.

A sequel, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, was released in 1990 for the MSX2 in Japan only. Metal Gear 2 made numerous enhancements and additions to the game, including a deeper and more developed storyline.

The Metal Gear series made a comeback in the form of Metal Gear Solid for the PlayStation, adapting the basic premise and gameplay of the first two games in 3D. Whereas the first two Metal Gear titles were only moderately successful, Metal Gear Solid was a huge hit, selling nearly 15 million copies. This paved the way for similar stealth-based games and at the same time, established Metal Gear as one of Konami's hallmark series.

Metal Gear Solid was followed by a sequel for the PlayStation 2. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in 2001 and a prequel Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater in 2004, each providing further enhancements to the Metal Gear gameplay.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is currently in development, with the tagline "No Place to Hide". It is to be produced by Ken-ichiro Imaizumi and Hideo Kojima with Kojima also reprising his role as director along with co-director Shuyo Murata. The game will feature the return of several characters from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

The main games

The series consists of the following titles (in order of release) in its official canon:

Supplemental editions and remakes

Since the release of Metal Gear Solid, there have also been various "special edition" products, with additions, improvements, or brand new content. In Japan, the initial versions of the Metal Gear Solid titles usually feature the original Japanese voice acting, while the updated versions (Integral, Substance) contain the English dubbing from the North American version in their place. An exception was made with the Japanese version of Subsistence, which kept the original Japanese acting.

Additionally, the first Metal Gear Solid has been remade twice: First in a Konami/Silicon Knights coproduction titled Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004), a GameCube exclusive. This featured fully redubbed English voices, and all-new cutscenes, directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, best known for the Japanese cult action movie, Versus.

The second "remake" is actually a conversion of the comic series produced by IDW Publishing & Ashley Wood, titled Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée in Japan) and is currently scheduled to be released in 2006. Not a game in the traditional sense, it is comprised of scanned images from comic with added animations and sound effects. The player can scan objects featured in the artwork, which are then saved to a database. A trailer of the game has been posted on Kojima Productions' official website.

The updated versions are:

BEN VOWLER WAS ERE



Other ports and versions

Shortly, after the release of the original MSX2 version of Metal Gear, Konami released a port of the game for Nintendo's Family Computer in Japan and its western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was the first Metal Gear game released in North America. The NES version was made without Hideo Kojima's involvement and contained several considerable changes, including different level designs and the removal of the Metal Gear mecha. Hideo Kojima has been quoted as saying the NES/Famicom port of Metal Gear was changed quite a bit from the original MSX version. It was made without his direction and he, himself, finds the game to be rather challenging. The NES version was the basis of two North American computer ports released in 1990, one for the IBM PC and the other for the Commodore 64. There was an ad for a Famicom version of Metal Gear for the Amiga by Ultra Games, but it was never released. The Famicom version was also released for the GameCube in emulated form as part of a Japanese bundle of The Twin Snakes.

In 2004, mobile phone ports of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 based on the original MSX2 versions were released in Japan; they feature (among other changes) new game modes and items. Ports of these two versions were included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.

In 2000, Konami released a version of the original Metal Gear Solid for PC ported by Microsoft Game Studios. This port was actually based on the Integral re-release and contained both the original game and the VR Missions disc.

In 2002, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance was released on the Xbox. In 2003, it was then ported to the PC and Playstation 2.

Non-canonical sequels and spinoffs

In addition to the core titles listed above, a number of Metal Gear related titles have appeared through the course of the series that don't follow the main continuity.

The first of these titles was Snake's Revenge, a 1990 NES game that intended to be a sequel to the original Metal Gear. The game was produced in Japan and made specifically for the western market (a Japanese version was never released). Although Hideo Kojima was not involved in the production of the game, Kojima has stated that he liked the game and that it served as his inspiration for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (which supplanted Snake's Revenge as the canonical sequel).

The next non-canonical Metal Gear title was Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, a Game Boy Color game released in 2000 and retitled Metal Gear Solid for its English language release. This game uses the storyline of Metal Gear as a backstory (while ignoring the events of Metal Gear 2 and Metal Gear Solid), picking up seven years after.

In 2004, Konami released Metal Gear Acid for the PlayStation Portable. Acid is not a traditional stealth game like the other Metal Gear titles, but instead is a strategy game which combines the stealth elements of the series and card-based interface. A sequel, Metal Gear Acid 2, was released in 2005.

Tone and themes

Although the series has a war setting and is of the action genre, and thus contains large amounts of (occasionally graphic) violence, it has an underlying tone of pacifism. This is reflected throught the series which has dealt with such themes as the futility of war, the stupidity of nuclear deterrence, the dangers of nuclear weapons in general, the moral implications of genetic engineering and the concept that enemies are only enemies in relative terms. This tone and some of these themes reflect the mindset of a large amount of the Japanese cinema made since the Hiroshima bombing of 1945.

The main underlying themes for Metal Gear Solid, Sons of Liberty and Snake Eater is regarding the effects of genes, memes and scene respectively, and how the characters are affected by these factors.

Adaptations to other media

Novelization

A novel based on the original Metal Gear was published in 1989 as a part of Scholastic's Worlds of Power lineup of novelizations created by FX Nine based on third-party NES games. Written by Alexander Frost. The Metal Gear novelization is not based on the game's actual storyline (as Kojima was not involved in the production of the book), but rather on Konami of America's reinterpretation of the plot (as depicted on the game's manual). The book takes even further liberties by giving Solid Snake the name of Justin Halley (a fact already made dated by Metal Gear Solid) and by changing the name of Snake's unit from FOXHOUND to the "Snake Men". Since the books were aimed at younger readers, Snake doesn't kill anyone and only uses his handgun once to destroy a lock (the book's cover was airbrushed to omit Snake's gun). The novel also provided gameplay tips within its own narration.

Radio drama

A radio drama based on the original Metal Gear Solid aired in Japan from 1998 to 1999 as part of Konami's syndicated clud DB program. Directed by Shuyo Murata and written by Motosada Mori, the serial lasted over 18 weekly installments spanning three story arcs. The entire series was available on two separate CDs (currently out of print).

The series serves as an alternate continuation to the events of Shadow Moses, with Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, Mei Ling and Roy Campbell going on further missions as FOXHOUND operatives (Mei Ling and Meryl are depicted wearing a BDU and a sneaking suit respectively), although the stories are not considered part of the mainstream Metal Gear canon. The Japanese voice actors from the game (Akio Otsuka, Kyoko Terase, Takeshi Aono and Houko Kuwashima) reprised their roles for the series, while new characters are introduced as well.

Comics

A comic book adaption of the original Metal Gear Solid was published by IDW Publishing in 2004. Written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Ashley Wood. The series is comprised of 12 issues and has been collected in two trade paperbacks. A comic book adaptation of Sons of Liberty is currently being published from the same creative team.

Character groups

FOX

Known Operatives: Naked Snake (Field operative) , Major Zero (Commander) , Para-Medic (Medical Specialst) , Sigint (Weapons Expert), The Boss (Defected).

FOXHOUND

Known Operatives: Big Boss (Commander), Gray Fox (aka Frank Jaeger & Deepthroat), Roy Campbell (replaced Big Boss), George Kessler (former Zanzibar Land), Naomi Hunter (chief of medical staff, and in charge of gene therapy), McDonnel Benedict "Master" Miller (instructor), Solid Snake, Liquid Snake (Replaced Roy Campbell), Revolver Ocelot (also known as Shalashaska and ADAM - Triple-agent, secretly employed by The Patriots, FOX/FOXHOUND and Gurlukovich, earlier employed by Volgin), Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, Psycho Mantis and Decoy Octopus.

Pseudo-Operatives: "Colonel" (an AI reproduction of Col. Campbell by supercomputer GW) and Raiden (aka Jack - believes he is in FOXHOUND, but is actually being manipulated by The Patriots and the "Colonel").

Dead Cell

Known Operatives: Commander Reginald Jackson, [[List of Metal