Warning: Potential Spoilers
This chapter of the ultimate Metal Gear analysis and play through looks at the game that started it all, Metal Gear. Metal Gear appeared first on the MSX2 console and was critically acclaimed for its unique direction and was perhaps a new breed in amongst a gaming industry that was full of similar premises. Metal Gear’s unique selling point was that it was based not on the “gun-toting”, “all guns blazing” approach that’s flooded the market for years. Instead, the aim was to infiltrate, via means of stealth and covert operations, the hostile nation of Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear, a bipedal walking tank capable of launching nuclear missiles from anywhere in the world.
This particular statement has been mentioned throughout this marathon, but don’t underestimate its meaning in connection to the original game just because it is 2D. It was in 1988 that Metal Gear was released and it is all those years ago that Hideo Kojima thought out the basic concepts for Metal Gear Solid’s “Tactical Espionage Action” which kicked off one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world today. Metal Gear started this concept off, and the premise remained the same since those early days.
Regardless of the meanings of that little speech above, it didn’t stop me being very stand offish about playing this game. The last 2D, old-school generation game that I had played was Sonic the hedgehog and needless to say, I wasn’t in the optimistic frame of mind! Like I said in chapter 3, it was the thought of playing the older games that worried me, thoughts of “can I be bothered” and “what if its rubbish and I give up, it’ll ruin the marathon” etc. All these factors made me really doubt whether I wanted to carry on with the marathon. Similar negative thoughts I had toward Portable Ops, were lingering into this chapter of the marathon, albeit for different reasons but they were still there. Nevertheless, I carried on, and I broke through the barrier.
I’d known before I attempted the game that it was certainly not going to be an epic genesis to what we now know as Metal Gear Solid, it was far too simplistic a platform for that and the technology in the day and age in which it was created was primitive to say the least. It was not the game that was at fault, it was my mindset and attitude toward the game that had to change. Rather than spot the faults and failings of the primitive nature of the graphics and game play, I had to play it and accept it for what it was, a fun and somewhat addictive video game that left me wanting more!
The year is 1995; the world was split between East and West.
Outer Heaven, a military fortress nation located 200 km north of Galsburgh, South Africa, was founded during the late 1980s by a mercenary that was both heroic and insane at the same time. It is rumoured that Outer Heaven is developing a top-secret weapon that could change warfare forever. To investigate this rumour, the Western nations call upon a Special Forces group named FOXHOUND. FOXHOUND work for the CIA and were designed to handle Tactical Espionage missions that regular soldiers could not handle.
FOXHOUND sends its best member, Gray Fox, to Outer Heaven. The name of this operation is Intrude N313. A few days later, communication with Gray Fox is lost. His last message was the words “Metal Gear…”
Superiors found this crucial, and again ordered FOXHOUND, leaving all their hopes in a soldier code named ‘Solid Snake’.
The very first scene of this game and indeed the entire Metal Gear saga opens with Snake swimming through a river toward his destination, the fortress nation Outer Heaven. This reminds me of the introductory scene of Metal Gear Solid where Snake swims into Shadow Moses, similarly the scene is echoed with Raiden at the beginning of the Big Shell incident in Sons of Liberty. As Snake gathers his senses, he is presented with the intimidating walls of Building 1 of Outer Heaven. As he swims to shore, he is we are introduced to Big Boss, Snakes commander in-chief. He tells Snake that he has two mission objectives:
1. Infiltrate Outer Heaven and locate the missing FOXHOUND operative, Grey Fox.
2. Locate and destroy the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear.
Immediately, as the game begins, the similarities to what we’re used to in Metal Gear games are noticeable. I personally started with Metal Gear Solid 2, so most of my early memories of playing a stealth game stem from that experience, so when comparing the two games, although it takes a more simplistic approach, the fundamental elements of Tactical Espionage are present in the original Metal Gear.
Quickly you become accustomed to the simplistic artificial intelligence of the game, unlike the complex A.I. system that exists in let’s say Metal Gear Solid 3 for example. The soldiers of Outer Heaven have limited field of vision compared to the GRU soldiers of Metal Gear Solid 3 who can spot you if you wear the wrong camouflage at quite a distance and at almost any angle. This of course is expected from a game made in the 80’s where most games where linear and platform on the whole. But even back then, Metal Gear set standards. Yes, the game followed a pattern and eventually anyone who completed it would end up in the same place, much like the modern MGS games, however, the user is never restricted to a linear path like in games like Sonic and Mario which were both hugely popular back then.
As the player progresses through the various stages of the game, usually split up with short elevator trips either up or down floors in any of the three buildings, they encounter a number of obstacles that stand in the way of progression. Notably, the one that have become synonymous with the Metal Gear series are the obvious soldiers/guards, static and mobile cameras that alert the guards of your presence, the electric floor which needs to be turned off by a guided missile etc etc. But more noticeably though, and perhaps more prominently, in the early stages of Metal Gear, we find the addition of the now classic Metal Gear “boss” and perhaps now legendary, Hind-D helicopter. Not to mention the items and weapons that have been used throughout each of the games to date such as the infra-red goggles, silenced handgun, rations etc. It seems strange saying that all the nostalgia came flooding back to me at this point, especially seen as the nostalgia started with this very game. However, as I’ve said previously, my nostalgia started with MGS2 so seeing all these ideas and concepts in their glory really added to my experience and I realised that this really was a Metal Gear game through and through.
The soundtrack is particularly exceptional. I’ve always been a huge fan of Metal Gear soundtracks and I always thought that the “Solid” series of soundtracks would be hard to beat by any game. However, I can safely say, considering its age the soundtrack stands the test of time. If you can see past the synthesizers and midi sounds in there, it’s arguably one of the best soundtracks of that era. I’ve recently been listening to the Soundtrack of Hideo Kojima/Red Disk which showcases the highlights of Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2 soundtracks but re-mastered and rearranged with a more modern approach. It’s simply sensational and well worth the listen. It brings a whole new dimension to the music and certainly brings back the good memories of playing the games. But honestly, even without all the added extras, the original sounds of the music were perfectly enjoyable. Some of the sounds strike me to be the type of music you would have heard in the horror genre of gaming or film, regardless, it suits Metal Gear to the ground and I’d rate the Red Disk as one of my favourite soundtrack CDs next to Metal Gear Solid 3 without a doubt.
Another concept that I particularly liked was the ranking/star grading of the player. This is a system that was devised to allow for the character of Solid Snake to gain more capacity for rations and weapons/ammo as he progressed throughout the game. This was achieved by freeing Prisoners of War (PoWs) as you go along. This game is the only part in the entire saga where this convention exists and to my mind it was a clever one. Basically, when Snake walks into a room with a captive, he sets them free, as part of his mission, he must free prisoners so it is necessary for the game. The prisoners would then either thank you or provide you with vital information that would prove important later in the game. If you were to accidentally shoot a PoW, you’d lose a star. “No problem” I hear you say, it is when you have the likes of Coward Duck standing right next to three of them, losing three stars in a boss battle really isn’t recommended and one that I found a little tricky! However much I liked this system I realise that it would not be feasible for any of the other games, and honestly, it would wear a little thin if I had to do it in the likes of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for example, imagine freeing prisoners and capturing possible recruits! No! So in that respect, it would really only work for Metal Gear. In Kojima’s quest for realism, I should imagine this could have been a reason for the ranking system and the PoW’s not making an appearance in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and the subsequent releases. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable part of the game for me.
Operation Intrude N313
- 1995
With the help of the prisoners, Snake allows himself to be captured in order to locate Grey Fox; Snake is told that he should locate Dr. Pettrovich Madnar, creator of Metal Gear and the only person to have intelligence on how to destroy it. After successfully breaking out of the cell, Snake encounters the first of many Outer Heaven Mercenaries, Shotmaker (A.K.A. Shoot Gunner and Shot Gunner), barehanded, Snake managed to find his weapons and items with the help of Big Boss and managed to evade and eventually kill the former Spetsnaz operative that guarded the prison. Later he was met by Machinegun Kid, a former member of the SAS, the same British Special Forces that Major Zero and The Boss were once part of, and later Liquid Snake.
As Snake progresses, he finds Dr. Pettrovich Madnar and quickly discovers that it’s a trap and the real Dr. is yet to be found. Enter Fire Trooper, the third mercenary of Outer Heaven that Snake must eliminate. Much like The Fury from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the flamethrower guards from the mountains, Fire Trooper wields a flamethrower but has a weakness that acts as a vice when in battle, his suit is prone to breakage and Snake easily gets past him in battle.
As Snake reaches the summit of building two of the Outer Heaven mercenary nation, he encounters two gigantic guardsmen named the Bloody Brads (A.K.A. The Arnolds), two cyberoids created by Dr. Pettrovich Madnar. After defeating these with the help of Jennifer and the rocket launcher she guides you to, Snake eventually finds Madnar and is told that no further advice or help will be given until Snake locates and rescues Ellen Pettrovich, the doctors daughter who Snake eventually finds in the basement of building one. She tells how her father was forced into Metal Gear’s creation. After a lot of retracing and backtracking, Snake pits his wits against Dirty Duck (A.K.A. Coward Duck), an ex-leader of an extremist terrorist group called ‘Egg Plant’ who uses hostages as shields. After rescuing the hostages and defeating the coward, Snake finally ends up in the 100th floor basement of the third and final building of Outer Heaven.
In the basement, Snake gets contacted by Outer Heaven resistance leader Kyle Schneider, and is cut off from communications as Schneider is about to tell him who is behind the fiasco. Eventually, after rescuing another P.O.W. Snake finds out that his leader, the one known as Big Boss, is the instigator, pioneer of Outer Heaven and leader of the Outer Heaven Mercenary’s. Wasn’t it a little strange that the enemy always knew where Snake was throughout the mission?
In any case, the truth is out and Snake is up against it as he fights his way through a terrifying electronic floor panel that he cannot destroy but can only grin and bear the pain and torment it causes. Snake comes up against Metal Gear TX-55 in a room of camera lasers and destroys it piece by piece with land mines gathered from the battlefield outside. Only to be faced with the legendary leader, Big Boss.
Big Boss explains he was only sent on the mission to gather false information but he achieved too much, he had crushed Big Boss’ ambitions and he too would die in the rubble of Outer Heaven along with his commander. Needless to say, Snake defeats Big Boss…temporarily, and escapes Outer Heaven before it self destructs. With no one to report back to, Snake calls HQ and informs them, Operation Intrude N313 had been a success!
I have to admit, when I was younger, I’d always been intrigued and fascinated with computer games. At an early age, I was given a Nintendo Game Boy and I played for hours. The next logical step for me was a console; however, it wasn’t until a few years down the line would I get a Sega Mega Drive (Genesis for those in North America). Meanwhile, I would visit a friend on almost a weekly basis to play on his NES. He had a handful of games but it was around the early nineties when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all the rage, yes, he had that game too! So it was always the game of choice for us back then. Honestly, a game that went by the name of Metal Gear, with a picture of some guy who looked like Mel Gibson just wouldn’t have cut it for me, even if my friend had owned it. Now I can’t decide whether I was too cool for Metal Gear, or Metal Gear was too cool for me, I’ll let you decide! Regardless, the “Turtles” was the game I would have gone for even if there was a choice! Taking this into consideration isn’t it amazing how many amazing games we could have missed out on just because another game had the licence for the latest “craze”/“in thing”. It’s the same principle for anything else when you’re a kid, even though you know that the Hi-Tech or Marks and Spencer trainers are no different and in some cases are even more comfortable, you still pick the Nike or Adidas trainers because they have the designer name on them!
In any case, I digress, the point I’m trying to make is that I wouldn’t have appreciated how good this game was back when I was a child. Now, I can fully appreciate its importance to the creation of such an amazing saga. In all honesty, we can probably all admit to enjoying the game play of Metal Gear, at times it’s faultless and thoroughly enjoyable. But we cannot deny the fact that Metal Gear’s storyline is a little weak when considered on its own merit. The game itself isn’t hard and the “bosses” as we’re used to them don’t demand much from the player either. However, when you consider Metal Gear’s place within the context of the major story arc of the Metal Gear series, it makes us appreciate the simple beginnings of Solid Snakes story. Considering it as part of the larger story allows us to appreciate the games premise a lot more.
Supplemental Reviews
Metal Gear - Worlds of Power Novel (Scholastic)
Character Gallery
(Illustrated by Takamichi Suzukawa, taken from the original Japanese Metal Gear instruction manual)
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