Warning: Potential Spoilers
It all started in 1990 when Konami commissioned a sequel for Metal Gear entitled “Snake’s Revenge”, which was to be made specifically for the American market. It was made without the original creator, Hideo Kojima, and no consent was given by him to make it. Various stories have flown around since then but as events unfolded it seems that Kojima hadn’t known about the development of a sequel. That is until he met a member of the development team on a train ride in Tokyo.
The developer informed Kojima of the development and urged Kojima to develop an authentic “Snake” sequel of his own. Within a very short space of time, Hideo Kojima had planned the storyline and had the concepts of his sequel and was given the go ahead to develop the canonical Metal Gear 2, tentatively subtitled Solid Snake. With one exception, Konami only issued its release in those days, confined to the Japanese market for the MSX2 console. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is now considered canonically correct within the series timeline therefore deeming Snake’s Revenge as null and void in terms of its relevance to the Metal Gear series as we now know it. 14 years later, for the first time, the game was re-released worldwide as part of the Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence package and was subsequently made into a downloadable port for mobile phones.
Operation Intrude F014
Zanzibar Land - December 24, 1999
“By 1999, the Cold War had thawed, and it seemed nuclear proliferation would soon be a thing of the past. Despite this, all was not well in the world. A series of shocks to the oil market spurred the development of new high-tech energy sources, including fusion power. However, most vehicles still relied on oil for power. Oil reserves were at a critical low, and the world community was prepared to take drastic measures, either by drilling into sand and shale for more oil, despite the difficulty — or moving on to renewable fuels.
“Such steps proved unnecessary when Czech scientist, Dr. Kio Marv, successfully bio-engineered a new species of algae, OILIX, that could produce petroleum-grade hydrocarbons with little expense and effort. Marv presented the algae to the World Energy Conference in Prague, and was on his way to a demonstration in the United States when he was kidnapped by soldiers from Zanzibar Land.
“Zanzibar Land had been attacking nuclear weapons disposal sites around the world, seizing those weapons that are still intact, and became the world’s only nuclear power starting an era known as The Mercenary War. It then began to invade its neighbours at will. NATO discovers that Zanzibar Land’s leaders plan to hold the world hostage by controlling the supply of oil, along with the threat of nuclear war.”
- The Metal Gear Wiki
After the pleasant surprise of Metal Gear, I found myself curiously optimistic about the playing experience I was about to embark upon. Up to this point, and as I’ve stated numerous times throughout previous chapters of this marathon, I had felt a mixed bag of feelings as I started each game. However, throughout the beginnings of the 2D section of my adventure, my demeanour had been lifted and I was challenged to take a different outlook on the journey through these particularly amazing games. Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was going to be good; I felt it in my bones.
As I, as Solid Snake, clambered to the peak of a shadowy cliff face, Zanzibar Land beaconed and it felt like a Metal Gear game instantly, similar to the original but with a few added touches, though, to me these turned out to be familiarities due to the nature I’d played Metal Gear Solid and Sons of Liberty a few years ago. Yes, it was clear that these two 2D adventures were maybe canonically correct in the whole scheme of the Metal Gear Saga, but perhaps more importantly, given the somewhat weaker storylines, they truly were the steadfast foundation on which the later titles in the series would base their addictive game play. Actions that we take for granted in a Metal Gear title, like crawling, the radar, two faces on a Codec screen, they all made their first emergence in Metal Gear 2. It was clear that Kojima, although it wasn’t manifested until almost a decade later, was moulding this into a completely different animal.
The honeymoon period was short lived. Being a self-confessed Metal Gear enthusiast and somewhat of a veteran of the series by now, I imagined an easy ride and a game that I could instantly play and parade through as if no enemies existed. I soon learned otherwise as I slowly progressed. In many ways, it felt like a totally different engine to Metal Gear, the enemies seemed brighter in intelligence and the surroundings were no longer there to help you out, they were there for structural reasons, not for your perusal or your comfort. This game was strikingly more difficult than the previous test. It was made somewhat more difficult because of the dynamics of the 2D environment; this may seem strange as 2D games are generally considered more linear in their device, not Metal Gear 2 though, I’d even go as far as saying, now I’m well aware of how to negotiate the 3D environments of the “Solid” titles, this seemed to me, a steeper learning curve. The proof of which was the tantalisingly annoying first floor of the first building. The floor on that level was made of metal grating and made an alerting noise with ever step, oh for the touch sensitive delicate Dual Shock controls of Snake Eater! The Metal Gear 2 controls were indeed primitive, but the premise genius.
Up to this point, I’ve made no secret of my thoughts and feelings on the weight that these first two games offer as far as storylines in the grand scheme of things in the Metal Gear saga. However, that isn’t to diminish their meaning or significance whatsoever. It is simply stating facts that due to the basic nature of these games and the platforms that they appeared on in the late 80’s, early 90’s, both the graphics and sheer amount of text and ultimately the story you could feasibly fit into the game was severely limited, therefore, creating the complex, intricate and interwoven storylines we’ve come to know and love of Kojima and the Solid era of the series just wasn’t practical not to mention possible for the early MSX titles. That said, in my eyes, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake were definite breakthroughs for the games industry and they no doubt helped the ball start to roll in terms of igniting computer games as a story telling medium. It’s clear from the outset where Kojima was heading and that he wanted the player to experience the acts of Solid Snakes journey as he progressed, much as we do later on in the Solid games, however, as stated before, this particular experience is a little more basic, it wasn’t until Metal Gear Solid that Kojima could begin to see his vision come to fruition.
The story kicks off when we confront Black Ninja, the first of the Zanzibar mercenaries. After being defeated by the agile and stealthy Snake, Black Ninja reveals himself as none other than Kyle Schneider, the leader of the Outer Heaven resistance and once an aid to Solid Snake in his quest to bring an end to the Outer Heaven uprising. Schneider tells Snake to “Follow the Green Beret”, hinting toward the whereabouts of Dr. Kio Marv.
Retracing our steps through the first building, Snake finds route through the jungle, indeed, by following the Green Beret (a particularly genius piece of gaming handiwork if I may say so), but instead of finding Dr. Marv, Snake discovers Dr. Petrovich Madnar, inventor of Metal Gear TX-55 in Outer Heaven. Madnar claims that he had been captured once again to develop a new Metal Gear, Metal Gear D, he also tells us that the leader of Zanzibar Land is none other than former Outer Heaven conspirator and former commander to Solid Snake – Big Boss.
After setting mine traps to deal with Running Man as well as permanently grounding another MG signature Hind-D, we progress to the second of the three buildings that make up Metal Gear 2, to and from which Snake must perilously retrace time and again! On entry we are contacted by Holly, a freelance journalist and CIA operative who infiltrated Zanzibar Land, she reveals that she has been captured by the enemy and can only describe her surroundings and the sounds of the environment she has been confined to, Snake makes it his mission to rescue her in the hope of yielding some potentially valuable advice. On finding Holly in the less than luxurious surroundings of the sewage system, she tells Snake to look for a carrier pigeon on the roof. Of course, I won’t crack any jokes at this point but we can all relate to Solid Snake at this particular moment throughout his journey, like most ladies, Holly must make a mountain out of a mole-hill specifically by asking Snake to divert from his orders in order to tell him that he must now go on another goose-chase. Why this couldn’t have been established via codec one will never know, she could’ve just waited patiently in her cell until Snake had time to go get her at the end. I’m just joking of course!
En route to find the bird, Snake is confronted by Red Blaster, who is easily overcome with the use of grenades. Eventually, after tempting the pigeon with a ration or two, Snake discovers Dr. Marv’s frequency in the form of a code written on a piece of paper attached to the bird’s leg. How on earth Holly managed to find that out we’ll never know, nonetheless, Snake contacts Marv but quickly finds out it’s impossible to communicate as they both speak different languages. Snake makes his way to find Marv and Madnar’s bodyguard – Gustava Heffner to maybe shed some light on the situation.
Snake has to retrace back to Building One in order to find the disguised Heffner. After a successful rendezvous they make their way to Madnar’s cell and eventually come to the sewers. A series of events lead up to this point including Madnar’s strange behaviour and Marv telling them that there is a prison that he is being held in north of the second building. Whilst waiting for Madnar to relieve himself, Gustava and Snake discuss each others personal pasts and Snake learns that Gustava is an ex-Olympic Gold medallist skater, and that she was once engaged to a man named Frank Hunter (or Frank Jaeger – “Hunter” in German) and was refused asylum in the States. They travelled further toward the prison in search of Dr. Marv, but they were tragically halted at a bridge that joined the paths of the two buildings. Gustava was blown away by a missile that came from Metal Gear D, the pilot revealed as the traitorous Grey Fox.
Snake, alone again after witnessing the horrific death of Gustava, moves on toward Marv’s cell. Snake defeats the Four Horsemen, Jungle Evil – Metal Gear 2’s answer to MGS3’s “The End”, a specialist in ambush, and Night Fright – a mercenary who can only be traced by the senses as he evades both sight and radar with his Stealth camouflage. On eventually reaching Marv’s cell, he finds Madnar looking sheepish and discovers that Marv is dead, later to be discovered that it’s by Madnar’s own hands. Madnar tries to kill Snake and is disposed of in the usual manner. It turns out that Madnar was never captured in the first place, he was there of his own free will to produce Metal Gear D. Snake recovers the OILIX formula and Madnar does one last good deed in order to redeem himself, he tells Snake that the best way to defeat Metal Gear is to target its weakest point, its legs, a strategy that echoes throughout the saga.
The battle commences with Grey Fox and Metal Gear D in the basement of the third building. Heeding Madnar’s advice, Metal Gear is destroyed and Snake and Grey Fox find themselves on a burned out minefield, Snake barefisted and battle scarred with the burns of the fierce flames that arose from Metal Gear’s ashes. Snake starts to put the pieces together and discovers that Gustava’s fiancé, Frank Hunter was indeed, none other than Grey Fox – Frank Jaeger. Without remorse, Fox starts to circle Snake and the two engage in, perhaps, the most legendary Metal Gear fist fight ever to be witnessed in the series. Whilst dodging the mines and placing the vital and final blows to Grey Fox, Snake kills Grey Fox, meanwhile, reassuring him that Gustava is awaiting his arrival on the other side.
As Snake moves on, he knows there is one last battle that he must fight in order to win the (current) war. Beyond the proceeding doors, Big Boss awaits. A final speech from Big Boss reminds Snake exactly where his origins lay should he have forgotten. Echoing the sentiments of The Boss’ final speech in Metal Gear Solid 3, Big Boss explains how the cogs of war work, “Start a war, fan its flames, and create victims… Then save them, train them… feed them back onto the battlefield.” We only feel truly alive on the battlefield. A defiant Snake puts together a makeshift weapon to defeat the legendary mercenary, with no weapons at his disposal; he has no choice but to use the resources that lie behind the doors of the surrounding walls. Putting together a home-made flame-thrower, Snake is able to flame his father and foe from a distance, for the second time Snake is able to kill off his nightmares and could be allowed to live without fear of being confronted by Big Boss ever again.
Snake and Holly flee Zanzibar Land, taking the OILIX formula with them. He finds solace in the Alaskan wilderness, but for how long?
At this point it may be worth noting that this was the first metal gear game to get a full sound track. For such an old game, I wouldn’t have dreamt this possible but the soundtrack and the way that the music complements the gameplay and adds to the overall atmospherics is absolutely incredible. Even at this early stage, it was clear that Kojima had a great love for the medium of music.
I finished the game on a high; I felt a sense of achievement that I’d perhaps completed the largest chunk of the marathon at this point. However, I couldn’t shake that feeling that I’d “finally finished the 2D stuff!” Put it down to sheer ignorance, but I still felt a strange aversion to these “2D” games, regardless of my feelings of achievement after their completion. I think it’s just a subconscious thing because I really, really enjoyed them and the experience of playing through them was both nostalgic and fun. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from playing them; in fact, from the point of view of seeing the progression of the series I’d probably encourage their play through, if only for artistic insight into Kojima’s development of the series. I needn’t mention any more about how fun I think these games are, so that too would be good enough a reason to play them.
Both Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake are true greats and will go down in history as legendary games that will always be held dear in the hearts of many Metal Gear fans and indeed gaming fans in general.
That curdling feeling of anxiety and excitement about starting the closing chapters of Solid Snake’s adventures was seeping in, that coupled with the added tension of once again witnessing how the story develops, this time from the point of view of having gleaned everything that went before the events of Shadow Moses. Now it was time to go back to glorious 3D, and bring Solid Snake out of retirement.
Supplemental Reviews
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake Soundtrack
Character Gallery
