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Latest release. Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1. October 24, 2023. Metal Gear ( Japanese: メタルギア, Hepburn: Metaru Gia) is a franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, Metal Gear, was released in 1987 for MSX home computers.
- Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure stealth video game...
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Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, officially abbreviated MPO,...
- Solid Mobile
Metal Gear Solid Mobile is an action-adventure stealth video...
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Metal Gear Survive is a 2018 survival game developed by...
- Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a 2013 action-adventure...
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Metal Gear Acid 2 is a turn-based collectible card stealth...
- Solid Touch
Metal Gear Solid Touch (Japanese: メタルギアソリッド タッチ, Hepburn:...
- Big Boss
Big Boss (Japanese: ビッグ・ボス, Hepburn: Biggu Bosu) is a...
- Konami Digital Entertainment
Konami Group Corporation (Japanese: コナミグループ株式会社, Hepburn:...
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Snake's Revenge (also known as Snake's Revenge: Metal Gear...
- Metal Gear Solid
Welcome to the Metal Gear Wiki. The Metal Gear encyclopedia that anyone can edit! Warning: this wiki contains unmarked spoilers. This wiki currently has 2,338 articles and 19,448 pictures . Metal Gear Wiki is a comprehensive database focusing on the Metal Gear video game series, created by Hideo Kojima, and published by Konami. The wiki is a ...
- Overview
- Plot
- Theme
- Gameplay
- Development
- Music
- Release history
- Reception
- In other media
(メタルギアソリッド, Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS or MGS1) is a stealth action video-game directed by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published in 1998 for the PlayStation. It was well-received critically and commercially, shipping more than six million copies (being the eighth best-selling game on the PlayStation), and scoring an average metascore of 94 out of 100 on Metacritic. It is widely considered to be one of the greatest and most important games of all time, and is heralded as the game that made the stealth genre popular. It is the third canonical title released in the Metal Gear series, being a sequel of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake.
The commercial success of Metal Gear Solid prompted Konami to enhance and re-release the game for the PlayStation and Windows PC under the title Metal Gear Solid: Integral; a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube.
During a training mission in late February 2005 on Shadow Moses, a remote island off the coast of Alaska containing a nuclear weapons facility, FOXHOUND and the Next-Generation Special Forces rebelled against the United States Government, under the command of Liquid Snake. Their target was the advanced weapon system Metal Gear REX, a gigantic robotic weapons platform with worldwide nuclear strike capabilities. Their demand was the body of the greatest soldier who ever lived, Big Boss, which, through gene therapy, they could use to create an army of ultimate soldiers.
With the safety of the entire world at stake, at the request of the Secretary of Defense, Colonel Roy Campbell, the former commander of FOXHOUND, summoned Solid Snake out of retirement for one last solo covert operation to stop Liquid.
Genetics is the theme behind this game, or the idea of nature vs. nurture. In the ending, Liquid has an opportunity to kill Snake but the FOXDIE virus gets him first. Since Liquid and Snake are identical, it is implied that Snake will eventually be killed by FOXDIE as well. The idea of genes expands beyond the family tree with the Genome Army. Due to being genetically-enhanced with Big Boss' "soldier genes", they are also a part of Big Boss' "legacy."
Another theme is how genetic engineering can be used in a number of ways and whether or not it is good or bad is a matter of personal opinion.
Despite a transition to 3D, Metal Gear Solid's gameplay remains similar to Metal Gear 2. The player must navigate Solid Snake through the game's areas without being detected. Detection will set off an alarm, which draws armed enemies to his location. To return to a lower alert setting, the player must hide, and remain undetected by the enemy until the timer reaches zero.
To remain undetected, the player must make use of Snake's abilities and the environment, such as crawling under objects, using boxes as cover, ducking or hiding around walls, and making noise to distract the enemy. These are carried out in the third-person camera view; which slowly changes its angle to give the player the best strategic view of the area possible, and an on-screen radar, which displays enemy personnel and their field of vision. Snake is armed with many items and gadgets, such as thermal goggles and a cardboard box for use as a disguise, as well as numerous weapons. This emphasis on stealth promotes a less violent form of gameplay, as firefights against large numbers of enemies who posses superior equipment will likely result in heavy damage and often death for the protagonist, especially early on in the game when less potent guns are available.
The game contains plot-progressing cutscenes and radio conversations (known as the Codec), as well as encounters with the bosses. To progress, the player must discover the weaknesses of these enemies in order to defeat them. This is where the player will most often use the game's weapon-set, ranging from pistols and assault rifles to rocket launchers and grenades. Game controls and play strategies can also be accessed via the Codec, where advice is delivered from Snake's support crew; for example, the support team may chastise Snake for not saving his progress often enough, or explain his combat moves in terms of which buttons to press on the gamepad. Completion of the game provides the player with a statistical summary of their performance, and a codename based upon it, typically the common name of an animal.
In a first for the Metal Gear series, the player can partake in VR Training, a training mode in which they can practice hiding techniques, weapons use, and sneaking. In addition to the stealth gameplay, there are set-piece sequences that entail firefights between the player and the enemy from the third-person and first-person perspectives.
Hideo Kojima originally planned to release the third Metal Gear game, Metal Gear 3, for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. While producing the 3DO version of his adventure game Policenauts, concept art by illustrator Yoji Shinkawa of Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, the latter also appears in Policenauts, and the FOXHOUND team, were included in the Policenauts: Pilot Disk preceding the release of the full 3DO game in 1995. However, due to the declining support for the 3DO, development of the game was shifted to the PlayStation shortly after the 3DO version of Policenauts was released. Part of the reason why Kojima wanted to do a sequel to Metal Gear was because it was his first game when he joined Konami, so it had a special place for him, as well as exploring further the concepts of stealth that Metal Gear brought to light, with the PlayStation giving him the opportunity to do so. The plot point of a renegade American special forces unit taking control of a nuke on US soil was originally meant to be the plotline for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, although Kojima had nixed it during that game's development due to believing it to be too unrealistic. He ultimately used it for Metal Gear Solid largely due to the growing changes in society in the aftermath of the Cold War.
Kojima decided to re-title the game as Metal Gear Solid. He did this because he believed that the first two MSX2 games weren't well known at the time. In fact, he initially intended to remake Metal Gear altogether before ultimately deciding to do a sequel instead. According to Kojima, the "Solid" in the title has three meanings: a reference of Solid Snake, the game's use of 3D graphics, and Konami's rivalry with Square. In addition, he also stated that, while similar in some respects to the then-recent release of the Capcom game Resident Evil in terms of tension-related gameplay, he indicated that Metal Gear Solid would give a different take to the heart-racing gameplay. He also indicated that prior projects of his such as Policenauts and Snatcher acted as an inspiration for the more drama-focused aspects of the game.
Development for Metal Gear Solid began in mid 1995 with the intent of creating the "best PlayStation game ever." Developers aimed for accuracy and realism while making the game enjoyable and tense. In the early stages of development, a SWAT team educated the developers with a demonstration of vehicles, weapons and explosives. Kojima stated that "if the player isn't tricked into believing that the world is real, then there's no point in making the game." To fulfill this, adjustments were made to every detail, such as individually designed desks.
Kojima created the characters of Metal Gear Solid; modifications and mechanics were made by conceptual artist Shinkawa. The characters were completed by polygonal artists using pencil drawings and clay models by Shinkawa. The designers would sometimes use Lego pieces to put the levels together.
Kojima wanted greater interaction with objects and the environment, such as allowing the player to hide bodies in a storage compartment. Additionally, he wanted "a full orchestra right next to the player"; a system which made modifications to the currently playing track, instead of switching to another pre-recorded track. Although these features could not be achieved, they were implemented in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. was revealed to the public at E3 1997 as a short video. It was later playable for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in 1998 and officially released the same year in Japan with an extensive promotional campaign. Television and magazine advertisements, in-store samples, and demo giveaways contributed to a total of US$8 million in promotional costs.
During development, to promote the game's release in various gaming magazines, Shinkawa developed a two-page comic promoting the game. It featured Solid Snake having an encounter with Revolver Ocelot, telling the latter to go to Hell as he points his gun at him. Ocelot then replies that Hell if anything is already coming to their current location. Snake then leaves, although not before sarcastically laughing and telling Ocelot to get stuffed as the narration quizzically asks about the Gates of Heaven. Meanwhile, Jim Houseman is discussing with two men as the narration asks what Metal Gear is, with Mei Ling asking if Snake is okay.
's musical score was composed by in-house musicians at Konami, including Kazuki Muraoka, who also worked on Metal Gear. Composer and lyricist Rika Muranaka provided a song called "The Best is Yet to Come" for the game's ending credits sequence. The song is performed in Irish by Aoife Ní Fhearraigh. The main theme was composed by TAPPY.
Music played in-game has a synthetic feel with increased pace and introduction of strings during tense moments, with a looping style endemic to video games. Overtly cinematic music, with stronger orchestral and choral elements, appears in cutscenes. The soundtrack was released on September 23, 1998, under the King Records label.
Original version
The English version of Metal Gear Solid (translated by Jeremy Blaustein) contains minor refinements made during localization, such as adjustable difficulty settings (including an Extreme setting available after completing the game, which adds extended guard vision and removes the Soliton Radar, among other changes), a bonus tuxedo outfit for Snake, and a Demo Theater for viewing cutscenes and Codec conversations. Versions of the game dubbed in Spanish, German, French and Italian were released thorough Europe in addition to the English version released in North America. A premium package was also released in Japan and the PAL region. The Japanese release contained a special box, the game with the inclusion of the demo version of Suikoden II, FOXHOUND army dog tag, a T-shirt, metallic memory card sticker sheet, the Metal Gear / Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake Music Collection soundtrack, and a history and art book. A stock holder version was also released and only given out to Konami stock holders. The only difference between this and the original is that the box is golden and the cover of the art book was different. Everything else remains the same. The PAL version contains the game with the inclusion of the demo of Silent Hill, the Metal Gear Solid Original Game Soundtrack, T-shirt, double sided poster, Metal Gear Solid/Konami dog tags, metallic memory card sticker sheet and six postcards. The history and art book was not included with this version.
Other re-releases
The original PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid, as well as Integral, had been reissued twice: once under The Best range and second time as a PSOne Books title. Likewise, the North American and European versions of the original Metal Gear Solid were reissued under the Greatest Hits and Platinum ranges respectively. The game is included in the Japanese Metal Gear 20th Anniversary: Metal Gear Solid Collection (in addition to a standalone 20th anniversary edition) and in the North American Essential Collection. A Bleemcast! version was made for the Sega Dreamcast and released in the early 2000s. It is a high resolution of the original Metal Gear Solid with enhanced graphics and requires that the player owns both the Bleemcast! disc and the original game. The game was re-released in the Japanese PlayStation Network on March 21, 2008, as part of the PSOne Classics. It was released in the North America PlayStation Network on June 18, 2009 and in the European PlayStation Network on November 19, 2009. was not included as part of the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection due to both its gameplay and visuals seen as being too dated. However, rather than solely create a HD remastered version of the original game, Kojima Productions planned to re-imagine the story and gameplay to an extent at some point in the future, although this was not on their immediate agenda. On August 9, 2012, Konami Europe stated that, in honor of the 25th Anniversary of the Metal Gear series, the PlayStation Network version of Metal Gear Solid would be sold at a discount of £3.99 instead of £7.99 for two weeks, starting on August 8. The download versions likewise incorporated the front and back of the package with the digital manual, thus allowing for the player to fulfill the mandate of finding Meryl's frequency. On December 3, 2018 Sony released the Playstation Classic mini console which included Metal Gear Solid which is included in the 20 games list. Also this game has a save state feature not included in the original release. was among the various Metal Gear games included in Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1, with it also including the Integral version as well as the option to play in differing languages and also including a scenario/script book. For the PlayStation 5 and Xbox X|S versions of the collection, it also included Trophy/Achievement support.
Possible second remake
In December 2011, UK Official PlayStation Magazine had a mini interview with Kojima. He stated that "There are a lot of people wanting remakes of the original, and as producer I want to answer those calls", followed by "But as a creator I'm not very interested in going back. If we were to do it, it would have to be a total remake – the only thing that would be the same would be the story. If it happened at some point I would stay as a producer, but would have to hand off most of the actual creating." He also added, "I was just making the game I wanted to make. Looking back, there’s not anything in particular I want to go back and fix. If you change anything, you change the game – and I want to avoid that. If you bring the gameplay up to modern standards, then you lose a bit of the original game. It was a game made for a certain era – not just the story, but the controls and everything about it reflect that era in which the game was made." On June 25, 2013, Kojima told Gamereactor that he had a desire to remake Metal Gear Solid with the Fox Engine. On August 13, 2014, Kojima stated that he would consider developing a second remake of Metal Gear Solid. On his Twitch channel, he stated that "personally, I’m not too fond of remakes. But I would have to go with MGS1. If it was going to be a remake, I wouldn’t want to make a standard remake, but something similar to what Planet of the Apes is doing: Bringing the best of the past to the present and doing something new." During the 2015 Taipei Game Show, Kojima stated that he would like to see a remake of Metal Gear Solid that features an open world Shadow Moses. On February 22, 2019 (Japan time), Konami has hinted at possibly making a remake of Metal Gear Solid.
was a commercial success, shipping over 6 million copies worldwide. Upon release, it was one of the most rented games, and topped sales charts in the United Kingdom.
The game was generally well received by the media and some of the most prominent gaming critics. Users and critics of GamePro gave it an average score of 4.8 out of 5 calling it "this season's top offering [game] and one game no self-respecting gamer should be without." However, they criticized the frame rate, saying it "occasionally stalls the eye-catching graphics" and "especially annoying are instances where you zoom in with binoculars or the rifle scope", and also the interruptions of "advice from your team", in the early parts of the game, "that's listed in the instruction manual", calling it an "annoyance." GameSpot also criticized this, saying "it needlessly interrupts the game." They also criticized how easy it is for the player to avoid being seen and its short length and called it "more of a work of art than ... an actual game." Further criticism came from the website Adrenaline Vault, which said it had "some serious...flaws" which "made it a complete disappointment."
It received an Excellence Award for Interactive Art at the 1998 Japan Media Arts Festival. NGamer said "It's like playing a big budget action blockbuster, only better." IGN said it came "closer to perfection than any other game in PlayStation's action genre" and called it "Beautiful, engrossing, and innovative...in every conceivable category."
is recognized by some as the first 3D stealth game (Tenchu: Stealth Assassins is actually the first as it was released a few months earlier). The idea of the player being unarmed and having to avoid being seen by enemies, rather than fight them, experienced a resurgence in popularity, and has been featured in many games since. It is also sometimes acclaimed as being a film as much as a game due to the lengthy cut scenes and intricate storyline. Entertainment Weekly said it "broke new ground with...movie-style production...and stealth-driven gameplay, which encouraged...hiding in boxes and crawling across floors." GameTrailers said it "invented the stealth game genre" and called it "captivating, inventive and gritty." The game is widely considered to be one of the best PlayStation games, and has featured in numerous greatest video games ever lists by GameFAQs, Japanese magazine Famitsu, Entertainment Weekly, Game Informer, GamePro, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and GameTrailers. However, it's placing in these lists is inconsistent, ranging anywhere from second to 50th.
Strategy guide
A strategy guide for the game, titled Metal Gear Solid: Official Mission Handbook, was published by Millennium Books in 1998. The book was written by David S. J. Hodgson, who went on to write many Prima official game guides. Authorized by Konami, the book includes a foreword by Hideo Kojima, and features additional information on various characters and equipment, such as Big Boss, Decoy Octopus, Sniper Wolf, Liquid Snake, Revolver Ocelot and Ocelot's torture device. It also features interviews with some members of the development staff, including Kojima, a brief overview of the previous games, a plot summary of the MSX2 games, a character relation chart, and an art gallery. Some of the additional character information introduced by the guide was later featured on the game's Japanese website (albeit exclusive to the accompanying English text), and was also repeated in the 1999 Metal Gear Solid Official Strategy Guide by Piggyback Interactive. However, due to story developments in later games, it is unclear how much of this should be considered canonical.
Radio drama
A Japanese radio drama version of Metal Gear Solid was produced shortly after the release of the original PlayStation game. Directed by Shuyo Murata and written by Motosada Mori, it aired, in 18 segments, from 1998 to 1999 on Konami's CLUB db program. The series was later released on CD as a two volume set. Set after the events of the PlayStation game, Snake, Meryl, Campbell and Mei Ling (all portrayed by their original Japanese voice actors) pursue missions in hostile third world nations as FOXHOUND. Original characters are introduced, such as Sgt. Allen Iishiba, a Delta Force operative who assists Snake and Meryl; Col. Mark Cortez, an old friend of Campbell who commands the fictional Esterian Special Forces; and Capt. Sergei Ivanovich, a former war buddy of Revolver Ocelot from his SVR days.
Comic
In September 2004, IDW Publications began publishing a series of Metal Gear Solid comics, written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Ashley Wood. 12 issues have been published, fully covering the game's storyline.
Metal Gear (メタルギア, Metaru Gia?) is a stealth action game designed by Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear was developed and first published by Konami in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer and was well-received critically and commercially. The game's premise revolves around a special forces operative codenamed...
Metal Gear [a] is an action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2. It was released for the system in Japan and parts of Europe in 1987. Considered the game to popularize the stealth game genre, it was the first video game to be fully developed by Hideo Kojima, who would go on to direct most of the games in ...
- Hideo Kojima
- Hideo Kojima
Metal Gear is a franchise of stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, Metal Gear, was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operative, who is assigned the task of finding the titular superweapon, "Metal Gear", a bipedal walking tank with the ...
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