The 'Metal Gear Solid' Thread - Moderated By 'The Patriots'

The "METAL GEAR SOLID (MGS)" series is the seminal work of Hideo Kojima, Japan's master game creator, and the progenitor of the stealth action game genre. The series has become a global phenomenon. The player controls a secret agent from an elite special forces unit who is sent on solo sneaking missions through enemy installations, vast jungles, and sometimes even the thick of battle.

Alone and surrounded by the enemy, even a special forces agent will find it tough to come out alive. But that is the secret behind the series' popularity - the cerebral challenge of figuring out how to avoid combat, and the thrill of sneaking through enemy territory undetected. The MGS series is also known for its storyline, which blends seamlessly with the gameplay. The scenarios are based on extensive research and incorporate the drama of actual developments in society.

The entire series carries a strong "anti-nuke" message while still capturing the unique spirit of fun that defines Japan's video-gaming culture. These elements have made MGS what it is today: a mature work of entertainment that transcends national borders and the confines of video games, and one of the leading products of the Japanese content business.

CANONICAL GAMES:

Metal Gear
Metal Gear 2
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 2
Metal Gear Solid 3
Portable Ops
Metal Gear Solid 4
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes (RDTBC)
Metal Gear Solid 5? TBC

NON CANONICAL GAMES:

Snake's Revenge
Ghost Babel
Metal Gear Acid
Metal Gear Acid 2
Mobile
Touch
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

UPDATES, REMAKES AND COLLECTIONS:

Integral
MGS2 Substance
The Twin Snakes
MGS3 Subsistence
20th Anniversary
The Essential Collection
Portable Ops Plus
Acid Mobile
MGS HD Collection
Snake Eater 3D

Original MGS1 Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tkOWt7kTzE

MGS2 (E3 2000) (Requested by Nessy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7aBSUAozE

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPK8yfEFZE

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8e9-1KreMU&feature=related

MGS4 CQC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94gSY08qKL4&feature=related

Known 'Metal Gear Solid' Stealth Operatives:

Adam
Angus
Balli
Bauer_RAT PS3 ID ... Bauer RAT XBL GT
Cptn Cloroform
DG_O
Grayfox
Lazisom
Matthew
Mozza (PSN/Steam Mozz-eyes)
Nessy
RobsonRudd XBL: Robson Rudd

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/384021/features/opinion-why-i-love-metal-gear-solid/?site=cvg

"Opinion: Why I love Metal Gear Solid.

Baffling, bloated and brilliant, the hide-and-sneak series defines Dave Meikleham's love for PlayStation -

Wow. Where do you start? Like many people who've worked on PSM3 over the last 12 years, Hideo Kojima's wonderful, absurd, often mad and always esoteric stealth saga has defined my love of games. We've snuck behind Solid Snake every step of his journey, from giving away the incredible Metal Gear Solid 2 trailer on a VHS tape (remember those?) with PSM2's first issue, to editor Dan Dawkins being one of the first ten people in the world to complete MGS4.

Over the past decade I've digitally dispatched thousands of men. What should feel extraordinary - taking a life - is rote and routine. Yet there's only one series that let me bump off a century-old sniper by fiddling with my PS2's clock. Since I first switched on a SixAxis back in March 2007, dozens of PS3 titles have grunted shouty, jingoistic nonsense at me during their phoned-in plots.

But only one series has tried to make me ruminate on the aging process while a nappy-wearing monkey offered me a coke. Throughout all those years I've played countless games made with a committee-approved cowardice designed to ensure punters are never pushed too far from their comfort zones. There's only one series with a visionary, slightly mad creator who'll gladly bin his beloved cover star for a bleach blond rookie who everyone immediately hates - oh, Raiden.

Cape Gear

Metal Gear's best moments burn in the memory like no other because it has more smarts, takes more risks and shows more balls than anything else on PlayStation. The man responsible, the divisive Hideo Kojima, is often criticised for thinking too much like a film director, and admittedly, the snarkers have a point. Kojima wallops your lugs with over 90 minutes of interminably talky cutscenes at the end of Guns Of The Patriots. For all the occasionally cack-handed dialogue and clumsy plotting, though, it's these cinematic, often subversive sensibilities that lead to MGS's most inspired ideas.

Would Snake Eater's haunting five minute ladder ascent exist if Kojima had staged a more traditional 'whack the End's glowing vital boss bits' fight before it? Could that mournfully nostalgic return to Shadow Moses in MGS4 come from someone who wasn't obsessed with making players reflect during constant codec chatter? Perhaps you have to take the overly talkative rough to get that velvet smooth Koj genius. If Ground Zeroes has a moment to rival the bewitching pad-switching Psycho Mantis shock or the silent beauty of battling the Boss in a field of white petals, I'll happily take another dose of half hour cutscenes. Stat.

Kojima may often take an age to say anything in MGS, but crucially, he always manages to say something. Where a Modern Warfare is simply content to bamboozle you with angry military speak for seven hours, the Gear would rather lead you on a twisty meditation about the nature of fate and free will. Sure, this occasionally leads to a tangled mess of bloated, over indulgent plot threads - yes, that does mean you, MGS2.

Yet it also leads to moments like the quiet, understated bonding between an estranged father and son when Big Boss shares a final stogie with Snake. Fearless and uncompromising, its Kojima's willingness to tackle topics like the philosophical divides that birth war or nuclear profligacy that mean I can overlook him wielding all the narrative delicacy of a sledgehammer.

Though the storytelling has sometimes been ropey, the tech powering MGS has never failed to impress. My timbers were well and truly shivered - just as Kojima intended - during Sons Of Liberty's gorgeous tanker downpour. I could barely believe my eyes throughout the astonishing choreography of MGS4's balletic Cyborg Raiden vs Gekko fight. And even though I was never that bothered with PSP, you can't deny that Kojima Productions barrelled in and definitively declared 'that's how you make a handheld game' with the masterfully crafted Peace Walker. Even now, the Tokyo-based studio is pushing PS3 to limits few thought possible with the amazingly Ground Zeroes, made possible by its advanced proprietary FoxEngine. In short, Metal Gear Solid makes PlayStation dance a merrier graphical gig than anyone outside of Naughty Dog.

Precious Platinum

Amid all the gushing, it won't surprise you to discover I've had 'colourful' (read: borderline certifiable) times with Metal Gear. Recently, I went through Metal Gear Solid 4 a ludicrous nine times to unlock the game's platinum trophy. What inspires such mentally questionable devotion? The cinematic splendour of those preposterous cutscenes? The unforgettable bosses? Watching Otacon spoil his long johns while cowering in a locker? It's much simpler than any of that. On a pure mechanical level, Metal Gear titles are immensely, perhaps peerlessly, playful. And given that videogames are - exactly as their name tells you - games, albeit highly sophisticated ones, I can't pay the series a higher compliment than that.

Holding up guards for dog tags. Shooting seagulls then getting your comeuppance slipping face first in bird sheet. Dropping a copy of Playboy to disrupt a randy guard's patrol before sneaking up on him inside a battered cardboard box. There are so many MGS moments which revel in the simple act of playing. As a virtual take on hide-and-seek, the Metal Gear series' rigid and well defined ruleset makes it the undisputed sultan of stealth.

Since 1998, Kojima and Snake have constantly thrilled, moved and surprised me. In 2000, PSM2 started to produce incredibly passionate and insightful coverage to match the games' quality - a trend that has continued right up to this issue you're holding. MGS isn't just my favourite series; it's PSM3's defining game."

Metal Gear Solid 5 will be set in 1970s Africa, star Big Boss and - and maybe, just maybe - show the birth of baby Solid Snake, according to an in-depth investigation in the latest issue of PSM3.

Quote:
In a 10-page feature, Metal Gear series expert Dan Dawkins provides forensic analysis of the Metal Gear timeline, while piecing together over 12 months of Kojima's cryptic tweets, a raft of existing clues and all the 'Next MGS' imagery to date.

The most obvious clue about 'the next MGS', comes from the recent Kojima Productions GDC recruitment advert, where a picture of Big Boss (the hero of Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker) is accompanied by the call to arms, "Big Boss Wants You!".
The Kojima Productions site itself 'hides' another image of Big Boss with a 'Diamond Dogs' logo on his shoulder, which Dawkins claims is a reference to both the 1974 David Bowie album Diamond Dogs (Kojima being a confirmed Bowie fan), but, more importantly, the diamond mines of Angola, against which some of the action could be set.

Previously, characters such as Frank Jaeger aka Cyborg Ninja and Big Boss himself have all been revealed as having links to the continent via countries like South Africa, Rhodesia (neé Zimbabwe) and Mozambique, further reinforcing Africa's importance to MGS canon. Need convincing further? We've included a sample spread from the magazine detailing Dawkins' thinking.

As well as all that, PSM3 explains why the choice of location and timeline could mean a reprisal for Gray Fox (aka Ninja from MGS on PSone), focuses on the philosophical dispute between Big Boss and Major Zero that inspired the plot of MGS4, and reveals how the game could address modern world, mid-economic-recession, issues. Finally, they investigate Kojima's 'Project Ogre' and whether it's the same thing as the 'next' MGS and when both games might be out.

Oh, and why should you trust Dawkins? Because he was the man that correctly predicted the plot, main themes and characters in GTA V months before the official first reveal.

Why no MGS 2 trailer ?, remember waiting almost 3 hours for the E3 2000 ? Trailer to buffer ( 56k modems FTW) and i instantly wanted a PS2 after seeing it :-).

Pity the whole game wasnt like the trailer or the first 90 mins on the tanker !.

Me too Ness. The Tanker section is highly memorable, and a great start to the stealth action on MGS2. Even when i played as Raiden i was enjoying it. It's when i got to Arsenal Gear, that i realised that the story had gone too silly to even get my head around what was going on!

I hope MGS5 has 'Metal Gear 5 Online' with an easier process of getting online. MGS needs it's online component to be easy to access if it wishes to compete against the bigger dogs this gen.

Included the MGS2 E3 2000 video link on the OP. Just for you Ness. :)

Dave Meikleham, news editor
`No place to hide.' Those words are burned into my Otacon-obsessed psyche. Before Guns Of The Patriots was unveiled, this tagline appeared in a TGS 2005 teaser. It featured glimpses of Big Boss hiding from soldiers behind a wall, before said soldiers reduced said bricks to rubble. That's what I want from MGS5: destructible, constantly changing cover that alters the way you sneak. Kojima wanted me to feel the cold of MGS2's rain; now I want him to harness the power of PS3 to create an environment as adaptive as its mulleted star.

If what he says is true, then that would mean MGS5 will be out on this gen!? I always believed it would be next gen, what with the next gen consoles slowly, creeping closer with E3 reveals.

Hello new thread!

In answer to Gray from the previous thread - yes I have played lots of MGS online in the past - will have to trace / remember my Konami ID though as I am on a new PS3 now. It is all downloaded and installed now (I nipped to the golf range so not sure how long it took - an hour and a half?) - so I am going to find my Konami ID and have a go later today.

MGS Online was a great game hindered by one of the worst, most obstructive online interfaces ever made - you can't even use your PSN friends list with it - but once through the game itself was superb.

25-Apr-2012 Metal Gear Solid: What's next?
By Daniel Dawkins for PSM3 Magazine

It'll all be set in Africa
The dog next to Big Boss looks like a Rhodesian Ridgeback, a breed developed in South Africa, used to hunt lions and known for its bravery. Rhodesia, according to MGS lore, is where Frank Jaeger (aka Cyborg Ninja from MGS on PS1, or Gray Fox from Metal Gear on MSX, or Null from MGS Portable Ops on PSP - look, no one said this was going to be easy) murders the parents of a small girl during the Rhodesian Civil War (1979).

Overcome with immense guilt, Frank adopts the girl and cares for her as his 'younger sister' - the girl turns out to be Naomi Hunter, the geneticist who invents the FOXDIE virus in Metal Gear Solid 4. The Rhodesian/African links extend back to 1977, where Frank Jaeger is in Mozambique fighting for the RENAMO (Rhodesian/South African-funded Mozambique Resistance Movement). He's captured by the Front for Liberation of Mozambique FRELIMO, but rescued from a prison camp by none other than... Big Boss. During captivity, Frank's nose and ears are cut off - the significance of which we'll explain later.

In the late 1980s, Big Boss uses the funds he amasses from his mercenary career (the events you'll play out in the 'next Metal Gear'?) to fund the real Outer Heaven (not the Mount Rushmore tanker version from MGS4), a huge fortress for disillusioned soldiers. Location? It's 200km north of Galzburg, South Africa. Outer Heaven is the setting for Metal Gear on MSX where a rookie named Solid Snake undertakes his first mission in 1995.

"MGS Online was a great game hindered by one of the worst, most obstructive online interfaces ever made - you can't even use your PSN friends list with it - but once through the game itself was superb."

Tell me about it. I honestly gave up. My internet wasn't the fastest at the time, which didn't help. As i mentioned above, i really hope if there's a new MGS online in future. It really needs to be more easily accessed.

As long as there's not another jungle / undergrowth setting similar to MGS3. As much as I love MGS3 I don't think I can stomach another MGS where I have to faff around amongst trees and long-grass.

I had a weird obsession of wanting to know what was moving around in the long, grass in MGS3. I would crawl through it until i found the culprit. Then shoot whatever it was for food. I quite enjoyed doing that strangely, despite being on a very important 'Virtuous Mission'.

Gray Fox, aka Ninja, is set to return
In 2 February 2011, Hideo Kojima tweeted "I brought back a character I killed before. Kind of cool." - leading to an immediate flurry of speculation about his/her identity. Popular theories centred on the return of Cyborg Ninja (killed by Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid), and whose suit inspires the design of Cyborg Raiden (soon to be seen in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance). And that theory might prove to be more than wishful thinking.

As established, Frank Jaeger (Cyborg Ninja) is in his mid/late 20s during the late '70s. In August last year, Kojima tweeted a series of images of a man of a similar age with a scarred face, presumably to show off the Fox Engine graphics technology. The second image says, "Who are you? Me? I'm the killed character", and the third image adds, "I'm not Volgin! Then who? Haven't got a name since I am a killed character! Can you put me in any game?!" Interesting bit? His face is contorted in rage/pain and - although it might be the angle of his head - his ear appears to be missing. It could be Frank Jaeger having his ear cut off in captivity in Mozambique.

Aside from the neat symmetry of explaining Cyborg Ninja's past, at the same time as Metal Gear Rising explains his 'successor' Ninja Raiden's future, there are other hints, however coincidental. On 9 February 2012 he tweeted an image of a 'Cyborg Ninja, Frank' replica model. On 23 February 2012 Kojima tweeted about 'Cyborg Ninja' wine that had been sent in from a fan It could just be coincidence, but given the multi-layered density of Kojima's games, you couldn't rule out a deliberate, masked tease. Frank Jaeger's rich backstory plays out between the mid-1970s and late 1980s, which ties in with our potential timeline.

Africa? It could be anything landscape-wise considering the huge variety of environments. As long as they don't plump for the stereotype and go for arid land and scorching, sun-soaked villages then it could be interesting. I'm sure they'll also have at least a few levels in urban areas, which might be cool I guess.

Rumors are saying the 'Diamond Mines' DG_O. I should imagine there will be some sun-soaked villages within the game to encapsulate the hot African environment. But the scenarios do tend to change and mix up within the other MGS games, so should be an interesting location.

Snake Eater, went from jungle, to mountainous areas and then to the infiltration of the huge, enemy headquarters. Saying that though, i've always wished for a return to the icy, polar setting of Shadow Moses.

"Africa? It could be anything landscape-wise considering the huge variety of environments."

I reckon it'll be an action orientated third person game where big boss is sent to Africa to look into the strange goings on of an umbrella subsidiary company who have been experimenting with a new strain of the t virus lol.

Note the fan responses to the ads Kojima chose to retweet (RT):

"RT Just finished the HD trilogy... but to play as Big Boss again is AWESOME!"

"RT Big Boss begins his war on Zero's Patriots? Outer Heaven begins? I request Ocelot in his prime..."

"RT Does it mean MGS5 with Big Boss or young Solid Snake?" They're only fan's wishes, but Kojima retweeted them, not 100s of others - that's not an accident.

In gameplay terms, this could create a dynamic where Big Boss' mercs pick up missions facing off against Zero's Patriots. It's possible that Diamond Dogs is Big Boss' version of Foxhound (a unit he started, before defecting to start MSF and later regaining control of Foxhound in the '80s... ARGH!), and the two lock horns. Picking up mercenary missions across Africa might suit Skyrim-style, open-world gameplay, which is where things get really complex...

"I reckon it'll be an action orientated third person game where big boss is sent to Africa to look into the strange goings on of an umbrella subsidiary company who have been experimenting with a new strain of the t virus lol."

I hope not Wayne. In a survival horror game, that setting seems inappropriate. In a military stealth, game, i feel it is appropriate.

"Saying that though, i've always wished for a return to the icy, polar setting of Shadow Moses."

That's what all MGS fans secretly want in their heart of hearts, lol. The Shadows Moses in MGS4 was cruel because it was devoid of guards to strangle. It was more of a trip down memory lane. Plus, when the flute kicked in and that song started almost like it was coming from the snowstorm I definitely felt my heart strings being tugged.

Yeah, ditto. It was a slice of MGS in HD, that looked fantastic, but didn't do the original MGS justice. I hope the rumors are true and that Kojima will reveal a HD remaster of MGS1 on this years 25th Anniversary of MG. It's possible but not likely. His previous tweets told us that he prefers MGS1 to be left as it is, to demonstrate the timeline that the hardware of the Ps1 was in. A sort of nostalgic, memory of the game if you like.

The next Metal gear is open world, and built for next generation games consoles
Hideo Kojima often tweets of working on a game called 'Project Ogre'. What isn't clear is whether it's a Metal Gear game - it seems more likely that they're separate projects (more later). What is clear, is that 'Project Ogre' uses Kojima's new Fox Engine graphics technology, as debuted in a pre-E3 2011 teaser video; featuring an MGS3-style jungle scene with a small boy and a horse.

Speaking to CNN in November 2011, Kojima said "(Ogre) is some game that has a very wide entrance, a very open entrance", hinting at an open world. "Rather than make something cinematic, (I plan to) make something very free," he added. Kojima explained that players should be able to find new sights and adventures after having played for as much as 100 hours. Talking to OPM magazine, Kojima described Project Ogre's feel as 'subdued', and only similar to his past projects on the surface; underneath it would be different.

While Project Ogre probably isn't the 'Next MGS', an open world would be ideal for picking up missions across a huge African setting. One Fox Engine test image shows a MG-style figure sneaking past a tank in a dusty setting, with mountain ranges. It could be an Angolan diamond range, or somewhere in Africa. It's described as "New title run by FoxEngine" not as 'Project Ogre', perhaps reinforcing their separate status.

21st century Fox

While such an ambitious project might be possible on current consoles using Fox Engine, it'd clearly benefit from more power. Test images from the recruitment ad of, er, a boardroom full of weird objects (and a horse, like the one seen in the FoxEngine demo at E3 2011), show off its potential. At a glance, you can't tell the real-life photos from the FoxEngine renders, with lighting that looks beyond existing console technology.

The GDC advert seeks engineers for 'the latest MGS targeted for high end consoles and PC', plus 'next- gen game engine technology for use with FOX Engine'. Given that the 'next MGS' or 'Project Ogre' are yet to be confirmed, the sensible bet would be on an E3 unveiling for one (or both). Note: E3 might play host to a new console debut, be it Microsoft's 'Project Durango', or PS4. With PS4 being tipped to be like a PC in terms of specs, Kojima's job ads are even more tantalising.

"His previous tweets told us that he prefers MGS1 to be left as it is, to demonstrate the timeline that the hardware of the Ps1 was in. A sort of nostalgic, memory of the game if you like."

I definitely agree with that. Although I wouldn't say 'no' to a remake I'm not desperate for one. He should focus on creating future classics rather than mining previous masterpieces for success.

Project Ogre is the 'next MGS' aka MGS5?
s stated, Kojima has referred to 'Ogre' as subdued and only similar to his other projects on the surface. One recent tweet adds, "As for my Oni project, it's not "a game, that's as amazing as a demon", nor "a game whose production requires that we assume the heart of a demon", but "a game that involves a demon".

Our Japanese correspondent confirms that Oni can be translated as demon or ogre (among other ways), so it's likely Kojima's tweets describe 'Project Ogre'. Our correspondent's interpretation is that one of the characters in the game is a demon. Whether this is a literal, or figurative demon, is less clear. Kojima did tweet an image of a demonic figure with robot legs, which some websites claimed was 'Project Ogre's' protagonist, but this was debunked. The demon was a customized plastic model on the desk of one of the KJP production team, with Jehuty (the mech from Zone Of The Ender's) legs crafted on.

It's possible to link 'demons' to existing MGS characters. Vulcan Raven describes Solid Snake as battling 'as if possessed by a demon' in MGS on PS1. Raiden (aka Jack) fought as a child soldier in the Liberian civil war in 1989, earning the name 'White Devil'.

What is Ogre? Truth told, we don't know, but it's likely to be separate from the next MGS (Our bet? MGS5 on next-gen), and could be anything from a Metal Gear spin-off (or Peace Walker Vita sequel), to a massively multiplayer dating sim, to a demonic beat-'em-up. Koj adds Ogre will cover 'taboo' topics and link to real world issues.

"Koj adds Ogre will cover 'taboo' topics and link to real world issues."

Taboo topics such as war crimes by invading "saviours", i.e. Abu Garaib, or even a play on Guantanomo Bay, etc?

"I definitely agree with that. Although I wouldn't say 'no' to a remake I'm not desperate for one. He should focus on creating future classics rather than mining previous masterpieces for success."

I know what your saying. It does seem odd though, with so many fans screaming out for a remaster of MGS1, Konami could be raking it in with sales. The oddity of not having a trophy patch on MGS4 is another. But then, i'm not sure if a trophy patch would increase brand new purchases of MGS4, to the point that would fund Konami's pockets. The second hand market would capture that i would imagine.

"Taboo topics such as war crimes by invading "saviours", i.e. Abu Garaib, or even a play on Guantanomo Bay, etc?"

Who knows. It's all speculation, but from a fairly reliable speculator. Koj tweeted he would cover taboo subjects, but i haven't a clue what they will be in the end result. I'm as curious as yourself DG_O.

Is it possible we could we see 'Solid Snake' as a child?

The Les Enfants Terribles project that gives birth to Solid Snake (and brothers Liquid and Solidus) occurs in 1972, two years before the events of Peace Walker; when we expect the new game to begin. One plot strand might involve the smuggling/development of 'baby' Snake - but if the 'next MGS' extends to the development of Outer Heaven in the late 1980s, it creates the tantalising prospect of playing as teenage Snake. It's a nice duality with MGS4, so you'd see Solid at the start, and 'end' his life. Big Boss is Snake's 'dad', so it'd create a touching father/son inversion of the final scenes of MGS4 - all a bit Darth Vader/Skywalker twins

With that last bit of speculation added on MGS5. It's all down to what Kojima will reveal at E3 now. And apparently we are in for a pleasant surprise according to some reports on Koj's tweets etc. Cant wait..