Metal Gear Solid / Playstation / 1998

You are Snake, a government agent on a mission to regain control of a secret nuclear weapons base from terrorist hands... Lightly armed and facing an army of foes, Snake must avoid firefights in order to survive. If Snake can locate them he can utilize advanced hardware, ranging from silenced pistols to ground-to-air missiles. Enemies react to sight and sound - so stay quiet and stay in the shadows. State-of-the-art graphics: textures, transparencies, models and explosions. Taut, gripping story with multiple endings - a truly cinematic experience.

Overview

Metal Gear Solid (メタルギアソリッド Metaru Gia Soriddo?, commonly abbreviated as MGS) is a stealth action video and computer game directed by Hideo Kojima. The game was developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami in 1998 for the PlayStation video game console. It is the third canonical title released in the Metal Gear series, and a direct sequel to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It is often considered to be the first stealth game, wherein the player must avoid being seen by enemies rather than fight them. The game implements several cinematic qualities, such as lengthy cut scenes, leading some to call it an "interactive movie".

The story of Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a retired soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons disposal facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit. Snake must liberate their two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.

Metal Gear Solid was well-received publicly and critically, shipping more than six million copies, and scoring an average of 94 out of 100 on the aggregate website Metacritic. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral; a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube. The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and a novel.

Gameplay

Despite a transition to 3D, Metal Gear Solid's gameplay remains similar to its 2D MSX2 predecessor Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The player must navigate the protagonist Solid Snake through the game's areas without being detected by enemies. Detection is triggered by the player moving into an enemies field of vision and sets off an alarm that draws armed enemies to his location. This also triggers "alert mode" and the player must then hide and remain undetected by the enemy, at which point “evasion mode” begins and once the counter reaches zero the game returns to "Infiltration mode" where enemies are not suspicious of Snake’s presence. The radar can not be used in alert or evasion mode.

To remain undetected, the player can perform techniques which make use of Solid 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 using the third-person camera; which will often change 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 can also make use of many items and gadgets, such as thermal goggles or a cardboard box disguise. The emphasis on stealth promotes a less violent form of gameplay, as firefights against large groups of enemies will often result in heavy damage for the player's character.

Intermixed with the player's progress are plot-progressing cut scenes and radio conversations as well as encounters with boss characters. To progress, players must discover weaknesses of these enemies (such as attack patterns) to defeat them. This is where the player will most often use the game's weapon-set, ranging from pistols to rocket launchers and hand grenades. Game controls and play strategies can also be accessed via the Codec radio, where advice is delivered from Snake's support crew as if the character were playing the video game; 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. The Codec is also used to provide exposition on the game's backstory. Completion of the title provides the player with a statistical summary of their performance, and a "code name" based upon it, typically the common name of an animal.

In a first for the Metal Gear series, a training mode is available in which players 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.