Metal gear
Metal Gear [ ˈmet ə l ɡɪə ʳ ] ( Japanese : メ タ ル ギ ア Metaru Gia ) is a video game series published by Konami and developed under the direction of Hideo Kojima . Metal Gear is considered to be the pioneer of the stealth genre . In addition to the stealth principle, the series is known for the extensive staging through cutscenes and for the comic relief as a contrast to the otherwise serious narrative style.
In 1987 the first part, Metal Gear , appeared for MSX2 home computers. Metal Gear's protagonist , Solid Snake, is a Special Forces agent on a mission to infiltrate the fortress in the heart of the Outer Heaven nation in order to eliminate the threat of Metal Gear, a bipedal tank armed with a nuclear warhead. The threat to the world posed by nuclear weapons is a core element of the series' narrative. In later parts, the interplay of nations, ideologies, politics and technology becomes the overarching theme of the series. Metal Gear was originally designed as a pure shooter, but due to the technical limitations of the MSX2, Hideo Kojima developed the idea away from an action-oriented game towards a game where the focus was on hiding from enemy units.
The third part, Metal Gear Solid (1998), took over the basic principles of the first two parts, but used for the first time 3D graphics and cinematic cutscenes . With this transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional graphics, Hideo Kojima achieved the breakthrough with Metal Gear Solid . “ Metal Gear Solid [is] a milestone among the PlayStation titles with its synthesis of film thriller and action adventure, unmatched at the time . “With Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , series founder Kojima concluded the narrative and his work on the series in 2015.
Main series
Metal gear
| Metal gear | |
|---|---|
_logo.png){kind=logo} | |
| Studio | Konami |
| Publisher | Konami |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1987 (MSX2, NES), 1990 (IBM-PC, Commodore 64) |
| platform | MSX2 , NES , C64 , MS-DOS , mobile phone , PlayStation 2 , Wii , PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , PS Vita |
| genre | Sneak shooter |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Controller |
| medium | Plug-in module (MSX2), diskette (PC, C64), download (mobile phone) |
| language | Japanese , English , German |
| information | PS2 release as part of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and PS3 release as part of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection |
Metal Gear was originally published on June 8, 1987 MSX2 - home computer , and in the same year in a slightly modified form for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Based on the NES version, in which Hideo Kojima was not involved, there were a few other ports later, including for the C64 and MS-DOS . Initially, the MSX-2 original was only available in Japan for mobile phones and as a bonus in the new Gamecube edition Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes . An official implementation outside of Japan, however, was only available in 2006 as a supplement to Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for PlayStation 2 , an extended version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater . A download offer for the Wii followed later .
According to the fictional plot, the fortress nation Outer Heaven came into being in South Africa in the mid-1990s. This nation is home to an army of hired mercenaries . A country, completely isolated from the outside world, with the best security systems to protect itself against unwanted intruders. When it comes out that a new type of weapon is being developed in Outer Heaven, the western nations commission the Foxhound special unit to put an end to the goings-on in Outer Heaven.
Foxhound founder and commander Big Boss sends his best special agent, Gray Fox, to Outer Heaven. A few days later, however, the contact with Gray Fox breaks off and his last words are: "Metal ... Gear ...". Big Boss can now only send the young beginner Solid Snake to Outer Heaven to infiltrate the fortress and free Gray Fox. Solid Snake then succeeds in saving the world from destruction, destroying Metal Gear and smashing Outer Heaven.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
| Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake | |
|---|---|
_logo.jpg){kind=logo} | |
| Studio | Konami |
| Publisher | Konami |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 July 21, 1991 |
| platform | MSX2 , mobile phone , DOS , PlayStation 2 , Wii , PlayStation 3 , PS Vita , Xbox 360 |
| genre | Sneak shooter |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Controller |
| medium | Plug-in module (MSX2), download (mobile phone) |
| language | Japanese , English , German , Italian |
| information | PS2 release as part of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and PS3 release as part of Metal Gear Solid HD Collection |
In 1990 Konami released Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, the official sequel to Hideo Kojima's spy agent game. In contrast to the first part, the second part never made the leap to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Instead, NES got the branch Metal Gear: Snakes Revenge , with which series creator Hideo Kojima had nothing to do with.
Many of the game elements that made up Metal Gear Solid are already present in this title. With Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence , Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was officially released outside of Japan for the first time. Apart from a few adjustments to the gameplay for the current titles. For example, there are several levels of difficulty, some character names were also changed later, so Natasha Markova is now called Gustava Heffner. After playing through for the first time, you get Solid Snakes' Bandana , which gives you an unlimited supply of ammunition, and the codec frequencies used are saved.
The plot of Metal Gear 2 revolves around the fictional Zanzibarland military regime in Central Asia, which was founded in 1995 and forcibly appropriates an arsenal of nuclear weapons. In addition, in 1997, after the end of the Cold War, oil resources were used up faster than expected. However, the biologist Dr. Kio Marv uses the microorganism OILIX, which converts petroleum into high-quality fuel. However, he is kidnapped together with the OILIX formula, with the traces leading to Zanzibarland. After Zanzibarland was able to protect itself from Russian units several times with the help of numerous hired mercenaries, Colonel Roy Campbell brought the former Foxhound member Solid Snake back into the unit. He manages to stop Zanzibarland and bring OILIX back safely. The mastermind, Big Boss, is killed by Solid Snake, who then retreats to Alaska.
Metal Gear Solid
In 1998 the PlayStation title Metal Gear Solid appeared and became a worldwide success. The game has been sold over six million times. It was the first game in the Metal Gear series that had a voice output and was realized in 3D graphics. The gameplay has also been adjusted accordingly. Metal Gear Solid tells the story of a former special forces agent who is code-named Solid Snake. Six years after the deployment in Central Asia, he is involuntarily recruited by the US government and sent to Shadow Moses in Alaska. There he is supposed to free two survivors of a hostage situation and neutralize a terrorist unit. In this part the player learns for the first time that Solid Snake is a clone of Big Boss and that Liquid Snake is its genetically identical brother. In 2004 Konami released a remake of the game under the title Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes with contemporary graphics, revised synchronization and the target system from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty for the Nintendo GameCube .
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Three years later, in 2001, Konami released Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, a successor to Sony's PlayStation 2 . For the intro - sequence was Kyle Cooper responsible. The game begins with a short Solid Snakes mission, but in the much larger second section a new main character with the callsign Raiden is introduced. This was perceived as a surprise and a disappointment to players alike upon release.
Sons of Liberty got many awards for the game graphics and the music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams . For the European version there was the additional DVD The Making of Metal Gear Solid 2 . An additional level of difficulty has also been added for the European version, called "European Extreme".
Metal Gear Solid 2 introduced new features, including the first person view , in which you can now use items. For the first time, the so-called dog tags (German: dog tags ) were introduced, which can be removed from the units in the game to unlock special equipment.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
In November 2004, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (MGS3), the third part of the Metal Gear Solid series, was released. Unlike the original Metal Gear parts, this time the game takes place in a jungle.
MGS3 contains many playful innovations: The specific selection of camouflage uniforms takes sneaking in the game to a new level. Hunting and eating animals brings back lost stamina, serious injuries are treated by the player with the help of a variety of different medical aids. The online function of the game is limited to loading alternative uniforms from the Internet into the game. Another interesting new feature in Metal Gear Solid 3 is the ability to use the R1 button to view the scenery from Big Boss' perspective during certain in-game cutscenes in order to see details that the player might miss.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops was announced exclusively for the PSP in May 2005 and is considered part of the main series because it fits into the narrative line. It takes place in 1970 and describes the further happenings around Big Boss after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3 and the rise of Outer Heaven. Furthermore, you can recruit enemy units and thus get them to join Big Boss. These recruits can then be exchanged within and outside of a mission, which gives the player a lot of tactical options thanks to the different skills.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops + is an expansion of the PSP title of the same name . It was announced in Japan on June 17, 2007 and was released the following September. It has features for online play as well as some new characters, including Raiden, Old Snake, and Roy Campbell. It was released in the US in November and has been available in Europe since March 12, 2008.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4 was released for PlayStation 3 on June 12, 2008 . The game is about stopping private military organizations (PMC - Private Military Companies) that have joined a terrorist group called Outer Heaven, and ultimately smashing Outer Heaven itself. Its leader is Liquid Ocelot, in which the will of Snake's genetically identical brother Liquid lives on, who died in Metal Gear Solid to FoxDie.
The game plot is divided into five different sections (acts). This time, Snake operates in the Middle East, South America , Eastern Europe , on Shadow Moses Island in Alaska and on the mighty warship Outer Haven.
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was initially released exclusively for the PSP on June 17, 2010, and since February 27, 2013, the game has also been available in a version compatible with the PlayStation Vita . It appeared after Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and is set in Costa Rica in 1974. Big Boss aka Naked Snake has now founded a mercenary group called Militaires sans Frontières (MSF). This time he and his allies fight CIA agents who are testing new AI weapons in the jungle, including the eponymous robot Peace Walker, a four-legged battle tank equipped with nuclear weapons. Among others, the father of Hal Emmerich, Huey Emmerich, and Kazuhira Miller, who later also became known under the name Master Miller, appear.
A novelty in the series is the co-op element, which allows up to four players to join forces in certain missions in Peace Walker . Furthermore, the game also contains many additional missions in which you have to free prisoners or steal secret documents, for example. In some missions it is even possible to loot enemy vehicles (including T-72 tanks and combat helicopters of the Mil Mi-24 Hind type ). These can later be sent to field missions with soldiers. There are special additional missions on an island on which you have to fight against creatures from the Monster Hunter series .
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes / The Phantom Pain
Hideo Kojima has officially confirmed the development of the successor title based on the new Fox engine. Infiltration and espionage will be a central issue. In addition, elements should be added to the interaction with characters, for example persuading people to provide assistance.
At GDC 2013, Hideo Kojima officially announced Metal Gear Solid 5 in March 2013 . In this context, he announced that the fifth part of the game series is to be published in the form of two separate but thematically related titles. The Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes set in 1975 is intended to serve as the prologue for the main game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain set in 1984 . As part of the presentation at the GDC and the shown there Trailer confirmed Kojima also that Naked Snake aka Big Boss one of the main characters from Metal Gear Solid V will be. The official release date for Ground Zeroes was March 20, 2014, The Phantom Pain was released on September 1, 2015. Both parts were released for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 4 , the Xbox One and the PC.
Offshoot
Snake's Revenge
In the same year as Metal Gear 2 , the game Snake's Revenge came out for the NES console. However, it is not from Hideo Kojima and is not considered an official sequel. It is a stand-alone action game by Konami , so there are hardly any links to Metal Gear . Originally Kojima had not planned a successor to Metal Gear , it was only through a chance meeting with the developers of Snake's Revenge that he produced his own sequel.
In terms of content, however, it ties in with Metal Gear (1988). The terrorist Higharoll Abandshahara Cockmamie Huganda owns nuclear weapons and wants to rule the world with them. Since the US government is not negotiating with terrorists, they contact Solid Snake, an agent with the Foxhound special unit. He is supposed to break into Cockmamie Huganda's hiding place, the so-called Fortress Fanatic Fiskustatilis in Ishkabibilamadschanda. However, Snake is faced with two Metal Gear 2400s. With the help of his knowledge and experience he can destroy Metal Gear 2400 and stop Cockmamie.
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
2001 came out for the Game Boy Color a part of the series entitled Metal Gear: Ghost Babel . In Europe, the title was renamed to Metal Gear Solid for marketing reasons , although there are no parallels between the PlayStation version of the same name and the GameBoy Color version. In addition, in contrast to the other parts, this part is not a direct continuation of the series. The reason is that this title was developed by Konami without the original inventor, Hideo Kojima.
Ghost Babel is set three years before the events of Metal Gear Solid (1998). In 2002, an armed group called Black Chamber (later renamed Black Zwist) was owned by Metal Gear. The US government dispatches Solid Snake to help stave off the nuclear threat. This time Snake has to fight his way through against four mercenaries: There is Slasher Hawk, who is known for his meter-long boomerang . Then there's a devilish puppeteer named Marionette Owl. Another is Pyro Bison, who is strongly reminiscent of Vulcan Raven or The Fury due to his flamethrower , as well as the leader of the group, the mysterious fighter Black Art Viper, who is only waiting for Snake to fail.
Metal Gear Ac! D
Metal Gear Ac! D was released exclusively for the PSP in December 2004 and was developed under the control of Hideo Kojima. The game is turn-based, actions are carried out with playing cards, similar to a tabletop game. It's the first Metal Gear in which you have to play with two characters at the same time.
In 2019 strangers hijack a passenger plane. One of the 317 passengers is Senator Hach, a US presidential candidate and likely the next head of state of the United States. The strangers take him and the other passengers hostage and demand the "Pythagoras" virus from the US government. Solid Snake is again sent to America to free the hostages from the hands of the hostage takers.
In 2005, the successor Metal Gear Ac! D 2 appeared , which is kept in comic style and comes with 3D glasses.
Metal Gear Online
Metal Gear Online is a multiplayer offshoot of the Metal Gear series , which is included with the games Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots . The modes Deathmatch , Team Deathmatch , Capture Mission, Team Sneak and Rescue Mission are included in the game. Up to 16 players can take part in the multiplayer battles. Both services are currently not operated by Konami, the last time the operation of Metal Gear Solid 4 was discontinued on June 12, 2012.
Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection
Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection was released in the US on November 9, 2011 and in Europe on February 3, 2012 for both Xbox 360 and PS3 . The package contains revised versions of the games Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty including the game content from MGS 2 Substance , Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater including the game content from MGS3 Subsistence (including Metal Gear , Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake ) and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker . It was released for the PlayStation Vita in June 2012 , but this version does not include Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker .
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was first announced by Konami in 2009 and is designed as a pure action game. The player takes on the role of Raiden. The title was originally in development at Kojima Productions. At the end of 2011 it was announced that in-house development had been stopped and transferred to Platinum Games ( Bayonetta , Vanquish ). Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was released on February 21, 2013 for consoles and on January 9, 2014 for Windows, and the game including all expansions has been playable on Xbox One since August 15, 2017 as part of the backward compatibility of Xbox 360 games .
characters
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Metal Gear chronology of the series |
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1964 - Snake Eater |
Solid snake
Solid Snake is the original protagonist of the series. According to Kojima, the nickname Snake was chosen because the snake is the best example in the real world of a living being that knows how to hide its presence and sneak up on silently. With this Kojima contradicted a popular belief that the name refers to the main character of the film The Rattlesnake , Snake Plisskin. A corresponding allusion can be found in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty , in which Solid Snake uses the code name Iroquois Pliskin . The Iroquois (actually: Iroqu ), derived from the Algonquian language , with which they referred to the Iroquois Indian people, means rattlesnake .
Solid Snake's standard voice actor in the Japanese original is Akio Ōtsuka . In the English language edition he was dubbed by David Hayter .
Big boss
Big Boss, also known as Jack, Naked Snake, or just Snake, is one of the central characters in the game series with changing roles. In the Metal Gear titles, he acted as the antagonist of Solid Snake and is portrayed as the ideal fighter and strategist. In Metal Gear Solid , it is revealed that Solid Snake is a genetic clone of Big Boss. Other clones are the antagonists of Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 , Liquid Snake and Solidus Snake. In Metal Gear Solid 3 , which takes place within the game chronology before the previous parts, Big Boss is then for the first time a player character.
Like Solid Snake, Big Boss was mostly dubbed by Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese original, with the exception of the series parts in which both Big Boss and Solid Snake appear together. Similar in the English language version, where David Hayter also initially took on the role. With Metal Gear Solid 5 , Kiefer Sutherland took over the role.
Guest appearances in other games
- In the Nintendo fighting game Super Smash Bros. Brawl you play with the most popular Nintendo characters. As a guest in this game you can also play with Solid Snake. Characters and objects from the Metal Gear series can be collected there both as so-called “trophies” and as “stickers”.
- In the PS2 & GameCube fighting game DreamMix TV World Fighters , released exclusively in Japan. Snake has a number of attacks in this game, which also come from the Metal Gear games, for example Snake can throw grenades that Nikita use, perform strangle holds, bury claymore mines .
- The game LittleBigPlanet got a Metal Gear expansion pack on December 23, 2008 . The package contained six new levels in MGS style, a fifth Sackboy costume, 72 new stickers, twelve new materials, ten new decorations, 18 new objects, a new background music piece, three new interactive music pieces, a new sound object in the MGS style, a plasma ball as a new dangerous element, laser vision as a new gadget, searchlight, paintinator (paintball gun for the sack boy), a color switch and twelve new trophies.
Popular cultural references
- Solid Snake was drawn on the cover of Metal Gear in a manner similar to how Michael Biehn was depicted on an early movie poster for Terminator . Based on the Terminator actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, there are also two robots, named Arnold TX-11.
- Hideo Kojima came up with the idea of a fortress nation from the 1980s film classic The Rattlesnake , the protagonist in the film is also called Snake Plissken. In Metal Gear Solid 2 , Solid Snake is sometimes called Pliskin, his common nickname is Snake.
- The jump into the waterfall in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is similar to Halle Berry's jump in James Bond 007 - Die Another Day (as well as that of Harrison Ford aka Dr. Kimble in On the Run ).
- Colonel Campbell's appearance is based on Rambo's commander.
- If you often save the game with the help of the codec, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 each get information and short small excerpts from some well-known films. These include Godzilla and James Bond recurring films.
- In Metal Gear Solid 3 , Snake ("Big Boss") learns that the technology is so advanced that you will soon be able to control a movie yourself (alluding to the first reviews of Metal Gear Solid ).
- Hal Emmerich's nickname is Otacon, which is short for Otaku Convention , a manga exhibition in Japan. This one specializes in stories with mechs (here is a link to Metal Gear ). Its name is made up of that of the HAL 9000 on-board computer from the Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and Roland Emmerich .
Novels
- Raymond Benson : Metal Gear Solid: A novel about the game , Panini Verlag 2008, ISBN 3-8332-1741-3 .
- Raymond Benson : Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty: A novel about the game , Panini Verlag 2010, ISBN 978-3-8332-2047-0 .
- Project Itoh : Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots, Haikasoru (Viz Media) , ISBN 978-1-4215-4001-6 .
filming
A film adaptation by Kurt Wimmer based on a script by Hideo Kojima was planned for 2012 . Michael De Luca would have acted as producer , but Hideo Kojima has already mentioned several times that this film would never be made. Solid Snake spokesman David Hayter said the game was being compared too much to the movie and vice versa, which was one of the reasons the movie ended.
On September 30, 2012, Konami Digital Entertainment announced that the filming of the game Metal Gear Solid was being planned. The film is being produced by Ari and Avi Arad and developed by Arad Productions and Columbia Pictures . Avi Arad, managing director of Marvel Comics among other things , has produced films such as X-Men , Iron Man , The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man . Speaking on the announcement, he said, “I've struggled for years to get the comics on screen - and the video games are the comics of today ... We'll take our time and tell this story with all of the nuances, ideology and educational stories that go with it Sony Pictures Entertainment is responsible for distribution and production .
Web links
- Metal Gear official website
- Interview with Hideo Kojima ( Memento from May 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Ralf Sander: Drama, Action, Snake Schnitzel. stern.de, April 1, 2005.
- ↑ Turns Out Hideo Kojima HATES Metal Gear On the NES
- ↑ Big Gaz: Metal Gear Solid 3 Exclusive For Sony . Game planet . May 15, 2003. Archived from the original on August 2, 2003. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.gamepro.de/playstation/spiele/ps3/metal-gear-solid-hd-collection/artikel/metal_gear,47437,3004470,14.html
- ↑ InsidePSVITA.de: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker - PS Vita compatible from today
- ↑ Metal Gear Solid 5: Development confirmed
- ↑ "Metal Gear Solid 5" in development
- ↑ Christian Weigel: Metal Gear Solid 5 - Ground Zeroes is prequel, Phantom Pain is the main game. gamestar.de, March 28, 2013, accessed on May 12, 2013 .
- ↑ Games Current . Edition January 2008, p. 20.
- ↑ Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - The concrete release date has been set
- ↑ Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - New details and screenshots for the Vita version
- ↑ Max Doll: Backward Compatibility: Metal Gear Rising and Dead Space on Xbox One . In: ComputerBase . ( computerbase.de [accessed on August 17, 2017]).
- ↑ Hideo Kojima explains why Metal Gear's protagonist is called Solid Snake
- ↑ “METAL GEAR SOLID” To be a live action, Hollywood movie! - Producer wants to be Spider-Man and Iron Manfs Avi Arad ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ [3] ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
