Getting Your Body Ready For Snake Eater 3D

Ahhh, Metal Gear. There’s no denying that Snake’s series of tactical espionage action games are some of the most beloved in all of gaming. Whether it’s for the great stealth-action gameplay, the tantalising storyline or the deeply immense character development, the Metal Gear series has managed to find a comfortable little spot in most gamers’ hearts – at least, for the gamers who have played through Snake’s adventures. Series creator Hideo Kojima and the team over at Kojima Productions have been meaning to get the series really flourishing on Nintendo platforms for a while now – which was perhaps why Kojima was so eager to get Solid Snake in Hal Laboratory’s 2008 hit-title Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

For everyone else, this was an entirely unforeseen maneuver, which changed the scope of Nintendo’s favourite fighting series and their overall image regarding franchise exclusivity. Silicon Knights (the team that developed the GameCube survival-horror game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem) are also credited for getting the original (and arguably the best) Metal Gear Solid game on the GameCube, in the form of The Twin Snakes… though, the game wasn’t released in a large quantity and copies are particularly scarce and expensive, these days. As well, the NES was made home to a port of the original Metal Gear game in 1987, as well as a non-canon sequel titled Snake’s Revenge in 1990.

So, Snake’s escapades aren’t entirely unheard of on Nintendo platforms. But it’s unlikely that the majority of Nintendo fans have really taken time to play through the games, given the series’ dominance on Sony’s consoles. Gamers who are new to the series might ask, how does it play? What makes the games so celebrated amongst gamers? What do I need to know about the series before I start playing the Snake Eater remake on the Nintendo 3DS next year? I’m going to make every effort to seamlessly introduce all you FOXHOUND rookies into the world of Solid Snake, Liquid Snake, Otacon, Ocelot and Big Boss.

Hideo Kojima created the first Metal Gear game on the MSX2 with the intention of creating an action game that didn’t rely solely on the action. Instead, he wanted to encourage gamers to be incredibly tactical when infiltrating an enemy premises. The 1987 game Metal Gear pioneered the gameplay style of “sneaking”, or stealth, as special forces operative, Solid Snake. Players could run into the area attempting to murder and maim everybody, and in many senses, this felt like the natural thing to do, but doing so was extremely dangerous (obviously), and it was nowhere near as fun as strategically and logically thinking out your maneuver precisely before you conducted it – in order to sneak past the guards and sentry units.

It was this gameplay mechanic which made the first Metal Gear game so unique and groundbreaking. Something about taking a good five minutes to get from one side of the room to the other, completely unnoticed, using limited weapons and whatever tools you could find, felt incredibly satisfying in the long run… or, the long sneak. And it meant you didn’t get shot, too. That’s a bonus!

What players should know about the Metal Gear series before they jump into Snake Eater 3D on the 3DS is that Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater is the first game to occur chronologically in the series’ official timeline… players could pick up the game with fresh minds, and no prior knowledge to the entire series, if they wanted to. But, a true understanding of the events occurring within Snake Eater, including its deep exploration of political and philosophical themes, can only be achieved through playing, or at least reading about, the games in the series that were released prior to it. Below is a list of the games in the Metal Gear series, ordered according to their placement in the timeline. The bolded games are the ones that had been released before Snake Eater, by Konami in 2004.

• 1964: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS3, 2004)
• 1970: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP, 2006)
• 1974: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP, 2010)
• 1995: Metal Gear (MSX2, 1987)
• 1999: Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2, 1990)
• 2005: Metal Gear Solid (PS1, 1998)
• 2007-2009: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty(PS2, 2001)
• 2009-2014: Metal Gear Solid: Rising (360, PS3, 2012)
• 2014: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)

Metal Gear (MSX2, 1987)

Solid Snake’s first mission – Operation Intrude N313 – takes place in 1995, in the fortress and military base known as Outer Heaven – located 200 kilometres north of Galzburg, in South Africa. The U.S. Government has contacted Gray Fox, the highest member of special forces unit FOXHOUND, to infiltrate the fortress and instigate a stop to the development of the weapon being held there – Metal Gear, a walking tank capable of launching a nuclear missile from anywhere in the world. Upon Gray Fox’s failure, Solid Snake, only a rookie, is left with the task, commanded by his superior, Big Boss.

Snake eventually rescues Gray Fox, and upon doing so, Fox confirms that the leader of Outer Heaven, allegedly a legendary mercenary, plans to use the combat-apt Metal Gear war machine to impose on the entire world as a new superpower. While gathering information on site via the engineers of Metal Gear, Snake begins to notice that Outer Heaven’s mercenaries are somehow tracking his every move, and even stranger, Big Boss begins to act oddly, commanding Snake to abort his mission. Snake eventually locates Metal Gear in its hangar and manages to destroy it by placing bombs on its feet. As he begins to make his escape, he is confronted by the legendary mercenary himself – who turns out to be Big Boss, the great military leader. He reveals that he had sent Snake into the fortress for the sole purpose of having him collect false information and be captured, such that he would misinform the authorities. Left with nothing, Big Boss sets his own fortress to self-destruct. Snake barely defeats the legendary mercenary before he manages to escape the exploding Outer Heaven, his mission completed successfully.

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX2, 1990)

Four years later, the world was advancing into a new period of nuclear disarmament, and advancements into the 21st century were being made. Addressing the global oil market’s severe issue, with reserves at an all-time low, Czech scientist Dr. Kio Marv had bioengineered OILIX – a type of petroleum-producing algae which could be harvested cheaply and with little effort. Marv was eventually kidnapped for his work, taken to Zanzibar Land, and held hostage by the nation’s leaders as a ploy to control the world’s oil industry. Solid Snake, now retired, was contacted by FOXHOUND’s new commanding officer Roy Campbell, and assigned to rescue Dr. Marv from the forces at Zanzibar Land in Operation Intrude F014.

At the site, Snake joins forces with several other investigative agents, among them, Dr. Pettrovich Madnar, the lead engineer for Metal Gear at Outer Heaven four years ago, who claims to have been kidnapped once again to work on a new Metal Gear project, titled Metal Gear D. Madnar also informs Snake that Big Boss had survived the destruction of Outer Heaven, and was in-charge of the operations underway in Zanzibar Land. Snake eventually confronts Metal Gear D on a suspension bridge, where Madnar is recaptured. Snake notices the person operating the war machine happens to be none other than his former FOXHOUND comrade, Gray Fox. Fighting his way through the area, Snake eventually reaches Dr. Marv’s cell, where Dr. Madnar is also being held. Snake reports a failure in rescuing Marv, as he finds that Marv had died from being tortured. Before Snake can retrieve the OILIX formula Marv left behind, he is informed that Dr. Madnar had opted to work on Metal Gear D willingly. The doctor becomes a threat to Snake – admitting that it was he who murdered Marv, and then proceeding to kill Snake, albeit, unsuccessfully.

Later, Snake again confronts Gray Fox piloting Metal Gear D, where Snake manages to disarm and neutralise the vehicle by hurling grenades at its legs. Gray Fox emerges from the machine, takes the OILIX formula and rushes into a minefield. Snake drops his equipment to make chase in the minefield, where Fox engages Snake in hand-to-hand combat. Snake manages to defeat his old comrade, and then Gray Fox reveals to Snake that his real name is Frank Jaegar and that Big Boss had saved his life several times, and that is why he had fought for him. During his escape from the area, Solid Snake is encountered by Big Boss, and, having no weapons, he manages to improvise by using nothing more than a lighter and an aerosol can, in order to bring down his old commanding officer once and for all.

The OILIX formula was given to Campbell upon returning from the mission. Snake resumes his retirement in the Alaskan wilderness, and takes up training snow dogs for a living.

Metal Gear Solid (PS1, 1998)

The year is 2005, and the special forces unit FOXHOUND is now a terrorist organisation of genetically-enhanced soldiers led by an individual with the codename “Liquid Snake”. The group, going by the name, “Sons of Big Boss” is conducting an uprising on a small island in Alaska’s Fox Archipelago known as Shadow Moses Island, in a nuclear weapons disposal facility. The forces are demanding Big Boss’ remains from the U.S. government, and if they fail to comply, Liquid Snake will activate a nuclear warhead from a new mech-warrior, Metal Gear REX. Colonel Roy Campbell, also retired from FOXHOUND, has once again forced Solid Snake out of retirement and into the battlefield. His mission is to infiltrate the facility, neutralise the threat, and rescue any hostages – including Campbell’s niece, Meryl Silverburgh, who refused to take part in the uprising. During the mission briefing, scientist Naomi Hunter injects Snake with nanomachines known as “FoxDie”, under the orders of Campbell.

Solid Snake infiltrates the facility and makes contact with the DARPA chief, who informs Snake that Metal Gear REX’s launch sequence can be halted using a secret detonation override key. The DARPA chief then dies from what Snake believed to be a heart attack, before meeting Meryl and exchanging radio frequencies with her. While attempt to rescue ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker, Snake is challenged by gunslinger Revolver Ocelot, but their fight is interrupted by a cybernetic ninja who cuts off Ocelot’s right hand, and Baker seemingly dies of a heart attack. Snake eventually runs into the ninja again and identifies him as his presumably dead ally Gray Fox. In this encounter, Snake makes contact with Hal “Otacon” Emmerich, who, after being thrown into a life or death scenario with the ninja, pees his pants. When Gray Fox flees, Otacon identifies himself as the regretful lead developer for REX, and he agrees to accompany Snake to REX’s hangar, as long as he can wear a cloaking device. Snake eventually meets up with Meryl again, who has acquired the card key to deactivate REX’s missile launch, and Snake agrees to let Meryl accompany him on the mission. The two become somewhat romantically-involved before FOXHOUND operative Sniper Wolf fatally harms Meryl and captures Solid Snake.

While being interrogated and tortured by Liquid and Ocelot, Liquid reveals to Snake that they are actually twin brothers. Eventually, Solid Snake manages to escape his cell and move on to Metal Gear REX’s hangar, where he spies in on Liquid and Ocelot preparing the missile’s launch sequence. Using the card key to deactivate REX, Snake discovers that the card was actually designed to activate the missile, and Liquid informs Snake that his entire mission was manipulated to activate REX and launch the missile. Liquid explains that he and Solid Snake are twin clones of Big Boss, having been created in the 1970s in the government-sponsored project Les Enfants Terribles, in order to reproduce the legendary mercenary. Solid Snake replicates the dominant genes of Big Boss, Liquid just embodies the leftover, “recessive” genes. Liquid also explains to Snake that the government had organised to give Snake the FoxDie virus, which would kill the members of FOXHOUND upon making contact with them, such that the government could enter the facility and attain REX with ease.

Piloting Metal Gear REX, Liquid Snake attacks Solid Snake, but is halted by Gray Fox, who disarms REX’s radome, and is crushed by REX shortly thereafter. Managing to destroy REX, Liquid and Snake engage in hand-to-hand combat atop the destroyed mech, as the hangar is engulfed in flames. In the canonical ending, Snake is reunited with Meryl and the two make a move to escape, but are chased again by Liquid Snake, who dies at the conclusion of the chase, as a cause of FoxDie. Snake, Meryl and Otacon are taken from Shadow Moses shortly after. In the game’s conclusion, it’s revealed that FoxDie will eventually kill Snake, but it’s unsure how much time he has left. It’s also revealed that Ocelot was in fact working for the President of the United States, to gather the design specifications for Metal Gear REX.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty (PS2, 2001)

It’s 2007, and Snake and Otacon have initiated their own organisation known as Philanthropy. Following hints of the development of a new Metal Gear unit, Snake stows away on the U.S.S. Discovery tanker with the intention of photographing the new Metal Gear RAY war machine on board. Things go horribly wrong when Revolver Ocelot, who had adopted Liquid Snake’s right arm, invades the vessel, mounts RAY, sinks the tanker and leaves with the mech-warrior – in between showing signs of Liquid Snake ‘possessing’ him.

Later, in 2009, FOXHOUND has been reformed and Colonel Roy Campbell has assigned rookie operative Raiden to infiltrate the Big Shell disposal plant, which has been seized by two terrorist groups known as Dead Cell, and the Sons of Liberty – which is allegedly led by an individual with the name “Solid Snake”, who is threatening to destroy the facility. Raiden joins forces with SEAL operative Iroquois Pliskin, who was originally assigned to rescue the US President, being held hostage on the Big Shell. A cyborg ninja going by the title of “Mr. X” also provides assistance for Raiden in locating President Johnson. Raiden spies on Ocelot and the fake Solid Snake when they discover and attack him, before Raiden is saved by the real Solid Snake – who was hiding under the guise of Iroquois Pliskin. The fake Solid Snake is identified as Solidus Snake, the third son of Big Boss, and Solid Snake’s triplet brother. Raiden eventually tracks down the president, who informs him that the Big Shell is just a “big shell” designed to hide the development of a new Metal Gear project, titled Arsenal Gear. The improved mech houses an AI titled “GW” which is capable of manipulating all transmitted digital information. Before Ocelot assassinates the president, Johnson reveals that the government is controlled by an illuminati group known as the Patriots. Raiden’s new objective is to locate Arsenal Gear, disable it, and neutralise Ocelot and Solidus Snake in the process.

Raiden and Snake come into contact with Otacon’s sister, Emma Emmerich (E.E.), who engineered Arsenal Gear. She agrees to help them by uploading a virus into GW, but her progress in the task is halted when she is murdered by Dead Cell member Vamp. In the ongoing action, Raiden is captured by Mr. X, who is actually Olga Gurlukovich, and taken to a torture chamber where he stripped of his equipment and clothing, and interrogated by Solidus Snake, who reveals that Raiden was adopted by Solidus as a “child soldier” during the Liberian civil war. When Solidus leaves, Olga returns and reveals to Raiden that she is acting as a double agent for the Patriots, who have Olga’s daughter, and that she has been tasked with protecting Raiden – if Raiden dies, Olga’s two-year-old daughter Sunny dies too. Still naked, Raiden continues through the plant facility, when Colonel Campbell begins to speak to Raiden nonsensically, and it’s revealed that for the entirety of the mission, Raiden has been taking orders from GW, an AI posing as Campbell, which has now been corrupted by the part of E.E.‘s virus that had been uploaded. Raiden reunites with Snake (and his clothes) and proceeds to Arsenal Gear, but is held off by twenty-five Metal Gear RAYs. Olga joins the fight in order to protect Raiden, but she is soon killed by Solidus. In the chaos, Arsenal Gear begins to activate with Raiden, Solid Snake and Solidus Snake on top of it, and Ocelot once again becomes possessed by Liquid, who maniacally pilots the Arsenal and sets its course for Federal Hall in New York City. Raiden and Solidus end up on the roof of Federal Hall, where Solidus reveals he wished to use Arsenal Gear to create an EM pulse that would disable Manhattan’s digital infrastructure, and allow him to take control of the flow of news information. The two engage in a sword fight, and Raiden emerges victoriously.

In the aftermath, Snake approaches Raiden in the street and informs him that he and Otacon had devised to place a tracking device on Liquid’s Arsenal Gear unit, and that they also plan to track down what’s left of the Patriots, who have been in operation for several decades, though the original members are all dead. Raiden is reunited with his fiancee, Rose.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2, 2004)

Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for you. However, there are a few things you should know about Snake Eater before you pick it up on the 3DS next year… I mean, apart from the huge bundle of information I’ve synthesised for you above. Snake Eater takes place in 1964 – well before Solid Snake’s birth and all of the events that transpire in the aforementioned games. The game is significant because it lays down the foundation for all of the events which occur in every other game in the series. Currently, it’s the first game to occur chronologically in the Metal Gear timeline, and within it, players control the legendary mercenary himself – that’s right, Big Boss – and he looks and sounds exactly like Solid Snake (Solid is a clone, after all), though, he’s only young, and is still a “Naked Snake”. The game is set during the Cold War era and it takes place within the dense jungles of the U.S.S.R., where the player is forced to actively partake in camouflaging, on-field first aid and survival tactics. It’s definitely a very different game, but it also happens to be my favourite game in series… for the sole reason that it strives to try new things for the series. It’s also modelled on, and feels a lot like a 1960s James Bond film, which, depending on your tastes, is awesome. At any rate, you can expect to see a young Big Boss, Revolver Ocelot and Roy Campbell during Snake Eater‘s events, which should be interesting for Metal Gear enthusiasts.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3, 2008)

For those wishing to read ahead, this video offers a great summary of the events that take place in Guns of the Patriots. Beware of spoilers, however.

Conclusion

So what can be said about the Metal Gear Solid franchise that hasn’t been said hundreds of times before? It’s a brilliant series, an amazing milestone in all of gaming, incomparable to nearly all other video games in terms of plot structure, character development and sheer complexity. Many compare the gameplay styles to that of the Splinter Cell series, and these viewpoints tend to view Tom Clancy’s series as the more superior stealth game. But where Metal Gear excels is in its ability to draw players into it’s crazed universe as if they’re really reading a history book of these characters’ lives, all the while relishing in a gameplay environment that is incredibly refined with immense attention to detail. Solid Snake’s story will not be forgotten by gamers anytime soon, and with the franchise still continuing past the point of its conclusion in Guns of the Patriots, we’ll definitely be seeing a lot more of our legendary war hero, and hopefully on Nintendo platforms, too. Be sure to keep reading Zelda Informer for all updates on Konami’s Snake Eater 3D, which is set to be released for the 3DS next year!