A Metal Gear primer
So let's say you're excited, interested, or even mildly curious about the pending release of Metal Gear Solid 4, but you never got around to playing some of the titles in the series. Heck, let's say you've never played any of the games, but all the ballyhoo about "OctoCamo," new reconnaissance toys, and movie-length cutscenes has you thinking it's finally time to jump into the Metal Gear universe. Let's also assume real life prevents you from running out and buying all six previous games and playing them non-stop before MGS4 comes out in 11 days.
Well, my friend, you have a problem. Of all the franchises that have attached a story to a video game, none have done so with more (and often maddening) intricacy than the Metal Gear games. What's what and who's who matter a lot in the world of Metal Gear, and while it's possible to enjoy the stealth and combat without knowing anything about the characters or story, Mr. Kojima really expects us to have been paying attention all these years, and MGS4 will undoubtedly reward those who have (at least those who are able to make sense of it all).
But don't worry, my friend, the Brainy Gamer is here to help. :-) I've assembled a modest Metal Gear primer intended to get you up to speed and fill in all those nasty gaps. Here's what you'll find:
- A chronology of the series with brief blurbs on each game. The list is arranged in ascending order by the year in which each game is set, not by the release dates of the games.
- A complete compilation of cutscenes for each game. Clicking play will initiate a playlist that automatically strings together all the movies in the order they occur in each game. Obviously, these are full of spoilers, but that's sort of the whole point in this case, isn't it? Watch these, and you'll understand the narrative arc of the series. Possibly. I mean, it depends how you define "understand."
So go to it, intrepid Metal Gear catcher-upper! Special thanks to Hcloud 13 who assembled the cutscene compilations on his YouTube channel. The game descriptions appear courtesy of the "MGS History" section of the official Metal Gear Solid 4 site.
Remember, MGS4 drops on June 12. Be like Snake and be prepared!
Update: Fans of the Metal Gear Solid games may also enjoy Chris Doucette's wonderful webcomic "The Last Days of FOXHOUND" which recently concluded after 5 years of creative and clever work. Gametrailers also has a 3-part Metal Gear Retrospective which will take you through MGS2.
Metal Gear Solid 3 (1964)
August 24, 1964. Thirty thousand feet above Pakistan, a man launches himself from a special ops Combat Talon aircraft emblazoned with the US flag. It is the first HALO (high altitude, low opening) jump in history and the beginning of the covert Virtuous Mission. The plot thickens in Operation Snake Eater, a desperate mission with the fate of FOX at stake. With the doomsday weapon Shagohod finally complete, Snake enlists the aid of EVA, a beautiful and mysterious female spy sent to penetrate the GRU, to stop the Shagohod.
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops (1970)
It is
the era of détente. The FOX unit takes over a Soviet army base on the San Hieronymo Peninsula in central Columbia and launches a rebellion. Big Boss, now retired from FOX, is abducted by his former comrades and imprisoned in a cell on the peninsula. He escapes, forms his own unit along with local Soviet troops and sets out to put an end to FOX's rebellion.
Metal Gear (1995)
FOXHOUND, an new Special Forces unit led by Big Boss is dispatched to quell an uprising in the South African fortress state of Outer Heaven. Big Boss sends a rookie, Solid Snake, on a mission to destroy Metal Gear, a nuclear-armed bipedal walking tank developed by Outer Heaven.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1999)
After completing the Outer Heaven uprising mission, Solid Snake must rescue the kidnapped scientist Dr. Kio Marv and pursue the specter of Big Boss to Zanzibar Land.
Metal Gear Solid (2005)
It is the dawn of the 21st century. The Special Forces unit FOXHOUND seizes control of a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses, an isolated rock in Alaska's Fox Islands. They present their demands to the government: hand over the remains of the legendary hero Big Boss within 24 hours, or FOXHOUND will launch a nuke. In response, the government summons Solid Snake out of seclusion in the Alaskan wilderness and sends him on a solo mission to infiltrate Shadow Moses.
Metal Gear Solid 2 (2007)
In 2007, a tanker sinks in the middle of New York Bay. The disaster is orchestrated by Solid Snake, who is believed lost at the bottom of the sea along with the tanker... Two years later, the floating Big Shell facility is constructed for the ostensible purpose of cleaning up the oil spilled by the tanker. But the Big Shell is taken over by a terrorist group "Sons of Liberty." With the US President held hostage, the government sends Raiden, a new recruit in the new FOXHOUND, to infiltrate the Big Shell.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2014)
In a world overrun by private military companies (PMCs), wars are no longer fought over nations or ideologies. Instead, the wars of the future are micro-managed by overarching PMCs, right down to the bullet. New gadgets and abilities fuel Snake's journey deep into the enemy domains of the Middle East, South America, and beyond. Joined by a familiar cast of characters, Snake must once again return to the battlefield to confront his lifelong rival, Liquid Ocelot, who is manipulating the world's wars from the one world where soldiers will always have a place.
