is a 1987 action-adventure stealth game developed and published by Konami for the MSX2. Originally released in Japan and parts of Europe in July 1987, it is the first game in the Metal Gear series and the first video game developed by Hideo Kojima. Players control Solid Snake, an operative of the U.S. special forces unit FOXHOUND, who is sent on a solo infiltration mission into the fortified state of Outer Heaven to destroy Metal Gear, a bipedal mecha capable of launching nuclear missiles to anywhere in the world, as well as rescue a number of fellow agents who have been taken hostage by the enemy.
Initially envisioned as a pure action game, Metal Gear was reworked under Kojima to focus on avoiding enemies, contrary to the then-popular shoot 'em up genre, with an emphasis on evasion similar to Pac-Man (1980). Numerous weapons and items are used in the game, including a portable radio transceiver used to convey dialogue and the narrative. A port of the game was later released internationally for the Famicom/NES; this version was developed without Kojima's involvement and features many changes, including drastically altered level designs.
The MSX2 version of Metal Gear was released to positive reception, with praise directed towards the gameplay and graphics, while the Famicom/NES version received mixed reviews. The game was a commercial success, with the MSX2 version being a best-seller and the NES version selling 1million units in the United States. Metal Gear is retrospectively recognized as the first mainstream stealth game, and is credited as a pioneer in stealth mechanics and complex storytelling via the radio transceiver. A direct sequel made by Kojima, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and a sequel to the NES port, Snake's Revenge, were released in 1990. The MSX2 version was ported with a revised translation and additional gameplay features in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (2005), and this version was re-released along with the NES version as part of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 (2023).
Gameplay
Metal Gear is a two-dimensional stealth game, played from a flip-screen overhead perspective. The player controls a military operative codenamed Solid Snake, whose objective is to infiltrate the base of Outer Heaven while avoiding visual contact and direct confrontation with enemies. Snake starts the game unarmed; he must obtain equipment by exploring the base, including weapons like a handgun and rocket launcher, ammunition caches, rations for replenishing the player's life gauge, and specialized equipment like a gas mask. The main enemies faced by the player are guards, who follow set patrol patterns and have a straight line of sight in front of them, in total looking in four directions. Snake can use his weapons or fists to defeat patrolling enemies. Doing this with without alerting anyone will occasionally make the guard drop a single unit of rations or ammo that can be picked up. In addition to enemy guards, the player will be confronted by mercenaries who will challenge the player to combat, serving as the boss characters.
If the player is in the line of sight of an enemy, the game enters the "Alert Mode". In this situation, guards will run towards Snake and fire their weapons at him. Snake must escape from the enemy's sight in order to resume infiltration. The method of escaping varies depending on the circumstances behind discovery: If Snake is typically seen by a guard, a single exclamation mark appears over their head, meaning only the enemies in the player's present screen will attack and Snake can escape by simply moving to an adjacent screen. However, if Snake is spotted by a camera, sensor, or fires an unsupressed gunshot/explosion, two exclamation marks will appear over enemies and reinforcements from off-screen will appear as well. Snake can only escape by eliminating all incoming enemies, going outdoors, entering an elevator, or entering a boss battle.
The enemy base consists of three different buildings, with multiple floors (including basement levels) within them. The player uses key cards and other items to unlock doors and explore new areas. Each door will only open with a corresponding key card. Information can be obtained by rescuing hostages being held within the buildings. After rescuing five hostages, the player's rank will increase by one star (with the maximum rank being four stars), allowing for increased carrying capacity and maximum health. However, if a hostage is killed, the player will be demoted to the previous rank.
A radio transceiver is available for Snake to keep in touch with his commanding officer, Big Boss, or one of the resistance members operating covertly near Outer Heaven (Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer). Each of Snake's allies specializes in a specific subject and will usually provide information or advice based on the player's current area, although a reply is not always guaranteed. The player must keep track of each character's frequency number in order to remain in contact with them throughout the game.
The MSX2 version requires the use of a tape drive (such as the Sony Bitcorder) in order to save and load game progress from checkpoints. A Game Master II cartridge can also be used to enable save states via floppy disks at any point. Versions on later platforms eliminated these complicated requirements thanks to standardized storage devices such as memory cards and internal disk drives.
Plot
Setting Metal Gear takes place in 1995, which is not defined in the Japanese MSX2 version of the game, and referred to the year as "19XX", the release of Metal Gear Solid established the date within its narrative. The game forms the first entry in an overarching plot concerning the character of Solid Snake, with the origins of the game's plot being later explored in 2015's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
Characters
The player's character is Solid Snake, a rookie member of the special forces group FOXHOUND sent on his first mission. He is assisted via radio by his commanding officer Big Boss, who offers information about mission objectives and items. Snake can also contact people in a local resistance movement composed of leader Schneider, a former architect who guides Snake through the layout of the fortress and knows the locations of key items; Diane, a former positive punk vocalist who provides information on enemy forces and mercenaries from her home; and Jennifer, who infiltrated Outer Heaven's medical staff to find her missing brother and assists Snake as an inside agent once he gains a high rank. Among the prisoners Snake rescues are Grey Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured during a previous mission; Dr. Pettrovich , a robotic engineer who is working for Outer Heaven against his will; and the doctor's daughter, Elen, who was kidnapped by the enemy to coerce her father into developing Metal Gear.
The bosses include Shoot Gunner , a former Spetsnaz agent specializing in the riot gun; Machinegun Kid, a former SAS operative armed with a machine gun; Fire Trooper, a former GSG 9 operative who uses a flamethrower; Coward Duck (Dirty Duck in later releases), a boomerang throwing terrorist who shields himself with hostages; Arnold (Bloody Brad in later releases), two TX-11 class androids designed by Dr. Pettrovich; and the legendary mercenary who founded Outer Heaven, whose true identity is unknown until the end.
Story The West discovers that a weapon of mass destruction is being constructed inside Outer Heaven, a fortified state founded by a "legendary mercenary" 200 km north of Galzburg, South Africa. The special forces unit FOXHOUND sends top agent Gray Fox to infiltrate the fortress, assess the situation and neutralize the threat. FOXHOUND loses contact with Gray Fox a few days later, with his last transmission being "Metal Gear...". FOXHOUND commander Big Boss sends his newest recruit, Solid Snake, into the area in an operation codenamed "Intrude N313", with orders to establish contact with Gray Fox and destroy Metal Gear.
Upon insertion into Outer Heaven, Snake makes contact with local resistance members Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer. Using all of his skills and the equipment he procures on site, he manages to rescue Fox. Fox explains that Metal Gear is the codename of a nuclear-equipped bipedal mecha, which can engage in all forms of combat and launch nuclear weapons to any location. Outer Heaven plans to use Metal Gear to impose itself as the new world superpower.
To destroy Metal Gear and topple the Outer Heaven mercenaries, Snake rescues Dr. Pettrovich, the lead engineer of Metal Gear, and his daughter Elen. The doctor explains how Metal Gear can be destroyed using weak points on its legs, and Snake takes on Outer Heaven's troops. However, he begins to notice that the traps put in his way are too precise and wonders how information on his activities is being tracked. Big Boss begins to act strangely, giving misleading advice that leads Snake into several traps, and eventually ordering him to abort the mission by telling the player to turn off the system. Moreover, Schneider is ambushed by hostiles and is presumed dead after losing contact with Snake.
Snake penetrates Outer Heaven's main base and takes out Metal Gear before it reaches completion. As a result, a self-destruct sequence for the compound begins. As he escapes the compound's basement, he is confronted by the mercenary leader of Outer Heaven, who turns out to be Big Boss. The corrupt leader reveals that he had been using his connections to steal military intelligence, establish his own mercenary force, and fund his activities. He had the rookie Snake sent in, hoping to have him captured and feed misinformation to authorities but underestimated his capabilities. Snake defeats Big Boss in the last battle and escapes the Outer Heaven compound as it crumbles in flames behind him. After the end credits, a message from Big Boss is displayed saying that he will meet Solid Snake again.
Development Director Hideo Kojima did not work on the game initially; he was asked to take over the project from a senior associate. Metal Gear was originally intended to be a simple action game that featured modern military combat. However, the MSX2's hardware limited the number of on-screen bullets and enemies, which Kojima felt impeded the combat aspect. The MSX2 also had limited scrolling capabilities, which made it difficult to produce a smooth scrolling shooter, like Konami's arcade hit Scramble (1981).
Inspired by The Great Escape, Kojima reversed the focus of the gameplay from shooting enemies to avoiding capture. The game design was no longer about shooting but about "trying to form the tension of hide and seek" according to Kojima, subverting the shoot 'em up genre popular at the time. Kojima designed the game so that, when Snake is discovered, the gameplay changed to become a puzzle video game "like Pac-Man" (1980) where the enemy guards behave like Pac-Man ghosts that Snake needs to avoid.
Kojima also came up with the idea of the player having access to a portable radio transceiver, which was used to organically enhance the storytelling through dialogue. According to Kojima, it allowed "you to send and receive comms" and the "game moves along with the player, so when the drama happens when the player" is not present, "the player's current situation can be depicted while the other characters' story or situation can be foreshadowed in parallel" simultaneously.