Japan has a flair for bizarre combinations, especially in video games.Mariois an Italian plumber from Brooklyn tasked with safeguarding the Mushroom Kingdom against a giant turtle.Sonicis a blue hedgehog who runs fast fighting against a mad scientist.Metal Gearis a story about highly skilled soldiers specialized in infiltration whosetrump card is hiding in a cardboard box.
Truth be told, that’s probably the most condensed one-sentence summary possible ofMetal Gear’s absolutely mind-boggling storyline. After all, evenKojima didn’t have the entire plotin his head when the firstMetal Gearwas released in 1987. On the surface level,Metal Geartells the story about Big Boss, Venom Snake, and Solid Snake. On a deeper level, it’s a story about soldiers trying to fight for their own sake. However, on a thematic level, somewhat ironically, it’s a stark warning against nuclear weapons and war itself.
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Metal Gear Was Always Political
The story ofMetal Gearclosely follows real history: All the major canon historical events of the game, whether it’s the World Wars, the Manhattan Project, or the Cold War that nuclear proliferation brought about, take place in the timeline. Despite fears of nuclear annihilation, the only country that has ever been on the receiving end of such a weapon is Japan. It’s hard to understate how much the ensuing tragedy scarred the psyche of that country. Even to this day, such an event heavily influences the beliefs of Japanese people,hence their politics and their media.
TheMetal Gearseries was always political, but it was never a singular condemnation of America, the Soviet Union, mercenaries, secret societies, or even imperialism.Metal Gearis about what all those different factions are constantly vying for: Nuclear weapons. They each have their own reasons to get a hold of weapons of mass destruction, but the struggle over them is the thread thatbrings the entire cast of characters togetherat the end of the day.
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The Duality Of A Nuclear Mech
With nuclear armaments playing a central role inMetal Gear, the way they are portrayed in the games is all the more interesting. In fact, it’s the namesake of the entire series:Metal Gear. Every game, whichever character is the protagonist, the player is always trying to stop an antagonist from destroying the entire planet with one of these doomsday machines. Whether the Shagohod fromMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater,or the Sahelanthropus fromMetal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain, they are designed to be the most prominent threat.
However, the concept of those dangerous world-ending Metal Gears is quite frankly, absolutely ridiculous. They are literallywalking bipedal mechs carrying nuclear weapons. They keep becoming more and more over the top as the series progresses. It’s a not-so-subtle jab at the entire idea of having world-ending weapons. After all, it doesn’t matter how laughable it is that a Metal Gear looks like a Gundam, because if it launches those nukes, the apocalypse will come all the same.
It Was All A Smokescreen
In fact, the concept of duality is often brought up inMetal Gear.Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Libertywas harshly criticized at its time of release for its constant cycling between the protagonists; cool action hero Solid Snake, and whiny annoying Raiden. Big Boss, who left the US Army for feeling used, then used one of his own followers as a body double to create his own legend, and sent countless soldiers to their death for the sake of his grand design. The player can evenchoose the type of Venom Snakethey want to play inMetal Gear Solid 5;whether a cold and psychopathic killer, or a kind and merciful savior.
It’s all a smokescreen. The duality is only an illusion. The truth is that anyone can become Big Boss, or Solid Snake with enough training, or even someone like Raiden. It doesn’t matter who they are because their only purpose is to fight a meaningless war on a controlled battlefield. The nuclear weapons that were supposed to be deterrents for war eventuallybecome the very tools that control warinstead.
A War Without End
When playingMetal Gear Solid,players have a certain expectation of how the story would go. WhenMetal Gear Solid 5was released, it attracted a lot of criticism as a seemingly unfinished game. Fans were upset at Konami for apparently hampering Kojima’s work, and ruining thepotentially last installment of the series. Of course, Kojima and Konami had a less than friendly falling out, but Kojima did debunk the theory of the unfinished game once he was legally in the clear. Despite this, there is a reason whyPhantom Painwas lambasted as such, and it has a lot to do with its second part.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Painis divided into Chapter 1, “Revenge,” and Chapter 2, “Race.” In Revenge, the player plays what is expected of aMetal Gear Solidgame. After being handed a blow by Cipher inPeace Walker, Big Boss returns for some payback. In his journey, he grows his army, and encounters a colorful cast of characters who join him on his trek. At the end of the chapter, they defeat Cipher, and claim Salehanthropus as their prized jewel. Had the story ended there, it would’ve been acclaimed as the seemingly perfectculmination of a legendary franchise.
Of course, Chapter 2 sees all of that work come undone. Mission 41 is aptly named “Proxy War Without End” because that’s exactly what it is. The crew of Mother Base becomes paranoid about a spy infiltrating their ranks, the companions who joined Big Boss are either exiled or die, and to top it all off, the army of child soldiers steals the Salehanthropus. The final plot twist of the game reveals that Venom Snake was only a body double for the real Big Boss. It’s that sameVenom Snake who is the final bossof the very firstMetal Geargame from 1987. The cycle continues.
Beneath all the memes, the fourth wall breaking, and cryptic tapes, theMetal Gearfranchise makes a strong case against nuclear war, as it would lead to the end of humanity, but also against nuclear weapons themselves for all the folly that ensues. Big Boss never had the chance to hear Major Zero’s final message when he visited him at the hospital, which ultimately led to the creation of the Patriot system. It would be wise for those who have heard it not to make the same mistake, and plunge the world into the dystopia that is the world ofMetal Gear.
