In the game ‘Metal Gear Solid’,who is the twin brother of Solid Snake?
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Metal Gear Solid Solid Snake
Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan and first published by Konami for the PlayStation in 1998. The game was directed, produced, and co-written by series creator Hideo Kojima, and serves as a sequel to the MSX2 video games Metal Gear and  Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which Kojima also wrote and directed. 

Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit.  Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike.  Cinematic cutscenes were rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, and voice acting was used throughout the entire game. 

Metal Gear Solid was well received, shipping more than six million copies,  and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic.  It is regarded as one of the greatest and most important games of all time,   and is often seen as the game which helped popularize the stealth genre. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral; and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the GameCube. The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequels and spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels.

Gameplay

Despite a transition to 3D, the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid remains similar to its 2D MSX2 predecessor Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. The player must navigate the protagonist, Solid Snake, through the game's areas without being detected by enemies.  Detection is triggered by the player moving into an enemy's field of vision and sets off an alarm that draws armed enemies to his location.  This also triggers "alert mode" and the player must then hide and remain undetected, at which point “evasion mode” begins and once the counter reaches zero the game returns to "infiltration mode" where enemies are not suspicious of Snake’s presence. The radar cannot be used in alert or evasion mode. 

To remain undetected, the player can perform techniques which make use of both Solid Snake's abilities and the environment, such as crawling under objects, using boxes as cover, ducking or hiding around walls, and making noise to distract enemies. These are carried out using the third-person camera, which often changes its angle to give the player the best view of the area possible, and an on-screen radar, which displays enemies and their field of vision. Snake can also make use of many items and gadgets, such as infra-red goggles or a cardboard box disguise.  The emphasis on stealth promotes a less violent form of gameplay, as fights against large groups of enemies will often result in serious damage for the player. 

The game's progress is punctuated by cutscenes and codec, as well as encounters with bosses. To progress, players must discover the weaknesses of each boss and defeat them. Play controls and strategies can also be accessed via the Codec radio, where advice is delivered from Snake's support team; for example, the support team may chastise Snake for not saving his progress often enough, or explain his combat moves in terms of which buttons to press on the gamepad. The Codec is also used to provide exposition on the game's backstory. Completion of the title provides the player with a statistical summary of their performance, and a "code name" based upon it, typically the name of a common animal.

In a first for the Metal Gear series, a training mode, called VR Mode, is available in which players can practice hiding techniques, weapon use, and sneaking. In addition to the stealth gameplay, there are set piece sequences that entail firefights between the player and enemies from the third-person and first-person perspectives. 

Characters

The protagonist of Metal Gear Solid is Solid Snake, a legendary infiltrator and saboteur. During the mission, Snake receives support and advice via codec radio. Colonel Roy Campbell, Solid Snake's former commanding officer, supports Snake with advice and tactics. While he initially keeps a number of secrets from Snake, he gradually reveals them.  He is joined by Naomi Hunter, who gives medical advice; Nastasha Romanenko, who provides item and weapon tips; Master Miller, a former drill instructor and survival coach; and Mei Ling, who invented the soliton radar system used in the mission and is also in charge of mission data; the player can call her to save the game.

The main antagonist of the game is Liquid Snake, leader of a now-terrorist splinter cell of the organization FOXHOUND, and genetic counterpart to Solid Snake. An elite special forces unit, FOXHOUND contains experts specializing in unique tasks. Members are Revolver Ocelot, a Western-style gunslinger and expert interrogator whose weapon of choice is the Colt Single Action Army; Sniper Wolf, a preternatural sniper; Vulcan Raven, a hulking Alaskan shaman armed with an M61 Vulcan torn from a downed F-16; Psycho Mantis, a psychic profiler and psychokinesis expert; and Decoy Octopus, a master of disguise.

Other characters include Meryl Silverburgh, Colonel Campbell's niece and a rookie soldier stationed in Shadow Moses who did not join the revolt; Dr. Hal Emmerich, the lead developer of Metal Gear REX; and the "Ninja", a mysterious cybernetically enhanced agent who is neither an ally nor an enemy of Snake but does oppose FOXHOUND.

Plot

The year is 2005, six years after the downfall of Zanzibarland.  A renegade genetically-enhanced special forces unit, FOXHOUND, has seized a remote island in Alaska's Fox Archipelago codenamed "Shadow Moses", the site of a nuclear weapons disposal facility. FOXHOUND threatens to use the nuclear-capable mecha, Metal Gear REX, against the U.S. government if they do not receive the remains of Big Boss and the ransom of $1 billion within 24 hours. Solid Snake is forced out of retirement  by Colonel Roy Campbell to infiltrate the island and neutralize the threat. 

Snake enters the facility via an air vent and locates the first hostage, DARPA Chief Donald Anderson. Anderson reveals that Metal Gear REX can be deactivated with a secret detonation override code, but dies of a heart attack.  Colonel Campbell's niece Meryl Silverburgh, held hostage in an adjoining cell,  helps Snake escape. Snake locates another hostage, ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker, but is confronted by FOXHOUND member Revolver Ocelot. Their gunfight is interrupted by a mysterious cyborg ninja who cuts off Ocelot's right hand. Baker briefs Snake on the Metal Gear project and advises him to contact Meryl, whom he gave a PAL card that might prevent the launch, but he too dies of a sudden heart attack.  

Over Codec, Meryl agrees to meet in the warhead disposal area on the condition that Snake contacts Metal Gear's designer, Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. En route, Snake receives an anonymous codec call warning him of a tank ambush.  Snake fends off the attack from Vulcan Raven and proceeds to the rendezvous, where he locates Otacon. The ninja reappears and Snake realizes it is his former ally Gray Fox, believed dead.  Otacon agrees to aid Snake remotely using special camouflage to procure information and supplies.

Snake meets Meryl and receives the PAL card. As they head for the underground base, Meryl is possessed by psychic Psycho Mantis and pulls her gun on Snake. He disarms her and defeats Mantis, who informs Snake that he has "a large place" in her heart. After they reach the underground passageway, Sniper Wolf ambushes them, wounds Meryl, and captures Snake. Liquid confirms Snake's suspicion that they are twin brothers.  After being tortured by Ocelot,  Snake is confused to discover Anderson's body in his cell, seemingly dead for days. He escapes, makes his way up the communications tower, and fends off a helicopter attack from Liquid. As he emerges onto a snowfield, he is confronted again by Sniper Wolf. He kills her, devastating Otacon, who was infatuated with her.

Snake continues to REX's hangar and is ambushed again by Raven. After Snake defeats him, Raven tells Snake that "Anderson" was in fact FOXHOUND disguise artist Decoy Octopus  Infiltrating Metal Gear's hangar, Snake overhears Liquid and Ocelot preparing the REX launch sequence and uses the PAL card, but this unexpectedly activates REX.  Liquid reveals that he has been impersonating Snake's advisor Master Miller and that FOXHOUND has used Snake to facilitate REX's launch.  He and Snake are the product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a 1970s government program to clone Big Boss.  He also reveals to Snake the government's true reason for sending him: Snake is unknowingly carrying a weaponized "FoxDie" virus that causes cardiac arrest in FOXHOUND members on contact, allowing the government to retrieve REX undamaged. 

As Liquid, in REX, battles Snake, Gray Fox appears, destroys REX's radome, and is killed. Snake destroys REX and defeats Liquid, then escapes with Meryl or Otacon via an underground tunnel, pursued by Liquid in a Jeep. After their vehicles crash, Liquid pulls a gun on Snake but dies from FoxDie.  Colonel Campbell, briefly ousted from command, calls off a nuclear strike to destroy evidence of the operation, and has Snake registered as killed in action to stop the US government searching for him.  Naomi Hunter, who injected Snake with the FoxDie virus, tells him that he has an indeterminate amount of time before it kills him. Ocelot calls the U.S. President; he was a double agent whose mission was to steal Baker's disk of Metal Gear specifications. 

Development

Kojima initially planned the third Metal Gear game in 1994, originally titled Metal Gear 3, and to release it for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1994. Conceptual artwork, by illustrator Yoji Shinkawa, of the characters Solid Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, who was also a character in the adventure game Policenauts, and the FOXHOUND team, were included in the Policenauts: Pilot Disk preceding the release of the full version of the 3DO game in 1995.  However, due to the discontinuation of the 3DO from the market, development of the game shifted to the PlayStation shortly after Policenauts was released.

Kojima retitled the game Metal Gear Solid, choosing this over the working title Metal Gear 3. This was due to the fact that he believed that the first two MSX2 games were not well known at the time due to their lack of worldwide releases. He used the word 'Solid' which was chosen due to the game being the third installment in the series, and because it uses 3D computer graphics, as well as being in reference to Solid Snake, the game's protagonist. Sequels to this game also use the Metal Gear Solid title, and generally follow a numeral progression.

The development for Metal Gear Solid began in mid-1995  with the intention of creating the "best PlayStation game ever". Developers aimed for accuracy and realism while making the game enjoyable and tense. In the early stages of development, the Huntington Beach SWAT team educated the creators with a demonstration of vehicles, weapons and explosives. Weapons expert Motosada Mori was also tapped as technical adviser in the research, which included visits to Fort Irwin and firing sessions at Stembridge Gun Rentals.   Kojima stated that "if the player isn't tricked into believing that the world is real, then there's no point in making the game". To fulfill this, adjustments were made to every detail, such as individually designed desks. 

Hideo Kojima created the characters of Metal Gear Solid. Modifications and mechanics were made by conceptual artist Yoji Shinkawa. According to Shinkawa, Solid Snake's physique in this particular installment was based on Jean-Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance was based on  Christopher Walken.   The characters were completed by polygonal artists using brush drawings and clay models by Shinkawa.  Kojima wanted greater interaction with objects and the environment, such as allowing the player to hide bodies in a storage compartment. Additionally, he wanted "a full orchestra right next to the player"; a system which made modifications such as tempo and texture to the currently playing track, instead of switching to another pre-recorded track. Although these features could not be achieved, they were implemented in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. 

Metal Gear Solid was shown to the public at E3 1997 as a short video. It was later playable for the first time at the Tokyo Game Show in 1998 and officially released the same year in Japan  with an extensive promotional campaign. Television and magazine advertisements, in-store samples, and demo give-aways contributed to a total of $8 million in promotional costs.  An estimated 12 million demos for the game were distributed during 1998. 

Music

The musical score of Metal Gear Solid was composed by Konami's in-house musicians, including Kazuki Muraoka, Hiroyuki Togo, Takanari Ishiyama, Lee Jeon Myung, and Maki Kirioka. Composer and lyricist Rika Muranaka provided a song called "The Best is Yet To Come" for the game's ending credits sequence.  The song is performed in Irish by Aoife Ní Fhearraigh.  The main theme was composed by Tappi Iwase from the Konami Kukeiha Club.

Music played in-game has a synthetic feel with increased pace and introduction of strings during tense moments, with a looping style endemic to video games. Overtly cinematic music, with stronger orchestral and choral elements, appears in cutscenes. The soundtrack was released on September 23, 1998, under the King Records label. 

Releases

Original version

The English version of Metal Gear Solid, translated by Jeremy Blaustein, who localized the Sega CD version of Snatcher, contains minor refinements made during localization, such as a choice of three difficulty settings when starting a new game (with a fourth unlockable setting available if a completed file is present), an alternate tuxedo outfit for Snake (which the character wears on every third successive playthrough on the same save file), and a "demo theater" where the player views every cutscene and radio conversations relevant to the main story.  Changes to the English script include the addition of Western sources and authors to Mei-Ling's motivational quotes (originally the character only cited Chinese proverbs) and the games detected by Psycho Mantis when he reads the player's memory card (due to certain titles such as Policenauts and the Tokimeki Memorial series not being released for the foreign market). Versions of the game dubbed in Spanish, German, French and Italian were released throughout Europe in addition to the English-dubbed version released in America. A premium package was released in Japan and Asia containing the game, a T-shirt, dog tags, a music CD featuring the soundtracks of the MSX2 games, and a booklet with information about the game's production and plot.  A European version of the package was also produced, featuring different content from the Japanese version. 

The Japanese PlayStation version of Metal Gear Solid, as well as Integral, had been reissued twice: once under The Best range and second time as a PS one Books title. Likewise, the American and European versions of Metal Gear Solid were reissued under the "Greatest Hits" and "Platinum" ranges respectively. The game is included in the Japanese Metal Gear Solid: 20th Anniversary Collection set  and in the American Essential Collection set.  The original Metal Gear Solid was released on the PlayStation Store for download on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in  in Japan and in  in North America and Europe.

Integral

Released on June 25, 1999 for the PlayStation in Japan,   is an expanded edition that features the additional content from the American and European versions of the original game. Integral replaces the Japanese voices from the original version with the English dub, while offering a choice between Japanese and English subtitles (item descriptions, mission logs and other text are still in Japanese). Further additional content to the main game include an alternate "sneaking suit" outfit for Meryl (which she wears after the player unlocks the tuxedo for Snake), a "Very Easy" difficulty setting where the player starts the mission armed with a suppressor-equipped MP5 sub-machine gun with infinite ammo (which substitutes the FAMAS rifle in the player's inventory), an eight Codec frequency featuring written staff commentary (in Japanese only) on every area and boss encounter, hidden music tracks, an alternate game mode where the player controls Snake from a first-person perspective, an option for alternate patrol routes for enemies, and a downloadable PocketStation minigame. The Torture Event was also made easier on higher difficulty levels, reducing the number of rounds to three per session in all settings.

In addition to the main game, Integral includes a third disc of additional content called the "VR Disc." The VR Disc features 300 VR training missions testing the player's sneaking and fighting skills, as well as less conventional tests, such as murder mysteries, battling giant genome soldiers, and three missions where the player controls the Cyborg Ninja. Other content include preview trailers and a "photoshoot" mode where the player takes pictures of Mei Ling and Naomi.  Completing all 300 missions will unlock a concept artwork of the Metal Gear RAY mech that would later appear in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Famitsu magazine rated Metal Gear Solid: Integral a 34 out of 40. 

The third disc from Integral was released as a stand-alone game in North America under the title of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions on September 23, 1999.  While the content of VR Missions are virtually identical to the VR Disc, the unlocking requirements for the Ninja missions and the photoshoot mode were changed accordingly so that they no longer required save data from the main story mission.

The VR Disc was also released in the PAL region as an expansion pack titled Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions on October 29, 1999. Unlike the Japanese and American versions, Special Missions requires a PAL copy of the original Metal Gear Solid in order to be played. This change was done since the original Metal Gear Solid was released in multiple languages in Europe and Special Missions determines the language it uses based on which version of the original game the player owns. When the Special Missions disc is loaded into the PlayStation console, the game will ask the player to switch the disc with the first disc from Metal Gear Solid in order to load voice and language data before asking the player to switch back to the Special Missions disc.  This requirement renders Special Missions incompatible with PlayStation 2 consoles made prior to the SCPH-70000 model.

PC version

The PC version of Metal Gear Solid was released in North America, Europe and Asia in late 2000.   This version was published by Microsoft Game Studios and developed by Digital Dialect. It supports the use of a keyboard or a USB game controller with at least six buttons (with the manual recommending the Sidewinder Game Pad Pro). The PC version is simply labelled Metal Gear Solid on the packaging, but the actual game uses the Metal Gear Solid: Integral logo, although it has some differences as well from the PlayStation version of Integral and lacks some of its content. The biggest change was reducing the number of discs from three to two, which was done by giving each disc two separate executable files, one for the main game (mgsi.exe) and the other for the VR training portion (mgsvr.exe), thus eliminating the need for a stand-alone third disc.

One notable omission was the removal of the cutscene prior to the Psycho Mantis battle in which he reads the player's memory card and activates the vibration function of the player's controller if a DualShock is being used, as this scene involved the use of PlayStation-specific peripherals. The method for defeating Mantis was also changed from using the second controller to simply using the keyboard (regardless of whether the player was using a game controller or not up to that point). Other omissions include the removal of the eighth Codec frequency (140.07), which featured written commentaries by the developers, Meryl's alternate sneaking suit outfit, and the mission logs when loading a save file. However, the PC version adds the option to toggle moving and shooting in first-person view mode at any time regardless of difficulty setting, and players can now save their progress at any point without contacting Mei-Ling through the use of quick saves. On the VR training portion, all 300 missions, as well as the photoshoot mode, are available from the start, although the three unlockable preview trailers from the PlayStation version have been removed. 

Scoring 83 in Metacritic's aggregate, the game was criticized for "graphic glitches", the aged nature of the port, and being essentially identical to the PlayStation version. 

The Twin Snakes

A remake of Metal Gear Solid, titled Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, was developed by Silicon Knights under the supervision of Hideo Kojima and released for the GameCube in North America, Japan, and Europe in March 2004.  While Twin Snakes was largely developed at Silicon Knights, its cutscenes were developed in-house at Konami and directed by Japanese film director Ryuhei Kitamura, reflecting his dynamic signature style, utilizing bullet time photography and choreographed gunplay extensively.  While the storyline and settings of the game were unchanged (although a select few lines of dialog were re-written more closely resembling the original Japanese version), a variety of gameplay features from Sons of Liberty were added such as the first person aiming and hanging from bars on walls. Another change in the English voice acting was the reduction of Mei Ling's, Naomi's and Nastasha's accents, as well as the recasting of Gray Fox from Greg Eagles, who still reprise the role of the DARPA chief, to Rob Paulsen. The graphics were also updated to match those of Metal Gear Solid 2. 

Reception and legacy

Metal Gear Solid was a commercial success, shipping over six million copies worldwide. It became one of the most rented games  and topped sales charts in the United Kingdom. 

The game was critically acclaimed, gaining a 93.24% and 94/100 aggregate at ratings websites GameRankings and Metacritic, respectively. The review in PlayStation Magazine declared it "the best game ever made. Unputdownable and unforgettable." The review by IGN opined Metal Gear Solid came "closer to perfection than any other game in PlayStation's action genre" and called it "beautiful, engrossing, and innovative...in every conceivable category." NGamer compared it to "playing a big budget action blockbuster, only better." GamePro called it "this season's top offering [game] and one game no self-respecting gamer should be without," but criticized the frame rate that  "occasionally stalls the eye-catching graphics".  GameSpot was critical of how easy it is for the player to avoid being seen, as well as the game's short length, calling it "more of a work of art than ... an actual game." Metal Gear Solid received an Excellence Award for Interactive Art at the 1998 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Retrospective

Metal Gear Solid is often recognized as one of the key titles involved in popularizing the stealth game genre. The idea of the player being unarmed and having to avoid being seen by enemies rather than fight them has been used in many games since. It is also sometimes acclaimed as being a film as much as a game due to the lengthy cut scenes and complicated storyline.  GameTrailers claimed that Metal Gear Solid "invented the stealth game" and IGN called it "the founder of the stealth genre". Entertainment Weekly said it "broke new ground with...movie-style production...and stealth-driven gameplay." The game is often considered one of the best games for the PlayStation, and was featured in best video games lists by Computer and Video Games in 2000,  by Electronic Gaming Monthly  and Game Informer in 2001,  by Retro Gamer in 2004,  by GameFAQs  and GamePro in 2005,  and by Famitsu,  and by Entertainment Weekly  and GameTrailers in 2006. 

In 2002, IGN ranked it as the best PlayStation game ever, stating that just the demo for the game had "more gameplay [in it] than in most finished titles." IGN also gave it the "Best Ending" and "Best Villain" awards.  In 2005, in placing it 19th on their list of "Top 100 Games", they said that it was "a game that truly felt like a movie."  Guinness World Records awarded Metal Gear Solid with a record for the "Most Innovative Use of a Video Game Controller" for the boss fight with Psycho Mantis in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008 edition.  In 2010, PC Magazine ranked it as seventh in the list of most influential video games of all time, citing its influence on "such stealthy titles as Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell."  In 2012, Time named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time  and G4tv ranked it as the 45th top video game of all time.  According to 1UP.com, Metal Gear Solids cinematic style continues to influence modern action games such as Call of Duty.  Metal Gear Solid, along with its sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2, was featured in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibition The Art of Video Games in  2012.  In September 2015, Metal Gear Solid was voted the best original PlayStation game of all time by users.  

Related media

A Japanese radio drama version of Metal Gear Solid, directed by Shuyo Murata and written by Motosada Mori, was produced shortly after the release of the original PlayStation game. 12 episodes were aired, from 1998 to 1999 on Konami's CLUB db program. The series was later released on CD as a two volume set.   Set after the events of the PlayStation game, Snake, Meryl, Campbell and Mei Ling (all portrayed by their original Japanese voice actors) pursue missions in hostile third world nations as FOXHOUND. The new characters introduced include Sgt. Allen Iishiba (voiced by Toshio Furukawa), a Delta Force operative who assists Snake and Meryl, Col. Mark Cortez (v.b. Osamu Saka), an old friend of Campbell who commands the fictional Esteria Army Special Forces, and Capt. Sergei Ivanovich (v.b. Kazuhiro Nakata), a former war buddy of Revolver Ocelot from his SVR days.

In September 2004, IDW Publications began publishing a series of Metal Gear Solid comics,  written by Kris Oprisko and illustrated by Ashley Wood.  As of 2006, 12 issues have been published, fully covering the Metal Gear Solid storyline.  The comic was adapted into a PlayStation Portable game titled Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (Metal Gear Solid: Bande Dessinée in Japan).  It features visual enhancements and two interactive modes designed to give further insight into the publication.  Upon viewing the pages, the player can open a "scanning" interface to search for characters and items in a three dimensional view. Discoveries are added to a database which can be traded with other players via Wi-Fi. The "mission mode" allows the player to add collected information into a library. This information must be properly connected to complete a mission. Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel was released in North America on June 13, 2006, Japan on September 21 and the PAL region on September 22.  In 2006, the game received IGN's award for Best Use of Sound on the PSP.  A DVD-Video version is included with its sequel (Metal Gear Solid 2: Bande Dessinée), which was released in Japan on June 12, 2008. The DVD version features full voice acting.

A novelization based on the original Metal Gear Solid was written by Raymond Benson and published by Del Rey. The American paperback edition was published on May 27, 2008,  and the British Edition on June 5, 2008.  

A second novelization by Kenji Yano (written under the pen name Hitori Nojima), titled Metal Gear Solid Substance I, was published by Kadokawa Shoten in Japan on August 25, 2015.  This novelization is narrated through a text file written by a young man living in Manhattan in 2009 (the present year of the Plant chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty). The story also acknowledges certain plot elements from Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain regarding certain characters such as Liquid Snake and Psycho Mantis.

Film adaptation

Director Hideo Kojima confirmed in 2006 that a film adaptation of Metal Gear Solid was in development.  He also hinted that the movie may be set in Alaska, the original setting for the game.  Despite pitching his ideas regarding the movie, the voice of Solid Snake, David Hayter, will not be writing the final script, appearing in the movie or directing the film. However, a petition has been started by fans to get Hayter involved in writing the script.  The movie's producers hoped to invite Kurt Wimmer to write the movie, but the final decision has not yet been announced,   but producer Michael DeLuca dismissed the claim. According to an interview in Nuts magazine actor Christian Bale is interested in playing Solid Snake in the film.  In late August 2012, Konami issued a press release stating that a live-action film was in pre-production.  The film is being produced by Avi Arad and Ari Arad, with their production company Arad Productions as well as Columbia Pictures. Distribution and production will be handled by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Solid Snake is one of the central characters of the Metal Gear series and the protagonist in many of the series games. A former Green Beret and a highly skilled special operations soldier engaged in solo stealth and espionage missions, he is often tasked with destroying models of the bipedal nuclear weapon-armed mecha known as Metal Gear. Controlled by the player, he must act alone, supported via radio by commanding officers and specialists. While his first appearances in the original Metal Gear games were references to Hollywood films, the Metal Gear Solid series has given a consistent design by artist Yoji Shinkawa alongside an established personality. The character has been well received by critics. 

During the Metal Gear Solid games, the character has been voiced by Akio Ōtsuka in the Japanese version and by actor and screenwriter David Hayter in the English version.

Characteristics

During his debut appearances, Solid Snake's visual appearances were references to popular actors, and he was given his own consistent design in Metal Gear Solid. Such design shows him as a brown-haired adult wearing a dark "sneaking suit", as well as a bandana. This appearance has remained mostly consistent throughout subsequent installments, with minor changes due to his advancing age. During the beginning of the Plant Chapter in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, he disguises himself by wearing a Navy SEAL uniform. Nevertheless, he still wears his sneaking suit for missions and has access to different disguises to make him look like other characters, as well as his younger self.

He possesses an IQ of 180, and is fluent in six languages. Solid Snake has been on the battlefield for most of his life;  a hardened veteran, he has his emotions buried very deep inside himself during his missions, every one of which has different motives.  He is also immediately shown as a loner,   often with no intentions of taking orders from anyone anymore  and he shows no sign of longing for the army or the country he was part of.  However, along with these traits he nevertheless has a more human side, being flirtatious,  self-sacrificing  and with a strong belief that even on a battlefield friendship  and love  can flourish, and that violence is not glorious.  But Snake's perceived stance on violence may be a case of denial, as Snake's enemies and at least one of his allies have claimed that, in truth, he enjoys killing, and label him as more evil than the people he has killed.     When he is not on duty, he acts as a musher. 

Appearances

Metal Gear main series 

Metal Gear (initially released in 1987) introduces , the rookie recruit of the elite special-forces unit FOXHOUND. Snake is sent by FOXHOUND leader Big Boss into the rogue nation Outer Heaven to rescue missing teammate Gray Fox and discover who or what the "METAL GEAR" that was mentioned is.   As his mission progresses, Snake finds out that he has been set up; Outer Heaven's leader intended to use the experimental, nuclear-armed TX-55 Metal Gear to establish Outer Heaven as a nuclear power.  After destroying the Metal Gear itself, Snake then confronts and defeats Big Boss's phantom. 

The sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (initially released only in Japan in 1990 ) sees Solid Snake once again called up to infiltrate a heavily fortified enemy base in Zanzibar Land. Zanzibar Land has aggravated an international oil crisis and declared themselves a nuclear power by kidnapping Dr. Kio Marv after the creation of a bio-engineered algae that produces an oil substitute, and the Metal Gear original designer Dr. Pettrovich Madnar.  Snake infiltrates the base and discovers that Pettrovich as well as his former comrade Gray Fox has defected to Zanzibar Land, and that Zanzibar Land is led by Big Boss.  Snake destroys Metal Gear D, and defeats both Fox and Big Boss.  

Metal Gear Solid sees Solid Snake pulled out of retirement by Colonel Roy Campbell in a mission to deal with the "Sons of Big Boss" under Liquid Snake's leadership and seized an isolated American nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island to retrieve two hostages (Donald Anderson and Kenneth Baker).  Despite both Anderson's and Baker's deaths, Snake infiltrates and learns about Metal Gear REX after meeting up with rookie soldier Meryl Silverburgh and REX's engineer Hal Emmerich, and having confrontations with the Cyborg Ninja. As the games progresses, Snake confronts and defeats each member of the corrupt fraction of FOXHOUND (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Decoy Octopus, Psycho Mantis, Sniper Wolf, Vulcan Raven, and the Genome Soldiers), is able to destroy REX, and personally confronts Liquid. During their fight, it is revealed that Solid and Liquid are twin brothers artificially conceived from Big Boss's genes during the "Les Enfants Terribles" government project designed to create the perfect soldier, in which one brother was genetically modified to be superior over the other.  Liquid harbors a strong resentment towards Snake since Solid was given their father's dominant "soldier genes" and Liquid was cast aside. After a grueling series of battles, Liquid dies from the Fox-Die virus that was previously implanted into Snake by Naomi Hunter in order to wipe out FOXHOUND and the Genome soldiers without risking any damage to REX and the Genome soldiers for retrieval.  In the end, it is revealed that Liquid got Big Boss's superior "soldier genes" while Solid was actually the inferior one. The game's ending also reveals his real name .

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty shows Solid Snake as the playable character during the game's extensive prologue sequence in which he is sent by Otacon's anti-proliferation organization Philanthropy to infiltrate a cargo tanker and photograph Metal Gear RAY.  During the operation, however, RAY is hijacked and the tanker destroyed, with Snake apparently dead and framed for the deed.  During the game's main portion, Solidus Snake steals Snake's identity,  and leads the "Sons of Liberty" (consisting of Revolver Ocelot, Fortune, Fatman, Vamp and Olga Gurlukovich) while Snake himself uses the pseudonym  as a non-playable character who assists rookie agent Raiden through the remote offshore Big Shell facility and in taking down Solidus and RAY while also learning about the Patriots. 

Solid Snake is alluded in the Metal Gear Solid prequels. In Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, he is briefly alluded in a prophetic vision as Naked Snake's "son [that] will save the world" after either Liquid or Solidus as Big Boss's "son [that] will bring the world to ruin".  In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Kazuhira Miller mentions Big Boss's "twin sons" that are two years old at the time.  

The PlayStation 3 game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots features an aged incarnation of Solid Snake that is once again the protagonist identified as  during the game. Thanks to Otacon and Sunny, he wears a sneaking suit outfitted with "Octocamo" technology, which allows him to blend with his environment, as well as a face mask which alters his appearance.  Snake is once again enlisted by his old friend Roy Campbell to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, CEO of a giant mother company that's trying to take control of the Patriots' AIs.  During his final mission, he also learns from Naomi Hunter that his life has been artificially shortened as part of the cloning process so that his genes can't be used as a weapon in later research. As a result, Snake has the physical appearance an elderly man, despite being only forty-two years old.  Snake and his allies are forced to destroy the Patriots' AI to stop this all and fight through Ocelot's forces until Snake defeats Liquid's doppelgänger in hand-to-hand combat. Learning that his DNA contains a mutated version of the FOXDIE virus that might trigger an epidemic, Snake tries to commit suicide, however, he is approached by Big Boss telling Snake that he still has a chance to live 'not as a snake but as a man'. After making up with Big Boss and then father dies from a new strain of the FOXDIE virus, Snake decides to live out the remainder of his life in peace, vowing that he will live long enough to see what the future holds for the new world he has helped create. 

Solid Snake is featured/mentioned in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.   The unlockable bonus mission "Déjà Vu" that's exclusively on the PlayStations platform and later Xbox platform of Ground Zeroes in which Big Boss must re-enact situations from the original Metal Gear Solid game and answer a series of trivia questions after fulfilling them. If all the questions are answered correctly on the Normal difficulty setting, the mission can be replayed with Big Boss's standard character model replaced with Snake's low-polygon model from the original Metal Gear Solid game. The Phantom Pain shows that Snake's original Metal Gear Solid low-polygon model can be an alternate outfit for Venom Snake after transferring the save data from Ground Zeroes. David is also alluded in association with Eli.

Other Metal Gear media

Solid Snake also serves as the protagonist in Snake's Revenge, a sequel to the original Metal Gear for the NES released for the western market in 1990 and developed without Kojima's involvement. Set three years after the events of the Outer Heaven incident, Snake's Revenge has Snake leading a team of FOX HOUND operatives as they infiltrate an undisclosed enemy base where the Metal Gear weapon is being mass-produced. Snake is addressed by the military rank of Lieutenant and starts the game already equipped with a handgun and a combat knife, in contrast to the first game, where Snake had to procure all of his weapons on-site.

After the success of the original Metal Gear Solid, KCEJ produced a trilogy of Metal Gear spin-offs for portable platforms set in a parallel universe outside the main Kojima-directed series. All three of these portable games were directed by Shinta Nojiri. The first of these is Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (released outside Japan as Metal Gear Solid), in which Solid Snake must infiltrate a rebuilt Outer Heaven (now called Galuade) to defeat a FOXHOUND-like team of rogue agents called Black Chamber and destroy a stolen Metal Gear prototype, Gander. Although the actual in-game artwork of Ghost Babel were done by Ikuya Nakamura, Yoji Shinkawa provided the promotional art like he did with the original Metal Gear Solid. In the second of these titles, Metal Gear Acid, Snake must retrieve "Pythagoras" from the Lobito Physics and Research Laboratory, in order to satisfy hijackers who have kidnapped presidential candidate Viggo Hach. This mission is complicated by La Clown, an expert mimic who impersonates Snake's contact Teliko, and subtle brainwashing that nearly convinces him that he is Hans Davis, a ruthless scientist that worked at the Lobito facility. He overcomes both and contacts the real Teliko, then destroys the latest model of Metal Gear, Metal Gear KODOQUE. Metal Gear Acid 2 features a main character who is not the real version, but a clone created from tissue samples of the man from the original Metal Gear Acid, following the events of the Lobito Island mission; the Solid Snake from the original Acid is implied to be dead in the sequel.

The character appears in his Old Snake form as a playable character in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus, a stand-alone expansion to the Portable Ops focusing on online play. In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the VR Missions DLC add-on for the game's Japanese version includes a new weapon that can be used by Raiden known as the Hebidamashi, a talking wooden sword which speaks with Solid Snake's voice (as portrayed by Akio Ōtsuka).  The weapon was never made available for the English versions of Rising.

Outside video games, Solid Snake appeared in the Metal Gear Solid audio drama that focuses on his missions following the battle from Shadow Moses.  He also appears in Alex Garner's comic book adaptations of Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2.  Raymond Benson's novelizations of these two games also feature Solid Snake; Benson's adaptation of the character frequently focuses on the comical aspects of his characterization.   He also appears in Project Itoh's novelization from Metal Gear Solid 4 where his actions are told from Hal Emmerich's point of view. 

Other video games and media

Solid Snake has appeared in a number of other games, including other Konami games. Hideo Kojima makes a habit of referencing his previous work. In the Kojima-produced Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (and Shin Bokura no Taiyō: Gyakushū no Sabata), Snake appears as an unnamed character who sells items to the player. Konami's Evolution Skateboarding features Snake and Raiden as hidden characters, as well two stages set in the Big Shell (the skateboarding minigame in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance is a demo of Evolution Skateboarding composed exclusively of these elements).  Solid Snake also appears in both halves of a crossover between the Metal Gear and Ape Escape franchises: the Ape Escape monkeys appear with Solid Snake in the "Snake vs. Monkey" minigame featured in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. In turn, Snake appears in the corresponding Metal Gear Solid minigame featured in Ape Escape 3, where he is rescued by Pipo Snake (Snake's character design in this minigame is taken directly from Naked Snake's).

He has also appeared in two of cross-company fighting games. In DreamMix TV World Fighters, Solid Snake appears as a playable character alongside other third-party characters such as Bomberman and Convoy (Optimus Prime). Similarly, in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the third installment from the popular fighting game series Super Smash Bros. , Solid Snake appeared as a playable fighter alongside  Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog and a variety of characters from Nintendo franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong. Brawl Director Masahiro Sakurai has stated that Snake was included under Kojima's request.  In addition, Snake has appeared as a playable character in the Nintendo DS game New International Track & Field alongside some other Konami characters. Also, Old Snake has appeared in the Japanese version of Scribblenauts, having been published by Konami in that region.  Customizations in Media Molecule's LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 allow the player character, Sackboy, to take on the appearance of Old Snake.  In the web series Death Battle, Snake was pitted against Splinter Cell protagonist Sam Fisher in a fight to the death, in which he won. He was voiced by Christopher Sabat. 

Creation and development

Much as Metal Gear began as a pastiche of action movies of the time, Solid Snake began as a pastiche of contemporary action movie heroes. For example, on the cover artwork of the original Metal Gear, he resembles the Michael Biehn incarnation of Kyle Reese in The Terminator (although, Kojima claims to have no involvement in the production of the game's packaging illustration), and the in-game portrait of Snake in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake resembles Mel Gibson.  Solid Snake was apparently even named after a fictional special forces operative: Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in Escape from New York.  However, Kojima revealed in March 2014 that the origins of Snake's name were something else. According to Kojima, he was given the name "Snake" because snakes are a symbol of stealth. Additionally, the "Solid" part of his code-name was given to him to give the opposite impression of a soft image.  Kojima has compared the personality of Snake with Arsène Lupin III of Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise, stating that in "MGS, Snake became this sharp-tongued, Lupin III-like guy who flirted with women and told lots of jokes".  In Guns of the Patriots, Snake is modelled after Lee Van Cleef, who appeared in Escape from New York.  His real name, David,  is a tribute to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey that has a character with the same name.  Kojima later described Snake's role in the original Metal Gear as the "player's presence", contrasting the defined personality Solid Snake acquired in Metal Gear Solid. 

In addition to expanding Solid Snake's backstory, as the first Metal Gear game to feature voice acting, Metal Gear Solid established his characteristic voice and appearance.  Yoji Shinkawa's Solid Snake design, characterized by his navy blue bandanna and "sneaking suit", would serve as the template for all future incarnations of Snake in later Metal Gear games. According to Shinkawa, Snake's physique in Metal Gear Solid was based on that of action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, while his facial appearance in the same game was inspired by actor Christopher Walken. Shinkawa described his rendition of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid as a "middle ground" between the younger Snake who graced the cover artwork of the first Metal Gear and the middle-aged Snake from the MSX2 version of Metal Gear 2.  For the initial events from the Big Shell chapter from Metal Gear Solid 2, Snake's visual appearance was sightly modified with his hair being more blonde.  Solid Snake became one of the characters easiest to draw by Shinkawa as he notes that his appearance is consistent despite suffering minor changes across the games. 

Various scenes from the games relate Snake's ideals with Hideo Kojima's. During Metal Gear Solid 2 Snake encourages Raiden to trust himself in making his own choices with the former representing the veteran developer and the latter the younger staff who are to decide whether a sequel to the series would be made without Kojima. In Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake tries to protect the next generation by stopping Ocelot which represented Kojima working with the staff to avoid bugs from occurring within the game. Kojima introduced the cloning origins of Solid Snake to Metal Gear Solid in order to provide Solid Snake with an adversary who would be his equal, since the story, being a continuation of the original MSX2 games, established Snake as an experienced soldier. Kojima explained that his decision to introduce a new playable character in Solid Snake's place for Sons of Liberty was done in order to develop Snake from another character's perspective, but also to avoid treating Snake as a rookie by having a new character be instructed via Codec instead.

By the time Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots started development, Kojima told Shinkawa about his idea of making Snake look elderly, which surprised the designer. Once Shinkawa showed his artwork of Old Snake to the staff, they were all also surprised by the idea of playing as an old Solid Snake. However, as they were satisfied with end product as the staff started liking the character.  In Guns of the Patriots one of Kojima's endings for the game would have had Snake and Otacon turn themselves in for breaking the law, and subsequently they would be convicted and executed. However, comments from Kojima's staff who were disappointed with his death resulted in the character's survival.  According to Ryan Payton of Konami at the time, Guns of the Patriots is the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character.  Kojima himself stated that the series will continue. Despite previously stating that he does not want the character to be handled by anyone else, in an interview with French gaming magazine IG  he stated that Solid Snake will reappear in a future Metal Gear Solid game.

In the games, Solid Snake has been voiced by Akio Ōtsuka. Ōtsuka remembers being surprised during his debut as a result of the large amount of dialogue Snake was given.  In the English adaptations, Solid Snake's role was made by David Hayter. Hayter found his work notable as he was originally a screenwriter and did not expect to become famous for dubbing a character. While Hayter mentions having issues with some of Snake's lines in his first game, most notably a conversation regarding romance with Hal Emmerich, he stated he would talk about such things if he was asked to again. By the time Metal Gear Solid 4 had its first trailers released, Hayter was frustrated by Snake's flinches during his attempt to commit suicide, based on the character's experience in the battlefield.  For the crossover game Super Smash Bros., Hayter remembers having fun in voicing the character due to the comical lines Snake had to say. 

Reception

Solid Snake's character was very well received by gaming media. Retro Gamer included him in the section "top ten forces of good" in their 2004 list of top 50 retro game heroes.  In 2005, Electronic Gaming Monthly listed Solid Snake as number one as the top ten video game characters of all time. Snake appeared in multiple GameFAQs "Character Battle" contests, and was runner-up in three: the "Character Battle V" in 2006,   the "Character Battle VII" in 2008,  and the "Character Battle IX" in 2013.  In an Oricon poll from 2008, he was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan, tying with Nintendo's Pikachu.  In a Famitsu poll in 2010, Snake was voted by readers as the most popular video game character. His character was amongst the last 16 contestants on the greatest video game hero on GameSpot contest held in 2009, and lost out to Gordon Freeman on a tiebreaker.  In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011, Snake was voted as the fourth most popular video game character.  In 2011, Empire ranked him as the 19th greatest video game character, adding that "beginning as an action pastiche, he swiftly evolved into his very own character". 

Critics have commented on his traits and appearance, often praising Solid Snake for his appealing personality. In 2007, ScrewAttack ranked him as the sixth "coolest" character in video games.  1UP.com listed him second in the list of top video game smokers, while GamesRadar placed him at the top of their 2009 list of manliest men in video game history.   Complex ranked him as fourth on the list of top "pervs" in games in 2012  and as the seventh greatest soldier in video games in 2013.  Solid Snake's endurance in the face of extreme punishment was even made the focus of a comedy article in the satirical newspaper The Onion.  In 2013, Rich Knight and Gus Turner from Complex ranked him as the ninth best video game mascot, adding that he represents "deep, human emotion that other characters fail to match." 

Solid Snake's Metal Gear Solid 2 design was at the bottom of the worst game character makeovers list by GamePro, condemning his conversion in hairstyle in comparison to his Metal Gear Solid design,  and was also at the top of IGN's list of the worst video game haircuts.  Before Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the character was thought to be the game's protagonist because of his physical resemblances with Naked Snake. However, later previews speculated how was it impossible for Solid Snake to be in the game's settings, leading to the conclusion it was a young incarnation of Big Boss.    A comparison between Solid Snake's and Big Boss's characters was made by IGN in article "Stars Thunderdome: Snake vs. Big Boss." 

The character's appearance in Metal Gear Solid 4 has received mostly positive opinions. Before it was released, various speculations were made regarding Snake's role. As he was the only one who suffered from a drastic change in appearance, IGN commented that the most famous rumor was the one of Snake's body deteriorating across the game.  Moreover, since it had been announced it would be his last appearance, IGN and GamesRadar wondered whether the character would die during the game and if Raiden would replace him following his death.   GamesRadar commented that Snake was one of the few gaming characters that aged across video games.  GamePro also listed Old Snake as one of the biggest surprises from the game, as the character was found interesting in contrast to pessimistic thoughts they had before the game's release.  GameDaily listed the "old hero" as one of their list of top video game archetypes, using the old version of Snake as an example of this.  PLAY gave praise to his moustache considering how highly detailed it is, and represents the change from Snake's character.  On the other hand, 1UP.com placed him third in their 2009 list of most gracelessly aging characters as it gave negative messages about aging.  In 2013, Complex included Old Snake among the ten video game characters who look like sex offenders,  but La Nueva España included him among the top ten sexiest video game characters of both genders. 

GameDaily made Solid Snake top their Smash Bros. characters list,  while PLAY listed him as one of the characters they wanted to be playable in Mortal Kombat.   The character customization in Soulcalibur IV that allowed to create Snake was listed by UGO as one of the best ones from the series owing to his popularity within gamers. 

David Hayter's performance as Solid Snake's English voice actor has received praise to the point of being called one of the best ones in gaming as well as one of the character's most recognizable traits.   In 2013, Game Informer ranked Hayter's role as Snake as the seventh most memorable character voice in video games for "a portrayal that's considered to be a real classic in the history of video game voice acting", adding that "long-time fans are still reeling from the casting of Kiefer Sutherland as Snake for MGSV."
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Liquid Snake
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