Very few tropes are invoked without logically following them through, especially those of spy movies - we see exactly what kind of mind and complete control of a situation would be needed to pull off the absurdly complex Gambit Roulettes that happen once per game, exactly what happens to a Tyke-Bomb forced to take up a normal life, and there's a female on male sexual abuse subplot which is not at all okay, to name just a handful. There are pros and cons to each approach, and the player's willingness or refusal to kill becomes a plot point in several stories.įollowing the initial Metal Gear, each game has been a deconstruction of action movies and video games, playing tropes so painfully straight they curve right back in on themselves.
#TX 55 METAL GEAR SERIES#
Every title in the series after Metal Gear Solid allows the player to complete the game without killing enemy soldiers. Metal Gear was also a pioneer of non-lethal gameplay. One of the most engaging parts of the games is the huge focus on multiple uses for items for example, whilst smoking cigarettes seem like a gag item that just drains your health and earns you a lecture from your contacts, they come with the hidden bonuses of showing laser beams with the smoke, and allowing for steadier aiming by calming your nerves. Kojima's irreverence is such that he's been trying to kill the series off since Metal Gear Solid 2 made its protagonist switch, so he can get on with more interesting things, but a rabidly devoted fanbase simply won't let him. Another trademark is a general tendency for each new installment in the series to retcon at least one more-or-less significant plot detail about at least one of its predecessors. The series loves Breaking the Fourth Wall and has a distinct quirky sense of humor-running jokes involve the iconic use of a cardboard box to sneak around a base (wait until nobody is looking, run to a new location, and repeat). If that's not enough explanation for you, we do have a Recap page for you to check out.
Particularly in a post-Soviet/World War II world in which battles are not always fought for great ideological or religious causes, but are prolonged, brutal proxy wars, where soldiers are sent to die, and then discarded when they're no longer useful. A major theme is the spiritual cost of being a soldier.
Later, his clone joined FOXHOUND and inherited his "father's" former codename, becoming equally famous as "Solid Snake." While the two go through similarly harrowing adventures throughout their careers, they come out of them with near-opposite worldviews, the former growing jaded and ruthless while the latter remains hopeful for the future.įighting a vast global conspiracy which secretly rules the world, their adventures also invariably revolve around the titular Metal Gears - walking battle tanks capable of launching nuclear strikes from any geographic position. To boil the franchise's plot down to the essentials, a former CIA Agent codenamed "Naked Snake," traumatized after his first mission, became a freelance soldier during the Cold War, making a name for himself as the infamous mercenary commander "Big Boss." Eventually, he returned to America and helped the US Army train an elite black-ops unit known as FOXHOUND.