Big Boss

In 1995, when FOXHOUND was commissioned by the U.S. to infiltrate Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear, Big Boss first sent in his most trusted soldier, Gray Fox; once Gray Fox was captured, Big Boss sent in Solid Snake, at that time FOXHOUND's least experienced member. Big Boss figured that there was no way that a rookie like Solid Snake could fulfill such a mission, that his efforts would delay further action by the West and buy Big Boss enough time to complete Metal Gear's development.

However, much to Big Boss's surprise, Solid Snake succeeded in disbanding Outer Heaven, recovering the Metal Gear research data, and destroying Metal Gear itself. Faced with the failure of his plans, Big Boss confronted Solid Snake in the heart of Outer Heaven, and revealed his identity as Outer Heaven's mastermind. Big Boss laughed at the astounded Snake and told him the truth behind his mission. After Big Boss activated the base's self-destruct countdown, the two of them engaged in one-on-one combat, with Big Boss dodging between crates and firing at Snake with some kind of machine gun. Even in his advanced age, Big Boss proved fast and dangerous, but Solid Snake eventually managed to apparently kill him.

In reality, Big Boss managed to escape Outer Heaven. When NATO commenced their air raid to bomb all of the refugees and war orphans regardless of their ties to Outer Heaven or not, he also forgave the Resistance members and managed to save as many of the refugees/war orphans, Resistance Members and Outer Heaven personnel alike, as he could from the bombings, including Kyle Schneider.

Solid Snake

Snake's first mission for FOXHOUND came in 1995. He was tasked with infiltrating Outer Heaven, a military nation led by a feared and legendary mercenary, deep within South Africa. Snake was tasked with rescuing Gray Fox, a FOXHOUND agent who was captured earlier, and shed light on Metal Gear, which Gray Fox mentioned in a broken radio message sometime before his capture.

He succeeded in rescuing Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar and destroyed Metal Gear TX-55 with the aid of Gray Fox. Big Boss, his mission commander, then revealed himself to be the leader behind the Outer Heaven uprising, but he was promptly dispatched by Snake. Despite Snake's success in this mission, Snake departed from FOXHOUND and entered early retirement.

Later he was scouted by the CIA and spent six months as a deep cover agent before he became dissatisfied with the system and left. He then became a mercenary for hire, and after earning enough money, he went into semi-retirement in the Canadian wilderness.

Story

In the year 1995, 200km north of Galzburg, South Africa, lies Outer Heaven, a fortified state founded by a "legendary mercenary". Word had gotten out to the western world that deep within the Outer Heaven stronghold, a weapon of mass destruction is being constructed. The United States government orders the high-tech Special Forces unit FOXHOUND to infiltrate the fortress, assess the situation and neutralize the threat. In his mission, FOXHOUND operative Gray Fox infiltrated the Outer Heaven stronghold. Days later, contact with Gray Fox is lost and his last transmission simply reads "METAL GEAR..."

Operative Solid Snake, FOXHOUND's newest recruit, is ordered by squad leader Big Boss to rescue Gray Fox and carry out his mission, "Operation: Intrude N313". Upon insertion into Outer Heaven, Snake makes contact with local resistance members Kyle Schneider, Diane, and Jennifer. Using all of his skills and the equipment he procured on site, he manages to rescue Fox. He learns from Fox that Metal Gear is the codename of a nuclear warhead-equipped bipedal walking tank, which can engage and dominate in all forms of combat as well as launch its nuclear warheads from any location. Outer Heaven plans to use Metal Gear to impose itself as the new world superpower.

In order to destroy Metal Gear, and topple the Outer Heaven mercenaries, Snake rescues the lead engineer of Metal Gear, Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, and his daughter, Ellen. Armed with information on how to destroy Metal Gear, his skill and indomitable spirit, Snake fights through the entire Outer Heaven force. He begins to notice that traps being set for him are too precise, and wonders how information on his activities is being tracked. Moreover, Schneider is ambushed by hostiles and is presumed dead after losing contact with Snake.

Big Boss reveals himself to Solid Snake in the game's final battle (MSX2 version).

Upon breaching the core of the base, Snake is able to neutralize Metal Gear before it reaches completion. As he makes his way out of the compound's basement, he is confronted by the mercenary leader of Outer Heaven, which turns out to be Big Boss. The corrupt leader reveals that he had been using his connections within the U.S. government to steal military intelligence, establish his own mercenary force, and fund his activities. It was his aim to have Outer Heaven become the world's most powerful nation, able to bring even the western nations to their knees. He had the rookie Snake sent in, hoping to have him captured and feed the U.S. government misinformation, but had quite obviously underestimated Snake's capabilities.

Having lost Metal Gear and much of his force, Big Boss starts the self-destruct sequence for the compound, and promises he will not die alone; Snake will join him. An underground battle ensues, and despite injury, Snake defeats Big Boss 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.

Gameplay

The player must navigate the main character (codenamed Solid Snake) through various locations, while avoiding visual contact and direct confrontation with patrolling guards. If the player is seen, the game enters the "Alert Mode." In this situation, the player must hide the character in order to leave the mode. The method of escaping varies depending on the circumstances behind discovery:

1) If a player is seen and only a single exclamation mark (!) appears over an enemy's head, only the enemies in the player's present screen will attack and an escape can be made by moving to the adjacent screen.

2) However, if two exclamation marks (!!) appear over the enemy (or the player triggers an alarm by being spotted by a camera, infrared sensor or by using an unsilenced weapon), reinforcements from off-screen will appear as well. The player can only escape by eliminating all incoming enemies or by simply moving to a different floor.

The player starts the game unarmed, but eventually gains access to a variety of firearms (starting with the Beretta M92F) and explosives and working his way up to machine guns and guided rocket launchers. Ammo and supplies for each weapon are limited, but are easily replenished. Weapons can not only be used to kill enemies, but also to clear obstacles (such as hollow walls or electrified floors). Snake can also use his fists to punch and defeat patrolling enemies. Occasionally if the player defeats a guard with punches without alerting anyone, the defeated guard will yield a single unit of rations or an ammo box that can be picked up.

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 or explore new areas. Doors will only open to their corresponding key cards. Bosses also appear throughout the game to interfere with the player's progress.

Information can be obtained by rescuing hostages being held captive within the buildings. After rescuing five hostages, the player is given a promotion, increasing their "Rank" (up to four stars max), allowing for bigger ammo capacity and maximum health. However, if a hostage is killed, the player is demoted to the previous rank.

A transceiver is available for the player to communicate with their commanding officer (Big Boss) or one of the resistance members operating covertly within the fortress. Each of Snake's allies has an extensive knowledge on specific subjects. The transceiver system is completely room-oriented, as certain radio transmissions occur only in certain locations.

About Game

Metal Gear is a stealth game designed by Hideo Kojima. Metal Gear was developed and first published by Konami in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer. The game is considered to be the progenitor of the stealth game genre, in which avoiding direct encounter with the enemy is emphasized over attacking openly.

The premise revolves around a special forces operative codenamed Solid Snake who goes into a solo infiltration mission into the fortified state of Outer Heaven to destroy Metal Gear, a bipedal walking tank capable of launching nuclear missiles from anywhere in the world.

The MSX2 version was initially released only in Japan and the Netherlands. A heavily altered port for the Japanese Family Computer and its western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, was released months afterwards. The original MSX2 version would be ported to mobile phones in Japan in 2004, followed by its inclusion in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for the PlayStation 2 in 2006, which led to a more mainstream English localization of the original MSX2 version in North America and Europe.

Its success led to the creation of two separately-produced sequels; the first one, Snake's Revenge, was produced specifically for the Western market for the NES and the other, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, was the canonical sequel developed by Kojima and released in Japan for the MSX2 in response to the former's creation. The latter was followed by a successful series of sequels and spinoffs.