is a 1998 action-adventure stealth game developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation. Directed, produced, and written by Hideo Kojima, the game is the third mainline installment in the Metal Gear series and serves as a sequel to the MSX2 game Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (1990). The game's story follows Solid Snake, a former Special Forces operative who is pulled out of retirement by the U.S. government to infiltrate Shadow Moses, a nuclear weapons facility that has been taken over by rogue unit FOXHOUND, led by Liquid Snake. Solid Snake must liberate hostages and prevent FOXHOUND from using Metal Gear REX, a mecha capable of delivering a nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, while confronting his own origins.

The game is played from a top-down perspective from where Solid Snake must navigate the environment. Stealth is optional but highly encouraged, with a cover system and radar utilized to avoid sight from guards. Getting detected triggers an "Alert" mode where enemies will attempt to kill the player, and is usually deactivated if they evade guards for long enough. The player obtains various items and weapons through the game, including key cards which are used to unlock different areas of the base, typically obtained from defeating bosses.

Conceived by Kojima during the development of Policenauts (1994), Metal Gear Solid was initially developed for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1995 but was soon moved to the PlayStation. With a small team of 20 people, Kojima emphasized extreme detail, utilizing real-life demonstrations of weapons, individually-designed set pieces, and mocking environments using Lego building blocks. Artist Yoji Shinkawa designed the majority of characters, including Solid Snake, who was physically based on Jean-Claude Van Damme and Christopher Walken. Cinematic cutscenes were rendered using the in-engine graphics, and voice acting was used throughout. Metal Gear Solid was unveiled at the 1996 Tokyo Game Show and demonstrated at trade shows including the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo, to largely positive reception.

Upon release, Metal Gear Solid received unanimous acclaim, with critics lauding the cinematic presentation of the game, narrative, gameplay, and stealth mechanics. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games ever made, it is often considered the founding father of the stealth game genre, one of the best PlayStation games, and credited with popularizing cinematic style in video games. Despite low expectations, Metal Gear Solid was also commercially successful, selling more than seven million copies worldwide and establishing the Metal Gear series as a cultural icon. An expanded version, Metal Gear Solid: Integral, was released in 1999 and 2000 for the PlayStation and Windows. Both the game and its Integral and VR Missions expansions were re-released digitally on the PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, as well as included in the compilations Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection (2013) and Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 (2023) for various platforms. A direct sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. A remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, was released for GameCube in 2004.

Gameplay

The player must navigate the protagonist, Solid Snake, through a nuclear weapons facility without being detected by enemies. When Snake moves into an enemy's field of vision, he sets off an "alert mode" that draws enemies. The player must then hide until "evasion mode" begins; when the counter reaches zero, the game returns to "infiltration mode", where enemies are no longer suspicious. The radar cannot be used in alert or evasion mode. In addition to the stealth gameplay, set-piece sequences entail firefights between the player and enemies.

To remain undetected, the player can perform techniques that make use of 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. An on-screen radar provides the player with the location of nearby enemies and their field of vision. Snake can also make use of many items and gadgets, such as infra-red goggles and 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 severe damage to Snake.

Despite the switch to 3D, the game is still played primarily from an overhead perspective similar to the original 2D Metal Gear games. However, the camera angle will change during certain situations, such as a corner view when Snake flattens himself to a wall next to an open space, or into first-person when crawling under tight spaces or when equipping certain items such as the binoculars or a sniper rifle. The player can also use the first-person view while remaining idle to look around Snake's surroundings and see what is ahead of him.

Progress is punctuated by cutscenes and radio conversations, as well as encounters with bosses. To progress, players must discover the weaknesses of each boss and defeat them, which usually yields a key card that is used to unlock different areas of the base and progress. Play controls and strategies can also be accessed via the Codec, a radio communication device 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.

In addition to the main story, there is also a VR training mode in which the player can test out their sneaking skills in a series of artificially constructed environments. This mode is divided into three main categories (practice, time attack, and gun shooting), each consisting of ten stages. After completing all 30 stages, a survival mission is unlocked in which the player must sneak their way through ten consecutive stages under a seven-minute limit.

Synopsis Setting

Metal Gear Solid takes place in an alternate history in which the Cold War continued into the 1990s, ending at some point near the end of the 20th century. The game takes place in 2005, six years after the events of Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, and form the third chapter in an overarching plot concerning the character of Solid Snake.

Characters

The protagonist is Solid Snake (Akio Otsuka/David Hayter), 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 information and tactics. While he initially keeps some 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 different 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 Gray Fox, also known as the "Ninja", a mysterious cybernetically enhanced agent who is neither an ally nor an enemy of Snake but does oppose FOXHOUND.

Plot

In 2005, renegade genetically enhanced special forces unit FOXHOUND seizes control of a remote island in Alaska's Fox Archipelago codenamed "Shadow Moses", which houses a nuclear weapons disposal facility. FOXHOUND threatens to use the nuclear-capable mecha Metal Gear REX, being secretly tested at the facility, against the US government, if they do not receive the remains of Big Boss and a ransom of $1 billion within 24 hours. Snake must liberate hostages and stop the terrorists from launching a nuclear strike. 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 a neighboring 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 calling themselves "Deepthroat", 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. Devastated over learning REX's true intentions, 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 with the help of Otacon, makes his way up the communications tower, and fends off a Hind D 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 the "Anderson" he conversed with 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.