Metal Gear Solid is an action-adventure stealth video game released in 1998. The story takes place in 2005 and follows Solid Snake as he infiltrates a remote Alaskan nuclear weapons facility called Shadow Moses that has been taken over by a renegade special forces unit called FOXHOUND. They have acquired a nuclear-capable mech called Metal Gear REX and are threatening the U.S. government. Snake must neutralize the threat by defeating the FOXHOUND members and destroying Metal Gear REX. The game features stealth-based gameplay and a story focused on military technology, nuclear proliferation, and genetic engineering.

1. Metal Gear Solid
Story Characters
Gameplay Other Versions

2. Story
In 2005, FOXHOUND and the genetically-enhanced Next-
Generation Special Forces unit lead an armed uprising at
Shadow Moses, a remote isle located in Alaska's Fox
Archipelago and the site of a nuclear weapons disposal facility.
In the process, they acquire Metal Gear REX, a nuclear-
capable bipedal tank, threatening the U.S. government with a
nuclear reprisal if they do not receive the remains of the
"legendary mercenary" Big Boss. Solid Snake, in retirement at
Alaska's Twin Lakes, is forcibly dispatched at the request of
Colonel Roy Campbell to penetrate the terrorist defenses and
neutralize the threat.
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3. CharactersSolid Snake
Meryl Silverburgh
Gray Fox
Hal "Otacon" Emmerich
Liquid Snake
Revolver Ocelot
Sniper Wolf
Psycho Mantis
Vulcan Raven
Roy Campbell
Naomi Hunter
Mei Ling
Nastasha Romanenko
Decoy Octopus
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4. Solid Snake Solid Snake is the
protagonist of Metal
Gear Solid. He is sent
into the Shadow Moses
facility in order to rescue
the captive DARPA
Chief Donald Anderson
and ArmsTech president
Kenneth Baker, and later
to eliminate the nuclear
threat posed by the
latest incarnation of
Metal Gear: Metal Gear
REX.Back to Characters

5. Meryl Silverburgh
Meryl Silverburgh is introduced as
the niece of Solid Snake's
commander, Roy Campbell, she
serves as Snake's rookie sidekick.
During the events of the game, she
gets assigned to Shadow Moses, but
refuses to join the rebellion led by
Liquid Snake and is imprisoned.
Snake rescues her first from her cell
and then from Psycho Mantis's mind
control, but she is later shot and
captured by Sniper Wolf. She
escapes Shadow Moses with Snake,
and they continue their lives
together for two years before parting.
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6. Gray Fox Gray Fox appears in the form of a
"Cyborg Ninja" in Metal Gear Solid.
He is equipped with a powered
exoskeleton and high-frequency
blade that can slice through steel.
Throughout the mission he provides
Snake with anonymous messages
via Codec, using the pseudonym
"Deepthroat". Snake does battle
with Fox in a laboratory while on his
way to rescue Hal Emmerich, a
scientist held captive. Fox assists
Snake in destroying the radome on
Metal Gear REX, but is killed by
REX, being piloted by terrorist
leader Liquid Snake.Back to Characters

7. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich
Hal "Otacon" Emmerich
appears in Metal Gear Solid as
the designer of Metal Gear
REX and captive at Shadow
Moses. After Snake rescued
him from Gray Fox, Otacon
offered him support via Codec.
While he was captured, Otacon
developed an infatuation with
FOXHOUND member Sniper
Wolf.
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8. Liquid Snake Liquid Snake serves as Metal
Gear Solid's main antagonist
against Solid Snake, who is
also his genetic twin. In the
game Liquid poses as
Snake's former survival coach
Master Miller and tricks Snake
into activating the new version
of Metal Gear, Metal Gear
REX. After this the entire final
act of the game involves
Snake and Liquid fighting, first
with Liquid piloting Metal
Gear, secondly in a bare
handed fist fight, and finally in
a car chase before Liquid is
killed by the FOXDIE virus.
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9. Revolver Ocelot
Revolver Ocelot is introduced in
Metal Gear Solid and is a
gunslinger who specialises in
interrogation. He has Russian
connections and an ally called
Colonel Sergei Gurlukovich, the
leader of a Russian private
army. He serves as Liquid's
right hand man and encounters
Snake twice, the first time while
Snake is attempting to rescue
ArmsTech president Kenneth
Baker, the second time is when
Ocelot tortures Snake while he
is captured. Once the mission is
complete he is the sole survivor
of the FOXHOUND unit.
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10. Sniper Wolf Sniper Wolf is the Kurdish
sharpshooter of the
FOXHOUND unit. Though
snipers usually work in
pairs, Sniper Wolf works
alone. She is also another
"disciple" of Big Boss, the
antagonist from the
previous two Metal Gear
games. In Metal Gear
Solid she fights Snake
twice.
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11. Psycho Mantis
Psycho Mantis is a psychic expert
for the FOXHOUND unit. Prior to
joining FOXHOUND, he worked
with the KGB and the FBI. His
special abilities include the
psychic powers of psychokinesis
and telepathy. He developed
these powers early in his
childhood. They led him to believe
that his father hated him, due to
the fact that his mother died in
childbirth. Out of a fear of his
father killing him, he killed his
father and burned down the village
where he lived. His face is largely
scarred, possibly due to injury
during the incident. He wears a
gas mask to hide it.
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12. Vulcan Raven Vulcan Raven is the
Inuit member of
FOXHOUND who
wields an M61 Vulcan
cannon and has
shamanic powers of
intuition. Raven was
also an employee at Big
Boss's fortified nation of
Outer Heaven prior to
his involvement at
FOXHOUND.
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13. Decoy Octopus
Decoy Octopus is a member
of FOXHOUND, and with the
rest of his unit, went rogue
during the Shadow Moses
island incident. Octopus
specialises is impersonation.
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14. Roy Campbell Roy Campbell appears in Metal
Gear Solid as Snake's
commanding officer and former
commander of FOXHOUND, he
comes out of retirement to
command Solid Snake once
again. Campbell has more of a
personal stake in the mission,
as Meryl is held captive by
FOXHOUND. While Campbell is
initially forced to keep a number
of secrets from Snake, he
gradually reveals more and
more of them as the story
continues, until, finally,
Campbell is briefly arrested.
However, he is exonerated
after. Back to Characters

15. Naomi Hunter Naomi Hunter is the head of
FOXHOUND's medical staff, and
part of the support crew
assembled to assist Solid Snake
during the Shadow Moses Island
incident (the events of Metal
Gear Solid) in 2005. It is
revealed however that she is
secretly Gray Fox's non-
biological sister, and she is out
for revenge on Snake. She
injects Snake with the FoxDie
virus, but she set it to a
"wildcard" value, sparing
Snake's life during the mission,
but leaving him vulnerable at a
later date.
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16. Mei Ling
Mei Ling is the data analyst in charge
of saving the player's mission data in
Metal Gear Solid. She is the one who
invented Snake's wireless
communication equipment, the
Codec, as well the Soliton Radar,
which detects the positions and field
of vision of nearby enemy soldiers.
Every time Snake saves his data, Mei
Ling provides him with advice through
Chinese proverbs (as well as
quotations from Western authors).
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17. Nastasha Romanenko
Nastasha Romanenko is Solid
Snake's codec contact on
matters related to nuclear
weapons. After the events of
Metal Gear Solid, her character
writes an autobiography titled In
the Darkness of Shadow
Moses: The Unofficial Truth and
then forms "Philanthropy" (an
anti-proliferation group) with the
profits she made. This fictional
publication serves as a plot
summary of Metal Gear Solid
(and reveals previously
undisclosed plot details about
the events of the games).
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18. Gameplay
• The player must navigate the protagonist Solid Snake through the game's
areas without being detected. Detection sets off an alarm, which draws
armed enemies to his location.
• To remain undetected, the player can perform techniques which make use
of 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 the enemy. These are carried out using the third-person
camera; which slowly changes its angle to give the player the best strategic
view of the area possible, and an on-screen radar, which displays enemy
personnel and their field of vision. Solid Snake is armed with many items
and gadgets, such as thermal goggles and a cardboard box disguise. This
emphasis on stealth promotes a less violent form of gameplay — firefights
against large enemy teams will likely result in heavy damage and possible
death for the protagonist.
• Intermixed with the player's progress are plot-progressing cut scenes and
radio conversations as well as encounters with boss characters. To
progress, players must discover weaknesses of these enemies (such as
attack patterns) to defeat them. This is where the player will most often use
the game's weapon-set, ranging from pistols to rocket launchers and hand
grenades. Game controls and play strategies can also be accessed via the
Codec radio, where advice is delivered from Snake's support crew as if the
character were playing the video game.
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19. Other Versions
Metal Gear Solid: Integral
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions
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Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel

20. Metal Gear Solid: Integral
Metal Gear Solid: Integral is an international version with
additional features and an extra disc of additional missions
(established as virtual training). New features included costumes,
the "Very Easy" difficulty level and three game modes, one using
the PocketStation. A Windows PC port of Integral was also
released in Europe and North America in late 2000 with
PocketStation support 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.
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21. Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions
Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions features
training missions testing the player's
sneaking and fighting skill, as well as less
conventional tests, such as murder-
mysteries, battling giant genome soldiers,
and a mode allowing the player to control the
Cyborg Ninja. It includes trailers for Metal
Gear Solid, a preview artwork of Metal Gear
RAY from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
and a "photo shoot" mode to take pictures of
Mei Ling and Naomi.
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22. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
An enhanced remake of Metal Gear Solid, titled Metal
Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was developed by
Silicon Knights under the direction of Hideo Kojima
and released for the Nintendo GameCube in North
America, Japan, and Europe in March 2004. While
Twin Snakes was largely developed at Silicon Knights,
its cut scenes 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, a variety of gameplay
features from Sons of Liberty were added such as the
first person aiming and hanging from bars on walls.
The graphics were also updated.
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23. Metal Gear Solid: Digital
Graphic Novel
Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel is an interactive
comic for the PlayStation Portable. Based on the Metal
Gear Solid comic book adaptation, 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.
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