A History of Metal Gear, AKA 30 Years of Kojima Antics

Metal Gear – 1987

At once a bold new direction for game development and the coming out party for one of the medium’s top talents, Metal Gear changed everything. Hideo Kojima, confined to the limits of hardware, played the hand he was dealt to great effect. The MSX home computer couldn’t handle many objects on screen at once, so Kojima dispensed with flying bullets and centered on avoiding the action altogether – and thus, stealth gaming was born. Metal Gear introduced players to Solid Snake, as he embarked on a mission to infiltrate the military fortress of Outer Heaven and take down its mysterious leader. Players had their first run-in with Big Boss, as well, another of the series’ most iconic and important characters.