Metal Gear, Kojima's stealth legend in 8-bit!

With this powerful and memorable opening line, Solid Snake kicked off a few years ago that masterpiece of writing known as Guns of The Patriots, the fourth “official” installment of the new chapter dedicated to the saga of the most famous Foxhound agent of all time. 

But before this, before Old Snake, before all the creative genius that Kojima poured onto next-generation consoles starting with the first “gray” PlayStation, the complex political-terrorist plots centered on the gargantuan Metal Gear mecha had already been extensively developed with the very first incarnation of the franchise: Metal Gear, namely, developed by Konami and originally released only on the MSX2 in 1987, then Nintendo saw its potential and converted it to its definitive 8-bit machine, the NES, that same Christmas. The differences between the two versions are by no means minor, but it really took very little to appreciate the version for Nintendo’s console: you inserted the cartridge, started the game, and were catapulted in no time into a complex and layered worldbuilding, in true 8-bit style. 

Kojima has always gone hand in hand with arcade games (just read his résumé), and Metal Gear’s stealth interpretation is impeccable: the mission of “Solid Snake” will begin right at Outer Heaven, one of the most important locations in the saga, mentioned in practically every chapter and Big Boss’s operational base, the villain who over the years has undergone a massive ret-con operation and who in fact constitutes not only Solid’s nemesis, but his distorted reflection. By infiltrating the fortress and being careful not to be discovered by the enemies (direct confrontation is always the last option and very often will not lead to success), Snake will meet a high-profile prisoner, Gray Fox, who, a few years later, will become an icon of style and lethal sophistication in his cyber ninja suit. His final monologue in Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation still echoes in my mind; the chills it leaves on the skin are something that cannot be described in words.

E then we come to him, the Metal Gear, the code name of a tank capable of launching nuclear warheads from any type of terrain: every title in the saga features its own version of the self-propelled war machine, often more like an Evangelion-style mecha than a true instrument of death from modern, “realistic” warfare. The Metal Gear is above all a symbol, a very powerful one: with its imposing and relentless presence, it represents the specter of warfare in the new millennium (especially in this game, where in fact you do not confront it directly), in contrast precisely with characters of the caliber of Snake and Gray Fox, flesh-and-blood remnants of a world vanished in the folds of the arms race, where honor and toil, sweat and blood spilled in close combat are nothing more than an echo destined to die. 

First official mission of Solid Snake in this title, which despite its awful translation flaws and a kind of questionable gameplay choices, remains a cornerstone for the eight-bit generation: an engaging soundtrack, graphics that squeeze the limited NES color resources to their limits, and the constant feeling of casting a glance back at the origins of Konami’s greatest hero.

Potrà sembrare eccessivamente didascalic, but I would like to reserve a final thought for the opening sentence: it is true, perhaps war never changes, but I believe that the secret still lies in change, and that it is precisely we who should change. This is the most important lesson that Hideo Kojima conveys to us, with the splendid, profound, and often devastating narrative arcs of his characters.