Reflecting on 25 years of Metal Gear...

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Metal Gear franchise has been nothing short of excellence and awesome... And we have Konami and Hideo Kojima to thank for that. The man behind the legend of Snake has epitomized Stealth games and Tactical Espionage Action, and I've been fortunate enough to be there for the ride, which spans a good two decades of gaming. Suffice to say, this post was born out of seeing a post the previous day that highlighted Kojima's intentions to create games until the day he dies, and the fact that I stumbled upon a newly released Solid Snake Play Arts Kai action figure. I may have a Big Boss Peace Walker Play Arts Kai figure, but the sight of the original protagonist in his new toy form was enough to send me spiraling down memory lane, and reminisce about Metal Gear and it's influence on me over the years.

To paraphrase an iconic line from Metal Gear Solid 4: "Gaming Has Changed", and so has Metal Gear with it. Having its humble origins in the 8-bit era and the 80's, a then unknown Hideo Kojima created a little game for the MSX system called "Metal Gear", which pitted a young soldier named Solid Snake against an entire mercenary nation and its bipedal nuclear tank weapon, with the world and its peace on the line. The game borrowed concepts heavily from several well know Hollywood action movies, and Kojima himself was an avid film buff, which would highlight the rest of his tenure and work in the series' later installments.

Metal Gear became a hit and earned a follow up a few years later, but it wouldn't hit cult status until the release of "Metal Gear Solid" for the original Sony Playstation. That title helped revolutionized action and stealth gaming, and garnered a strong following thanks to its brilliant storytelling and gameplay. Soon thereafter, MGS spawned into its own series, and the franchise has constantly impressed the masses with each installment coming to pass. Solid Snake's story was fleshed out, as was his mentor/ rival/ progenitor Big Boss, who proved to be an iconic character of the series himself. The twists and turns of the series' continuity proved to be legendary in itself, and for each boss battle next to every final boss or walking tank you fought, you'd remember names like Vulcan Raven, The End, Liquid Snake, Cyborg Ninja, and Revolver Ocelot.

Regardless of how you know or choose to perceive it, Metal Gear certainly has become a legend inside and outside of gaming. 25 years of duty is not a small feat, and you can easily see how dedicated I and the rest of the fanbase are to this day, despite the fact that the series could already be finished and done with at this point after what happened in the previous installments released thus far. No matter what comes next after the spinoff title Metal Gear Solid: Rising or that unnamed FoxTech game, one thing will always be certain: we will always remember Metal Gear's legacy and the games Konami and Hideo Kojima have produced so beautifully over the years. That being said, I'll now continue to dream about that Play Arts Kai Solid Snake figure...