I’ll tell you what else is great – the amount of thought that the developers put into the game. They understood the effect that a small amount of fantasy can have on a game as ultra-realistic as Metal Gear Solid. For instance, giving the bosses supernatural powers. This is sort of explained through the series, but that small step into the unreal was so shocking that it felt right within the universe. It’s difficult to make Psycho Mantis, a floating psychic in a gas mask, seem like something that could feasibly happen in the so-called realistic game world, but Hideo Kojima and his team managed it.
They also created one of the coolest antagonists of all time, and one of the few who returned to the series game after game – the Cyborg Ninja. Though it’s Gray Fox in this game, the Cyborg Ninja is just a super-suit, inhabited by different people through different games, but that doesn’t make it any less awesome. It was seemingly designed to make the entire internet cream in unison – a tight-fitting robotic suit, with a Daft Punk helmet and an electrically charged katana. What’s not to like?
The boss characters as a whole in Metal Gear Solid are amongst the most inventive in cinematic history. From Revolver Ocelot to Liquid Snake, every single one of them is a new challenge, and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. Each of them could be the lead of their own game, and for the most part they’re only seen during, and for a small amount of time around, the fight. Vulcan Raven, a largely forgotten character but one of my personal favourite bosses, is on-screen twice in the game – both being a boss fight. Psycho Mantis appears even less. Nowhere near as much effort was required for these characters, but each one of them are fully rounded and, well, real.
