Stealth Infiltration

The player navigates the Special Forces Unit FOXHOUND operative Solid Snake though the enemy fortress Outer Heaven.   The player must take caution not to make visual or direct confrontations with patrolling soldiers.  Failure to stay hidden from guards and security cameras will move the game into the Alert Mode.   Depending on the symbol over the enemies' heads upon discovery, the escape options will vary.  (!) will allow the player to escape into an adjacent screen to end the Alert.   (!!) can also be triggered by cameras, infrared sensors, or using un-silenced weapons.   At this point enemy reinforcements will come from adjacent screens and escape is much harder, forcing the player to eliminate all of the soldiers to end the Alert.  Some escape options are still possible at this point; going into an elevator, a prison cell, or a booby-trap room. 

Abilities and Equipment

Solid Snake has few abilities in the game, limited to running, shooting and punching.   A single punch will stun the enemy long enough to sneak through.   Repeated punches will kill him.  Snake starts the game with only a pack of cigarettes, forcing the player to obtain supplies on site.  A wide range of weapons will become available such as a Beretta M92F handgun, submachine gun, rocket launcher, mines, plastic explosives, remote control missiles, and a grenade launcher.  Using a silencer on the Beretta will allow the player to fire the handgun without triggering an Alert. 

In addition to weapons, various equipments can be obtained; rations to restore health, binoculars to see into adjacent screens, gas mask, mine detector, body armor, and others.  Certain items are found to only be used in certain areas of the game, such as the bomb-blast suit to walk past the wind-barrier, a parachute to descend from the roof, compass to navigate through the desert, antidote for scorpion bites, flashlight for the dark room, oxygen tank for deep water diving, and an enemy uniform to get past a check-point.  The uniform, however, does not work as a disguise in any other part of the game.  The cardboard box is introduced in this game as well, allowing the player to hide from guards and cameras.  In order to progress further, the player has to find key cards, locations of which vary from a truck to being in possession of one of the boss characters.

Gameplay Features

> Leaving the room after picking up ammo or rations and then returning back into it will regenerate what you just picked up.  
> Guards are only able to see in a straight line, allowing Snake to walk right next to them.   As long as he is not in their direct linear view they can not see him.  In addition, killing certain guards with punches may cause them to drop ammo or rations.
> Doors that can't be open along the way should be remembered.   Once a higher level card is obtained, backtracking to those doors may be required to get progress-sensitive items and/or objectives. 
> Certain weapons are used to clear terrain obstacles such as hollow walls, which are found by punching them to get a (?), or destroying control panels on electrified floors.
> Snake starts the game with a 1-star rank.   After rescuing several prisoners along the way the rank will up to 2 stars, increasing your health.  4 stars is the max rank.  If you kill a prisoner the rank will drop 1 star along with your health.  In addition, progress-sensitive information is obtained from certain prisoners. 
> The Radio Transceiver is used to communicate with your Commanding Officer as well as other support members.   Tips on beating bosses, item descriptions, and general navigation intelligence are communicated this way.  However, it is room-sensitive as certain radio transmissions occur only in specific locations.
> Certain Trucks can move the player back to early stages of the fortress.
> Cigarettes are never used in the game until the final boss fight.   Selecting them will reset the Countdown timer.

Game Development, Destribution, and Pop Culture References.

Hideo Kojima joined Konami in 1986 with "Penguin Adventure" being the first game he worked on as an assistant director.   He was then given his own project called "Lost World", but it was cancelled.  Next he was commissioned to create an action game for the MSX2 home computer.   However, unlike the more powerful (and popular) NES system, the MSX2 could only support a very limited number of characters per screen.  Given this limitation, Kojima decided to change the game design to Sneaking instead of Run-and-Gun.   The result was the very first stealth video game.  

Metal Gear was released on July 12th, 1987 in Japan and in September of the same year in Europe.  However, the European version suffered from poor translation and missing dialogue with only 86 of 155 messages kept.  In fact, a minor support character Steve was removed completely.    Further more, only the original Japanese manual contains detailed information including character bios and stats on the Metal Gear TX-55 tank.

In the cover art of the game, Snake was designed after actor Michael Biehn who played Kyle Reese in the first "Terminator" film.   Also, the twin cyberoids Arnold TX-11 were modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger's role as the T-800 Terminator.  The game character shares the movie counterpart's envolnerability, forcing Snake to use a Rocket Launcher.

Updated Version

On August 18th, 2004 Konami made the original MSX2 "Metal Gear" available for download on portable phones in Japan.  Same version was included in "Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence" in 2005/2006.  Hideo Kojima and his team updated the game with:

> 2 difficulty settings, Easy and Original.
> Boss Survival mode where the player can take on all the game's boss characters.  It's unlocked by beating the game once.
> Infinite Ammo Bandanna that conserves the ammo amount at the present number.  It's unlocked by beating the game once.
> Having a ration equipped while taking damage will now automatically use it when the health bar is depleted. 
> The Japanese language script has been rewritten to include hiragana and kanji, in addition to romaji and katakana. 
> With its inclusion in "Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence" it marked the first time that the MSX2 "Metal Gear" was officially and properly translated into English.
> Three bosses got a name change.  Shoot Gunner was changed to Shot Maker, Arnold TX-11 was changed to Bloody Brad, and Coward Duck changed to Dirty Duck.
> Dr. Pettrovich had his full name updated to Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar.  This also caused the last name change for his daughter Ellen Pettrovich into Ellen Madnar.

This updated version is the definitive "Metal Gear" 1. 

Characters (Bios taken from the original MSX2 Japanese Manual)

Solid Snake  Rookie member of FOXHOUND. Operation Intrude N313 is his first mission.

Big Boss  Chief Commander of FOXHOUND. After his career in Special Forces like Green Beret, SAS and GSG9, he became FOXHOUND Chief Commander. He gives tips to Solid Snake about various things like the usage of weapons and equipment through wireless communication.  (NOTE: The featured picture is flipped to show the eye patch on the correct eye.  Later games in the series show Big Boss missing his right eye while the original "Metal Gear" manual shows him missing his left)

Gray Fox  Considered as leader in FOXHOUND due to his durable physiques and superb intelligence. He has a "FOX" title, the highest rank in FOXHOUND. All contact with him has been lost since he infiltrated Outer Heaven.

Schneider  Formely an architecture engineer and now a resistance leader. He was forced to be one of Outer Heaven's designing staff, but joined underground forces after his wife and children were killed. He develops resistance activities with his acute inner sense and leadership. He knows a lot about the internal structure of the fortress.

Diane  Outer Heaven Resistance member.  Former vocalist of "Thin Wall", the positive punk band.  She uses her female charm for intelligence activities. She knows a lot about the mercenaries and war machines of Outer Heaven.  Her jealous boyfriend Steve sometimes answers her radio saying that she in the shower.

Jennifer  Outer Heaven Resistance member. To save her brother, who was captured , she crept into Outer Heaven as one of its medical staff. She supports Snake physically.

Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar  A brilliant scientist. He was captured by Outer Heaven while trying to seek asylum in the U.S.A. Since then he developed weapons against his will, while his daughter is held hostage. He developed TX-11 (ARNOLD) and TX-55 (METAL GEAR).

Ellen Madnar  Dr.Madnar's only daughter. Former Bolshoi Ballet star. She was captured by Outer Heaven to blackmail her father.

Outer Heaven Mercenaries (Bios taken from the original MSX2 Japanese Manual)

Shot Maker (Shoot Gunner)  Former member of Spetsnaz and master of riot guns. He guards a top-secret underground prison.

Machinegun Kid  He prefer to use machineguns. Once served the Special Air Service.

Fire Trooper  Former member of Grenz Schutz Grouppe 9 (GSG9). Handles the flamethrower like a mere rifle.

Bloody Brad (Arnold TX-11)  TX-11 cyberoids developed for Outer Heaven using Dr.Petrovich's robotechnology. They are virtually indestructible.

Dirty Duck (Coward Duck)  A former leader of Egg-Plant, an extremist terrorist group. He attacks with boomerangs while using hostages as shield.

???  Leader of Outer Heaven. Very little is known of him (including his identity), except for the fact that he's the legendary mercenary who built Outer Heaven during the late 1980s.

Hind D
M1 Tank
Bulldozer
Metal Gear TX-55

Alternate Versions

Famicom | NES - On December 22nd, 1987 "Metal Gear" was released on the Famicom (Japanese NES) in Japan and on June 1988 on the NES in U.S. (March 1989 in Europe)  This remake was done without Hideo Kojima's involvement.  The game visually differed from the original MSX2 version, disregarding the darker and more neutral color schemes with bright and unrealistic settings.  The game mechanics were flawed with glitches and poor programming. In the case of the U.S. version some dialog was downright misspelled. Many changes to the game itself were made as well:  

> The Metal Gear TX-55 tank was replaced with a computer.
> The Hind D helicopter was replace with 2 gunners called "Twin Shot".
> Floor layouts where changed, altering game progress.   For example there was no need for the parachute any longer as that whole sequence was removed.
> An Iron Glove was added to break through hollow walls, yet bare punches worked just as well.
> Unlike the original underwater insertion, this version starts with Snake (and three other soldiers) parachuting into the jungle.  The other three commandos are never seen or mentioned again.  From there Snake navigates through the jungle to the front gate and uses a transport truck to get to Building 1.
> Jetpack guards on the roof no longer have the ability to fly.
> The (!!) Alert was removed.
> The player can't obtain ammo or rations by killing guards.
> Solid Snake's face does not appear in the Transceiver screen.
> Big Boss' post-credits message is removed.
> The music score was changed.
> Due to glitches Snake can shoot while wearing a box and certain radio messages are out of place, as the areas have shifted from the MSX2 version.
> The American NES game manual sways the story by naming the Outer Heaven villain as "Col. Vermon CaTaffy", a mangled reference to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Snake's Commanding Officer Big Boss is named "Commander South."  None of this is supported by the actual game. 

The NES version of the game was ported to the PC MS-DOS and the Commodore 64 in June 1990.   They were the same as the NES version.  An Amiga version was planned as well, but it was never released.  Despite being flawed and referred to by the series creator Hideo Kojima as "garbage", the NES version sold 1 million copies in U.S.   The high sales prompted Konami to commission an NES action sequel "Snake's Revenge".   When Kojima found out about the creation of "Snake's Revenge" he decided to create an official sequel, "Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake".  It should be noted that he had no plans to continue the series after "Metal Gear", and it was only the creation of "Snake's Revenge" (brought about by the high sales of the NES version) that inspired him to create a sequel.