The Metal Gear Solid franchise is one of my favorite video
game franchises. It mixes in spy games with scifi and some real world issues.
The stories throw in a lot of things to ponder about. It’s kind of like a
thinking man’s franchise. You definitely get that with MGS2. It’s
talked about society, hidden government groups, conspiracies, the invasiveness
of technology, politics, and people not getting their hopes up. If you know
anything about Hal “Otacon” Emmerich, that last point comes up a lot for that
cool but lonely nerd.
While Metal Gear is awesome though a bit convoluted, they
just had to get weird with us. It may be Japanese culture or it’s that
just the creators being weird. Whatever it is, I don’t know. Hideo Kojima threw
some weird moments into the franchise and I’ll quickly talk about the ones that
popped out to me. They were at times funny, random, unsettling, and overall
weird. I got 10 of them, so this should do it for me. Also, I will spoil some
things here but not everything, so let’s start out with literal toilet humor.
10. “My bowels!”
In every MGS game, there’s usually
someone with a bad stomach. We kind of got it in MGS1. It’s definitely more
prevalent in the later ones. It’s definitely an Easter Egg to behold in MGS2.
Who knew a microphone could pick up that? We even get a scene in MGS3. Anyway, we actually get the face of
said guy in the form of Johnny Sasiki in MGS4. Yeah, that was him. Now, excuse
me while I get a gas mask and some earplugs.
9. Box Master
Metal Gear Solid is known for the art of
hiding one’s self. The weirdest way that everyone knows of is the all-powerful
box. Seriously, a large cardboard box is
one of the major things that will keep one hidden from bad guys. Now, I
personally didn’t use them that much since I don’t need no box! Still,
there are those times where a box is needed… no, I’m not talking about that
mission with Paz from Peace Walker. I’ll get to that weird thing later.
8. Quiet’s warbrobe
In MGS5: The Phantom Pain, we get a
new character in the form of Quiet. She’s one bad sniper with some pretty cool
abilities. She’s also running around in a bikini and stockings… yeah. I guess
someone would like that! It didn’t help that she would sometimes be put in
“interesting” poses. What was she doing in the helicopter anyway? It definitely
caused a stir with some groups and I can’t blame them. I don’t even think
Kojima had a good reason for it.
Whatever the reason, someone probably thanks him for that. You can
clothe her though if you are able to unlock a couple of suits for her.
7. Raiden: The Hero We… Deserve?
Now, this is a minor
spoiler from MGS2, but it’s not a big one. In the game, we got treated to a new
lead character named Raiden. There was one problem though: we didn’t know we’d
get him. After you finish a certain level with Solid Snake, you get thrown
ahead two years and you end up playing Raiden who’s basically a new Snake. The cover art to the game didn't even reveal this. Fans
weren’t too happy with not being able to play Snake for the whole game. Plus,
Raiden wasn’t that cool when compared to Snake. Personally, I liked Raiden but
I can understand people’s criticisms especially with one area in the game. I’m
not married the original MGS, so it was easy for me to like MGS2. Plus, MGS2
goes places. I’ll also get to that other weird moment down below.
6. A Secret Revealed
MGS5 is sequel to Peace Walker and a
prequel to the original Metal Gear on the MSX game system. Fans were ready to
see what made Big Boss (Naked Snake/Venom Snake) basically turn into the bad
guy for that next game. Then, something gets revealed about Venom Snake that is
a bit controversial. It is a weird moment though but not in a funny or
unsettling way. I won’t spoil it here though. Let’s just say some fans weren’t
happy. I kind of like it but know that it has to go through some mental
gymnastics with the continuity which is a thing for the franchise. I do have to
unfortunately say that this isn’t the other worst moment for MGS fans. I won’t
touch on Komani, the publisher, but all I can say is this: Screw Komani.
5. “The Beauties love giving hugs???”
In MGS4, Old Snake
gets to face the Beauty and the Beast Unit for bosses. They are four women wearing body armor that
mimics some of the bosses from MGS. The battles themselves were grueling but
good. It gets weird at the end though. When the women come out of their shells,
they get pretty huggy and pretty suggestive. If this thrills you, just know
that their touch drains your life. When things go on for too long, you and the
Beauty go to the White Room where it gets even weirder. It can get funny though
if you know a couple of tricks. Those were definitely moments where you know
what the developers wanted to stimulate some things.
4. “The Sorrow…”
MGS3 is possibly my favorite of the
franchise. It just did a lot of good things right. The
story, the bosses, and the gameplay were and are excellent. Even the weird
moments are cool. The Sorrow is another boss you have to “face” in the game. I
won’t spoil anything for this. Let’s just say that it involves a swamp, the
Sorrow, and a lot of pondering on the people you’ve killed. Yeah, it goes there
and it’s weird.
3. “What are you doing with Paz, man????”
This moment
comes from MGS: Peace Walker, a PSP game. It’s actually one of the better ones
in my opinion and served as a nice sequel to MGS3. There aren’t many weird
moments but this one takes the cake on a lot of the ones here. On one mission,
Kaz Miller (your associate) asks you to go on a date with Paz Ortega, a
supporting character from the game. There’s one little issue though: she’s 16.
Snake’s probably in his late 30’s at this time, so that already sounded weird.
The mission (yes, it was a mission) in itself was weird and it ended with the
two in a box… huh. Before I quickly move to the next point, I do have to say
that the mission is less of an issue when you find out later that Paz is much
older than she looks and is a bit of a spy. It’s still “fricken’ weird” though.
2. “It was all a dream!”
In MGS3, a weird moment happens
when after you get the tar beat out of you by Volgin and you… lose something.
After that long scene and you save the game and turn it off for a bit, you’ll
come back to what’s essentially a demon nightmare scenario. This was a little
creepy when I first played it. I was wondering what the heck happened but after
a while, MGS3 started to play again. It turns out that the creators decided to
throw a little demo in for an unreleased game. It was creepy, somewhat cool,
and pretty funny. Snake’s reaction to it was gold as well.
1. Raiden is Naked and “I Need Scissors! 61!”
I had to
make this a tie since it is the same part of the game. I think this is the real
reason folk don’t like Raiden. At one point in the game, Raiden gets captured
and his clothes/equipment is taken. You’re able to escape but you’re running
around naked covering your crotch. You’re somehow able to do flips and… ewww.
Strangely enough, it’s not the most unsettling moment of the level. Col.
Campbell is calling you on your CODEC and makes weird conversations. It
even gets weirder after you get clothes and luckily get to fight alongside
Solid Snake. You’ll only have to play it for yourself. Try playing this at
night. It’ll definitely freak you out and I’m not talking about Raiden’s pale
skin either.
So, those are my 10 WTH moments from the franchise. There
are obviously more, but these are the ones I could really think of. If you have
any other moments I missed, let me know. For now, Peace, God Bless, and always
remember to have your box ready for anything. Now if you excuse me, I’ll be
heading back to mine since Election Day is coming up… Ughhhh.
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