The Metal Gear franchise is known for its espionage action, globe-trotting storylines, political undertones, and over-the-top absurdity. We know that the games were developed in Japan at Konami by Hideo Kojima for entertainment purposes, but members of the Russian government believe Metal Gear is actually a project by United States Intelligence to sow civil unrest in the country.

This claim comes from Russian Deputy Defense Minister Andrei Kartapolov, who said, "On the Internet, projects of the American special services, such as Metal Gear and RuNet Echo are being implemented, aimed at direct manipulation of public consciousness and especially young people." Kartapolov believes that Metal Gear is meant to encourage protesting and convince young people that they are dissatisfied with the Russian government.

As many gamers know, this premise doesn't make sense for a wide variety of reasons. Chief among these is that, as previously stated, the Metal Gear series is mostly made in Japan, not in the United States, let alone by the United States government. The games do feature Russia quite a bit, but that's mainly due to the fact that the Metal Gear games are spy thrillers, and some even deal directly with the Cold War itself.

For example, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is set in the middle of the Cold War. The plot deals with Snake's mentor The Boss defecting to the Soviet Union, and a general effort to avoid direct conflict between the world's two major superpowers, the United States and Russia.

It's also worth pointing out these Metal Gear storylines don't exactly paint the United States in the best light either. Unless the United States is also trying to encourage protesting among its own civilians through Metal Gear games, then Kartapolov's claims simply don't make much sense.

In summation, no, Metal Gear is not a US Intelligence project just because the games deal with Cold War themes and sometimes criticize the Russian government. Having said all that, it is possible that the Russian government is privy to information that we are unaware of, and perhaps scenes from Metal Gear are being used as propaganda. We don't know for sure because Kartapolov did not provide evidence to back up his claims.

Anyone who wants to judge for themselves can check out the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, which includes the Cold War-set Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Source: The Moscow Times