When players hear "military science fiction" as a genre, Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear would almost always come to mind. After all, this iconic Konami series popularized the stealth genre and brought it to the mainstream. Moreover, fans remember Solid Snake, Raiden, FOXHOUND, and other iconic characters in both Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series.
Additionally, fans won't easily forget Kojima's gravitas and dramatic prowess in using military themes in a rather grand story about spies, covert operations, and the giant Metal Gears. However, hardcore fans who replay the games in the series might recognize some popular tropes and themes evident in the series. Additionally, some might say these elements complete any Metal Gear experience.
10 Nanomachines, Son!
Fans of the Metal Gear series fondly recall the games' memorable cast of villains and their special gimmicks. For instance, Screaming Mantis has the uncanny ability to control the minds of others. Meanwhile, Vamp has a remarkable healing factor. Gameplay-wise, these make for some mind-boggling boss-fights. However, the games try to explain their ability - and most other seemingly-supernatural power - with nanomachines.
Nanomachine has become part of the norm in Metal Gear's universe of big robots, genetic soldiers, and private militaries. In fact, protagonists Solid Snake and Raiden had nanomachines that can administer medicine and enhancing drugs, hacking machines, as well as handling communications. If a game replaces a simple gadget with a nanomachine-powered variant, it's likely a Metal Gear title.
9 Use This Frequency
Despite stealth games featuring lone agents conducting missions in hostile territory, they often have special communicators that link them to a support agent with useful hints and tips. Interestingly, Metal Gear popularized this idea thanks to its unique radio system called the Codec.
Lore-wise, data analyst Mei Ling's Codec system allows users to communicate silently through manipulating the ear's small bones. On the outside, Codec users seem to talk to themselves. However, internal systems codify, compress, receive, and decode messages safely with anti-wiring technology.
However, the Codec remains an icon in stealth gaming thanks to its ingenuity. Fans can enjoy entire conversations with the Codec, which takes the form of the iconic beep and two-face interface. Moreover, most games allow players to talk to different people if they know their particular Codec frequency.
8 Spy-Fi Rules
Spy fiction (spy-fi) lovers appreciate characters like James Bond thanks to their assortment of gadgets and knick-knacks for every mission. In Metal Gear, Hideo Kojima revs spy-fi gadgets to 100 as Solid Snake and various factions have access to advanced devices that level up their approach to stealth operations.
For instance, Solid Snake wears the OctoCamo suit which possesses smart camouflage that can mimic any surface - alongside their texture and pattern. Meanwhile, Solid Snake's Solid Eye System gives players access to binoculars, night vision, infrared, and footprint detection. Other knick-knacks included a directional microphone that can listen in on conversations and the Fulton System that can retrieve personnel on the ground via a balloon.
7 Choose Your Ninja
Players first get a look at the series' awesome ninjas in the form of Gray Fox, a former FOXHOUND agent who went rogue that carried a tragic backstory. His white mask and signature red eye made Grey Fox quite a memorable figure in Metal Gear lore. In fact, the game formally acknowledges these special agents as Cyborg Ninja thanks to their special exoskeletons and signature high-frequency blades.
Interestingly, fan clamor towards Metal Gear's Cyborg Ninja also transformed secondary protagonist Raiden into a Cyborg Ninja. In fact, his popularity earned him his own action-packed video game, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. No video game franchise outside Metal Gear would be brave enough to include secret agents, genetically-altered agents, and cyborg ninjas in one universe.
6 Remember The Codenames
Despite the popularity of military-themed stealth games today, Metal Gear makes a mark in military science-fiction thanks to its immersive world. In games such as Portable Ops, Peace Walker, Ground Zeroes, and The Phantom Pain, players can actually "recruit" soldiers they've incapacitated via the Fulton System and similar technologies. However, aside from having similar attires, these soldiers also have codenames derived from animals - yet another Metal Gear staple.
In turn, Metal Gear is perhaps the most popular military sci-fi game with an active recruitment system attached to its stealth-action gameplay. Moreover, this recruitment system also introduces a mini-tactical component in the aforementioned games. After all, soldiers Puma, Leopard, Jackal, or Night Owl not only use guns. Some of them work best with R&D, cooking, or even reconnaissance.
5 Grenade In A Tank
While essentially a stealth series, Metal Gear doesn't skip out on its trademark action setpieces to step up on the action component of the series. Thanks to its namesake, fans expect to fight the giant robot Metal Gear in some form or fashion. However, Metal Gear's way of telling players that Snake, a measly human, will fight a bipedal killing machine doesn't get old.
Moreover, the ridiculous oversized bosses don't just appear in the end. In most games, Snake will at some point find himself fighting a vehicle or some form of mech. For instance, Solid Snake fights Hind D, a Harrier Jet, and a Tank in the first two installments of Metal Gear Solid.
4 Saved By The Cardboard
Stealth games have straightforward mechanics - players crawl, sneak, or walk their way to incapacitating opponents. In most games, players have the option to drag opponents and hide them in secret spots. However, only Metal Gear allows players to use a cardboard box as a stealth implement. After all, everyone knows it's logical to have a random box lying around an empty room!
Kidding aside, Metal Gear's stealth components hugely emphasize the use of these cardboard boxes. In the games, Snake can hide and move around in a cardboard box to improve his stealth. Thanks to the boxes' popularity, Metal Gear games incorporated various box types to add flair to this comedic mechanic.
3 About That Robot
Fans who played any Metal Gear game for the first time might wonder what on earth the Metal Gear even is. After all, they've been fighting various soldiers with CQC the whole time! As such, the first moment of seeing such a huge machine and the idea of having to "fight" it has been one of the best feelings gamers had when dealing with the franchise. Lore-wise, Metal Gears are bipedal tanks that, unlike their ordinary counterparts, are nuclear-capable. In turn, they can be deployed into any warzone and wreak havoc as they see fit.
These Metal Gears have formed the crux of the game's themes and overarching narrative. In turn, the Metal Gears have become symbolic of the characters' discussions regarding peace, war, and freedom no matter how long-winded these can become.
2 Alternate History, Soldiers Hate Wars
Interestingly, Metal Gear has both spy-fi and alternate history components to its setting. For instance, the superhuman team Cobra Unit served as the ultimate foil of the Axis Powers in World War 2. Moreover, robotics, AI, and cloning have reached extremely advanced stages in the early 1970s. In turn, these technologies interplay with the drama surrounding the Metal Gear. These include post-nationalism, the military-industrial complex, and even nuclear disarmament.
Aside from the setting's alternate history, Metal Gear fans fondly remember the series for its unique "message" and theme that becomes apparent in future titles. As Solid Snake and his companions would emphasize, freedom matters the most and war never brings good. This theme seems ironic with the series' narrative, considering how Snake and other soldiers try to fulfill their anti-war goals with fighting.
1 That Mission Fail Sequence
Of all Metal Gear memes out there, fans might immediately recognize Master Miller's iconic line when Solid Snake dies in battle. He'll say, "Snake? Snaaaaake!" as the screen fades to black. Despite the simple nature of this Game Over sequence, it has become a Metal Gear staple since its appearance.
Moreover, the game introduced more unique variants of these Game Over sequences depending on the cause of the Game Over. In turn, Metal Gear seems to be the only franchise to have had such an iconic Game Over screen.