This is the same collection that already came out in 2012 and that had the same five games from ‘Metal gear solid’ for MSX to ‘Metal gear solid 3’ for PS2, taking advantage of the fact that in 2021 that game in question stopped being sold.
Video game studios have found a goldmine with high-definition remasters. Sometimes, indeed, it’s a complete facelift for the game to fit a new generation, but more often than not, it seems like they just apply a filter to make it look clearer, put it on a disc, and start making money all over again. This is exactly what has happened to ‘Metal Gear Solid Collection,’ which, stumble after stumble, is attempting to extract money from the most naive players.
It’s not like Konami is trying to deceive anyone: this is the same collection that was released in 2012, featuring the same five games from the MSX’s ‘Metal Gear Solid’ to PS2’s ‘Metal Gear Solid 3,’ taking advantage of the fact that the latter game stopped being sold in 2021. The issue is that new games from the series have been released over the past decade, and it’s highly likely that they’ll charge us for them separately. It’s certainly painful to know that we’ll have to pay twice for the third part of the series: now and in the ‘Snake Eater‘ remake.
But this isn’t even the main problem. The issue is that this HD edition thinks that the acronym means something else, and Konami has already stated that the second and third parts will run at 720p on the Switch. In other words, the same resolution as on the PS3 and Xbox 360 back in the day. Wanting to sell us this at this point, after ‘The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom‘ and with Nintendo unable to handle more, is almost an insult to consumers.
Of course, the producer has rushed to say that these are just rumors and that in the other versions (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC), it will run at 1080p and 60fps. Or at least, that’s their goal. It remains to be seen whether this “goal” is the maximum the game will achieve or if it means that everything will run at the same specifications. Keep in mind that the collection will cost 60 euros, so they should have put some effort into it.
In 2023, releasing something on PS5 that runs at 1080p with a lot of effort is a bit underwhelming, let’s be honest. The games will also have a warning about outdated expressions and themes, but they won’t modify them to “preserve the historical context and the original vision of the creator.” Well, that’s the least they could do, although, given what we’ve seen…
From the intergalactic spaceships to the fields of Hyrule, these video game protagonists are absolutely iconic!
No video game is complete without a good protagonist. Sure, cool settings and tense plotlines are great and all, but at the end of the day, all the best stories are about compelling characters. This is even truer in the case of video games; as players, we don’t just watch the stories of these characters, we experience them.
Over the years, the world of gaming has seen more than its fair share of strong heroes, and it’s hard to narrow down such a crowded field to the 10 best. That said, here’s our lineup of gaming’s 10 most iconic heroes.
10 best video game protagonists
Soap MacTavish- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Image courtesy Infinity Ward
Soap beat out Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Dante from Devil May Cry by just a hair.
When Soap first arrives in the original Call of Duty 4, he’s about as green as it gets. Taken under the wing of the gruff, no-nonsense Captain Price, Soap soon grows into an elite veteran soldier.
In Modern Warfare 2, he’s the commander of his own special operations unit, no longer the raw recruit we first guided through a SAS training run.
By Modern Warfare 3, Soap is a hardened soldier; as players, one of the most gratifying parts of the Modern Warfare series is taking that journey along with Soap. Like him, we start as recruits and end up as hardened professionals.
Gordon Freeman is a man of many talents. Not only can he complete equations complex enough to make your head spin, but he can also stop an alien invasion almost singlehandedly using little more than a crowbar.
Gordon is a scientist-turned-reluctant warrior, and it’s that experience that separates Gordon from the typical gruff FPS protagonist. His background lets us experience different perspectives and encounter some even weirder science along the way.
With more than 100 games spanning multiple systems, it’s undeniable that this intrepid blue adventurer has left his mark on gaming. Mega Man is an originally mild-mannered android that reluctantly takes up arms to defend the world from (usually robotic) threats.
With challenging levels, unique boss battles, and a host of different powerups, Mega Man takes a simple formula and perfects it. He’s a classic hero in every sense of the term.
When we first met Ezio, it was hard to imagine that the mischievous playboy would one day become the most elite and respected assassin of all time. However, throughout several games, he becomes exactly that.
Though the Assassin’s Creed series has its share of strong protagonists, as players we essentially get to live out Ezio’s entire life, from youth to old age. He’s one of the richest and most well-developed characters in the series, and he left an indelible mark on fans around the globe.
Big Boss is as much a philosopher as he is a warrior. Not content to merely fight the wars of others, Big Boss makes it his life purpose to change the world. Though he starts as a young idealist and a true hero, series veterans will know that he eventually ends up as one of the main antagonists of the series.
The Metal Gear Solid prequels allow players to experience Big Boss’s complicated and tragic backstory, and in true Metal Gear fashion, eventually, realize that he may not have been a villain after all.
Heck, his clone is Solid Snake who is another great character that almost made this list. Big Boss is the definition of an iconic character, and he’s a staple in gaming history.
Commander Shepard’s story is your story. Sure, there are a few things out of your control… but as a player, you have a whole galaxy’s worth of choices and decisions at your fingertips. From choosing your appearance, your squad, or how you act in a particular scenario, there are almost unlimited possibilities when it comes to how you want to experience Commander Shepard’s journey. Even though we’re still playing a character, we get to play them exactly the way we want to as players, which makes Commander Shepard an even more powerful and defining hero.
Sorry Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII, there is only room for one pointy-eared swordsman on this list!
Link has seen more than his fair share of action over the years, growing from a few green pixels to the blue-eyed hero we know today. This intrepid adventurer never gives up, no matter what the forces of darkness throw at him. He may sometimes come off as inexperienced, but that just makes him all the more relatable. His tenacity and courage leave an indelible mark on players and fans.
We were close to putting Samus Aran on this list, but Link and a certain someone else from the Super Smash Bros. roster won out overall!
A modern-day Indiana Jones, Nathan Drake has a sharp mind, tenacious attitude, and a wise-crack for every situation. He’s not the typical stalwart hero. He’s got plenty of flaws of his own and is perhaps one of the most relatable characters in gaming. He’s just an ordinary guy facing down extraordinary (and sometimes supernatural) circumstance. That makes him all the more human… and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
The tale of Arthur Morgan is a long one, but completely worth the journey. Despite a laundry list of characters you meet along the way, at the end of the day, Red Dead 2 is Arthur’s story. Arthur Morgan is an outlaw with a gruff exterior and a heart of gold despite his flaws. All he wants is to do what’s right for himself and those he cares about. His story is filled with betrayal, joy, heartbreak, and every emotion in between. When we start the game, Arthur is essentially a stranger to us, but by the time the credits roll, he feels like family, and it’s an exceedingly difficult goodbye.
Was there ever any doubt? The king of gaming’s heroes retains his crown. With adventures spanning worlds, consoles, and many years, this red-shirted plumber does it all with a smile and unflappable positivity. No matter what new evil comes to bear, Mario will do anything to protect those in harm’s way. When you think about a video game character, Mario is probably the first one that comes to mind. Mario is, simply put, the best.
Though humans usually tend to be the stars of most video games, they will occasionally get to share that spotlight with some rather fuzzy cohorts. Whether it be wandering the post-apocalyptic wastes, taking on covert operations, or playing some radical new jams on guitar, video game dogs are every bit as lovable as their real-life counterparts. Here, we’re counting down the 10 best dogs in gaming.
10 coolest dogs in video games
Riley- Call of Duty: Ghosts
Image courtesy Infinity Ward
We were torn between placing Riley on this list or Rush from the Mega Man franchise. However, after we learned more about Riley’s history, we had to give throw this dog a bone.
Riley was, in many ways, a pioneer for pups in modern gaming. The stalwart Riley garnered a fair bit of attention when Call of Duty: Ghosts hit the scene, and since then dogs in gaming have seen a bit of a renaissance. This stalwart German Shepherd acted as an indispensable companion to the Ghost unit, keeping pace through all manner of dangerous missions. That’s not the best part, though: Riley is a real dog, or more accurately, two dogs. Real-life Navy SEAL canines Ruger and Colin provided motion-capture performances for the fictional Riley.
Although the Silent Hill dog did not make this list, another pooch from another great horror franchise did!
Early on in Resident Evil 4, way before you start encountering bloodthirsty villagers and disturbing bioweapons, Leon S. Kennedy will run into a heartbreaking sight. A whimpering wild dog has his back leg caught in a rusty bear trap. Though you do have the option to just walk on past (but seriously, why would you?!), freeing this poor creature will net you some serious good karma. After freeing the dog, he’ll let out a happy bark and limp off into the woods, but will return later to help you in the boss battle against the colossal El Gigante.
Seeing the white-furred pup appear at the bleakest moment of the fight makes us wonder if maybe Gandalf has a secret dog form?
Sif- Dark Souls
Image courtesy From Software
Sif is what some experts might call a “chonky boi,” or alternately, a “big chungus.” This rather large wolf’s size isn’t something to be scoffed at, though. That giant sword that Sif carries around like a chew toy can do some serious damage. Jokes aside, Sif has a tragic backstory: Sif’s master, Artorias, sacrificed himself to protect his loyal companion from the corruption of the Abyss. After rescuing the trapped wolf, you can summon Sif to fight by your side later on.
He’s a dog. He’s got a guitar. He plays some sweet tunes. Is there honestly anything better? K.K. Slider’s legendary jams and smooth attitude have turned him into one of the most iconic characters in the Animal Crossing series. He also uses his music as a tool to fight the man, railing against “industry fat cats” and trying to keep his music as authentic as possible. So, not only is K.K. Slider one groovy pup, but he also might be one of the last musicians with any integrity.
Amaterasu- “Okami”
Image courtesy Capcom
Amaterasu is a dog god… or maybe god dog? Either way, she’s based on an actual figure from Japanese mythology. The star of the colorful and iconic Okami, Amaterasu is trying to put a troubled past behind her, traveling the land to protect the innocent from the demonic forces of darkness. Not only that, but she creates some truly remarkable artwork along the way.
Also, if anyone from Nintendo is listening, we would love to see Amaterasu in Super Smash Bros.
Barbas- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Image courtesy Bethesda
When we first loaded up Skyrim on our Xbox 360, we never would’ve guessed that we would be making a new canine bestie.
Barbas is everyone’s dream made a reality: a bonafide talking dog. Not only does this boy talk, but he’s also got jokes. His sarcasm is about as dry as it comes, and you’ll need to keep some Resist Fire potions on hand to deal with his steady stream of burns.
Sense of humor aside, Barbas is a good friend and companion, but unfortunately, you can’t keep him for long. Eventually, you’ll need to return him to his true master: the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile, a god-like being who’s basically Skyrim’s version of Loki.
Boomer is four-legged proof that dogs really are man’s best friend. Whether it’s grabbing ammo and supplies from fallen foes, spotting enemies from afar, or ripping their throats out like he’s going after the squeaker in a new toy, Boomer is just about the best furry companion you could ask for. Though Far Cry 5 boasts an animal menagerie that includes a grizzly bear and a puma that you can keep as companions, Boomer is truly the leader of the pack. Such a good boy.
When you first meet Chop he’s a bit… rough around the edges. Franklin’s animal companion is about as in-touch with his “baser instincts” as an animal can get. That said, Chop grows as Franklin does, following him from his cramped room at his aunt’s house to a swanky new pad in Vinewood. Chop stays the same lovable goof at heart, though, and he’s always down for a walk around the block or a rousing game of fetch. If you run into any annoying joggers or vapid celebrities along the way, Chop will be there to show them what it means to be top dog in Vinewood.
Though Riley may be the original special ops canine, D. Dog is the Big Boss. This scrappy mutt is found by Venom Snake in the dusty deserts of Afghanistan. The elite soldier rescues the one-eyed puppy and he soon becomes the beloved mascot of the Diamond Dogs, sporting an eyepatch just like his master.
You can dress him up in a whole wardrobe’s worth of sweet tactical gear, chance his appearance and coat, and give him all the head skritches you want even if you’re in the middle of a dangerous mission. There’s nothing more heartwarming than seeing an entire base full of hardened mercenaries acting like delighted little kids when they see D. Dog. He’s a good boy who will be by your side no matter what!
Honestly, is there any virtual dog out there that can top Dogmeat? Appearing in more than his fair share of Fallout titles, Dogmeat is your loyal companion throughout your expeditions in the post-apocalyptic wastelands of America. Dogmeat is down for just about any task that might come his way, from facing down super mutants to scavenging for supplies. You can even talk to this intelligent fellow, and though he may not be able to speak, he can offer some riveting insights into the world around him. Best of all, you can even give him his own doghouse as part of your buildable settlements in Fallout 4. You won’t want to go anywhere in the post-apocalypse without Dogmeat at your side.
So, were there any pixelated pups that we might have missed? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back with Softonic for more Top Lists and other gaming-related goodness.
What makes Kojima’s boss fights stand out from the crowd of button-mashing, grindy, soul-crushing antagonists like Shao Kahn or Gill is that the fight isn’t made difficult because of triple health bars, invulnerability shields, or one-hit K.O. moves. Instead, they’re the highlight of the game for different reasons. We had a top 10 prepared, but Kojima always dials things up to 11, so we thought we’d go even one step further than that. Here’s our pick for the top 12 boss fights in the Metal Gear franchise:
Nothing says Metal Gear quite like two giant mechs ramming into each other in a high-tech battle for combat supremacy. Lasers, Gatling guns, missiles, and a ton of metal smashing against metal, the fight is only enhanced by the fact that it’s behind the mechs it’s the classic Snake vs Liquid, just to raise the stakes even more. To top it all off, Liquid is in “the more advanced model,” so Snake’s the underdog before the battle even starts.
“Don’t you know that the majority of the world’s greatest assassins are women?”
Following her murder of one of the title’s protagonists, Sniper Wolf wants to prove her marksmanship against the one and only Solid Snake. “I always kill what I aim at,” says Wolf before the two face off in a snowfield sniper duel. The fight was the first all-out sniper battle in the series, but it wouldn’t be the last either. What also makes the battle memorable is the conversation with Wolf after she’s defeated – her relation with Big Boss, the tragic thing that she was truly searching for, and her wish to be at peace.
“The path you walk on has no end … you shall have no peace.”
The boss fight with Raven was one of Kojima’s favorites: A duck-and-cover shootout in a warehouse full of boxes against a lumbering foe who decided to bring flock of birds and a Gatling gun to a pistol fight. “He never kneels down,” said Kojima in an interview. “I think that added a lot of character to him.” True enough, his final words raise more questions than answer them, cluing Snake in to the greater schemes of the game’s plot.
His suit gives him camo, but drains his stamina very quickly.
The second member of The Boss’sCobra Unit, The Fear is a mutant acrobatic contortionist who dons a stealth suit and fires poisoned darts at Snake with a crossbow. While he’s leaping from tree to tree Snake is running around a forested area laden with pitfalls, snare traps, and venomous creatures. Aside from the awesome battleground, the fight is also memorable for the many ways it can be won.The Fear can be lured, fooled, poisoned, and even blinded. If you manage to beat him by depleting his stamina, you’ll even get the reward of his uniform and its outrageous camo index.
How Hideo Kojima created the characters of Metal Gear
What do you get when you make a near-perfect clone of Big Boss, make him President of the United States, have him be a master swordsman, and give him metal tentacles like Doctor Octopus? If you answered “A Metal Gear boss” you’d be right. This time it’s Solidus Snake duking it out on top of Federal Hall. Raiden was Solidus’ former protégé, adding an extra layer to the already epic fight.
The Sorrow was a casualty of war, forced to be killed by his loving wife.
One of our favorite fights on this list (and another of Kojima’s own top 5), The Sorrow was a surprise boss fight late in the game. “This character was very different from all boss battles I had tried up to that point;” said Kojima in an interview, “it’s a boss that doesn’t exist, he’s a ghost.” While the Metal Gear franchise doesn’t veer away from the occasional step into fantasy territory, an encounter with a spirit is pretty far removed from the typical genre.
The experience takes Snake through a mangrove populated by zombies – corpses of all the enemies that the player has killed in their playthrough. The stream can even be empty if they’ve done an no-kill run! Since the encounter is more or less happening in Snake’s head, the sequence can be skipped entirely by using the life pill when defeated.
Big Boss confesses the loneliness of a post-war soldier.
“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain,” says Batman in “The Dark Knight.” Such is tragically true for Big Boss, who turns out to be the mastermind behind the cruel, warmongering events of Metal Gear 2. Snake is forced to fight his ranking officer in a battle that redefines what it means to be an underdog. Armed with a hairspray can and a lighter, Snake creates a makeshift flamethrower and dukes it out with the legendary hero.
The battle with Psycho Mantis was the first fight that set the Metal Gear boss fights apart from others of the time, and one of the best boss fights of all time. To prove his telepathic might before the fight even starts, Mantis starts telling you your game stats so far: How many traps you’ve stepped in, how many fights you’ve gotten into, and how often you’ve been detected so far. He then takes it a step further and starts even listing off other games you’ve played on the system, a total fourth wall break that’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face.
Since Psycho Mantis has telepathic powers, he can’t even be defeated like a regular boss; he can read your every thought and therefore predict your moves. The guy can even make your controller vibrate at will, and tells you when he’s doing it! The only way to really defeat him is to take out the controller completely and plug it into a different port! How’s that for thinking outside the box?
“There is nothing more for me to give you. All that’s left for you to take is my life.”
The final boss battle of Metal Gear Solid 3 is against The Boss herself, the famed WWII hero who trained Snake since the very beginning. The fight against her takes place in a field of beautiful lilies, and is the classic master vs. apprentice as the two fight in a CQC battle for the title of Big Boss. There’s no gimmicks, there’s no spectacular fireworks or gaudy effects, just a one-on-one with a woman torn between her duty and her love.
Like all the best fights in cinema, it’s not the effects or the choreography that make it so memorable – it’s the two people that are locked in combat. When the fight ends it’s the player that has to pull the trigger on her; it’s not done in a cutscene. The lilies turn red to symbolize the shift in Snake’s character, and the blood that is now on his hands. The Boss was almost like a mother to Snake, and even after her defection she unsuccessfully tried to save Snake from the same path the she walked – a path of endless violence and warfare.
Revolver Ocelot was one of the major recurring characters of the Metal Gear franchise – sometimes a friend, sometimes a foe. He was the first fight for Big Boss, and poetically the final fight for Solid Snake. Metal Gear Solid 4 takes these characters to the end of their competitive journey, and has them fight on the ocean in front of a rising sun. “The war is over,” says Liquid, “but we are not yet free.” The two begin a fight for the ages, in a conflict that both of them knew would happen one day, and that one of them would not survive.
The boss fight itself is one of the series’ best. It takes the player through flashback pictures of Ocelot and Snake as they grew up together over the course of several games, and even a nostalgic comeback of the original games’ soundtracks and HUD. It really feels like a culmination of their arc, and both characters are physically and emotionally exhausted by its end.
“Let me linger in this world just a little longer.”
While other picks on our list are by and large better moments, there’s no actual battle that tops The End: The best sniper duel in gaming history. He’s a legendary sniper from the Cobra Unit who’s over a century old and saving the last of his strength for one final hunt. That hunt is Snake. The End wears a full-on salad suit and blends in nearly perfectly with the forest, making him hard to spot, and even harder to spot before he sees you and hits you with his tranquilizer-loaded Mosin-Nagant. Worse still, The End has photosynthetic powers, allowing him to regenerate stamina if it falls below a certain threshold. Combine that with the fact that the boss fight goes between three separate locations, and it’s a tug-of-war with who’s predator and who is prey.
That high-tension moment when you finally get the drop on The End.
Like all the best boss fights in Metal Gear, The End has multiple weaknesses that clever players can exploit. Kojima wanted the boss fight to last a long time, to really drag out the exhaustive snipe-off between the two characters but, as with Psycho Mantis, there’s ways to make the fight much easier, like following his footprints with thermal vision, catching his pet parrot and following it to his location, or even setting your console calendar forward a week just to watch him die of old age! Crafty players who get their hands on a sniper rifle early enough can even shoot him in his wheelchair long before the fight ever starts. It just goes to show how outside-the-box thinking can outwit and defeat even very difficult opponents.
Top 5 most memorable boss fights in video game history
Discover how the legend created these iconic characters.
The Metal Gear franchise stands out from other video games because of its cinematic storytelling, expansive narrative, and allegorical metaphors for the real world. It’s a zany, complex miasma of espionage, intrigue, triple-agents, secrets, plot twists, and over-the-top drama and action sequences (many of which were inspired by Hollywood movies), wherein gameplay gets steadily stronger as the series progresses to more recent titles. While the tactical espionage game is itself clever and fun, the other side of the coin is the plot and characters.
The mind behind the series is Hideo Kojima, a now-55-year-old man who studied economics at a university and got into gaming around the same time. His peers were surprised when he announced his intent to get into the gaming industry; Kojima had previously expressed an interest in directing film. He brought his love of film to gaming, and the result was one of the most detailed and cinematic series to ever land. With the exception of the 2004 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Kojima wrote, directed, and designed every game in the Metal Gear series, from the 1987 Metal Gear all the way to 2015’s The Phantom Pain.
Kojima and Carpenter were friendly acquaintances, and when Kojima expressed an interest in making a video game protagonist based off Carpenter’s own, Carpenter had no problem with it, even quelling talk of copyright infringement. “I told them not to do that,” Carpenter told the irate lawyers, “I know the director of these games, and he’s a nice guy, or at least he’s nice to me.”
Kurt Russell’s “Snake Plissken” in “Escape from New York”
While Kojima was a huge fan of American film, he wasn’t as big of a fan of western gaming. “Western video game designers, they’re the ones with the interesting technologies,” said Kojima in an interview. “They know how to use the hardware and they are very imaginative. And they are artistic. But sometimes, because they are so artistic, they forget what games should feel like, that games need to feel right and they need to play well.”
For Kojima, a big consideration for his characters was that while they can live, breathe, and behave like people, they’re also living in a video game meant to be played by a wide demographic. “It’s like serving food in a restaurant,” he said; “you need to be sensitive to the customer. You need to be nice and providing service. Maybe that was lacking in the western games, and that was what [Shigeru] Miyamoto was so great at doing.”
Collaboration with Yoji Shinkawa
Kojima began working with Japanese artist Yoji Shinkawa as early as 1994 on “Policenauts.” Over the years, the two spearheaded the design of Metal Gear’s characters, working in close collaboration to achieve an image they both felt proud of. “I come up with the setting and convey the character’s name, age, habits, background, and language to Yoji,” Kojima said of the process. “Then he creates the designs based on that info, and I check them and give him feedback. His booth is right next to mine, so we’re constantly communicating with each other.”
Shinkawa concept art for Snake
Kojima would draw inspiration and put ideas together (sometimes even from other members of the dev team) for both gameplay and character design, then he would hand the wheel over to Shinkawa to turn the ideas into a tangible visual design. “Once the basic design takes shape, I then leave things in his hands and check back when the model is done. Generally, we’re constantly moving in tandem – checking, verifying, and discussing designs at each and every phase.”
Snake
Snake long before his transition to Big Boss
“In all games, you have Snake. He’s not only my favorite character, he’s the one that’s closest to me,” said Kojima. “By always having Snake in every game, his background slowly develops over time. I kind of relate that to myself growing up.” Of all the characters in the saga, Snake is the one thread that ties it all together.
Astute fans will point out that while every protagonist (except for Raiden) is named ‘Snake,’ there are actually two protagonists with the same title: Snake (Big Boss), and Solid Snake. This point actually illustrates Kojima’s point even better; there are many elements to a person’s actual personality, and as Kojima (and the players) grew older, the degree to which they can relate to a character becomes strained. As a result, the original Big Boss was both the hero and the villain of the series.
Solid Snake (left) and Big Boss (right)
The first Snake
Kojima and Shinkawa actually disagreed on how Snake should look and feel in the original Metal Gear Solid. “I asked Shinkawa to create an older, hard-boiled, dandy character, but he said it’s better to have a younger character,” Kojima recalls. “So Solid Snake became about 20 to 40. I asked him to make the character nimble and muscular, with the body like a Van Damme. The result came out to be the one you will see in the game. He has to perform espionage, so I wanted the character to be like a cat but still have a strong presence.”
As for his personality, Kojima originally intended for Snake to be a blank slate. “While he started with no background, over 20 years, that personality has been slowly fulfilled. While this is a character that I created, recently I feel like he has developed his own personality, and established his own background,” he said in an interview.
What makes this sentiment so true is that not only have the events of the series molded and changed Snake throughout the games, but they’ve also brought the player through the same growth. By having a blank slate slowly grow richer with experiences and relationships, the player evolves alongside him, gradually learning who he is and relating to him more and more. This way his character is slowly filled as the player intertwines his own experience with Snake’s.
By Metal Gear Solid 2, Kojima realized a dilemma: He wanted to give more personality to Snake, but given the lack of control he had over the player’s decisions, felt it would be very difficult. “I wanted to give depth to the Snake character, which is very hard to do when the player is playing Snake himself,” said Kojima. “I got the idea of distancing the viewer from Snake to provide a more objective view of him. Thanks to this system, Snake grows in stature. When you play Raiden [in MGS 2], who is only a beginner, and then encounter Snake he suddenly seems more impressive.”
While the fan response to Snake (both Big Boss and Solid Snake) was generally positive, critics were less excited about the surprise MGS 2 protagonist, Raiden. Kojima knew the character was a risk, but strongly felt it was a necessary one. “I put my career on the line with Raiden!” he said. “I did it to entertain people, by totally destroying what I had built up, earned and achieved with MGS 1. I really wanted people to be amused by that, but they started bashing him and I guess I wasn’t happy.”
What made Raiden more interesting, however, was not so much the character, but his relationship with Solid Snake. As you might expect, that relationship was also inspired by movies.
Solid Snake and Raiden team up
One of the biggest inspirations for Snake and Raiden actually came from Godzilla and King Kong. Solid Snake was supposed to be a metaphor for Godzilla – the resulting product of man and science. Raiden, on the other hand, was closer to King Kong – lured by a woman, captured by a greedy villain (Solidus in MGS 2), and taken to the city. Kojima explained that the parallel continues at the game’s end, when Solid Snake frees Raiden, and he’s allowed to return from whence he came. Snake, on the other hand (still going by the Godzilla metaphor) cannot be at peace as long as Cipher and Metal Gear exist.
Otacon
Pull yourself together, Otacon!
“Otacon’s presence is very big for me too,” said Kojima of the wimpier engineer/mechanic from earlier Metal Gear games. “Otacon is not a heroic character; he doesn’t fight, he has no courage, he constantly gets rejected by women. But I think he has a very important role in the Metal Gear Solid series because of all that.”
Otacon was meant to serve as a foil to the glamorous and gritty spy turned war hero, Snake. “I am guessing that most people playing Metal Gear Solid are a lot closer to Otacon,” Kojima said wryly, “but through their actions, they feel they assume the role of Snake. By placing Otacon between the player and Snake, I think this adds a lot of depth to the game. That’s why I try to consistently push Otacon into being an important part of the story.”
Women in MGS
EVA is awesome … but does her jumpsuit need to be unzipped?
One of the biggest points of contention in Metal Gear is its portrayal of female characters, who are nearly always overtly sexualized and sometimes even physically harassed on-screen. Perhaps most controversial is Quiet, the scantily-clad sniper in The Phantom Pain. Kojima made an attempt to argue the reason for her design, but it doesn’t hold much water, even with other game development teams.
There may not be much defense for a character like Quiet, but that’s not to say that all women in the Metal Gear are there just for the visual enjoyment of the male nerd demographic. Indeed, some of Metal Gear’s most powerful characters are women, namely The Boss, the antagonist and mentor of Snake in MGS 3 who schools him in virtually every way. Other characters like the deadly Sniper Wolf, the capable spy Eva, or the motherly Para-Medic are further examples. Is there blatant sexualizing of the female characters in MGS? Yes. Is this the case with every character? No.
As times change, so too must Kojima’s character design. The first Metal Gear game came out 31 years ago, and since then Snake has evolved and gone through several different incarnations. When Kojima was asked what, to him, was the ideal representation of Snake, his response was immediate: “Snake is and has always been nothing more than an extension of the player.” If you’ve played The Phantom Pain you may have noticed some pretty big character departures when comparing him to Snake during Peace Walker or Snake Eater.
Big Boss returns to being a man of few words.
The decision was a conscious choice, an attempt to return Snake to that blank slate that he started as, as the character slowly grows into the villain of the mid-series. A mostly silent protagonist (a la Mad Max in “Mad Max 2,” Master Chief in Halo, or Karl Fairburne in Sniper Elite) was agreed upon to thin the line between player and character in an effort of creating a more immersive narration. It’s weaning the series narrative away from Snake and pushing it more towards the world and supporting cast who will soon step into the spotlight. After the events of The Phantom Pain “it’s the characters around [Snake] who will expand the story,” says Kojima.
Who’s your favorite Metal Gear character? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned with Softonic for more character analysis, and the latest in gaming news.
Meet the 5 bosses who brought gamers to their knees. How many have you beaten?
You’ve finally made it to the end of the dungeon. You’re low on health and out of potions, and you’re tired. Luckily, the exit is in sight. Right in front of it, however, is a giant clearing with a save point, which can only mean one thing: boss battle.
Boss battles are some of the toughest and most iconic parts of most games The satisfaction of finally taking out a boss that’s been repeatedly kicking your ass is unmatched by anything else in gaming. Here are some of the toughest, weirdest, and overall most memorable bosses in video game history.
Top 5 most memorable boss fights in video game history
5. Mike Tyson – Punch-Out!!
It may seem strange to younger readers that one of the boss fights on this list is based on an actual person, but Mike Tyson in the NES classic Punch-Out!! is no joke. His jabs are blindingly fast and his tells are way more subtle than the other opponents. Watch out for his uppercut, as it can KO poor Little Mac in one blow! Honestly, I’m pretty sure it’d be easier to fight Mike Tyson in real life.
Hilariously, Tyson himself had never actually played the game until 2014, where he fought his pixelated counterpart on The Tonight Show. He lost, but if you think about it, it’s kind of a win-win.
4. Shao Kahn – Mortal Kombat
Most fighting game bosses don’t play by the rules, and Shao Kahn is no exception. Kahn was designed at a time when arcades were everywhere, and video game developers made games with the intention of sucking as many quarters out of kids as possible. Mortal Kombat 2 and 3 are fantastic arcade fighting games, but their final boss Shao Kahn alone probably made arcades hundreds of dollars in quarters.
Unlike other characters, Shao Kahn has super armor on most of his moves. In fighting games, super armor is when a character takes damage but doesn’t flinch, allowing them to power through your attacks. His attacks are also incredibly fast and powerful, and if he hits you with his giant hammer, your character sits stunned for years, allowing him to lay down the smack. Oh, and before you can even fight him you have to take down his pet tiger/man/four-armed thing Kintaro. Worst of all, you know what he says when he beats you?
“It’s official, you suck!”
Kahn caused me countless hours of agony as a kid and as a grown man I still can’t beat him. Maybe someday I’ll be able to beat him and finally get that payback Fatality.
3. Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid
When Metal Gear Solid came out on PS1 back in 1998, it revolutionized the gaming landscape with its deep storytelling, stealth gameplay, and technical prowess. It’s considered one of the greatest and most influential games of all time, and its hero, Solid Snake, has become a gaming icon. One of the most iconic parts of an already fantastic game is a boss fight against the psychic soldier Psycho Mantis.
Using his telepathic abilities, Psycho Mantis messes not only with Snake, but with the player themselves. He can black out the screen and mess with your controller inputs, forcing you to switch the controller to the player 2 slot. Most memorably, Psycho Mantis can read the player’s memory card and comment on the games that are stored there to mess with their heads. in the original PS1 version, he’ll ask the player about Castlevania, and in the Gamecube remake, he’ll mention Mario, Zelda, and Super Smash Bros.
Psycho Mantis is arguably the best example of a video game breaking the fourth wall. His “mindreading” abilities are more than just a gimmick, they serve the story and help build his character.
2. Yellow Devil – Mega Man
The Mega Man NES games are absolute masterpieces of side-scrolling shooters. The characters are charming, the controls are tight and responsive, and the music is unquestionably the best of the 8-bit era. The games were also famous, however, for their high level of difficulty, due in no small part to the series’ famous bosses. While Dr. Wily sent all manner of Robot Masters to fight Mega Man, perhaps none are as iconic or long-lasting as the Yellow Devil.
As the name implies, the Yellow Devil is a hellish creature. His body is made of deadly yellow goo that shoots out at Mega Man. By shooting out pieces of himself, the Yellow Devil can move around the stage, reforming himself as he goes. His eye is his only weak spot, but it can fire deadly energy blasts that home in on Mega Man.
While his attacks are relatively simple, fighting the Yellow Devil is an exercise in patience. He challenges every skill you’ve learned up to that point, including your timing, jumping, and shooting. Winning the battle is all about keeping cool, because if you mess up your timing and become tilted, it’s all downhill from there. (Or you could use the famous “pause” trick to make your Electro-beam blasts count as multiple hits with one shot… but that’s cheating.)
1. Ornstein & Smough
Dark Souls is widely considered one of the hardest games ever made. The game is unforgiving and brutally punishing, yet fair. Every mistake you make is your own, and the only thing that’s stopping you from beating the game is your perseverance to try over and over again. With that being said, Ornstein and Smough can make even the most hardened Dark Souls veteran scream with rage.
This dynamic duo fights the player simultaneously. Smough is a big boy who towers over the player, wielding a hammer that can crush even the tankiest player in one or two hits. His buddy Ornstein is the exact opposite; he’s quick and nimble with a lightning spear, popping up out of nowhere to impale you and shower you with electric fury. While fighting one of these bosses on their own would be very difficult but manageable, fighting both of them at the same time is maddeningly difficult. If you manage to defeat one of them, the survivor absorbs the corpse of the other, refilling their health and increasing their size and power.
Like the Yellow Devil, fighting these two is about keeping your head, though it’s incredibly hard not reacting to the adrenaline pumping through your veins when you get close to beating them after dying dozens of times. Beating them is totally worth it though, and you can rest easy and celebrate loudly that you’ve taken down one of the toughest boss fights in video game history.
Have you beaten these bosses? Are there any big ones we missed? Let us know!
