Metal Gear

1987 · Stealth / Action · MSX2 / NES

Overview

Metal Gear (1987) is Hideo Kojima's MSX2 stealth game: Solid Snake infiltrates Outer Heaven, avoiding guards rather than fighting them.

Deep Dive

Solid Snake is sent into the fortress of Outer Heaven to rescue a captured agent and destroy Metal Gear, a nuclear-armed walking tank. Guards see only in front of them, and being spotted raises the alarm, so Snake sneaks, hides and gathers equipment and keycards rather than fighting. The mission's final twist reveals who has really been directing it. Hideo Kojima's first game, it set out the 'tactical espionage action' formula; a Famicom version by a different team followed.

Developer Story

Metal Gear was designed by Hideo Kojima at Konami in 1987 for the MSX2 home computer. Kojima wanted to make an anti-war game where combat was the failure state — sneaking past enemies was always preferred over fighting. The game introduced the "tactical espionage action" concept, where players gathered intelligence, used environment, and avoided conflict. Kojima had been assigned to create the game as a junior designer; it became his defining work.

Did You Know?

Metal Gear was Kojima's first major game — he was assigned to create it as a junior designer and turned it into an anti-war philosophical work.
The NES port of Metal Gear was made by a different team without Kojima's involvement — he has publicly criticised it.
Big Boss, the final antagonist, was revealed to be the player's commanding officer who had been sending them into a trap.
The game's stealth mechanics were designed around MSX2 hardware limitations — the enemy could only see in a straight line due to processing constraints.
Metal Gear Solid (1998) made Kojima a household name, but Metal Gear (1987) established every core concept he would refine for the following three decades.