Metal Gear
| Year | 1987 |
|---|---|
| Release platform | MSX |
| Genres | adventure |
| Developer | Konami |
| Country | Japan |
| Era | Eight bit, 1983 to 1991 |
| Importance |
Why it matters
Konami released the game for the MSX2, which had strict limits on the number of moving objects in a single screen line. A full-scale firefight with a dozen projectiles couldn't be built under those conditions, and the problem was reformulated: the enemy is more dangerous than the player, and the right action is not to enter a fight.
The player starts unarmed. The territory is divided into screens, the guards look straight ahead within their own section, and the route is built from watching the patrols. A player who is spotted raises the alarm, reinforcements arrive from neighboring screens at the noise, so the cost of a mistake is measured in a changed situation. The rhythm goes like this: a short dash, waiting, a retreat into a room already cleared until the alarm dies down. Keycards and items open doors that were inaccessible before, so the base gradually reveals itself as a single connected space. The scheme in which avoiding a fight pays better than fighting was tested here and later became the basis of a separate direction.
Watch it played
Facts
- The player starts the playthrough without a weapon.
- Guards notice the player within their own screen, and being spotted calls in reinforcements.
- The MSX2's limits on the number of objects per screen line got in the way of building the game around firefights.
- Keycards open doors scattered across the whole base, so the route passes through rooms already visited.
- The NES version was made by a different team, and it differs noticeably from the original.
