Metal Gear Solid, released in 1998, takes place in 2005. It was released on the PlayStation and is the first title in the series to use 3D graphics — the title is a pun on the fact that three-dimensional objects are typically known as "solids". It also employed voice acting for the first time in the series, and was held up for many years as one of the great pinnacles of the art form. It is also the first game in the franchise to receive an Updated Re-release, The Twin Snakes, released by Silicon Knights in 2004, running the MGS2 engine on Nintendo GameCube. It is considered the "canon" version of the game, with competely-rerecorded voice actingnote reprised by the entire original cast, and a few Continuity Nods tossed in.
This time it's FOXHOUND itself that has gone rogue: all six members — Vulcan Raven, Sniper Wolf, Revolver Ocelot, Decoy Octopus, Psycho Mantis, and Liquid Snake — have taken over Shadow Moses Island in the Alaskan archipelago, occupying it with the help of the Next-Gen Special Forces, soldiers who have undergone gene therapy. This seemingly unimportant dot of land is anything but: not only is it a nuclear weapons disposal facility, where warheads are dismantled, but it's also the place where DARPA is working with the (fictional) company ArmsTech to develop yet another Metal Gear, this one codenamed REX. Designed by Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, REX uses a railgun instead of ballistic missiles to deploy its warheads, which is supposed to fool conventional anti-missile systems that typically use a ballistic missile's exhaust plume for target-seeking purposes.note
Solid Snake is rousted out of retirement once again, with Campbell and Miller on the radio to advise him. His two objectives: determine if the terrorists actually can launch a nuke; and, if they can, make sure they don't. He is sent into Shadow Moses with the clothes on his back, a pack of cigarettes he swallowed after mission doctor Naomi Hunter gave him an injection that suppresses his stomach acids, and nothing else. Of course, "the clothes on his back" are not nothing either: they contain his "CODEC" radio system with which he can remain in constant contact with his support team, as well as a "Soliton Radar" developed by tech genius Mei Ling that allows him to see enemy soldiers and predict their fields of view. Using these tools, he is able to begin gathering weapons, information and allies.
Snake makes contact with a number of people imprisoned on the base by the terrorists: DARPA head Donald Anderson, ArmsTech President Kenneth Baker, Otacon, and Meryl Silverburgh, a soldier who happens to be Campbell's niece. The four of them help Snake determine that, yes, the terrorists can launch a nuclear weapon. Otacon and Meryl go on to support Snake on-site, but both Anderson and Baker suffer fatal heart attacks just after speaking to Snake. Snake also faces most of FOXHOUND: Vulcan Raven, who attacks from the safety of a tank; Revolver Ocelot, whose duel with Snake is cut short when a cyborg ninja pops in and slices off his arm; Sniper Wolf, who attacks from long range; and Psycho Mantis, who takes Breaking the Fourth Wall to an entirely new level; and the cyborg ninja, who challenges Snake to a fist fight. Snake realizes the ninja is none other than Gray Fox, resulting in confusion and horror from Naomi.
The Psycho Mantis Boss Fight deserves a bit of discussion because it is, arguably, the Establishing Character Moment for the franchise as a whole (especially since, for non-Japanese players, this was the first title OF said franchise). It enshrines Painting the Medium as a part of the game's approach: To "read your mind," Mantis accesses your PlayStation memory card and makes commentary on your play style (the number of times you've saved, the number of times you've had a Game Over, etc); he will also check for save data from other Konami titles and comment on them. He will prove his telekinesis by asking you — The Player — to put your DualShock controller on the ground and then "move" it with the power of his mind (IE the vibration shaker). During the actual fight, he will Interface Screw you by overlaying your screen with an error message, as though your (1998) CRT TV had shorted out and lost connection with the PS1. And, finally, he will refuse to be hit until your support crew realizes that his mind-reading only covers the first controller port: if you physically unplug your controller from the P1 slot and put it in the P2 slot instead, he cannot read your mind and you can finally damage him. It starts out Narm, but manages to graduate to Narm Charm through total commitment to the shtick; the game takes itself utterly seriously, even while engaging in the silliest shit you can imagine. And, once defeated, Mantis starts monologuing... but not over his Evil Plan, but deconstructing what it's like Hearing Voices every second of your life and being able to Mind Control everyone you meet, establishing himself as a Broken Ace tormented by his own powers. These elements — Camp, Deconstruction, Sympathy for the Devil and Breaking the Fourth Wall — are the heart of the Metal Gear experience.
After a Sniper Duel with Wolf which has Snake Back Tracking to literally the first area of the game in order to find a Sniper Rifle, Meryl and Snake are taken prisoner. Snake is stripped naked and strapped to a torture bed, where he finally meets Liquid Snake, who claims to be Snake's twin (despite the fact that he is blond while Snake has brown hair). Ocelot also reveals that Snake never met Donald Anderson: the real one was killed during an overenthusiastic infusion of torture by Ocelot, and Decoy Octopus took his place (and died of the heart attack). Snake must endure a Button Mashing minigame to resist Ocelot's electrocutions; he can surrender, but Ocelot promises that if he does, he (Ocelot) will kill Meryl. (He also warns The Player that, if you use a controller that engages in automatic Button Mashing, he'll know.)
Fortunately, Otacon remains at large, courtesy of his Invisibility Cloak. He helps Snake escape, and Snake uses keycards to flip the launch failsafe on Metal Gear REX, rendering the weapon system unable to launch a nuke. Unfortunately, it turns out that he was duped into doing so by Decoy Anderson, and has actually disabled the failsafe. Additional treachery is discovered: Naomi reveals that she was ordered to infect Snake with a nanomachine virus, "FoxDie," that will inflict "heart attacks" on every FOXHOUND member currently on Shadow Moses — which, of course, includes Snake himself. She has done this partially out of revenge, as her adoptive brother, Frank Jaeger, is Gray Fox. (She also helped stage Frank's escape from the lab of the treacherous cyberneticist Dr. Clark, who was slain in the chaos.) Campbell also informs him that Miller's corpse has been found, dead for at least three days. The "Miller" on CODEC reveals himself to be Liquid Snake. Liquid reveals that he and Snake are both clones of Big Boss, created by the "Les Enfants Terrible" project; he resents Snake because some genetic modification occurred, and he (Liquid) got the bad end of the stick, being stuck with all the recessive genes while Snake got all the dominant ones (this is not how genetics works; later games humorously acknowledge this by establishing that Liquid is Book Dumb and misunderstood the finer details of his creation). Furious at his failures and looking to vent his rage, Liquid jumps into REX and begins to attempt to squish Snake to death. However, Snake is able to defeat it, with assistance from Gray Fox, who sacrifices himself to Attack Its Weak Point, allowing Snake to deliver the final blow to the massive robot. The two Snakes then have a Duel Boss fistfight atop the wreckage of REX, with Meryl's motionless body hanging in the balance.
Snake learns that the Secretary of Defense has sent bombers to wipe the island off the map as a Treachery Cover Up. Snake mans the mounted gun of a Jeep; the driver depends on gameplay: if he lost the torture minigame, Meryl is found dead, and Otacon takes the wheel; if not, Meryl drives while Otacon stays behind to Hold the Line. They are pursued by Liquid, who refuses to go down regardless of the punishment dealt him; only FoxDie itself is finally able to stop him. Naomi admits that she has no idea when FoxDie will kill Snake himself, so Snake decides to live out the rest of his life as best he can. Meryl and Otacon give Snake an Infinity +1 Sword to use in any New Game Plus runs: Meryl gives Snake her bandanna, which gives him Bottomless Magazines, while Otacon lends his Invisibility Cloak. While the game makes you choose, Snake will wield both items in the sequel.
After the credits roll, Ocelot makes a telephone call to his superior and confirms that he managed to escape with the design data for Metal Gear REX. He works for a fellow named George Sears, who happens to be the third Les Enfantes Terribles clone, not to mention the 43rd and current President of the United States.
