Warning: Snake Heads, this section of speculation may contain spoilers, viewer discretion is advised.
A game 21 years in the making, a man whose past never seems to leave him, a war that seems to get convoluted with each passing sequel. Metal Gear Solid 4 seems to be drawing an explicit amount of hype, almost equivalent to Halo 3. Kojima calls the game as a love letter to the hardcore gamer, critics pan it as a piece of art that seems to be in a universe so surreal that nobody except Kojima dare to create such a twisted world filled with conspiracies and counter conspiracies.
Metal Gear has always been about its fantastic story and it just keeps getting better with each passing sequel, as confusing as it may sound it is actually one of the most beautifully crafted games out there. Every epic has a story, but never has a story been such an epic that it will make you salute a hero who valiantly lays his life down for a world which has followed every rule in the creation of a society. As the world embraces war, as an ally Solid Snake’s efforts have begun to destroy a new world order created by the patriots and finish his family feud once and for all. Has Liquid, Ocelot, Vamp and the dream of Naked Snake finally come to an end or are we being put under an illusion once again?
Welcome to the world of a future Metal Gear where Snake is alive and ticking to carry on the legacy of his father. There have been numerous questions raised on the existence of a Young Snake who was cleared to be only a part of the entire process of the “OctoCamo” procedure in the game, well it seems that might not be entirely true. Young Snake, it seems, may be very well a part of the game as a character unique to himself, which is why Kojima has been teasing us with snippets of him throughout.
There is a barrage of rather confusing evidence supporting this. I try to put them together piece by piece. The very first instance we saw a Young Snake was when he used the “Octocamo” to disguise himself when he is being chased by a group of enemies in the Middle East. According to numerous reports, the feature is not a part of “Octocamo” but is the beginning of a Young Snake in the game. This has been made more obvious by the fact that since there are two (four including Big Boss and Liquid) Snakes in the game one gets to be named as “Old Snake”, and the other presumed clone of Solid Snake gets the tag “Young Snake”.
Further on, Metal Gear Solid 4 is expected to take place in a lot of locations across the globe, its rather surprising that we’ve seen Old Snake only in the Middle East and South America so far. (OPM review shows off a few shots of Old Snake in South America)
The only other environment in the game that has been showcased is the deserted island of Shadow Moses where a Younger Snake braves the blizzard and reaches the Helipad where the original Metal Gear Solid takes place. Well Shadow Moses is indeed a major part of the entire game which goes beyond just a flash back. The OPM review clearly states, “The frigid looking docks where Snake and Liquid face off in Metal Gear RAY and REX looks familiar right, well your guess is certainly correct and going back is possibly better than you can imagine.”
Now the Regain Advertisement along with the theatrical trailer show brief snippets of a Young Snake once again, the only difference here is that this Snake looks like the Old Snake in his younger days. This is done using Octocamo, but there is another slight difference between this and the young snake we saw way back in the first trailer. He looks quite different, to the extent the color of his eyes which is a bit weird. The guy who is initially shown off as Young Snake looks quite different than the one seen in the recent trailers.
Here’s a track list of the soundtrack for the game which also add to reveal the plot line for the game:
01 Old Snake 3:52
02 Love Theme 7:07
03 Gekko 2:53
04 Haven Troopers 3:40
05 BB Corps 3:43
06 Drebin 893 3:29
07 Vista Mansion 1:32
08 Laughing Octopus 2:19
09 Breakthrough 3:09
10 Endless Pain 2:46
11 White Blood 2:49
12 Call Me Hal 3:01
13 Midnight Shadow 2:58
14 Paradise Lost 4:13
15 Great Escape 2:14
16 Desperate Chase 2:57
17 Raging Raven 2:34
18 Confrontation 3:10
19 Mobs Alive 3:24
20 Violent Ceasefire 2:08
01 Next-Gen Control 4:40
02 Crying Wolf 2:10
03 One More Reboot 1:41
04 Sin 1:44
05 Atonement 4:48
06 Infinite Loop 3:35
07 Everything Ends 2:30
08 At Dawn 3:30
09 Screaming Mantis 2:38
10 Guns of the Patriots 4:05
11 No Place to Hide 2:36
12 Sorrow 3:50
13 Full Circle 1:38
14 Everything Begins 4:25
15 Father & Son 2:29
16 Metal Gear Saga 4:19
17 Here’s To You 5:48
18 War Zone 1:28
19 A Rebellion Rests 2:44
20 The Hunter 2:05
21 The Hunted 2:00
22 Forced Hand 2:08
23 Under Curfew 1:49
24 Unmanned Army 1:28
25 Cold Memories 1:35
26 For Liberty 1:58
27 Surrounded 1:59
All the bosses in the game have their individual soundtracks, which can be seen here in the list. Thus laughing octopus is the first boss in the game which I presume is in the Middle East, since the act of Vista is also set in the Middle East and Screaming Mantis is the last foe that players shall face as a part of the Beauty and the Beast unit after which the game is set to take a massive u-turn from what I can make out, Guns of the Patriots, No place to Hide, Sorrow and Full circle. Sorrow is Ocelot’s father from Metal Gear Solid 3, Full circle might be an indication towards the death of Old snake.
All this is followed with something called everything begins, Father and Son and the Metal Gear saga. These are more hints towards Big Boss and his relation with his sons or the birth of a New Snake by the Patriots since a younger snake is again a Solid Snake clone. War Zone, A rebellion Rests, the Hunter and Hunted are all a part of the final build up which takes place back in Shadow Moses and puts a younger Snake through similar trials and tribulations that his predecessors went through.
There is a brand new Snake being kept under wraps like Raiden was in Metal Gear Solid 2, only this time we witness someone who is a mirror replica of the Original Solid Snake to continue the series in the future upcoming games. If I am not wrong, this game is exactly like the Matrix. Versions of Snake are created and recreated till the Patriots achieve their goal of domination in all spheres of life.
This world view is very similar to Michel Foucault’s version of the Panopticon where the state regulates and intervenes in all forms of human life to achieve greater control of society and keep the aspect of freedom under an illusion from members of society.
Moral of the story: Undisputedly Metal Gear is the biggest release of this year and is a game everyone should buy a PS3 for. Courage is Solid Indeed.
-By Neelesh Mukherjee