Spin-offs of Metal Gear Solid

On my article The history of Metal Gear Solid, I said that there are 14 games but I only spoke about the 6 main games of this stunning saga.

Now I’m going to talk about the 8 spin-offs (remake included) which bring more and less complementary information for our understanding of the complex and fascinating story of MGS. So let’s start first with the timeline of the series to end with the standalone ones.

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops

It was released in 2006 worldwide for the PSP and it doesn’t use like Metal Gear Acid the card system but rather the action game play system. And most importantly, this game is a direct sequel to the game MGS3 Snake Eater. In 1970, 6 years after the events of MGS3, in South America, Naked Snake is going to hunt down the renegade Fox unit which has started a bloody revolt in this country. The Fox unit is looking for the missing half of the Philosophers Legacy since the US has the other half from the Soviet Union at the end of Snake Eater. Using all his experience, Big Boss has to survive against his enemies (Python, Null, Null, Cunningham, Gene) and

to destroy an experimental model of Metal Gear RAXA. In this sequel, I will learn that after this mission, Big Boss created Foxhound and that Ocelot with Major Zero (known also as Null) wanted to create the Patriots using the Legacy and requested Snake to join them in their new endeavor to become the Patriots.

Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops Plus

This game is a standalone addition to the first one bringing to the players more maps, more missions and an online arena mode to battle real opponents. It was released worldwide in 2007.

Snake's Revenge

This game was released in 1990 in US and in 1992 in Europe for NES console and it was the sequel of Metal Gear.

From an interview of Hideo, this game is a false sequel of MG and months after, he developed the true one Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake.

3 years after the event of Outer Heaven, US government finds out that an hostile nation may have the plans to design a Metal Gear and they send some members of the Foxhound unit to investigate this situation. Leading a group of 2 men, Solid Snake and his team are sent to infiltrate and to discover the whole truth of this story where they have to fight against Big Boss and his unit (the 5 cyborgs, the 3 grenadiers, John Turner, Metal Gear).

Metal Gear Ghost Babel

Released in 2000 worldwide for Gameboy color console, this game has its own timeline but it is set 7 years after Metal Gear.

The Gindra Liberation Front, a dangerous separatist rebel group located in South Africa country of Gindra, hijacked the prototype Metal Gear Gander developed by the US government. They want to use it in order to win the civil war and Roy Campbell is asking to convince the retired Foxhound agent Solid Snake to participate in this infiltration mission. Again Snake has to use all his fighting experience to survive against his foes (Slasher Hawk, Marionette Owl, Pyro Bison, Black Arts Viper) and to destroy Metal Gear Gander.

Metal Gear Solid Mobile

It is the first game developed for mobile phone and it can be downloaded in the beginning of this year 2008 in Japan and US.

The game takes place between MGS and MGS2 and follows the early days of Philanthropy formed by Snake and Otacon. Otacon has been contacted by Victoria Reed (an artificial intelligence programmer) about a development project, that she is working, can be part of the construction of a new Metal Gear Rex. Snake has to infiltrate to know the whole truth of this project and with the help of Otacon, he will find out that he has been drugged, kidnapped and placed into a virtual reality simulation and that his only and unique enemy is the system itself the Commander. After defeating it, Snake wakes up to hear someone says that his memory will be erase and bring him back where he was kidnapped and most importantly "Let's see if Jack can do better" who is the 2nd test subject.

With MGS Mobile, the phone camera will be very useful because it can be used to take pictures and change them to personalize the suit of Snake, controls the in-game camera and aims nikita missiles. Also in this game, VR missions are included.

Metal Gear Acid

The first game of the MG series to be released for the PSP version was in 2004 for Japan and in 2005 for US and Europe.

Not only it is the first but also it is introducing a new game play system with a new storyline focusing on tactical strategy based on battle cards. Playing Solid Snake, I had to accomplish my mission in a turn based style of game with the strategic battle cards on which they gave me different abilities and stealth tactics to reach my goal.

A plane is hijacked by 2 mysterious dolls Elsie and Frances and in exchange for the life of the hostages, they ask the US to give them a mysterious secret weapon called Pythagoras. Solid Snake is sent to a remote lab located at the Lobito island in Africa and my mission is to find out what is Pythagoras. More deeper I go to my mission, more I find out who is behind all this and that Pythagoras is the codename of a new Metal Gear. With my cards I had to hide from patrol and killed my enemies (Leone, Teliko Friedman, Leone, La Clown, Metal Gear ) to accomplish my mission.

Normally on the cover, the title is written “Metal Gear AC!D” (pronounced Metal Gear Acid) on which AC!D stands for “Active Command Intelligence Duel”.

Metal Gear Acid 2

On the cover, the title is written “Metal Gear AC!D²” (pronounced Metal Gear Acid 2). This little number 2 makes reference to the upgradeable card system. Also for the first time on the PSP system, the game features 3D visuals using the Solid Eye technology and it was released in 2005 for Japan and in 2006 for US and Europe.

In this new game, Solid Snake has to infiltrate a research facility SaintLogic (StrateLogic in japanese version) and his mission is to find out why this company is using children for their experimentations. At the end, he found out that the chief executive Thomas Koppelthorn has been able to resuscitate his dead wife Lucinda Koppelthorn (killed by Snake) in the corpse of a young girl named Lucy and the development of a new Metal Gear. But in some way, the experience was not totally perfect and Lucy reveals herself to not actually be a rebirth of the dead wife but rather her own being with the consciousness of Lucinda. Designed to kill, Lucy fusions with Metal Gear and Snake has to use all his cards to destroy it and survive like he did with the other enemies before (Harab Serap, Vince, Golab, Metal Gear KODOQUE , Chaigidiel, Vince).

In this new version, the game offers the arena and multi player modes, to import cards from the first game and photographs from MGS3 Subsistence.

Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes

Released in 2004 for the Nintendo Gamecube, this game is a remake of MGS but the graphic has been improved with new cut scenes and the game play of MGS2.

October 30, 2008