50 Fun Facts About Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid (1998) was developed and published by which company?

Kojima directed, produced and wrote it as the third mainline Metal Gear game.

What is the name of the Alaskan nuclear facility Snake infiltrates in the first game?

It sits on a remote island in Alaska's Fox Archipelago and houses a nuclear weapons disposal facility.

Which nuclear-capable mecha is secretly tested at the facility in the first game?

Liquid Snake's FOXHOUND threatens to use it unless they receive Big Boss's remains and $1 billion.

Who leads the rogue FOXHOUND unit in the first game?

Later in the series his will possesses Revolver Ocelot, producing 'Liquid Ocelot'.

Which FOXHOUND member favors the Colt Single Action Army?

He is described as a Western-style gunslinger and expert interrogator.

Which FOXHOUND boss wields a minigun torn from a downed F-16?

He is a hulking Alaskan shaman who later tells Snake the 'Anderson' he met was an impostor.

Psycho Mantis famously reads what device before his boss fight?

He also makes a DualShock controller vibrate, a scene cut from the PC port.

On the original console release, what was the trick to beating Psycho Mantis?

Guinness honoured the fight for the 'Most Innovative Use of a Video Game Controller'.

Who is the disguise artist who impersonates DARPA Chief Donald Anderson?

Snake is confused to find Anderson's body after being tortured, until Raven explains the deception.

Dr. Hal Emmerich, lead developer of REX, goes by what nickname?

He later lives with Snake aboard the plane Nomad alongside the child prodigy Sunny.

The cyborg ninja of the first game is revealed to be which former ally?

He was also the anonymous caller 'Deepthroat' and is crushed by REX after destroying its radome.

Meryl Silverburgh is the niece of which character?

She was a rookie stationed at the base who refused to join the revolt.

Which support character invented the Soliton radar and saves the game for you?

The English script gave her Western authors to quote instead of only Chinese proverbs.

Who voices Solid Snake in the English versions?

Most of the English cast were credited under pseudonyms in 1998; Hayter was one of two exceptions.

Solid Snake's physique in the 1998 game was based on which action star?

His face, by contrast, was modelled on Christopher Walken.

Kojima used which toy to mock up Metal Gear Solid's 3D areas and camera views?

The whole game was made by a staff of just twenty people.

Metal Gear Solid was originally planned in 1994 for which console?

Kojima conceived it while Policenauts was still in development, before moving to the PlayStation.

Which artist designed most of the Metal Gear Solid characters and mecha?

He built plastic models of the hardware at home before drawing the final designs.

The North American release added which alternate outfit for Snake?

He wears it on every third playthrough on the same save file.

The 2004 GameCube remake of Metal Gear Solid was titled what?

Silicon Knights developed it, with cutscenes directed by filmmaker Ryuhei Kitamura.

Who is the rookie protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2's Plant chapter?

Critics were initially divided on the switch away from Solid Snake.

What is the Big Shell in Metal Gear Solid 2?

It was built in lower New York Harbor to clear the oil spill from the Tanker Incident.

In MGS2's Tanker chapter, Snake seeks evidence of which new Metal Gear?

The tanker is hijacked by Russian mercenaries before Ocelot betrays them and scuttles it.

The rogue anti-terrorist unit in MGS2 with Vamp, Fatman and Fortune is called what?

Fortune's uncontrollable psychic ability keeps any bodily harm from befalling her.

The leader of the Sons of Liberty turns out to be which third clone?

He had raised Raiden as a child soldier during the Liberian civil war.

Under what alias does Solid Snake first assist the rookie on the Big Shell?

The name nods to Snake Plissken, Kurt Russell's character in Escape from New York.

The shadowy organization pulling the strings in MGS2 is known as what?

The President reveals that US democracy is merely a drama they orchestrate.

Metal Gear Solid 2's expanded edition was released under what subtitle?

It reached the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Windows the year after the original.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is set in which year?

That places it 31 years before the original Metal Gear, making it the series' chronological start.

Snake Eater introduced which hand-to-hand combat system?

It stands for close quarters combat, joining camouflage and a stamina gauge as new mechanics.

In Snake Eater, what percentage gauge measures how visible Snake is to enemies?

It runs from negative values up to 100%, meaning completely invisible.

Which Snake Eater boss can be beaten by waiting a week so he dies of old age?

Players can also skip the fight entirely by killing him earlier in the game.

Who is Naked Snake's defected former mentor in Snake Eater?

After her death Snake is awarded the title of Big Boss and salutes her unmarked grave at Arlington.

Which electricity-controlling GRU colonel is Snake Eater's main antagonist?

He is seemingly killed by a bolt of lightning while pursuing Snake in the Shagohod.

Who performed Snake Eater's Bond-style opening theme?

Norihiko Hibino wrote the song, which also appears within the game itself.

Which band's 'Way to Fall' closes Snake Eater in a break from in-house music?

Kojima had originally wanted David Bowie's 'Space Oddity' and 'Ashes to Ashes'.

Metal Gear Solid 4 centers on a prematurely aged protagonist known as what?

Otacon tells him he has about a year to live due to Werner syndrome-like symptoms.

MGS4's suit that mimics any surface like an octopus is called what?

FaceCamo unlocks separately after defeating Laughing Octopus.

In MGS4, weapons are bought from which arms launderer with his own points currency?

Drebin Points are earned by picking up weapons already in your inventory.

Metal Gear Solid 4 was released exclusively for which console in 2008?

Its ports to other platforms were only announced for August 2026, after more than 18 years.

Peace Walker (2010), set in Costa Rica, was built for which handheld?

Snake runs the mercenary unit Militaires Sans Frontières in 1974.

Which studio took over Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance after Kojima halted it?

The team had struggled to build a game around swordplay; Platinum added 'Blade Mode'.

Who voiced and mo-capped Snake in The Phantom Pain?

Kojima wanted 'a more subdued performance expressed through subtle facial movements'.

The Phantom Pain is set in which year?

That is nine years after Ground Zeroes, with Big Boss waking from a coma in Cyprus.

What is the name of Venom Snake's mercenary group in The Phantom Pain?

After a parasite outbreak he has his dead men's remains turned into diamonds to carry into battle.

The Phantom Pain's twist reveals Venom Snake is really what?

Plastic surgery and hypnotherapy during his coma turned him into a decoy for the real Big Boss.

Skull Face's plan in The Phantom Pain involves a parasite that kills people who do what?

He sees Cipher's peace plan as making the world culturally American.

The original 1987 Metal Gear was released for which platform?

A separate team made a heavily modified NES port, followed by the sequel Snake's Revenge.

Kojima's first game as an independent studio, released in 2019, was what?

He re-established Kojima Productions as an independent studio in December 2015.

The 2025 Delta remake recreates which numbered entry in the series?

It sold over one million units in its first 24 hours, the first major entry since Metal Gear Survive.