If you had to pick out the gaming franchise with the weirdest moments in it, I have to think that many of you would choose the Metal Gear Solid series. How weird is it? So weird that Snake being a clone that ages so rapidly that he looks like your grandfather is considered run-of-the-mill. Nanomachines? They’re everywhere. Plot twists, strange occurrences, and weirdness are par for the course in the MGS games, and these eight examples make that abundantly clear.
Think we missed one? Tell us what it is in the comments!
Codec Interference – Metal Gear Solid 2
When you get close to the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 in Arsenal Gear, Raiden’s codec frequencies go kind of berserk. Calls from Colonel Campbell go completely off the deep end, with the Colonel complaining about alimony, talking about encountering a UFO, and even quoting lines from previous Metal Gear Solid games. There’s also interference, garbled images, and more. It gets really strange.
Time Paradox – Metal Gear Solid 3
Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of those out-of-order sequels, in that it takes before games that were released prior to it. In this past timeline, you’ll encounter a character that becomes rather important later in the series, namely the younger version of Revolver Ocelot. If you kill him, whether accidentally or on purpose, the game goes to a death screen that reads “Ocelot is dead,” which slowly shifts into “Time Paradox.” That might be a wee bit confusing if you’d never played a game in the series before.
The Golden Shower – Metal Gear Solid 2
The Metal Gear Solid series has plenty of poop jokes, but the only pee joke I can recall is in MGS 2. As Raiden is sneaking along the catwalk, a guard above decides that this is the time to relieve himself, and of course he lands it right on Raiden, leading the Colonel and Rose to both sympathize with him, and needle him a bit.
Liquid’s Arm Takes Over Ocelot – Metal Gear Solid 2
OK, this one was really weird. Near the end of Metal Gear Solid Liquid Snake dies. Revolver Ocelot also gets his arm sliced off by a ninja. In the second game, Ocelot transplants the arm from Liquid’s corpse onto his body, and then the arm possesses Ocelot’s mind, making him try to take over the world. Of course, we later learn that Ocelot was faking the whole time, and just pretending to be possessed. Yeah, this makes [strong]perfect[/em] sense.
Otacon’s PS3 Promo – Metal Gear Solid 4
The first Metal Gear Solid came on two discs, and at some point during the game, you’d have to switch them out to continue. In the game, Ocelot would call you on the codec and tell you to switch them out. In MGS 4, you return to Outer Heaven, and in the exact same spot in the game, Otacon calls you up to switch discs. It’s a nice little nod to the first game, except that Otacon then starts talking about dual-layer Blu-Ray discs and the PS3. It’s a bit bizarre, especially since anyone seeing it already owns a PS3.
Snake’s Nightmare Metal Gear Solid 3
If you call Para-medic in to save Snake after the torture scene in Metal Gear Solid 3, he’ll ask her to tell him a story to distract him from the pain. She regales him with a tale of a Dracula movie. If you save the game, turn it off, and restart, you’ll see what tales like this can do to Snake’s head. You’ll play through a short demo for a game called Guy Savage, which features you fighting mutants in police uniforms using dual swords. It almost feels like a Castlevania meets Devil May Cry with a splash of Resident Evil thrown in. Unfortunately, the game never materialized beyond this brief appearance.
Johnny Sasaki’s Bowels – Every Metal Gear Solid
Johnny Sasaki (sort of) makes an appearance in every Metal Gear Solid game. Unfortunately, the poor guy never gets to be cool. In the first game, Meryl knocks him out and steals his uniform. He then gets diarrhea and his trips to the toilet let Snake escape the torture chamber. In MGS 2, you can eavesdrop on him talking to himself as he fights off another wave of stomach problems, and in MGS 4, he literally soils himself. Oh, and the same gag happens in MGS 3, just it’s Johnny’s grandfather, who proves these sort of stomach problems could be hereditary.
Psycho Mantis – Metal Gear Solid
Without question the boss fight against Psycho Mantis was one of the most memorable of all in Metal Gear Solid. Not only does he control Meryl’s mind and use her against you, he starts talking about everything you’ve done in the game so far. He even reads the memory card to see if you have other Konami games on there, and mentions them. He always knows what you’re doing, and you can’t seem to hit him. The solution? Plug the controller into the second port on the console, and he can no longer read your mind. The weirdest part was that even when Mantis is talking about controllers and memory cards, Snake doesn’t seem to find it odd at all.
