As convoluted as it’s gotten over the last half decade, I happen to be a huge fan of the Metal Gear series mythology. It’s not too often that we get something of its depth (and craziness) in a video game, let alone an entire franchise with an established continuity spanning more than a decade (one of the closest I can think of is Resident Evil, and don’t laugh I’m serious). Playing Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots last week really drove that home for me.
It also, subsequently, left me wanting more. While the adventures of Solid Snake are done, this current Metal Gear story definitely isn’t over from a storytelling perspective and I’m sure Hideo Kojima and his crew are aware of it. Just last week, assistant producer Ryan Payton reassured the gaming audience in an interview with 1UP.com saying that MGS4 isn’t the last game in the series and “there’s still a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as Big Boss is concerned.”
Boy, was I glad to read that since I completely agree with him. Before we get a brand spankin’ new edition in this series, there are a couple of loose ends that need to be wrapped up in the current saga.
Needless to say, if you haven’t played MGS4, don’t read any further as there are massive spoilers ahead.
Raiden’s rescue of Sunny from the Patriots: Arguably the most glaring of the story gaps in MGS4. From what we’re led to believe according to the recently released Metal Gear Solid 4 database, Solid Snake’s rapid aging was just starting shortly after the events of MGS2: Sons of Liberty, forcing him to take a step back and let Raiden handle the job of rescuing Olga Gurlukovich’s daughter.
Raiden managed to do so and, with the help of Big Mama’s Paradise Lost Army, rescued Sunny from the Patriots. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make it out himself, and he’s not heard of again until MGS4 with his new appearance. Of all the places that this event could have taken place, it happened at Area 51. Yeah, THAT Area 51.
While there have been many a game that have played on the myth of this locale, Kojima and crew (or just his crew if he’s done like he says) have the potential to do a ton of stuff creatively and make a great prequel. I mean seriously, imagine the potential of the boss fights in this. And while I’d prefer it stick to the MGS stealth formula, it could also branch out into the action/hack and slash game territory as Raiden already has his sword (thanks to Olga) at the end of MGS2.
Big Boss’s split from the original Patriots: After traveling to Europe to meet Big Mama, she lays a ton of information on Solid Snake, with the least of which being that she’s his surrogate mother. Immediately after that, she fills him in on the origin the Patriots.
As it turns out, Big Boss’s support crew from MGS 3 (Sigint, Para-Medic, Zero, and EVA/Big Mama) as well as Ocelot formed the initial group with Big Boss himself as the frontman. This didn’t last long, as Big Boss left the group after his disgust with the Les Enfants Terribles project that eventually gave birth to Liquid and Solid Snake.
Aside from some serious fleshing out of the characters/cast mentioned above (that’s another article on to itself), this game would be a great way to connect the events of MGS3 and Portable Ops to the original MSX2/NES Metal Gear game, and would focus on Big Boss’s days as a mercenary following his departure from the group.
As MGS 4 featured evolved gameplay mechanics from MGS 3: Subsistence, this title could focus on elements from the other prequel, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. In the game, players would utilize an upgraded “Comrade System” as they recruit and build their own squads to send into battles across the globe. It would also be a cool, little way to introduce a few of Big Boss’ key mercenaries (Shotmaker, Machinegun Kid, Bloody Brad, Fire Trooper, Dirty Duck, Gray Fox) and establish them as the best of the bunch as he eventually forms Outer Heaven.
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