Cosima Caminades

Virtually every gamer globally who genuinely adores playing games has, at a minimum, heard of Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear cosmos, including characters like Solid Snake or Big Boss. These figures, in some manner, have integrated themselves into our current culture, akin to personas such as Link, Mario, Terminator, Delorean, Star Wars, or other prevailing components of our cultural legacy. If, far into the future, someone reminisces about our times, they will assuredly reference the evolution of video games, particularly the Metal Gear sequence, which played a pivotal role in delving into novel, unexplored frontiers of incorporating a cinematic tale that coexists seamlessly with distinctive gameplay mechanisms.

Naturally, there exists another celebrated game architect with comparable attributes ascribed to his games—I intend Shigeru Miyamoto. Nevertheless, his games traverse fantasy realms where malevolent sorcerers pilfer gorgeous princesses, an equally commendable narrative. Kojima's cosmos stands in stark contrast to the general ambiance of the Zelda series, narrating a saga about how warfare can transform virtually all a soldier's internal principles and notions regarding integrity, humanity, sacrifice, allegiance, dignity, and tranquility. Kojima's games do not revolve solely around that, but it remains one of the key narrative impetuses that sustains the sequence. The lore of the sequence is so extensive that one can effortlessly become engrossed in all the portrayals, personas, and technology prevalent throughout the franchise.

Recall the astonishment I experienced when engaging with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, discovering that Boss was the eighth participant in the Mercury Seven initiative. The government guaranteed her moniker would never be disclosed, obliterating her from history as though she never existed. I swiftly comprehended the intricacy of all the melodrama, realizing that the government's strategy operated analogously to another Kojima game, Policenauts. In that game, we glean that in 2010, five law enforcement officers assumed the mantle of the world's inaugural space cops, christened policenauts. They were also dubbed "The Original Five," echoing the legendary "Original Seven Mercury Project" astronauts who ventured into space for the first time in the early '60s amid the renowned space race between the Orient and the Occident. As is now apparent, the government's ploy to efface Boss, their preeminent soldier, proved efficacious. In 2040, the entire globe is cognizant solely of the seven astronauts, ignorant of the "Mercury Lady." Kojima, as always, skillfully manipulates actual historical facts, constructing an alternative reality utilizing humanity's accomplishments to stimulate his creativity. Incidentally, there is also a tavern dubbed Solid Serpent in Aged Los Angeles, just beyond the investigative agency of the central character, Johnathan Ingram.