Metal Gear Solid (2000 video game)

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel
Cover art
Developer(s)	Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (West), TOSE
Publisher(s)	Konami
Designer(s)	Shinta Nojiri (director)
Series	Metal Gear (non-canonical)
Platform(s)	Game Boy Color
Release	JPN April 27, 2000 NA May 5, 2000 EU May 5, 2000
Genre(s)	Stealth game
Mode(s)	Single player Two-players competitive

Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, retitled Metal Gear Solid in its English localization, is a stealth game that was developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan in April 2000; the North American release followed in May. This is the only Metal Gear game to get an E rating from the ESRB. The game is part of the Metal Gear series. Although it was released outside of Japan under the title Metal Gear Solid, it is not an adaptation of the PlayStation game of the same name, though the retitling is often viewed as an attempt to make the game more marketable in the western market. While Ghost Babel closely resembles Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, it also adapts a few gameplay elements introduced in the PlayStation Metal Gear Solid.

The game's storyline is set outside of the main Metal Gear continuity and thus, is non-canonical. While Ghost Babel does not officially follow any of the previously-released Metal Gear titles, it uses the original Metal Gear as a branching point and can be considered as an alternate sequel to it (much like Snake's Revenge on the NES), taking the storyline in a different direction from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake and Metal Gear Solid. The game features Solid Snake as the main character, along with Roy Campbell and Mei Ling.

Story

A new Metal Gear prototype codenamed "Gander" has been stolen by a separatist guerilla group in the region of Gindra in Central Africa. The group, known as the Gindra Liberation Front (or GLF), plans on using the prototype as a means of achieving victory in an ongoing civil war. Solid Snake, the FOXHOUND operative responsible for the destruction of the original Metal Gear seven years before, is brought back from his retirement in Alaska, His mission is to infiltrate the group's headquarters Galuade, the fortress that was formerly Outer Heaven.

During the course of his mission, Snake teams up with Chris Jenner, a surviving member of the Delta Force that was sent before him to retrieve Gander. His main adversaries are Black Chamber, a group of mercenaries with abilities and codenames resembling those of FOXHOUND. In the end, he uncovers a conspiracy involving the GLF and U.S.

The storyline (particularly the ending) suggest that the development of the original TX-55 Metal Gear and the construction of Outer Heaven were secretly funded by the U.S. Government in an attempt to provide mercenary work for "clients" and thwart anti-American forces. However, Big Boss, the field commander of the project, rebelled against the government, which resulted in Solid Snake being sent to neutralize him and having his fame built around that.

While the events of the game are in no way part of the series' canon, a few elements of the game do seem to be intended as tongue-in-cheek references to the then-unreleased Metal Gear Solid 2. For example, during Special Stage Select mode (see Game Modes), the player assumes the role of a soldier known only as "Jack" who is undergoing training in the form of VR simulations of Solid Snake's missions which took place during the main game, with new objectives. The protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden (whose real name is Jack), was trained by performing VR simulations of Solid Snake's previous missions. This has led to a common misconception that Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is in fact a part of the series' canon.

Original characters

Support crew

• Christine Jenner (nicknamed Chris) - The heroine of the game. A surviving member of the Delta Force team that was sent to Galuade before Snake. However, her true objective is to destroy all evidence of John Parker's involvement in Project Babel and to assassinate Eguabon. Her rank is Sergeant.
• Ronald McDonald (alias Weasel) - A gay nigger form outer space who is said to be Solid Snake's equal, although he does not participate as a field agent in the mission. Instead, he provides information about Black Chamber and weapon usage to Snake. His true job is to kill Snake's support crew and to prevent them from exposing the truth about Gardner. However, he takes a liking to them and decides to spare them instead.
• Brian McBride - Director of Operations for the CIA, Africa Affairs. He provides geographical and political information about Gindra. After revealing that he is actually a spy and the fifth member of Black Chamber, he is shot by Weasel and presumed dead.
• James Harks (alias Jimmy the Wizard) - A teen prodigy who is the head of Project Babel. He is kept alive by GLF for the purpose of completing Metal Gear, but is held captive after its completion. He attempts to escape with Snake and Chris, but is killed by one of Viper's boobytraps.
• Steve Gardner - The National Security Advisor and the mission controller. He funded the development of Metal Gear and Outer Heaven while serving as Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He resurrected the Metal Gear project as "Project Babel", but lost his position to Parker. He plans Snake's entire mission in an attempt to tarnish Parker's reputation.
• John Parker - The Army Chief of Staff. He took over "Project Babel" after Gardner and funded the GLF until the hijack of Metal Gear. He attempts to destroy any evidence that implicate him by sending Chris Jenner.

Gindra Liberation Front

Also known under the acronym GLF. The organizations seeks to achieve sovereign power for the Boias, an ethnic group in Gindra.

• Augustine Eguabon (alias General) - The leader of GLF. He was secretly being funded by Parker and the U.S. while posing as a rebel leader in Gindra. He once served as a subordinate of Big Boss in Outer Heaven.
• Sophie N'dram - The second-in-command in GLF. She supports Eguabon's cause, unaware of his connections to the U.S. She's the illegitimate child of a French man and a Boian woman and holds a great resentment to her father for ignoring her and her mother.

Black Chamber

File:Black Chamber.jpg

Members of Black Chamber.

Surviving members of a special operation group that were responsible for hijacking "Metal Gear" and giving it to the GLF. Black Chamber previously served as a substitute unit for FOXHOUND after the Outer Heaven mission (due to the notoriety FOXHOUND gained from Snake's destruction of Metal Gear, true covert action by the group became impossible), but were wiped out during an unforeseen ambush by FOXHOUND ordered by Gardner and led by Colonel Roy Campbell. As such, they carry a grudge against them, especially with Solid Snake.

• Slasher Hawk - Aboriginal member of Black Chamber. He is accompanied in battle by a hawk, a guardian deity in his tribe. He attacks with two giant boomerangs.
• Marionette Owl - Member of Black Chamber who has nocturnal vision like an owl. He attacks with his two marionettes (Osan and Kohal), created from the limbs of his victims, as he was formerly a serial killer.
• Pyro Bison - Black Chamber operative who wields a flamethrower. He has a strong affinity for fire and the fuel in his flamethrower is made by him from a specially-prepared compound.
• Black Arts Viper - The leader of Black Chamber. He specializes in setting boobytraps and illusions. He lost his left arm during the ambush and thus, uses a prosthetic in combat.

Game modes

Solid Snake

There are four different play modes in Ghost Babel.

Story Mode - The main game. The game is split into thirteen different stages, each with a different objective. Once the player has cleared a stage, it's usually impossible to backtrack to the previous area (although the player may be able to revisit them in later stages). The player can start a new game or save their progress during the mission. There are four difficulty settings.

Stage Select - The player is allowed to visit previously-cleared areas and try to gain higher scores. When the game is cleared once, a Special Mode is unlocked, where the player goes through VR-simulated versions of the main stages with new objectives. By completing these special missions, various facts concerning the events of the game are revealed.

VR Training - Play through 180 training missions set in a virtual environment. The missions are actually carry-overs from Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions.

VS. Battle - Play against another player through the link cable. In VS. Battle, the player must collect three data disks by defeating certain enemies (called WISPs) and then reach the goal before the other player does. The players are invisible from each other as long as they stay out of their field of vision. If the one of the players is killed, then the data disks they've collected will be lost and they will have to start collecting them again.

Trivia

In the Japanese and European releases of the game, the CODEC frequency 140.07 (see James Bond) is included next to Shuyo Murata's entry in the credits. Calling this channel in-game launches Idea Spy 2.5, a comical radio play. Murata would go on to write a similarly styled extra in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, before co-writing Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and becoming co-director of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. In 2006, Idea Spy 2.5 was adapted into an actual radio drama streamed on Konami of Japan's website, with Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima playing the title role. Shuyo Murata also plays one of the boss characters. The full drama was released on CD in Japan on February 14th, 2007.

External links

• Official Homepage