10 Best Video Games With An Unseen Enemy
3. Metal Gear Solid
Trying to make head or tail of the Metal Gear Solid franchise's twisty lore is admittedly a sure-fire way to give yourself a massive cluster headache, but there are few shadow organisations in gaming more iconic than The Patriots.
The original Metal Gear Solid makes no mention at all of The Patriots, which are revealed in the second game to be a covert organisation who secretly control the United States and have basically been behind every major event in the series.
The sequels and prequels only further expanded the Patriots' influence, revealing that the outfit was formed way back in the 1970s by Zero, Ocelot, Big Boss, Sigint, Para-Medic, and EVA in an attempt to influence world events for the better.
In-fighting led to Big Boss and EVA leaving, while Zero became the de facto leader, and ultimately developed AI iterations of the Patriots to follow his command after his death.
Typically, though, the AI versions deviated from Zero's plans and had their own designs on the future of humanity, including censoring digital information and manipulating global warfare for their own gain.
Ultimately Solid Snake was finally able to bring the Patriots down at the end of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, but to anyone playing the original MGS back in 1998, you'd never guess what Hideo Kojima was cooking up in the periphery.