10 Problems With The Metal Gear Series Nobody Wants To Admit
7. The Timeline Is All Screwy
Straight story is a relative term when it comes to the Metal Gear series. Up until, say, Metal Gear Solid 2, there was a plot that was running through all the games. Whether you could make any sense of the thousands of hours of cut scenes and Codec conversations about the future of warfare, genetically engineered soldiers and whatever the patriots turned out to be is another thing. But at least it's all in chronological order, with Snake getting older and more wizened between the original Metal Gear before reaching the end of his tether by the time of Metal Gear Solid 4. Before that, though, there was Metal Gear Solid 3, which shook things up a bit by putting players in control of the man who would be Big Boss who Snake was cloned from and, back in the sixties, looked exactly the same as him. Besides removing fan-favourite Solid Snake from the playing field, the end of MGS4 has totally screwed the timeline, since now ever entry in the series is a prequel that involves Big Boss (then known as Naked Snake) getting up to all sorts of retcon-friendly hijinks. Wait, so is Ocelot a good guy and alive or the opposite? Who knows at this point.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
