It's been nearly six years since the last mainline Metal Gear game. In accordance with the series' stealthy gameplay, the franchise has stayed hidden from the public eye since 2015's Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, aside from a brief spinoff in the infamous Metal Gear Survive, and a Pachinko adaptation of MGS3. Even without series creator Hideo Kojima at the helm following his split from Konami, fans are still hopeful that the franchise will make a return one day, ideally with a remake of the 1998 classic, Metal Gear Solid.
While a remake of Metal Gear Solid would certainly be a welcome sight, there are two games in the series that stand to benefit much more from a do-over. Metal Gear 1 and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake are the games that kicked off the epic, multi-generational saga, but they don't quite hold up by modern standards. Proper remakes would surely remedy the duology's antiquated gameplay elements, but would also present an opportunity for the games' stories to be better aligned with the rest of the series.
Metal Gear 1 + 2: Outdated Lore
As a fresh-faced game developer in the late 1980s, there's no way Hideo Kojima could have known his subversive take on a military action game would go on to spawn a story that would take nearly three decades to conclude. As the series' narrative has grown exponentially more complex, many elements from the original two games have been challenged or changed altogether.
One of the more notable additions to the series was Metal Gear Solid 1's reveal that Solid Snake was Big Boss' son. During a conversation with Naomi Hunter, Snake reflects on his final fight against Big Boss depicted in Metal Gear 2; the elite soldier states that he learned of his true parentage prior to said conflict, and knowingly killed his father. The mental trauma from this incident drove Snake to isolate himself in Alaska, where he resided prior to MGS1.
However, MGS1's retelling of Metal Gear 2's climactic final battle is significantly more dramatic than what's actually shown in-game. Despite Snake's emotional recollection of the event, nowhere in Metal Gear 2 does Big Boss tell Snake he is Snake's father, nor is such a relationship implied throughout the game. Within the context of solely the MSX games, Big Boss is little more than Solid Snake's corrupt ex-commanding officer.
And that's just one example of how later Metal Gear titles have gone against the stories of the original games. Another notable instance involves the background history of fan-favorite Gray Fox, whose origin story from Metal Gear 2 is contradicted by the canonically dubious Portable Ops, as well as the series finale The Phantom Pain. Remakes of the MSX titles could be the perfect way to go about making Metal Gear's messy lore just a little more cohesive.
Metal Gear Remakes: A Fitting Conclusion to MGS5
Remakes of Metal Gear 1 and 2 could also fill a role that the original games simply couldn't: Being proper follow-ups to Metal Gear Solid 5. The last mainline Metal Gear ended with the revelation that there are two Big Bosses, and that one Big Boss, Venom Snake, is actually both the lead of MGS5 and the antagonist of Metal Gear 1, instead of the real Big Boss featured throughout the rest of the series, who went into hiding as of MGS5.
This news enrages Big Boss' former right-hand man, Kaz Miller, who feels as if he's been duped by his close friend. As a result, Kaz promises to put an end to Big Boss one day, and states his intent to utilize Venom Snake and Solid Snake to achieve his goal. Solid Snake eventually kills Big Boss in Metal Gear 2, but like Venom Snake's retroactive presence in Metal Gear 1, Kaz's revenge quest isn't a prominent part of Metal Gear 2's story given such a narrative strand simply did not exist back then.
Should remakes of the early Metal Gear titles arise, exploring these storylines seems like an excellent way to both deliver a new story to series veterans, while also providing closure regarding MGS5's oft-maligned conclusion to the series. If done right, these remakes really could be the missing link to bring the Metal Gear games full circle.
A Metal Gear Solid Remake is rumored to be in development.