10 Things 'Metal Gear Solid" Taught Us About Life

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Although it's been proven time and time again that war isn't really beneficial it continues to happen. The momentary sense of unity it may bring to people is quickly overshadowed by unwanted consequences such as death, social disruption and economic destruction. And to think that Liquid Snake wanted to create a war-torn world where stuff like this is constantly occurring? No wonder Elisa and Ursula said he would be the son of Big Boss that would "bring the world to ruin." After surviving a devastating helicopter explosion, multiple Stinger missiles to the face and a 40 foot fall, Liquid Snake ultimately dies but war continues on. (And becomes an even bigger part of the Metal Gear Solid series.) Will war ever stop? Who knows. But it's unfortunate that such a thing continues to be a problem throughout the world.

Poor Solid Snake. He's thrown into a situation he (arguably) doesn't want to be a part of, and nearly dies on multiple occasions. Seriously, he gets shot at by a tank, electrocuted by a torture device and peed on by wolves, all for the sake of covering the U.S. governent's ass. But at least he gets something out of it: friendship. Our anti-hero develops a bromance with Otacon, the piss-on-myself scientist that was totally unaware of what Metal Gear REX was actually going to be used for. In a way, Snake wouldn't be in the situation he's in if it wasn't for Otacon. But, we digress--friendship can be found anywhere even, surprisingly, on the battlefield. You never know when, or if, a certain situation may lead to you becoming really close with someone.

That's right: our battlefield casanova even believes that love can be found on the battlefield. (Which is proven through his interacting with Meryl.) But we also see this occur with Otacon, and the feelings he has for FOXHOUND's Sniper Wolf. Love is unpredictable and can appear when you least expect it. Just hopefully you'll never have to see your future best friend kill a woman you were attracted to, or have to take thousands of volts of electricity to save a lover's life.

Sure, Solid Snake voluntarily agrees to infiltrate Shadow Moses and thwart the terrorist's plans for world domination, but he's practically forced into participating. (Campbell does send armed soldiers to Snake's retreat in Twin Lakes, after all.) As we get older we'll have to do stuff that we're not thrilled to do. It's inevitable and will hopefully lead to something promising, depending on what it is you're doing and who you're doing it for. When life throws you into something that you don't necessarily enjoy, just remember that Snake had to crawl in rat-filled vents, smear ketchup on his body and fight a large, nuclear missile-launching machine, when he probably preferred to smoke Moslems-brand cigarettes at his Alaskan retreat.

Some government conspiracies are reported but it's probably not a stretch to assume that many of them aren't. One of the main reasons Solid Snake is sent to Shadow Moses is to make sure the general public never find out about the controversial nature of the genetic enhancement of soldiers. (And the fact that a machine that could launch undetectable nuclear missiles was being built, too.) With Snake successfully destroying Metal Gear REX (although the U.S. government didn't exactly want that to happen) and stopping brother Liquid Snake from essentially inciting a world war, the U.S. government was able to create a cover story for what occurred at Shadow Moses Island. Sure, Watergate isn't anything like trying to hide experimenting on Genome Soldiers or creating a destructive, rex-like killing machine, but it's a reminder to not trust your government too much.

Most, if not all of the characters in Metal Gear Solid have endured some unfathomable stuff. "Gunfire, sirens and screams" were Sniper Wolf's lullabies growing up; Psycho Mantis's birth indirectly killed his mother which led to his father to hating him and Gray Fox was essentially a guinea pig for Dr. Clark's gene therapy experiments. The struggle barometer for these characters is something we would never hope to have, and upon learning this information about them it's understandable why they are the way they are. What some of these characters have experienced isn't too far off from the headlines we read involving people from other parts of the world. If anything, the troubled stories of the game's characters serve to teach us something: everyone is different and therefore it may not be easy to relate to one another, but we can still show compassion and an attempt at understanding those differences.

Metal Gear REX would have probably led to the war-torn world Liquid Snake desired, but we can't deny the amount of creativity and innovation put into making such a machine. Even the cybernetic surgery Dr. Clark uses to restore Gray Fox--both of these robot-related, technological advancements could become a reality for us in the future. (Ok, maybe not necessarily the former but the latter seems plausible.) However, it's also kind of scary to think about what may occur next in technology, and how whatever is created can be manipulated in various ways. Take your smartphone, for example. It can make calls, send messages, play videos, give directions and do many other things, but it may also be tracked by the NSA. Sure, this is on a much smaller scale than a laser-shooting, nuclear missile-launching behemoth, but you get the idea. Innovation is cool but every time someone jokingly says, "Robots are going to rule the world," there's a hint of truth to it.

One of the subplots a part of Metal Gear Solid is the fact that Dr. Naomi designs the FOXDIE virus in a way that would not only target rebelling FOXHOUND members but Snake, too. And honestly, putting the virus on a "wildcard" value for Snake is, arguably, worse than just having the virus kill him shortly after the virus kills his brother. As you're probably already aware of, the reason Naomi does this to Snake is because he's responsible for killing Gray Fox, who was Naomi's brother. She believes Snake to be a merciless killer when, in actuality, he considered Gray Fox his best friend, even after their fight at Zanzibar Land. Although Naomi doesn't explicitly apologize for what she has done, it's not like that matters much anyways, considering that the virus will not only lead to Snake's death but it makes him age rapidly. The moral of the story? Revenge is bad, guys. Plain and simple.

Through Solid and Liquid Snake's relationship we see how the former lives life by his own terms, while the latter lives in the shadow of the two's father, Big Boss. Liquid wanted to follow in Big Boss's footsteps by creating another Outer Heaven, and fulfilling the legendary warrior's dream of a world that always had a place for soldiers. Liquid believed that he should follow what his genes tell him, so much so that when Snake tells Liquid he has a name other than his codename, Liquid replies angrily. Snake doesn't dictate his life by his father's legacy or genes, and instead attempts to make a life of his own, not being chained to fate. What Kojima taught us was that personal freedom and personal choice make us who we are, and we shouldn't be dictated by our genes or the people that came before us. If only universities across the world offered a "<i>Metal Gear Solid</i> And Philosophy" course.

It may sound a little naive but it's true. (Cue scene where Solid Snake and Otacon/Meryl drive off into Alaskan sunrise.) Life can be difficult when we're handling our own personal problems, along with listening to the problems of our family and friends, and even hearing or reading about the problems people are experiencing across the world. It's easy to become overwhelmed by negativity, and it's easy to forget that there's still so much to live for even when the world seems to be coming down on you. Just look at Solid Snake: he gets shot at by a tank, has to watch his best friend die before his eyes and is injected with a virus that basically halves his life span. And yet he still strives for peace in his life and understands that for all the gloom and doom the world offers, there is also beauty and happiness, too. When life gets you down go out and have a drink with a friend or watch a TV show that usually brightens your mood. Solid Snake would want you do it so why not?