Why it's still called Metal Gear "Solid"

Kojima called it the next major release of Metal Gear Solid - but it isn't Metal Gear Solid 5. Metal Gear Solid: Rising takes on a new subtitle, ditches the numbering, and swaps "Tactical Espionage Action" for "Lightning Bolt Action".

And say goodbye to the series stalwart.

"Hold on," said Kojima, with a sly smile, introducing the game to the 360 audience, "I didn't say anything about Solid Snake!"

But then, why is this still called Metal Gear Solid? For all that this title seems to be diverging from the series, including returning Raiden as the main character proper, the "Solid" doesn't seem to want to go away.

[GrieverSoul]

Good question!

Even though solid refers to Solid Snake, the game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater didn´t actually starred Solid Snake did it?

;)

[ShinMaster]

So was Metal Gear Solid 2.
It starred Raiden as well.

But that was the Raiden countdown (PS3/360)

Now I can't wait for what the Big Boss countdown will be...(PS3?)

[Cwalat]

or....
it's because the game will be solid =P

[gauntletpython]

Solid Snake was Raiden's code name as well before MGS2. But the "Colonel" changes it to Raiden so no one gets confused.

[bushfan]

because it's in full 3D...'cause the transition from 2D to 3D

[ehkinoh]

Not sure why all the disagrees. I'm pretty sure Kojima himself has said that "Metal Gear" (which followed "Solid Snake") changed to "Metal Gear Solid" because it was now in 3D.

[JokesOnYou]

What a day, so many great announcements and MGS: Rising is the icing on the cake. Oh how sweeeet it is. Sounds like it will Rise above the competition and "Sneak In" with "Lightning Bolt Action" gameplay in the place of those long cutscenes.

JOY

[Keowrath]

Bushfan is correct, all you disagree-ers are WRONG.

Metal Gear SOLID WAS the transition from 2D to 3D, simple as that. Kojima made that claim back when the original released on PS1.

[Blackcanary]

Check out Kojima's website to do with the Mask there's this long green/blue kind of matrix line i think its got do with Zone Of the Enders 3 imo.

[Foxgod]

Raiden starred in Metal gear solid 2 as well, and that game was about stealth espionage as well wasnt it?
And had a Snake cameo.

[PirateThom]

But it was also sloganed with "Tactical Espionage Action" and before Raiden got his "upgrades". There's not a single moment in MGS4 where Raiden does anything that could be considered close to stealth.

[kingOVsticks]

Snake started off as the main character then the "Incident" happened no cameo. He appeared at the end but no cameo

[Foxgod]

@above, you do know what cameo means right ?

And at further above, you are basing what MGR will be like, on cutscenes from a diff game ?

[PirateThom]

Yeah, because Ninja Raiden is suddenly going to start stealthily sneaking around more or less making the entire premise of a game with Raiden as a ninja pointless.

This game will be Metal Gear Solid in name only.

I will refer to it as Rising from now on.

[Foxgod]

YOu can call it whatever you want.
Your statements hold no ground thp, because oyu dont know the content of the game yet.

[PirateThom]

"Lightning Bolt Action" says it all, really.

[Foxgod]

Yes, but lighting and raiden have something in common.
As raiden is the japanase god of thunder.
So that whole lightening bolt action has more to do with his name then what happens on the screen.

Otherwise he could have called it on screen hand to hand action.

[kingOVsticks]

do you know what cameo means? It means for someone to play a small roll. If you actually played MGS2 you would know snake was there just about the WHOLE TIME. He appears as "solid snake" at the begging and end but he was there with raiden through the majority of the game and he did not play a small role in the game. Purchase yourself a PS2 xbox,(PS3) and replay MGS2 before spouting nonsense

[gamesmaster]

come on, its an action game..

yes raiden is the god of lightning but, "lightning bolt action" emphasizing "action". as apposed to putting tactical espionage.

it says action, why are you denying this, its an mgs spin-off action game. Raiden has a blade, he's a cyborg ninja.. i give up.

[STREET x KING]

At the end of the teaser it says "Sneak In" so it can still be a stealth game, probably.

[badz149]

in Japanese, Raiden = ligtning!

god of thunder = Raijin!

just FYI

[pixelsword]

You said:

"Yeah, because Ninja Raiden is suddenly going to start stealthily sneaking around more or less making the entire premise of a game with Raiden as a ninja pointless."

But aren't ninjas known for stealth?

You tell me, because you guys are always battling Ninjas, Pirate. ;)

[Soldierone]

The only reason it has Solid in its name is so it has a chance to sell to the MGS fans on the 360. Take that away and its no longer MGS and the fanboys have nothing to brag about IMO, I bet a sequal to the game will lose the "Solid" reference and probably be PS3 exclusive again thanks to sales.

[Foxgod]

The original metal gears on the msx didnt have solid in their names either.

Solid is only meaningful to adolescents.

[3sq]

"The original metal gears on the msx didnt have solid in their names either."

The original Metal Gear games were never released on MSX, they were released on MSX2, get your fact straight.

[kingOVsticks]

no one gives a crap that you're a 40 year old man who has a hard on for Microsoft. I shall call you Microhard! lol a little adolescent humor doesn't hurt anyone :P

[Whitefeather]

The Solid referrers to it having 3D graphics . Nothing to do with Solid Snake.

[Foxgod]

Solid is referring to his codename, he had that in the old metal gears too.

[Transporter47]

Solid Refers to both of those, have you seen the conference on GC 09 when Kojima talks about the word "Solid" if you haven't watch it that will clear all the confusion

[Candlestickmaker]

According to the article, the "Solid" name holds 3 meanings:

1. Solid Snake
2. Three-dimensional game
3. A joke at Square (now Square Enix)

Could be a load of silliness, though.

[threepy]

Solid has nothing to do with Solid Snake.
Otherwise it wouldn't be MGS: Portable Ops, or MGS2 or MGS3. As far as I am aware the MGS was "Meme, Gene, Scene" and the Solid was to do with the transition from 2D to 3D.

[kingOVsticks]

Im kind of surprised its called MGS too since its not a direct sequel to the series

Edit:Is anyone else still curios about what that 5,P meant in the teaser site?

[ptotoy]

well, that's how raiden, make-up wearing man, rolled in MGS4: over the top fight moves

[infamous_27]

It's called brand name...

[Shuya]

Solid never referred to solid snake this is a misconception, it actually is attributed to the mg series transition into 3d gaming.

[DevastationEve]

but it's plausible. but it makes more sense that they did have solid snake in mind, as mg2: solid snake and then there's the solid saga. which includes mg3: snake eater, since the remains of big boss is the origin of the plot in MGS.

that whole series should be referred to as the solid series. this new one honestly should be called metal gear raiden.

sad too, since kojima missed his chance to start something COMPLETELY new, and not just split the series between the dead cells/snake clones (of which big boss is a part of) and the cyborg ninjas (which includes grey fox and raiden, possibly sunny too...hell maybe even otacon dons a new suit for all we know).

one thing's for sure: kojima is set to really wow the world once again, this is shaping up to be an interesting show.

edit at below:

you honestly think they can just whip up this announcement and NOT have kojima backing it? lemme ask you this: given that MG is usually a few years in the making wouldn't you think this has been been in development for a while? i mean, unless they're just starting now and expect to hit a 2012 release date (in time for the next xbox) i seriously doubt that kojima isn't behind this. if it takes him 3 years to build these awesome games, it'd take longer for someone else to do it.

[Transporter47]

that Kojima is not directing this game it looks more like he was forced to make his team work on this game by Konami... but that is just what i concluded from all the crap i read

Edit at Above, well have you read the interviews n have you read his responses when he said "is not like i have an option" and he is producing it i give you that because its Kojima Productions game but he is not involved in it because he is not directing it, just take an example on the the X-men 1 n 2, then the new directors for X-3 n Origins made those movies suck so bad... you tell me do you expect Kojima to like something he will not direct ask about the Gamecube remake

[DevastationEve]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

0.22, what does it say?

thank you. silicon knights did the porting of the engine to gamecube code, kojima made the GAME ITSELF. there is also a message that says something along the lines of "the powerful images in this game were directed by hideo kojima" or something like that, can't find it.

so going by that, he was STILL majorly part of the development of the game and WILL BE a major part of mgs rising.

[CypH]

Not metal gear solid 5

[Transporter47]

not confusing people that they want to sell this game to but the only deceitful thing in there is the "Lightning Bolt Action Game" as of all the originals "Tactical Espionage Action Game"

[kingOVsticks]

I haven't a clue why they went with a MGS title if its not even a tactical espionage game. I really think Kojima should have went with MGR and just started fresh

[Transporter47]

yup cause the same thing happen with MGS2 :P

[Socomer 1979]

i like how 360 fans are all of a sudden pros of the MGS universe. xbox had a MGS game before & I just want to say that the memories I have of raiden are pretty pathetic. Thats 1 emo scout ninja. Snake was as pissed off as I was with his b1tching, lol.

Its not that we ps3 fans dont care... actually we dont lol its multi & its raiden!
seriously, was that it??? Are there gonna be more announcements?
is it really over?

Dam, Confirmed. Still no reason to blow $350 dollars on a xbox 360.
I was hoping to be a multi console owner too. Now Repeat after Me: Aint no game Like a PLAYSTATION GAME.

[Etseix]

aint no game like a playstation game
......
but wait. this is multiplat o_O what ur talking about? blow 350 dlls on a 360?, well this is multiplat so. u wont be wasting 350 on anything, (except u have already a ps3) ;D

[sinncross]

When MGS first debuted Kojima made mention of the 'Solid' addition: it does not denote the main character Solid Snake, who was in both MG and MG2, but rather the transition from 2D to 3D.

[DevastationEve]

i see how it can be confused. thanks for clearing that up!

[bigj]

how all the sony fans was like MGS will never be on xbox360.Sony will never let that happen.Now the Sony Patrols are like its not MGS.WTF would they call it MGS if it wasnt.What would be real crazy is if this turns out to be better than MGS5.Sony has nothing to offer besides a bluray player thats it.

[Transporter47]

lol well my friend if you have ever ever played MGS 1,2,3 and the epic number 4 not that its the most epic one but the most recent one, you will definitely be like why is it a "Bolt Lightning Action game" answer me that?

Edit @ disagree, do you disagree with my question or at the exclusive games for sony?

[ULTIMATE_REVENGE]

yeah thats cus Kojimas no longer in charge of the game, He himself doesn't like the idea of this MGS being on the 360 but he said he couldn't do anything about it. A bunch of young developers have taken over the franchise and are messing everything up, hopefully they all get fired and humiliated

[PirateThom]

God knows I love Metal Gear Solid, but even I just can't get myself excited over a game starring Raiden knowing it's going to be an action game with the Metal Gear Solid name rather than a Metal Gear Solid game and knowing Kojima isn't 100% behind it. Hell, he even approved of Ac!d.

[Transporter47]

yup he approved it n produced it but not directed or was involved in maybe 5 to 10 % of the game or even less

[DevastationEve]

read my above comment.

anyway, kojima is behind the game, it's HIS game and even when he lent it to silicon knights to port over to the gamecube he STILL had the final say over every aspect of the final product, including adding dialogue and imagery appropriate to the audience (a cameo of otacon's desk showing a mario doll).

don't kid yourselves that kojima wouldn't oversee the decisions made with his games. and honestly when has kojima ever halfassed anything?

stop downplaying how awesome this game will be.

[BigMassacre]

Because it's just a spin-off. It'll take place in the Solid series' storyline. It's not a true sequel.

Either way, should be interesting. I wonder what the hell Lightning Bolt Action is.

[BigMassacre]

Sheesh, why the disagrees? Not like I said anything bad about the game. I'm looking forward to it too. It's just the truth. Everything was finished nicely at the end of MGS4. Raiden even got his family back. Then again, Kojima can always find a new way to throw someone back into action out of nowhere.

My point will be even more proven if this is indeed the story of how Raiden rescued Sunny from the Patriots. Spin-off, side story, but not a true sequel.

[DiLeCtioN]

wasnt really as good as snake eater (mgs3) or the best MGS so far that is guns of the patriots.

[yeswecan84]

Reminds me of subsistence for xbox...?

[Figboy]

doesn't refer to Solid Snake, but rather it references the Metal Gear series move from 2D to 3D visuals.

Kojima said this in an interview YEARS ago.

it is also kind of a play on the Solid Snake name, but it mostly refers to that 2D/3D shift.

man, people are such disagree nancies on this damn site.

[Candlestickmaker]

The idea that the name "Solid" is poking fun at Square is particularly amusing. :)

[CSM-101e]

In Japanese thunder god is Raijin. Rai = thunder, and in this case Shin = god. Or the Honorific Kaminari-sama is also used, but means a god of rolling thunder. But my Japanese isn't exactly fluent; and anyway back on topic...

[Keowrath]

I played as Grey Fox in Integral and although the controls were slightly different from Snakes it still felt a bit lacking. Raiden in MGS2 used Snakes control method apart from the HF blade. And again it didn't feel like an Action game as such.

A new game centering on the "new" Raiden in my book requires a different control method. I imgaine you will still be able to use stealth but no cardboard boxes (!) maybe using the stealth item but much more action orientated where Raiden is just a force of destruction, as other people have said NG and DMC style. I imagine the game to be a lot quicker and with all Raidens break dancing moves, maybe they'll throw in a little dance dance mini game (=/)