Summary
- Metal Gear Solid series’s greatest final lines left players in awe with jaw-dropping cliffhangers or playful jabs.
- Metal Gear 2 marked the series’ balance of serious themes and comedy with a surprising closing jest by Solid Snake.
- Each Metal Gear installment ends with a cliffhanger or revelation, but Metal Gear Solid 4 delivered a lighter note and resolved the story.
Metal Gear Solid is one of the few series that feels so attached to one person. From its inception until 2015, all the main games were spearheaded by Hideo Kojima. He also had at least some role in most of the spin-offs. The series was once hailed as the epitome of writing and storytelling in the medium.
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Regardless of one’s thoughts on the games, their distinct personality and identity cannot be denied. The greatest final lines from the series prove it. Some left players on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, while others were more playful jabs. A select couple are bows that wrap up the narrative.
“How Cruel, After He Made A Diner Appointment With Me” – Holly White
- Released
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July 20, 1990
- ESRB
-
m
Many games have intended to end the series, or at least pass the baton to new developers. Metal Gear 2 was the first of these. Going back, the scenario is filled with a lot of the political intrigue for which the series is known, making this jest that closes the story somewhat of a surprise.
Still, it is a good indication of the series’ balance of serious themes and unexpected comedy. The line still works in retrospect. It marks Solid Snake abandoning his career, which eventually leads to Metal Gear Solid.
“What The Hell” – Solid Snake
- Released
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November 13, 2001
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood, Animated Violence
At the time, this was one of the wildest cliffhangers in gaming history. The secret cabal said to be in control of the whole world was revealed to have been killed over a hundred years ago setting fans into a tailspin. The next game in the series was a prequel set in 1964, so it did not provide any answers.
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Metal Gear Solid 4 revealed the info to be misleading, instead hinting at the Philosophers who are at the center of Metal Gear Solid 3’s plot. While it can be seen as deflating the cliffhanger, it at least hints that the lore of Metal Gear goes further back than the events of the first Metal Gear.
“Besides, You Wouldn’t Let Me Suffer Sunny’s Eggs Alone, Would You?” – Otacon
- Released
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June 12, 2008
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Crude Humor, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
The classic conversations that end each game to the title card always have a cliffhanger or revelation. Metal Gear Solid 4, being the end of Solid Snake’s journey, played with this by leaving players with a lighter note. Instead of reminding fans of Snake’s mortality, it punctuates the journey with a quip about Sunny’s bad cooking.
She cannot exactly be blamed, though. She is a child, after all. The moment also serves as some relief after everything that just took place. Not only was the story resolved, but Big Boss miraculously returned from the grave for one last face-to-face with his son. More twists and turns would have melted players’ brains at that point.
“Goodbye, Mr. President” Ocelot
- Released
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October 20, 1998
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
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Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Ocelot is just a boss players fight and Liquid Snake’s right-hand man in 1998’s Metal Gear Solid. That is until the ending reveals he was in contact with the president of the United States. Even more, this revelation comes just after Ocelot reveals the other person on the phone is another son of Big Boss.
Fortunately, this is appropriately followed up on in the direct sequel where the third Big Boss clone plays the main antagonist. It also sets into motion Ocelot’s significantly larger role in the Metal Gear canon.
“I’m Always At The CIA’s Disposal…Mr. Director” – Ocelot
- Released
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November 17, 2004
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Sexual Themes
Throughout Metal Gear Solid 3 Ocelot feels like a young, inexperienced, and cocky Russian soldier. The final conversation flips that all on its head. It turns out he has been a double agent this whole time.
Fans were already aware that Ocelot had so much more going on than he let on, but few expected that his conspiracies go all the way back to the 1960s. Portable Ops further expands on this and his role in the creation of the Patriots is finally blown wide open in Metal Gear Solid 4.
Even without looking at the bigger picture, playing through the game again with this twist recontextualizes a lot of Ocelot’s role in the third numbered entry.
3
Peace Walker
“This Is Outer Heaven” – Peace Walker
- Released
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June 8, 2010
- ESRB
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T For Teen due to Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Tobacco, Violence
Every prequel set before the original Metal Gear got closer to revealing the Big Boss that would face off against his son. Peace Walker’s final line is a huge leap towards the character. He turned his back on the Boss and decided to create a home for soldiers rather than the goal of peace The Boss ultimately wanted.
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Hearing Big Boss refer to Mother Base as Outer Heaven is a big deal since that is the name of the base Snake infiltrates in the series debut. Of course, it is not the same physical location. Outer Heaven is not a tangible space, but an idea.
“I’ve Got My Own War To Fight” – Raiden
- Released
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February 19, 2013
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ due to Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
The cult classic spin-off is only getting more love as time goes by both for its gameplay and radical story. It is just unfortunate that it never got a proper sequel, especially since the last line indicates that Raiden is not sheathing his sword just yet.
Raiden’s whole arc involves him running away from his past. He is not at fault for the terrible things he was forced to do as a child soldier, but ignoring them just further expands his guilt. The final line reveals that he is no longer running away.
That “Jack the Ripper” is always inside him, but he can choose what to do with it instead of being a tool. It is just a shame fans have yet to play what that future means. It is hard to say if they ever will.
1
Portable Ops
“I Want Him To Join Us. Yes, Big Boss, So That We Can Become The Patriots” – Ocelot
- Released
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December 5, 2006
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ Due To Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence
Portable Ops is often overlooked, but this line represents an important step in the canon, especially since it came out before Metal Gear Solid 4. Though he is not referred to by name, the final dialogue is the first hint at Major Zero’s involvement in the Patriots.
Playing Metal Gear Solid 3 does not reveal any grander plan or even suggest that The Boss’s actions affected him. Portable Ops is really where the ball gets rolling. For that, it deserves just as much love as Peace Walker.
It is also important to note that Portable Ops was the start of the mechanics that were expanded upon in Peace Walker and Phantom Pain.
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