Post by Kojima Pro on Nov 21, 2007 19:20:09 GMT -5
Metal Gear TX-55
A technical diagram of the original Metal Gear; from the Japanese manual of the MSX version of Metal Gear.
The original Metal Gear (featured in the eponymous first installment), sometimes referred by its full codename Metal Gear TX-55 (or alternatively, TX-55 Metal Gear), is designed at Outer Heaven by the Eastern scientist Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar. Dr. Madnar is coerced into developing Metal Gear, after his daughter is held hostage for blackmail. Metal Gear's weakspot is its feet, which could only be destroyed by placing plastic explosives over them in a determined order. This Metal Gear is destroyed before completion; the final challenge in Metal Gear is instead a battle with Big Boss and a race against time to escape the self-destructing base.
The Metal Gear mecha does not appear in the NES version of the game. Instead, the player has to take out a Super Computer which controls Metal Gear prior to the final battle with Big Boss. In Snake's Revenge, the non-canonical sequel to Metal Gear, mass-produced versions of the original Metal Gear appear, alongside Metal Gear 2, its successor. The wreckage of the original Metal Gear itself also appears in Stage 11 of Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.
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Metal Gear D
A technical diagram of Metal Gear D, from the manual of the MSX version of Metal Gear 2.
The Revised Metal Gear D appears in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. This version of Metal Gear is designed in Zanzibar Land again by Dr. Madnar, although this time willingly. This Metal Gear, armed with a Vulcan gun and a six-missile pod, is piloted by Gray Fox as he raids nuclear disposal sites for Zanzibar Land. Despite its formidable armament, its legs are lightly armored; the player, as Solid Snake, must attack this weak point with grenades in a confrontation near the end of Metal Gear 2.
Smaller, non-nuclear-armed Metal Gears, referred to alternately as Metal Gear G or Metal Gear Gustav, were designed for Metal Gear 2, but were cut from the game due to time constraints. [1] They are mentioned in the game by Dr. Madnar as being under development, but not yet deployed.
The original blueprints for Metal Gear D are visible on Granin's desk in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater along with the REX blueprints.
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Metal Gear REX
Metal Gear Rex design drawings; by Yoji Shinkawa, from The Art of Metal Gear Solid. Shinkawa said that much of REX's design was based around technical limitations of the PlayStation system; hence the large, flat panels which make up its structure [2].
Metal Gear REX, designed by Dr. Hal Emmerich, is the model of Metal Gear that appears in Metal Gear Solid. It is characterized by a railgun that, as is revealed in the game, can deliver undetectable nuclear warheads to anywhere in the world. In addition to its railgun, REX differs from the preceding Metal Gear D in that its legs are heavily armored and reinforced, not vulnerable like its predecessors'.
The Metal Gear REX has near-impenetrable compound armor, a pair of vulcan cannons, anti-tank missiles, and a free-electron laser, to protect itself from conventional forces. Its primary weapon, however, is a magnetic railgun capable of delivering an untraceable nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, without the propellant trail or launch flare that gives away the launch position of a traditional ballistic missile. Because of its sealed, one-man cockpit and thick armor, its sensors are concentrated in a radome on the left side of its body; this radome is very vulnerable to attack, and destroying it effectively blinds the REX, forcing the cockpit to open. In this state, the REX is vulnerable as its controls can be easily destroyed (In Metal Gear Solid, Otacon states that this was intentional, declaring that nothing can be complete without a "character flaw").
Solid Snake battling REX
In Metal Gear Solid, weapons company ArmsTech bribes DARPA chief Donald Anderson to get covert US government funding for development of Metal Gear REX for the US Army, and sends a single prototype to be tested at a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. However, the Shadow Moses facility is taken over by the rogue special forces unit FOXHOUND, who then attempt to use it as leverage to extort the US government. Solid Snake comes out of retirement, infiltrates the Shadow Moses facility and, with the help of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, the disgruntled designer of REX, and Gray Fox, a Cyborg Ninja and mysterious infiltrator, eliminates FOXHOUND and destroys the Metal Gear REX.
It is revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty that Revolver Ocelot, the sole FOXHOUND survivor, escapes with the blueprints for REX, however, and soon sells them onto the black market. As a result, variants of REX spread worldwide. The Metal Gear RAY is designed in response, to combat these variants of REX, and render them useless.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater fills in the background of Metal Gear REX. According to that game, the idea for REX originates with Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, a Soviet weapons designer, who compares it to the theory of the missing link between apes and men. He shows Naked Snake his design drawings, which appear quite similar to Metal Gear REX, calling it the missing link between infantry and artillery. Infantry can go anywhere but are easily destroyed and carry limited firepower. Artillery can inflict and sustain far more damage, but are at the mercy of terrain. In short, for a tank to be perfect, it needs legs. At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, Ocelot reveals he stole these designs from Granin.
In a 2007 trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, REX reappears, displaying signs of heavy damage: Its armor is battered, its radome is already destroyed, and its rail gun is notably missing. It is technically unknown if this may be a new model, but it is very likely the same model as in Metal Gear Solid. Old Snake himself is its pilot, and he seems to be using Metal Gear Mk. II to assist in controlling it, as the little machine is hooked into its control panel as well. RAY arrives, piloted by Liquid Ocelot, and the two Metal Gears assume combat stances...
It has been confirmed that both Metal Gears REX and RAY will make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as background hazards in the Shadow Moses Island stage.
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Metal Gear RAY
An in-game model of the Metal Gear RAY prototype.
Metal Gear RAY, also designed by Yoji Shinkawa, is introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but was previewed in an unlockable image in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. It comes in two variants: a manned prototype version, developed to combat derivatives of Metal Gear REX, and an unmanned, computer-controlled version, refitted to defend Arsenal Gear.
RAY differs from previous Metal Gears in that it is not a nuclear launch platform, but instead a weapon of conventional warfare, originally designed to hunt down and destroy the many derivatives of Metal Gear REX that became common after the leak of the REX plans after the events of Shadow Moses. It is designed to be even more maneuverable and flexible in deployment than the REX, and can operate both on land and in the water. While RAY has a pair of machine guns and six missile tubes to defend itself from more conventional battlefield threats, its primary weapon is a powerful water jet cutter, which can cut through heavily-armored foes, such as Metal Gear REX derivatives.
Drawings of RAY's design by Yoji Shinkawa, displaying sections of its structure
The Metal Gear RAY is more organic than previous models, both in appearance and in function. The exterior is more organic; its streamlined shape helps to deflect enemy fire and allows for greater maneuverability both on land and in water. It's interior workings are also somewhat organic, as it has artificial fibers that contract when electricity is applied, much like natural muscle, instead of typical hydraulics; this pseudo-muscle tissue makes it very maneuverable. It also has a nervous-system-like network of conductive nanotubes, which connect the widely dispersed sensor systems and relay commands from the cockpit to the various parts of RAY's body, automatically bypassing damaged systems and rerouting to auxiliary systems when needed. Another feature is its blood-like armor-repair nanopaste, which is secreted from valves and coagulates wherever the exterior surface is damaged. Particularly unusual is its "face", with two "eyes" and a gaping "mouth", only seen when the head armor is removed.
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Prototype model
Metal Gear RAY was originally developed by the US Marines to locate and eliminate Metal Gear REX units and their derivatives. In the prologue of Metal Gear Solid 2 (the Tanker chapter), however, it is captured by Revolver Ocelot while being transported on the covertly refitted oil tanker U.S.S. Discovery.
This version is labeled "MARINES", has a cockpit (accommodating a single pilot) and a long tail. The RAY is an amphibious craft which allows for maneuverability in land and at sea: the long tail is intended for balance while making leaps or operating underwater. The entirety of the forward interior of the cockpit is a heads-up display, allowing the pilot to look around as if there were no obstruction between him and the battlefield.
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Mass-production model
Later during the Plant chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2, Revolver Ocelot delivers the stolen prototype RAY to the Patriots, an Illuminati-esque organization secretly running the United States. Under their direction, the unit is redesigned for control by the AI known as "GW" in defense of Arsenal Gear. The Arsenal Gear has a force of these slave RAYs ready for immediate deployment against any possible threats.
The mass-production RAYs lack the tail of the prototype, have rounded knees and have only one sensory output or "eye" as opposed to having two like the prototype version, and are labeled "US NAVY".
There is evidence to indicate that these RAYs are less durable than the prototype version. For example, when Revolver Ocelot commandeered the original RAY, fire from weapons such as an M-203 grenade failed to damage it, while the leg and head of the Navy RAYs could be damaged even by grenades fired from an RGB6. When the RAYs went haywire due to the effects of the virus on GW, Solidus was also able to make short work of the RAYs by using the enhanced strength and agility provided by his combat suit to evade their attacks and then destroying the RAYs' control units (which are assumed to be vulnerable when the RAY's head is "open") with his P90. The level of weakness of the mass-produced RAYs could be explained by the fact that Arsenal was intended to operate with full support and escorts from the Navy. Corners may have been cut to make mass production cheaper, and the RAYs' weaknesses compensated with naval support.
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New model(?)
In a 2007 Tokyo Game Show trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, a Metal Gear RAY appears, exhibiting a combination of both the prototype and mass-production models' characteristics: It has rounded knees and lacks a tail, similar to the mass-production model, but, like the prototype model, it has two "eyes", a cockpit for manual control, and greyish-blue coloring. It is labeled "OUTER HAVEN". It is currently unknown whether this is a modified version of the prototype model stolen by the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 or truly a new model altogether.
Liquid Ocelot pilots this Metal Gear RAY, and, in it, leaps ashore to confront his brother, Old Snake, who himself is piloting Metal Gear REX. Both Metal Gears prepare to engage in battle.
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Easter eggs
A preview of Metal Gear RAY can be viewed in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (released before MGS2). This can only be viewed though when a player has completed 100% of the game.
In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a miniature model RAY and REX can be seen when Snake is talking to Granin in his office.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, both RAY and REX occasionally appear in the Shadow Moses Island, along with a third, supposedly newer Metal Gear model. [3]
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Arsenal Gear
Arsenal Gear (appearing in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) is a submersible, mobile fortress developed by the U.S. Navy, with the ability to monitor, block, and tamper with internet communications in order to further the goals of the Patriots. It is a metaphor for the change of warfare in the last decades of the 20th century, from nuclear war to a war of culture, information, and espionage.
Arsenal Gear is hidden under the Big Shell, and is controlled by an AI named "GW", which was designed by Emma Emmerich (there are other AIs besides GW,as GW stands for George Washington, as Raiden speaks with another AI named "JFK, which stands for John F. Kennedy" prior to his battle with Solidus, but they are unrelated to this Arsenal Gear. The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 actually reveals that the Arsenal below the Big Shell is not the only one, and each Arsenal is run by its own networked AI system).
Arsenal Gear is massive, large enough to house - and also require - a significant force for its defense. The exterior is shown when Raiden and Solidus are heading for Federal Hall and see it speeding under many bridges before it crashes. The Arsenal Gear hidden under the Big Shell has an unspecified number of "Tengu Commandos", soldiers clad in powered armor and armed with P90 submachine guns and high-frequency blades. It also has a squadron of 25 mass-production Metal Gear RAYs, each of which is under the direct control of GW, the AI controlling Arsenal Gear.
During the Big Shell incident, Raiden is actually being manipulated by GW, Arsenal Gear's AI, but, as Emma Emmerich's virus slowly destroys GW, Raiden is able to enter Arsenal Gear (from the Big Shell, the facility Arsenal Gear is hidden under) and uncover the many layers of deception concealing the true meaning behind his mission to the Big Shell. Revolver Ocelot, being controlled by Liquid Snake via his transplanted arm, directs Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan Island at the end of Raiden's mission, but its ultimate fate is yet to be revealed.
A scene which was cut from the final version of Metal Gear Solid 2 shows Arsenal Gear crashing through and destroying several buildings in Manhattan Island. This scene was later removed due to the attacks on September 11th.[4]
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Metal Gear & Metal Gear RAXA
The original Metal Gear from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, as shown in an original conceptual artwork.
The Metal Gear shuttlepod. Metal Gear cannot function at full capacity unless positioned in orbit over its target.
Chronologically, it is the first Metal Gear prototype ever built, having been developed by the U.S. government in 1970. First seen in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, its design, completed by Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, is based on the original blueprints created by Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin. The head itself has a strong resemblance with the one from Metal Gear REX, the model from Metal Gear Solid. It has four legs (merely a step towards bipedalism—which was an impossibility with the technology available at the time). Its nuclear function is to act as a mobile launching device for MIRVs. While therefore capable of making nuclear strikes against several targets at once, its range is limited, and unlike the Shagohod, is unable to compensate for it with speed. Thus, it must be physically transported to a point within range of the target(s) first. This is accomplished by having the Metal Gear unit itself attached to the top of a rocket, launching it, detaching the unit at 3000 ft above the intended landing point, and having it parachute back down to the ground, launching its nuclear payload afterwards.
An experimental prototype model, codenamed Metal Gear RAXA (pronounced rah-sha) and outwardly identical to the final unit, was produced beforehand, intended for performance evaluation. Having been misled to believe it to be the complete (and only) model at the time, Big Boss intends to sabotage and destroy it before it can be activated and used to deploy nuclear strikes. Once he arrives however, it instantly becomes active, piloted by Colonel Skowronski, who has snuck in himself and intends to use it against Gene. Very soon after its activation, its incompleteness becomes quite apparent, as it suddenly shuts itself down while firing its machinegun. At Gene's command though, Ursula awakens and commandeers Metal Gear herself, using her psychic powers not only to compensate for the malfunctions, but to enhance its performance beyond its normal standards, causing it to move unlike a machine at all. Colonel Skowronski is thrown off the cockpit and falls to his death. Big Boss is forced to fight Metal Gear along with his comrades, by first targeting and disabling its four legs, but then it demonstrates an impressive capability for functioning even without them, using its "wings" and hover propulsion engines to drag itself about. Regardless of this, Big Boss still manages to destroy it, by attacking its missile tubes when they open up.
After enjoying a brief sense of victory, Big Boss is informed that what he just defeated was merely Metal Gear RAXA, the test model, and then witnesses the real unit being transported via helicopter toward the base's underground silo complex. Ultimately, he is unable to reach the launch control room before Gene can begin the launch countdown, and must resort to trying to destroy the unit itself. While it is fortunately unmanned and already attached to the top of the rocket, and thereby effectively defenseless, it is, however, said to be invulnerable to conventional weaponry, thanks to its incredibly thick armor, and supposedly any assault on the rocket could cause the underground silo complex itself to be destroyed in the resulting explosion. Determined to save the world without any concern for his personal safety, Big Boss commits himself and attacks it with his RPG-7, while the soldiers he has inspired over the course of the game help him out by firing their own weapons. Although the rocket is able to launch, it quickly becomes clear that all the combined firepower damaged it sufficiently: After detaching from the rocket, Metal Gear begins to fall off course, resulting in its destruction once it crashes back down to the ground.
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Related weapons
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Shagohod
The Shagohod, with a top and right-profile view inset. This 1/144-scale model is included with the Japan-only "Premium Package" release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The Shagohod (Russian Шагоход, "step-walker", occasionally referred to in English as "The Treading Behemoth") featured in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, while not a Metal Gear variant per-se, has a similar design and role. Rather than a bipedal mecha, it is an unconventional tank, armed with an intermediate-range ballistic missile it can propel to intercontinental ranges. Like the various Metal Gear variants, it can be crewed by a single pilot, although it has a station for a copilot.
The Shagohod has an articulated body, split into two parts. The front part has a pair of Archimedes screws on hydraulic legs, which pull the bulky rear portion, suspended on a hovercraft-style air cushion. While this is an unusual mechanism for propulsion, far more unusual are the Shagohod's rocket boosters. With a sufficiently large flat piece of land (such as a highway or landing strip), the Shagohod can fire its rocket boosters to build up speed (up to more than 480 km/h or 300 mi/h) before firing its primary weapon, a nuclear-armed intermediate-range ballistic missile. In doing so, it serves as an additional stage for the rocket, allowing it to strike at targets nearly anywhere in the world (a range of over 6,000 miles [9600 km]). The Shagohod also has parachutes in the back to help in slowing it down after a rocket-boosted missile-launch.
Besides its single SS-20 "Saber" IRBM (which has to be reloaded after firing), the Shagohod has defensive weaponry, including three machine guns to defend against aircraft and infantry, six surface-to-air missiles to protect against aircraft, and a 100 barrel volley gun to defend against armor.
While Snake talks with Sokolov in the west wing of the weapons lab in Groznyj Grad, Sokolov mentions that Volgin was planning to mass-produce the Shagohod and ship it to all the countries of the Eastern Bloc. At that same point, Sokolov also mentioned that Volgin also was planning to use the Shagohod as bait to foment armed uprisings among dictators, ethnic insurgents and revolutionary groups throughout the Third World.
The Shagohod is not a precursor to the Metal Gear series of mecha, but instead a parallel development; it is developed by Dr. Sokolov at a secret base in Tselinoyarsk. His peer, and self-proclaimed rival, Director Granin, conceives of the Metal Gear at approximately the same time, but Colonel Volgin favors Sokolov's design over Granin's, and funds the production of a prototype. This is possibly due to the fact that, though a walker like Metal Gear would ultimately prove to be a far more versatile system, the Shagohod was only an unusual combination of technologies that already existed at the time (tanks, ground effects, IRBMs, and booster rockets), as opposed to an unrealized idea requiring years or even decades of research.
A technical diagram of the original Metal Gear; from the Japanese manual of the MSX version of Metal Gear.
The original Metal Gear (featured in the eponymous first installment), sometimes referred by its full codename Metal Gear TX-55 (or alternatively, TX-55 Metal Gear), is designed at Outer Heaven by the Eastern scientist Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar. Dr. Madnar is coerced into developing Metal Gear, after his daughter is held hostage for blackmail. Metal Gear's weakspot is its feet, which could only be destroyed by placing plastic explosives over them in a determined order. This Metal Gear is destroyed before completion; the final challenge in Metal Gear is instead a battle with Big Boss and a race against time to escape the self-destructing base.
The Metal Gear mecha does not appear in the NES version of the game. Instead, the player has to take out a Super Computer which controls Metal Gear prior to the final battle with Big Boss. In Snake's Revenge, the non-canonical sequel to Metal Gear, mass-produced versions of the original Metal Gear appear, alongside Metal Gear 2, its successor. The wreckage of the original Metal Gear itself also appears in Stage 11 of Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.
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Metal Gear D
A technical diagram of Metal Gear D, from the manual of the MSX version of Metal Gear 2.
The Revised Metal Gear D appears in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. This version of Metal Gear is designed in Zanzibar Land again by Dr. Madnar, although this time willingly. This Metal Gear, armed with a Vulcan gun and a six-missile pod, is piloted by Gray Fox as he raids nuclear disposal sites for Zanzibar Land. Despite its formidable armament, its legs are lightly armored; the player, as Solid Snake, must attack this weak point with grenades in a confrontation near the end of Metal Gear 2.
Smaller, non-nuclear-armed Metal Gears, referred to alternately as Metal Gear G or Metal Gear Gustav, were designed for Metal Gear 2, but were cut from the game due to time constraints. [1] They are mentioned in the game by Dr. Madnar as being under development, but not yet deployed.
The original blueprints for Metal Gear D are visible on Granin's desk in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater along with the REX blueprints.
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Metal Gear REX
Metal Gear Rex design drawings; by Yoji Shinkawa, from The Art of Metal Gear Solid. Shinkawa said that much of REX's design was based around technical limitations of the PlayStation system; hence the large, flat panels which make up its structure [2].
Metal Gear REX, designed by Dr. Hal Emmerich, is the model of Metal Gear that appears in Metal Gear Solid. It is characterized by a railgun that, as is revealed in the game, can deliver undetectable nuclear warheads to anywhere in the world. In addition to its railgun, REX differs from the preceding Metal Gear D in that its legs are heavily armored and reinforced, not vulnerable like its predecessors'.
The Metal Gear REX has near-impenetrable compound armor, a pair of vulcan cannons, anti-tank missiles, and a free-electron laser, to protect itself from conventional forces. Its primary weapon, however, is a magnetic railgun capable of delivering an untraceable nuclear warhead anywhere in the world, without the propellant trail or launch flare that gives away the launch position of a traditional ballistic missile. Because of its sealed, one-man cockpit and thick armor, its sensors are concentrated in a radome on the left side of its body; this radome is very vulnerable to attack, and destroying it effectively blinds the REX, forcing the cockpit to open. In this state, the REX is vulnerable as its controls can be easily destroyed (In Metal Gear Solid, Otacon states that this was intentional, declaring that nothing can be complete without a "character flaw").
Solid Snake battling REX
In Metal Gear Solid, weapons company ArmsTech bribes DARPA chief Donald Anderson to get covert US government funding for development of Metal Gear REX for the US Army, and sends a single prototype to be tested at a nuclear weapons disposal facility on Shadow Moses Island. However, the Shadow Moses facility is taken over by the rogue special forces unit FOXHOUND, who then attempt to use it as leverage to extort the US government. Solid Snake comes out of retirement, infiltrates the Shadow Moses facility and, with the help of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, the disgruntled designer of REX, and Gray Fox, a Cyborg Ninja and mysterious infiltrator, eliminates FOXHOUND and destroys the Metal Gear REX.
It is revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty that Revolver Ocelot, the sole FOXHOUND survivor, escapes with the blueprints for REX, however, and soon sells them onto the black market. As a result, variants of REX spread worldwide. The Metal Gear RAY is designed in response, to combat these variants of REX, and render them useless.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater fills in the background of Metal Gear REX. According to that game, the idea for REX originates with Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin, a Soviet weapons designer, who compares it to the theory of the missing link between apes and men. He shows Naked Snake his design drawings, which appear quite similar to Metal Gear REX, calling it the missing link between infantry and artillery. Infantry can go anywhere but are easily destroyed and carry limited firepower. Artillery can inflict and sustain far more damage, but are at the mercy of terrain. In short, for a tank to be perfect, it needs legs. At the end of Metal Gear Solid 3, Ocelot reveals he stole these designs from Granin.
In a 2007 trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, REX reappears, displaying signs of heavy damage: Its armor is battered, its radome is already destroyed, and its rail gun is notably missing. It is technically unknown if this may be a new model, but it is very likely the same model as in Metal Gear Solid. Old Snake himself is its pilot, and he seems to be using Metal Gear Mk. II to assist in controlling it, as the little machine is hooked into its control panel as well. RAY arrives, piloted by Liquid Ocelot, and the two Metal Gears assume combat stances...
It has been confirmed that both Metal Gears REX and RAY will make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as background hazards in the Shadow Moses Island stage.
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Metal Gear RAY
An in-game model of the Metal Gear RAY prototype.
Metal Gear RAY, also designed by Yoji Shinkawa, is introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, but was previewed in an unlockable image in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. It comes in two variants: a manned prototype version, developed to combat derivatives of Metal Gear REX, and an unmanned, computer-controlled version, refitted to defend Arsenal Gear.
RAY differs from previous Metal Gears in that it is not a nuclear launch platform, but instead a weapon of conventional warfare, originally designed to hunt down and destroy the many derivatives of Metal Gear REX that became common after the leak of the REX plans after the events of Shadow Moses. It is designed to be even more maneuverable and flexible in deployment than the REX, and can operate both on land and in the water. While RAY has a pair of machine guns and six missile tubes to defend itself from more conventional battlefield threats, its primary weapon is a powerful water jet cutter, which can cut through heavily-armored foes, such as Metal Gear REX derivatives.
Drawings of RAY's design by Yoji Shinkawa, displaying sections of its structure
The Metal Gear RAY is more organic than previous models, both in appearance and in function. The exterior is more organic; its streamlined shape helps to deflect enemy fire and allows for greater maneuverability both on land and in water. It's interior workings are also somewhat organic, as it has artificial fibers that contract when electricity is applied, much like natural muscle, instead of typical hydraulics; this pseudo-muscle tissue makes it very maneuverable. It also has a nervous-system-like network of conductive nanotubes, which connect the widely dispersed sensor systems and relay commands from the cockpit to the various parts of RAY's body, automatically bypassing damaged systems and rerouting to auxiliary systems when needed. Another feature is its blood-like armor-repair nanopaste, which is secreted from valves and coagulates wherever the exterior surface is damaged. Particularly unusual is its "face", with two "eyes" and a gaping "mouth", only seen when the head armor is removed.
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Prototype model
Metal Gear RAY was originally developed by the US Marines to locate and eliminate Metal Gear REX units and their derivatives. In the prologue of Metal Gear Solid 2 (the Tanker chapter), however, it is captured by Revolver Ocelot while being transported on the covertly refitted oil tanker U.S.S. Discovery.
This version is labeled "MARINES", has a cockpit (accommodating a single pilot) and a long tail. The RAY is an amphibious craft which allows for maneuverability in land and at sea: the long tail is intended for balance while making leaps or operating underwater. The entirety of the forward interior of the cockpit is a heads-up display, allowing the pilot to look around as if there were no obstruction between him and the battlefield.
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Mass-production model
Later during the Plant chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2, Revolver Ocelot delivers the stolen prototype RAY to the Patriots, an Illuminati-esque organization secretly running the United States. Under their direction, the unit is redesigned for control by the AI known as "GW" in defense of Arsenal Gear. The Arsenal Gear has a force of these slave RAYs ready for immediate deployment against any possible threats.
The mass-production RAYs lack the tail of the prototype, have rounded knees and have only one sensory output or "eye" as opposed to having two like the prototype version, and are labeled "US NAVY".
There is evidence to indicate that these RAYs are less durable than the prototype version. For example, when Revolver Ocelot commandeered the original RAY, fire from weapons such as an M-203 grenade failed to damage it, while the leg and head of the Navy RAYs could be damaged even by grenades fired from an RGB6. When the RAYs went haywire due to the effects of the virus on GW, Solidus was also able to make short work of the RAYs by using the enhanced strength and agility provided by his combat suit to evade their attacks and then destroying the RAYs' control units (which are assumed to be vulnerable when the RAY's head is "open") with his P90. The level of weakness of the mass-produced RAYs could be explained by the fact that Arsenal was intended to operate with full support and escorts from the Navy. Corners may have been cut to make mass production cheaper, and the RAYs' weaknesses compensated with naval support.
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New model(?)
In a 2007 Tokyo Game Show trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, a Metal Gear RAY appears, exhibiting a combination of both the prototype and mass-production models' characteristics: It has rounded knees and lacks a tail, similar to the mass-production model, but, like the prototype model, it has two "eyes", a cockpit for manual control, and greyish-blue coloring. It is labeled "OUTER HAVEN". It is currently unknown whether this is a modified version of the prototype model stolen by the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 or truly a new model altogether.
Liquid Ocelot pilots this Metal Gear RAY, and, in it, leaps ashore to confront his brother, Old Snake, who himself is piloting Metal Gear REX. Both Metal Gears prepare to engage in battle.
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Easter eggs
A preview of Metal Gear RAY can be viewed in Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions (released before MGS2). This can only be viewed though when a player has completed 100% of the game.
In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, a miniature model RAY and REX can be seen when Snake is talking to Granin in his office.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, both RAY and REX occasionally appear in the Shadow Moses Island, along with a third, supposedly newer Metal Gear model. [3]
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Arsenal Gear
Arsenal Gear (appearing in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) is a submersible, mobile fortress developed by the U.S. Navy, with the ability to monitor, block, and tamper with internet communications in order to further the goals of the Patriots. It is a metaphor for the change of warfare in the last decades of the 20th century, from nuclear war to a war of culture, information, and espionage.
Arsenal Gear is hidden under the Big Shell, and is controlled by an AI named "GW", which was designed by Emma Emmerich (there are other AIs besides GW,as GW stands for George Washington, as Raiden speaks with another AI named "JFK, which stands for John F. Kennedy" prior to his battle with Solidus, but they are unrelated to this Arsenal Gear. The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 actually reveals that the Arsenal below the Big Shell is not the only one, and each Arsenal is run by its own networked AI system).
Arsenal Gear is massive, large enough to house - and also require - a significant force for its defense. The exterior is shown when Raiden and Solidus are heading for Federal Hall and see it speeding under many bridges before it crashes. The Arsenal Gear hidden under the Big Shell has an unspecified number of "Tengu Commandos", soldiers clad in powered armor and armed with P90 submachine guns and high-frequency blades. It also has a squadron of 25 mass-production Metal Gear RAYs, each of which is under the direct control of GW, the AI controlling Arsenal Gear.
During the Big Shell incident, Raiden is actually being manipulated by GW, Arsenal Gear's AI, but, as Emma Emmerich's virus slowly destroys GW, Raiden is able to enter Arsenal Gear (from the Big Shell, the facility Arsenal Gear is hidden under) and uncover the many layers of deception concealing the true meaning behind his mission to the Big Shell. Revolver Ocelot, being controlled by Liquid Snake via his transplanted arm, directs Arsenal Gear to crash into Manhattan Island at the end of Raiden's mission, but its ultimate fate is yet to be revealed.
A scene which was cut from the final version of Metal Gear Solid 2 shows Arsenal Gear crashing through and destroying several buildings in Manhattan Island. This scene was later removed due to the attacks on September 11th.[4]
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Metal Gear & Metal Gear RAXA
The original Metal Gear from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, as shown in an original conceptual artwork.
The Metal Gear shuttlepod. Metal Gear cannot function at full capacity unless positioned in orbit over its target.
Chronologically, it is the first Metal Gear prototype ever built, having been developed by the U.S. government in 1970. First seen in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, its design, completed by Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, is based on the original blueprints created by Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin. The head itself has a strong resemblance with the one from Metal Gear REX, the model from Metal Gear Solid. It has four legs (merely a step towards bipedalism—which was an impossibility with the technology available at the time). Its nuclear function is to act as a mobile launching device for MIRVs. While therefore capable of making nuclear strikes against several targets at once, its range is limited, and unlike the Shagohod, is unable to compensate for it with speed. Thus, it must be physically transported to a point within range of the target(s) first. This is accomplished by having the Metal Gear unit itself attached to the top of a rocket, launching it, detaching the unit at 3000 ft above the intended landing point, and having it parachute back down to the ground, launching its nuclear payload afterwards.
An experimental prototype model, codenamed Metal Gear RAXA (pronounced rah-sha) and outwardly identical to the final unit, was produced beforehand, intended for performance evaluation. Having been misled to believe it to be the complete (and only) model at the time, Big Boss intends to sabotage and destroy it before it can be activated and used to deploy nuclear strikes. Once he arrives however, it instantly becomes active, piloted by Colonel Skowronski, who has snuck in himself and intends to use it against Gene. Very soon after its activation, its incompleteness becomes quite apparent, as it suddenly shuts itself down while firing its machinegun. At Gene's command though, Ursula awakens and commandeers Metal Gear herself, using her psychic powers not only to compensate for the malfunctions, but to enhance its performance beyond its normal standards, causing it to move unlike a machine at all. Colonel Skowronski is thrown off the cockpit and falls to his death. Big Boss is forced to fight Metal Gear along with his comrades, by first targeting and disabling its four legs, but then it demonstrates an impressive capability for functioning even without them, using its "wings" and hover propulsion engines to drag itself about. Regardless of this, Big Boss still manages to destroy it, by attacking its missile tubes when they open up.
After enjoying a brief sense of victory, Big Boss is informed that what he just defeated was merely Metal Gear RAXA, the test model, and then witnesses the real unit being transported via helicopter toward the base's underground silo complex. Ultimately, he is unable to reach the launch control room before Gene can begin the launch countdown, and must resort to trying to destroy the unit itself. While it is fortunately unmanned and already attached to the top of the rocket, and thereby effectively defenseless, it is, however, said to be invulnerable to conventional weaponry, thanks to its incredibly thick armor, and supposedly any assault on the rocket could cause the underground silo complex itself to be destroyed in the resulting explosion. Determined to save the world without any concern for his personal safety, Big Boss commits himself and attacks it with his RPG-7, while the soldiers he has inspired over the course of the game help him out by firing their own weapons. Although the rocket is able to launch, it quickly becomes clear that all the combined firepower damaged it sufficiently: After detaching from the rocket, Metal Gear begins to fall off course, resulting in its destruction once it crashes back down to the ground.
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Related weapons
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Shagohod
The Shagohod, with a top and right-profile view inset. This 1/144-scale model is included with the Japan-only "Premium Package" release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The Shagohod (Russian Шагоход, "step-walker", occasionally referred to in English as "The Treading Behemoth") featured in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, while not a Metal Gear variant per-se, has a similar design and role. Rather than a bipedal mecha, it is an unconventional tank, armed with an intermediate-range ballistic missile it can propel to intercontinental ranges. Like the various Metal Gear variants, it can be crewed by a single pilot, although it has a station for a copilot.
The Shagohod has an articulated body, split into two parts. The front part has a pair of Archimedes screws on hydraulic legs, which pull the bulky rear portion, suspended on a hovercraft-style air cushion. While this is an unusual mechanism for propulsion, far more unusual are the Shagohod's rocket boosters. With a sufficiently large flat piece of land (such as a highway or landing strip), the Shagohod can fire its rocket boosters to build up speed (up to more than 480 km/h or 300 mi/h) before firing its primary weapon, a nuclear-armed intermediate-range ballistic missile. In doing so, it serves as an additional stage for the rocket, allowing it to strike at targets nearly anywhere in the world (a range of over 6,000 miles [9600 km]). The Shagohod also has parachutes in the back to help in slowing it down after a rocket-boosted missile-launch.
Besides its single SS-20 "Saber" IRBM (which has to be reloaded after firing), the Shagohod has defensive weaponry, including three machine guns to defend against aircraft and infantry, six surface-to-air missiles to protect against aircraft, and a 100 barrel volley gun to defend against armor.
While Snake talks with Sokolov in the west wing of the weapons lab in Groznyj Grad, Sokolov mentions that Volgin was planning to mass-produce the Shagohod and ship it to all the countries of the Eastern Bloc. At that same point, Sokolov also mentioned that Volgin also was planning to use the Shagohod as bait to foment armed uprisings among dictators, ethnic insurgents and revolutionary groups throughout the Third World.
The Shagohod is not a precursor to the Metal Gear series of mecha, but instead a parallel development; it is developed by Dr. Sokolov at a secret base in Tselinoyarsk. His peer, and self-proclaimed rival, Director Granin, conceives of the Metal Gear at approximately the same time, but Colonel Volgin favors Sokolov's design over Granin's, and funds the production of a prototype. This is possibly due to the fact that, though a walker like Metal Gear would ultimately prove to be a far more versatile system, the Shagohod was only an unusual combination of technologies that already existed at the time (tanks, ground effects, IRBMs, and booster rockets), as opposed to an unrealized idea requiring years or even decades of research.