Summary
Though it had humble beginnings on the MSX2, a Japanese home computer that was incredibly popular during the 1980s,Metal Gearhelped codify the stealth video game genre and went on to createa massively successful franchise. During its ascent to the top, a number of games in the series felt the wrath of the most feared word in the industry;cancelation.
For everythingfrom ports to entirely new spin-offs,theMetal Gearseries has seen its fair share of games come and go. Some of them were finished, then shelved. Others had their trajectory altered due to the market changing or studios going in different directions. Whatever the case may be,Metal Gearis not immune to the many challenges of getting a game shipped that the industry faces on a daily basis.
Updated on August 5th, 2024, by Maddie Fisher:Metal Gear has a consistent history of genre-defining games, with landmark releases codifying the stealth genre and paving the way for cinematic experiences to take center stage. Over the course of its 30-plus years of existence though, Metal Gear has also seen several games get the ax during development. This list has been included to add a new cancelled Metal Gear game and to provide some more information about the included games.
6Everybody’s Metal Gear
Kojima Planned A Different Type Of Metal Gear Game For The PSP
After the launch ofMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eaterin 2004, series creator Hideo Kojima decided to hand the reins of the franchise to a younger group of developers that had worked under him for the previous decade. One of them was Shuyo Murata, a talented developer who directedSnake Eater’sthrilling motorcycle chaseclimax, who was tasked with leading the nextMetal Geargame. Kojima, meanwhile, began work on a concept that was known asEverybody’s Metal Gearfor the PSP, a game that would eventually get canceled and have its elements transferred into another game.
Everybody’s Metal Gearwas described as a mix betweenAnimal CrossingandMGS, with some sort of base-building and recruitment system that would find its way intoPortable Opsas one of its main mechanics. As a result of Kojima receiving death threats that placed him back into the director position forMGS4, Everybody’s Metal Gearwent through a rough period and was canceled, while most of the work done on it becamePortable Opsin 2006.
5Metal Gear 3DO Game
Kojima Plotted Metal Gear’s Return On 3DO Before The Arrival Of The PS1
While taking a break from the series, creator Hideo Kojima began working on some truly fantastic titles in the form ofPolicenauts, a point-and-click sci-fi adventure game. While in production, Kojima was planning areturn to theMetal Gearfranchise on the 3DO,but things took a turn when he started hearing about a machine capable of true 3D graphics called the PlayStation. Concept art depicting Snake, Meryl, and members of FOX-HOUND is available on the Policenauts Pilot Disc for 3DO from 1995.
Known then asMetal Gear 3,the 3DO version of the stealth franchise would have used digitized sprites in 3D environments akin to something likeMortal Kombat. After a series of setbacks and an earthquake in Japan that further hampered development, the PS1 began to emerge as a prominent force in gaming, and Konami ended up canceling the 3DO version and transferring development to Sony’s machine, where it wasreleased asMetal Gear Solidto worldwide critical acclaim.
4Game.com Port Of Metal Gear Solid
Handheld Port Of The PS1 Classic Was Planned For Game.com
Metal Gear Solidwas a revolutionary game for the industrywhen it was released in 1998, as its focus on complex cinematic storytelling and spectacular voice acting took the world by storm. As such, it wasn’t that bizarre to think of other ways one could play it, as evidenced by an attempted handheld port for Tiger Electronics' Game.com handheld. It was an attempt to breathe new life into a system with sluggish sales, as the runaway popularity ofMGS1was undeniable. Footage of the game was seen by several members of a Tiger Electronics group on an old America Online server, but any chance of seeing that footage today seems unlikely.
By 1999, the Game.com version ofMetal Gear Solidwas nearly complete, and it was scheduled for release in November. As November came and went, however, the port was never released, and the Game.com handheld was not performing well. Although the reportedly near-complete ROM has never found its way online, lost media is continuously being discovered, so there’s a slight bit of hope that maybe one day we will get the chance to see it.
3Metal Gear Solid 4 On The Xbox 360
Guns Of The Patriots Port To A Rival Console Was Axed Due To Storage Space Issues
Despite numerous petitions, tweets and fan campaigns,Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotsremains frustratingly stuck on the PlayStation 3. It wasn’t for a lack of trying though, as former Kojima Productions producer Ryan Payton revealed that a team within Konami was able to getthe story of Old Snakerunning perfectly on the Xbox 360.Although it was a fantastic achievement, it wasn’t meant to be.
Guns of the Patriotsshipped on a dual-layer Blu-ray disc for the PS3 that could hold 54 gigabytes of data, something that wasn’t an option for DVD’s on the Xbox 360. This meant the Xbox 360 version of Snake’s final mission would have required multiple DVDs in order to work, something that simply wasn’t feasible. As a result, the 360 version ofMGS4was canceled and any hope for a modern release still hinges on a rumored Volume 2 of Konami’sMaster Collectionseries.
2Metal Gear Solid: Rising
The Original Vision Of Raiden’s Spin-Off Was Restarted By PlatinumGames
After development ofMetal Gear Solid 4concluded in 2008, the next game in the series was already being brainstormed by Kojima and his team. Wanting to fill inthe story of Raiden’stransformation into the cyborg ninja he became inGuns of the Patriots, the team started work onMetal Gear Solid: Rising, a game that Kojima was slated to serve as a supervisor on. However, after the game was announced and development surged forward, troubles started to arise and severely affected its progress.
The team at Kojima Productions found the game difficult to complete, as the balance between the trademark stealth that the series was known for and Raiden’s hack-and-slash action combat caused some major issues during development. It was ultimately canceled in 2010, then handed over to PlatinumGames, who used their magic touch in order to create one of the finest games of its generation in its new form:Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
1Boss WW2 Game
Unrealized Project Would Have Explored The Boss Storming Normandy On D-Day
Among all of Hideo Kojima’s unrealized projects, it’s his attempt to explore the early days of The Boss that is perhaps the most heartbreaking. This iconic and complicated figure in theMetal Gearseries was set to be the star of a prequel set during World War 2, where the Boss and her Cobra Unit would storm the beaches of Normandy to assist the Allied Powers against the Axis.
Inspired by a line inMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eaterabout the Boss and the Cobra Unit taking part in WW2, Kojima wanted to see a game dedicated entirely to her exploits and how she became the woman players meet later in the series. It was a tantalizing concept that was canceled in favor ofMetal Gear Rising, but one that remains just as fascinating today. Although elements of that game may have found their way into another Kojima project in the form ofDeath Stranding, it’s enticing to think about how a prequel starring one ofMetal Gear’smost incredible characters would have played out.
