Few games feel as innovative as Hideo Kojima projects, even when you’re playing them decades later. The Metal Gear franchise is great for myriad reasons, from satisfying stealth to memorable characters, but the secret sauce lies in its constant cleverness. Every Metal Gear game feels like it’s rewriting the rules over and over, playing around with the form of the medium in a way that few games do.

Kojima’s design brilliance is the most obvious when he’s taking big swings, like the Psycho Mantis fight in the first Metal Gear Solid. More understated choices, however, are often just as critical. One of the best ideas in the history of Metal Gear is the Codec, and decades after its introduction, plenty of AAA games would do well to take some inspiration from the feature.

A Simply Elegant Solution

Metal Gear‘s Codec is simple in nature, giving Snake (or other playable characters) a communication link to receive information from allies. It’s certainly not the only game to do something in this vein, and it’s not even dissimilar from the dinky but charming skits in RPGs like the Tales of series. All the same, Kojima made a lot of uniquely smart choices in its implementation.

In most Metal Gear games, the Codec serves two primary purposes. On a practical level, it’s an efficient method of conveying information, which can be a godsend in games rife with unusual puzzles and intricate maps. Before turning to a game guide, you can just call the Colonel for advice, allowing the game to distribute hints at the player’s request without reducing its complexity upfront.

The other main benefit of the Codec is how much it can contribute to the character writing and overall narrative. The Metal Gear Solid games have dynamic, cinematic cutscenes, but plots about nuclear escalation and the nature of being a soldier require a lot more info-dumping. Through the Codec, conversation lines are open even when Snake is isolated, making for an unusually sociable stealth experience.

Modern Games Could Learn A Lot From The Codec

Conversations Have Gotten Even More Static

While the talking-head format of the Codec might seem a little quaint, looking at most modern AAA games tends to reveal significantly more static conversations. Making every cutscene truly bespoke requires a lot of resources, and massive games rarely opt for this level of consistency. Major publishers like Ubisoft tend to have a few great cutscenes, but they surround them with stiffly animated back-and-forth conversations peppered throughout 50-hour stories.

This model quickly enters the uncanny valley territory, failing to properly enliven characters in a context where they should be doing more than flapping their lips. Like the Codec, it’s all really just talking heads, but it no longer has an excuse. Nothing feels off when chatting over the Codec, on the other hand. Even when the presentation is even more static, the context is actually appropriate.

It also helps that the writing is compelling, delivering complex storytelling mixed with plenty of humor. I wouldn’t feel motivated to check in with Otacon if he didn’t have such a memorable personality. Even using the Codec to save has its charms, from Mei Ling’s proverbs to Rose’s attempts to hash out her relationship with Raiden.

Kojima Proved That Conversations Don’t Have To Be Lifeless

We Can Do So Much Better

The Codec wouldn’t work in every game, and Kojima ultimately moved away from it himself, employing different approaches in Metal Gear Solid 5 and Death Stranding. Bouncing between stealth gameplay and a visual novel format isn’t the most seamless gaming experience, and I’m not surprised Kojima wasn’t permanently content with it.

All the same, I’m convinced that it’s a lot more than a relic of the past. Even games that couldn’t borrow a feature like the Codec directly could benefit from examining why it works and figuring out how to incorporate those principles into their narrative presentation. Whenever you’re going to sit players down and stop the action for a conversation, there needs to be something about it that actually feels compelling.

In a sea of “cinematic” games, few feel as filmic as Kojima’s ventures, and it’s the same as the difference between a Ryan Reynolds Netflix movie and a Spielberg blockbuster. Great directors have never settled to shoot every conversation over the shoulder. Just like movies, games have an opportunity to explore what the medium can do for dialogue. If the spirit of Roger Ebert can ever be convinced that games are art, the industry can’t keep settling for borrowing bottom-of-the-barrel film techniques.

Kojima recently complained about the lack of creativity in modern AAA games, and while that’s certainly not universal, it definitely applies to a reasonable portion of the market. After decades of sanding games down into frictionless experiences, a lot of titles are content with having mediocre elements as long as they get the job done. Kojima‘s Metal Gear was great because it never settled, and the Codec is the perfect example of how a basic feature can do more than scrape by.

Created by

Hideo Kojima

Cast

David Hayter, Akio Otsuka, Quinton Flynn, Robin Atkin Downes, Christopher Randolph, Paul Eiding, Debi Mae West, Jennifer Hale

Character(s)

Solid Snake, Big Boss, Liquid Snake, Raiden, Revolver Ocelot, The Boss, Gray Fox, Otacon

Video Game(s)

Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear: Ghost Babel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004), Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Metal Gear Survive, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

“Metal Gear” is a renowned stealth action video game franchise created by Hideo Kojima and developed by Konami. The series debuted in 1987 with the release of “Metal Gear” for the MSX2 platform. Over the years, it has evolved to include multiple sequels, prequels, and spin-offs, expanding its intricate narrative and gameplay mechanics. The franchise is celebrated for pioneering the stealth game genre and integrating cinematic storytelling elements into video games. As of December 2023, the series has sold 61 million units worldwide.