Escape From Mount Stupid - Metal Gear

The bell rang for lunch, and five of us made our way into town. It was early 1999, and I had just turned 13. My friends and I would usually start our generous 90-minute school lunch break by going to the local shop for some grub, but on this day we walked straight past--this day was different.

We walked to the book shop and huddled around the games magazine section. There it was: Issue 42 of Official PlayStation Magazine UK. And stuck onto the front with adhesive resin was a cover disk containing the first playable demo of Metal Gear Solid. We grabbed five of them, paid the man, and ran back to school. I didn't concentrate much in class that afternoon.

It's amazing what you remember, but I recently posted an image of this issue on Twitter and was inundated with stories familiar to mine. For many of us, this demo sparked a love affair with the series that still remains. For others, the story of Metal Gear goes back much further.

Metal Gear is the story of a designer finding his vision, of a franchise spanning 25 years, of young men getting old, of war changing. It's not an easy series to sum up in a single video, but if this episode fails to answer every question you had about the series, I hope it succeeds in celebrating one of gaming's most beloved franchises.

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