Grind my Metal Gears

We've come to the end of Ac!d. Time to fight another Metal Gear and save the day, and finally learn all the insane (and inconsequential?) plot twists as the game races towards a conclusion. Surely all of this will go somewhere in Ac!d 2, right? Episode 59: Acting Cells Under Alice

We're soldiering on in our journey through Ac!d and it's time for some classic MGS stuff like backtracking for a PSG-1 and crossing some bridges. And also some non-MGS stuff like fighting a clown and playing a board game... Episode 58: King of Dream Town

It's time for some shocking revelations as we continue on with Metal Gear Ac!d. Is Solid Snake really who he says he is? What is ACUA? Is Pythagoras the name of the Metal Gear or not? All this and more! Make sure to stick around until the end as we do the important work of figuring out what instruments the MGS3 characters would play in a marching band. Episode 57: Metal Gear High School

We're returning to the world of handheld gaming with Metal Gear Ac!d. Does it hold up to Portable Ops, our beloved PSP only Metal Gear game? Either way, it's time for some deck building in this card-based, dubiously canon entry in the series. Episode 56: Active Command Intelligence Duel

We're finishing our run on the MSX with Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake! If the first Metal Gear was a blueprint for MGS, then this game is functionally an MGS game but in 2D. So many of the things we thought were novel about Metal Gear Solid are in this game. But is it good? Opinions may vary...Episode 55: [Fred Jones Voice] I think Kojima Sucks!

We're going back in time to 1987 to check out the very first Metal Gear game for the MSX. Despite the limitations of the MSX, so much of what we've come to know and love about the Metal Gear Solid series is already here from the very beginning, even if the story is pretty slight from what we're used to with later games.Episode 54: Getting a Nickname from Venom Snake

At the end of our MGS Novel journey, we read Project Itoh's Metal Gear Solid 4 novelization. Benson managed to capture the pulpy military sci-fi nature of the first two MGS games, while Itoh managed to beautifully capture the melodrama and emotional affect of MGS4. Despite one major misstep, we both LOVED this book, and as you can tell from the runtime, have a lot to say about it.Next time we're back in the realm of video games as we travel back to 1987 with Metal Gear for the MSX!Episode 53: Snotacon Vibes Off the Chart

Our journey through the literary world of MGS continues with Raymond Benson's MGS2 novelization! Unlike MGS1, this book is much more of a straight forward retelling of the game, but that doesn't stop us from going long discussing all our favorite parts of MGS2, and planning out our vision of a potential MGS2 remake. Konami, if you're reading this, we're available, hire us! Episode 52: Cuck-sultant

Last time we made the jump to the cinema, and now we're jumping into the world of literature with Raymond Benson as we talk about the official Metal Gear Solid novelization! You'd think we wouldn't have much to say, but you'd be wrong! We've got lots to say about what makes this novel a fun read and all the interesting adaptation choices Benson made. Episode 51: Stephen King's Metal Gear

We've gone to the movies to watch John Carpenter's 1981 classic, Escape from New York. We talk about all the ways in which this movie rules. We dissect and identify all the obvious and less obvious ways the movie influence the Metal Gear series. Episode 50: Tenga Egg Escape Pod

We perform our due diligence by playing through the two DLC missions for MGR. Both are pretty inoffensive outside of some bad platforming and some S-Rank Metal Gear style horniness, so there's not too much to dive into in terms of story or characters. Thankfully Danny assembled some very thought provoking questions to get us thinking through our feelings about the Metal Gear Solid series as a whole, including the very important question: who would you want in your dream and nightmare blunt rotations? Next time we're going to the movies! We'll be discussing John Carpenter's 1981 classic: Escape from New York! Episode 49: Metal Gear Madlibs

Now that we've officially finished all the main Metal Gear Solid games, it's time to make good on our promise to play through the infamously ridiculous Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. We talk through our varying feelings about the combat, level design, the memes, and how much the characters and storytelling live up to our expectations from the main series. Episode 48: Type A Kojima Woman

We've done it! We've finished the Metal Gear Solid games. Time to wrap things up as we say goodbye to Quiet (questioning why we were supposed to be ashamed of words and deeds in the first place in the process), learning the truth (that we totally already knew) about Venom Snake, and hearing for the first time in a long time from our ol' pal Zero. We may be finished with the Metal Gear Solid games, but we got lots of things we plan to cover going forward. As promised, next time will be our "victory lap" for finishing the Solid games: we'll be playing through Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Episode 47: Real Snake VS Snake Snake

With the Skull Face taken care of, it's time to direct our attention towards Mother Base. Like finding out what sort of shady stuff Eli and the child soldiers are up to (and also thinking about what they could have been up to if the development team got more time to make this game), and learning about just how awful Huey Emmerich really is. Oh, and Master Miller's busy trying to break into the food industry. Episode 46: Kazuhira Miller's Nasty Patty

31 missions/episodes later, we've come to the end of Chapter 1 of The Phantom Pain. It's time to get to the bottom of what's happening with the virus with the help of a new (but also very old) ally, confront Skull Face via the back of a jeep, and put a stop to Sahelanthropus, but not so much of stop that we can't bring it home to Mother Base when we're done. Episode 45: Awkward Jeep Ride

So last time we rescued a bunch of child soldiers. Now, what MGS character do we know was a child soldier around this time. That's right! It's Eli. You know, Eli. Or perhaps you know him by his other name: The White Mamba. No? Well that's ok. No time to worry about him anyway because now everyone on Mother Base is dying of a mystery virus, so we should probably try to sort that out first. Episode 44: Super Baby Method

Last time we saw the return of Huey and Paz. Now it's time for the return of another MGS icon: child soldiers. After we rescue some of those, it's off to a reunion with Skull Face which gets rudely interrupted by The Man on Fire and baby Psycho Mantis. Luckily, they've decided to fight us in an area conveniently filled with many water sources to douse him with. Episode 43: [Cowboy Voice] Boss...

With Quiet locked up on Mother Base, we can now do the thing we were trying to in the first place: extract Huey from Cipher's Afghanistan base. Maybe in all the time since Ground Zeroes he's chilled out a bit. Maybe he regrets his involvement in all of that. Or you know, maybe he sucks more than ever. Let's find out! All of that plus an unexpected (and undeserved) reunion with someone else from Ground Zeroes. Who could it be? Episode 42: Portable Ops Nation

We've reached a very important moment in The Phantom Pain. Our journey to regretting our words and deeds starts here. That's right; it's time to recruit Quiet. But first we must face off in a sniper duel against her, listen to Mommy Miller and Daddy Ocelot argue over whether to keep her, and then watch as she snipes a jet out of the sky from a moving helicopter. Episode 41: Revolver Octopus

We're back at it with The Phantom Pain, and now that things are starting to pick up at Mother Base, it's time for some classic sneaking missions with Venom Snake culminating in a reunion with our old friend Skull Face, who's got a fun(?) new look, and a big ol' Metal Gear at his disposal. Also Snake and Ocelot decide to adopt. Episode 40: "Do it (Defecate)" now available

We've tasted the appetizer, and it's on to the main course as we begin The Phantom Pain. Nine years after Ground Zeroes, Snake is back, full of Venom, and ready to build up yet another offshore military base, but first we've gotta rescue an old friend with the help of our favorite cowboy-coded gunslinger. Episode 39: Booby Snake

We're moving on to MGSV, but before we can start on the main entree of The Phantom Pain, we have to play through the appetizer that is Ground Zeroes. Despite being a bit of a prologue and teaser for what's to come in The Phantom Pain, there is a lot to dig into with Ground Zeroes, bad and good. If you know anything about GZ, you know exactly what I mean. Enjoy this extra beefy episode as we work through on thoughts and feelings about this strange entry in the series. Huge content warning for discussion of torture, organ removal, violent surgery, and rape. Episode 38: Big Boss: My Favorite War Criminal

We're back, and this time we're finishing Peace Walker for real. Last time we put a stop to Peace Walker and Hot Coldman, averting a nuclear disaster. Surely chapter 5 will have us doing something equally important, right? Wrong! We've got an escaped Russian prisoner to hunt down over and over again, until finally something dramatic does happen. Perhaps someone is not who they said they were. Perhaps Peace Walker wasn't the only mobile nuclear weapon platform we would have to fight in this game. One things for sure though: we've got some bad news for Kaz about the band he was planning to form. Episode 37: We Were Going to Start a Band!

It's time for us to face Peace Walker one last time, and finally put a stop to Hot Coldman's plans. We also get another healthy dose of characters assuming they know way more about the Boss than they really do. And at the end of it all, it's time for Snake to fully accept his role as Big Boss. Yet, despite all of that, there's still more of this game left. Tune in as we come to the first of Peace Walkers two endings. Episode 35: She's the Clown!

It's time to fight Peace Walker! Except first we have to sneak through a hanger, get captured and tortured, escape, sneak through said hanger AGAIN, and then we fight Peace Walker. Only for it turn spider-mode and run away, the coward. We talk about all of that and still find time to talk about Huey's cringe letter to Strangelove. If you thought Otacon was a bit of loser, wait til you get a load of his dad. Episode 35: Huey's Cringe Letter

Peace Walker continues! It's time to take down two more AI mechs (and then replay the fights for those sweet, sweet Zeke parts). We also get to meet Dr. Strangelove (not the Peter Sellers one unfortunately), and start to learn what her whole deal is. Also: the Boss? Maybe you've heard of her? Well she's here too... sorta. Episode 34: Kojima Kaminandesu

We're back with more Peace Walker! Time to fight the Shagohod, uh, I mean, time to fight Pupa! We also learn a bit more about what's going on in Costa Rica as we meet Otacon's father, and *checks notes* Hot Coldman. Episode 33: Mr. Kojima?

We're back in the hands of Hideo Kojima as we move on from Portable Ops to Peace Walker! Turns out everything we liked about Portable Ops is here, but there's more of it and it's even better. After spending some time away from him, we can really feel Kojima's influence on this one. Join us as we begin our quest to build up Outer Heaven and find out what the CIA is doing in Costa Rica. Episode 32: Portable Ops Plus

Not even a battery failure could keep us from finishing Portable Ops! We finally learn what Gene's goals are (and you just know Big Boss is taking notes), have a shocking revelation about the events of MGS3, catch a few glimpses of our boy Ocelot, and stop a nuclear war or something, but that's not as important. Join us next time for Peace Walker! Episode 31: Electronic Mail

We're not quite at the end of Portable Ops just yet, but it's time for a big fight against a Metal Gear! Or maybe it's more accurate to call it a small fight against a medium-sized Metal Gear? Regardless! We take down RAXA and learn a little bit more about what's really going on here in the San Hieronymo Peninsula and what Gene might be planning. We also say farewell to one of our best soldiers. This is the fantastic Metal Gear RAXA art we talk about in the episode: https://belgianbooleancg.com/projects/xzJeX2

Last time we made it across that pesky rail bridge, so now it's time to find out what's on the other side! Turns out there's nukes, maybe a metal gear, and a Mr. freeze pinhead combination freak that we also have to fight. Episode 29: The Podcast Historian

We're reliving the glorious days of portable gaming with 2006's Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops: the first non-Kojima led game we're covering! Time to find out what Big Boss was up to after the events of MGS3. Turns out he was somewhere in Columbia with Roy Campbell building an army one solider at a time. Episode 28: Portable Gamin'

We're finally here at the end of MGS4. We've got a rat patrol Wedding, a ninja family reunion, and Solid Snake's got one last mission to complete. One last bullet to fire into his.. hey wait, who's that coming up behind him. By God! That's ███ ████'s music! Episode 27: PATR10T

It's our penultimate episode on MGS4! We've gotta stop Liquid's plan by uploading a virus into GW, but first we have one last Beauty and the Beast Corps member to take care of, a reunion with a certain psychic, a long walk down a microwave hallway, and one final battle between two men free of ideology and politics (questionable). Episode 26: Love CAN Bloom On the Battlefield

Time to make our fated return to Shadow Moses Island before it sinks into the ocean. After strolling down memory lane, we have one final showdown with everyone's favorite bisexual vampire and then finally, after 4 games, we get in the robot. Episode 25: Fox... Die... Ja Nai!

Not a lot of gameplay happens in Act 3 of MGS4, but we learn SO MUCH from the cutscenes. Enjoy this longer than normal episode as we try to unpack the many things we learn from Big Mama before Ocelot finally gains control of The System. Episode 24: Bag Boss

Our journey with Old Snake *psyche gauge lowers* continues into Act 2 of MGS4. We run into our old friends bisexual vampire and ninja twink (who's now cyborg ninja twink!). Can an old man *psyche gauge lowers even more* keep up with these young studs? Oh and hey, it's time to learn what the deal is with the Beauty and Beast Corps (and it's not good!). Episode 23: Metal Gear Bulldozer

We're back with more MGS4! We finished Act 1 which means it's time for a reunion with Meryl, an encounter with some beasts (who may or may not also be beauties), and a brief glimpse of our boy Liquid Ocelot. Episode 22: 2080p

We say goodbye to the PS2 and hello to the PS3 as we begin Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, a game with a whole lot going on from the jump. PMCs? Nanomachines? The war economy? Cyber eyes? Monkey? Terrible eggs?! We've got so much to talk about it just the first few hours of the game, so make sure to get your iPod ready to listen to this "integral podcast." Episode 21: War HAS Changed

We finished MGS3! So much happens in the final moments of this game: a face-off against a G.I Joe villain, a motorcycle chase, a fight against the Shagohod, another motorcycle chase, and a climactic showdown with The Boss. Even with all of that, there's still time for some last minute character revelations and one final standoff with everyone's favorite revolving spinning freak, Ocelot. Make sure to tune in next time as we begin Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots! Episode 20: You Can't Out-fox an Ocelot

In this episode, it's time for some classic MGS stuff: sneaking around a military base, getting tortured, and fighting a dude with psychic powers. And also crotch grabbing? Episode 19: Long Line of Johnnys

In this episode we fight the world's oldest sniper, climb a very long ladder, sneak around some mountains, have another meeting with our favorite femme fatale, and get flambeed by an absolute freak who just wants the world to burn. Episode 18: Tsuchinoko Real

Time for us to face off against our first two members of the Cobra unit. We fight off a bunch of hornets in cave with The Pain, and have a Predator style show down with The Fear. Along the way we also get to pretend to be a scientist and meet a sad, drunk Russian man who has strong opinions on mech designs. Episode 17: Real Mechs Have Legs

It's time to commence Operation Snake Eater, and also time to actually eat some snakes. We meet our KGB contact Eva, watch Snake get extremely horny over a .45, make fun of Ocelot for not being able to count, and have a face off with the gun flipping wizard himself (before some hornets come along and ruin the moment). Episode 16: Gun Freak Snake

We finished the Virtual, uh, I mean Virtuous Mission, but not before we learned what the deal is with this Sokolov guy, met a young, twinky Ocelot, and got CQCed off a bridge by The Boss. Episode 15: Meow

Time to play a new Metal Gear game. Oh boy, can't wait to find out what happened with Snake and Raiden after the end of MGS2. Wait. What do you mean this game takes place in 1964? And who is this Naked Snake guy? Join us as we get our bearings in MGS3. Episode 14: Real Doll Raiden

We've made it to the end of Metal Gear Solid 2, and you know what that means: time for another fight between two men supposedly free of politics and ideology, but this time they both have high energy swords...and one of them also has cyber tentacles. It also turns out there actually is lot of politics and ideology to talk through as we close the book on MGS2. Episode 13: ASMR: Snake Affirms Your Gender Identity

Things are getting WILD as we make our way towards the end of MGS2. A MSG1 style torture sequence (but this time with more nudity), 4th wall breaking Colonel (who's not really the Colonel), AI!, a Snake and Raiden tag-team (non-sexual), more Ocelot shenanigans, more Liquid shenanigans!, and a fight with multiple metal gears? Things are popping off and we're still not even done with the game yet. Episode 12: Heere at the Wall

It's time for us to talk to the president and finally figure out what's really going down at Big Shell (for real this time... right?). We also finally get to fight our favorite bisexual vampire, meet Otacon's sister, and learn the most insane backstory about Otacon, his dad, and step-mother. Episode 11: Otacon Confirmed Bull

On this episode of Grind My Metal Gears: Directional microphones! Secret service agents! Disguises! And a Harrier! We also meet Solidus Snake for the first time, and also come to the startling realization that Vamp is just a Twilight vampire. Episode 10: Hideo Kojima Today

Raiden's continuing his journey through the Big Shell complex, meeting friends and foes along the way. We get our first major taste of Kojima's nominative determinism as we meet bomb defusal legend Peter Stillman, the very large bomb maker legend Fatman, learn the name of a very lucky lady named Fortune, and find out that Vamp may really be an immortal vampire? Along the way, we start to get the vibe that there may be more than meets the eye to Dead Cell's plans than what we've been told. Join us as we continue our journey of twists and turns in Big Shell in Metal Gear Solid 2! Episode 9: Arsenal Tengu