A few decades ago the masses believed video games were a waste of time for lackadaisical youths to pacify themselves while ignoring their responsibilities as both kids and young adults. As more and more people started understanding the benefits of gaming so too did the perception of what a video game is and, most importantly, the benefits gaming can bestow on a person’s life changed. Hi, my name is James Bullock and I am a gamer who has spent the better part of his existence testing the laws of physics, exploring the vastness of a world ruined, and been a champion inside various arenas courtesy of digitized worlds both driven by reality and created through pure unbelievable ingenuity unlike anything seen by human eyes. And as a gamer I’ve discovered something else video games provide: life lessons. Today I examine a game the showcases that love can bloom in even the most unusual places, “Metal Gear Solid 3” (and a little bit of “MGS 4”).
Death Cannot Stop Love
A former Green Beret assigned to the CIA order known as “FOX” (Force Operation X), Naked Snake is thrust into a precarious position having to help his government during tense times between the United States and Russia following World War II. It is during his mission that Naked Snake discovers both his greatest fear in having to overcome his mentor The Boss and the world’s most powerful emotion. While national betrayal is the root cause for Snake’s upcoming clash with The Boss, it’s the same treason that allows for him to meet EVA – a supposed KGB spy who defected east after being raised jointly by the U.S. & Soviet-Chinese governments. Originally the relationship between Snake & EVA presents itself as two lonely spies just getting it on inside some dank cave. But theirs’ is a unique love unlike anything seen in the franchise. After interacting with the ex-National Security Agency agent, the future “Big Boss” goes above and beyond the call of duty to protect the lady who defected her country in favor of becoming an enemy of the state due to her actions in guarding him. EVA performs almost super humanly by taking down such machines as gun-totting helicopters (while scaling a mountain) and a nuclear weapon. Snake, even in the throws of captivity attempts his best to shield her from death, losing an eye in the process.
Their romance also touches on some hot-button topics. There’s the forgoing of the usual “man protects woman he loves” troupe with “Metal Gear Solid 3” showcasing a woman becoming the life-saving force by anchoring Snake in firefights, giving him advice about what to do next in a mission and even insulting his masculinity when his emotions get the better of him as all seems lost. Snake’s guarded nature due to his knowledge that the life he lives will ultimately end with his untimely demise actually fades when he’s with EVA. Eventually they work through these issues and unite intimately just in time for Snake’s big battles. Separated by the sea and a war they can’t control, Snake and EVA go about their lives longing for each other.
By “Metal Gear Solid 4’s” gripping (and hour-long) conclusion, the believed dead Naked Snake (long story) reveals to his test tube baby of a son (Solid Snake) that EVA wasn’t just the only woman that he loved, but the only woman he could ever love. It was obvious that even in her dying moments, EVA felt the same way about her soulmate – kidnapping Naked Snake’s supposed flayed body to keep him on life support instead of letting him simply die years after their last encounter. Thanks to the falsehood, EVA meets her demise believing to be by the side of someone who truly cared for “Big Momma”. Death is inevitable for people like Naked Snake and EVA, but not love. Their feelings stood long lasting, survived decades & eras, and lived through death itself.Have you learned any major life lessons from playing “Metal Gear Solid” games or any video game for that matter? Leave them in the comments below and, as always, thanks for reading.