The Metal Gear franchise indulges in the bizarre, but these pieces of technology actually exist outside of fiction.
Action games are no strangers to outlandish tech, with Metal Gear being at the forefront. Metal Gear’s titular bipedal nuke-launching mechs are less effective than ordinary launch silos. AI is more of a threat to the creative community than the US political system, and if it was, it would likely try to control the internet from ordinary, boring server rooms than from a giant underwater fortress like in Metal Gear Solid 2.
However, the Metal Gear Solid series combines fantasy stuff with genuine military hardware. SOCOM pistols, Stinger missiles, M1 Abrams Tanks, Hind-Ds, Harrier jump jets, and more have all appeared in the series in one form or another. Then there are these bizarre pieces of technology that, despite seeming like something Hideo Kojima cooked up in a developer meeting, are real. 10 Flying Platforms
In Metal Gear Solid 3, as Naked Snake is about to move upriver, he’ll see Russian soldiers move into positions in these weird, hovering platforms that look like something that would have 007’s very own James Bond confused. Some fans even felt it took them out of the game as they looked too hokey, even next to the guy who could control bees. However, vertical take-off & landing (VTOL) platforms have been a thing since 1954.
That said, the ones used in the game resemble the newer, nimbler, and armored Williams X-Jets from the 1980s than the bulky, more exposed VZ-1 Pawnee of the 1950s. They’re also both American designs, showing that the Philosopher’s Legacy made Colonel Volgin’s pockets very deep. 9 Fulton Recovery System
One of the more entertaining things to do in Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid 5 was to abduct guards by strapping Fulton balloons onto them. It was hilarious and ruthless. It was a good way to build up Mother Base’s staff, unlock extra tech capabilities, and more. However, they first debuted in MGS3, where their depiction was much closer to its real-life equivalent.
The real deal didn’t lift people or objects up with the power of helium alone. Instead, they held up a long, nylon cable that a plane would fly by and catch with its special « sky anchor », which would then winch them up. The soldier had to fill the balloon up himself with helium tanks, then catch the plane’s attention with a flashlight. So, Snake’s more involved, fiddlier process at the end of the Virtuous Mission is more authentic than the sudden kidnaps in later games. 8 Shagohod
The Soviet OKBs did consider some fantastical designs, like a VTOL surface-to-air missile-launching platform. But a giant tank that could extend an intermediate-range missile’s reach with a run on an airport-style runway was never on the cards.
