“!”

With the release of the latest in the Metal Gear series today, we thought it would be a good idea to look at one of the most intriguing pieces of UI in gaming the Metal Gear “Alert” .

The original Metal gear was released by Konami in July 1987 on the MSX home computer and for its time it was quite unique, for a shooter of that time rather than kill everything your goal was to avoid everything. Using this concept as the core game mechanic for the series it would also tie it in with the plot that focuses on spies, stealth and espionage. They even go so far to make it part of the 1998 PlayStation releases tagline ” METAL GEAR SOLID-TACTICAL ESPIONAGE ACTION”. So naturally when you fail to adhere to the stealth ethos of the game then you need quite a strong level of feedback, something that really urges the player to keep in line with what the game designers envisioned the way the game is meant to be played.

When snake is discovered by an enemy they will usually pause, turn to face snake and a very bold exclamation mark will burst out onto the screen directly above the enemies head. If this occurs it often means you are in serious trouble and quite often wont make it much further. The alert quickly becomes synonymous with failure and starts to feel like a nemesis to the stealth aspect of the games nature. I should point out here that the enemies that this alert spawns itself from doesn’t always have to be human, it can range from the enemy soldiers, vicious guard dogs, robotic drones and even bizarrely… CCTV cameras. And the fact that alert can pop up at anytime in almost any situation in the game does enhance its effectiveness as this meta enemy, the very antithesis of the direction of the implied player experience.

Being that the alert is basically a nicely rendered “!” its an incredibly simple piece of user interface art. So it has remained the same shape and colour throughout out the entire series over a range of different pieces of hardware. If the experience of the alert is basically the same across generations of metal gear games then it is bound to become a mainstay of the series. Press for the game has been often using the Alert to theme interviews with Hideo Kojima (director of the series) or magazine covers. And because its a universal element of the metal gear experience, it has been used in a lot of merchandise for the game as well, everything from t shirts to Lego sets.

The Disney movie “Wreck it Ralph” a family comedy about the secret lives of video game characters, has a whole host of famous faces from gaming. Seems as if every major gaming franchise has screen time in the movie, from worldwide icons such as Mario to the lesser known titles such as Star Craft. Metal Gear being quite a major series in gaming has a little cameo too, although instead of the hero of the series Snake, they opted for the alert! I guess in a game about stealth when something drastic does happen like the loud and dynamic alert, it really sticks with your game play experience.

However Konami during the development of Metal Gear Solid V were close to dropping the alert, they were trying to develop a greater cinematic experience, moving away from the obvious “gamism’s” by introducing a more minimal UI. Although through feedback from the gaming community they brought it back, it seems that the alert is intrinsically linked to the metal gear experience. There are not many examples that come to mind of a piece of user interface art which has become so noticeable, so en grained into the gaming culture . The mushroom that gives Mario his super powers does come to mind, although it is rendered with eyes and has an animated walk, so it feels more like a character. So much so that you can actually buy stuffed toys of this little super mushroom icon. But bizarrely you can now buy your very own Metal Gear alert! Konami now fully embracing the oddity that is the Alert, even going so far as to make it part of the box art of the latest game.