Metal Gear Solid follows Solid Snake, a soldier who infiltrates a nuclear weapons facility to neutralize the terrorist threat from FOXHOUND, a renegade special forces unit. Snake must liberate two hostages, the head of DARPA and the president of a major arms manufacturer, confront the terrorists, and stop them from launching a nuclear strike. Cinematic cutscenes were rendered using the in-game engine and graphics, and voice acting was used throughout the entire game.
Metal Gear Solid was very well received, shipping more than six million copies, and scoring an average of 94/100 on the aggregate website Metacritic. It is recognized by many critics as one of the best and most important games of all time, and heralded as the game which made the stealth genre popular. The commercial success of the title prompted the release of an expanded version for the PlayStation and PC, titled Metal Gear Solid: Integral, and a remake, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was later released for the Nintendo GameCube. The game has also spawned numerous sequels, prequels and spin-offs, including several games, a radio drama, comics, and novels.