Obscusion B-Side: Headhunter & Its Thrust-Upon Mission to "Kill" Metal Gear Solid

Whenever something innovates & become a standard setter, it's only natural for others to take advantage of what it did & follow that path. For video games this has been essentially the natural way of life, whether it was Atari's Pong leading to the proliferation of "Pong Consoles" during the 70s, Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. leading to the NES/Famicom becoming filled with platformers, Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog leading to the mascot craze of the 90s, & so on. Sometimes, a game effectively creates an entire genre in & of itself, resulting in said game becoming the literal name for the genre, like how id Software's Doom lead to all games like it being deemed "Doom clones" until the term "first-person shooter/FPS" became more widely accepted, or how Michael Toy, Glenn Wichman, & Ken Arnold's Rogue still remains the namesake for the roguelike genre, even 41 years after it first came out. That being said, sometimes a game becomes so popular that other games similar to it that would come out later are given a different terminology, usually by journalists in an effort to help hype up games that they themselves are excited about, even if the end result is only similar on a surface level.

I'm talking about the "[insert game here] killer" label, and in particular how Sega & Amuze's Headhunter was stuck with it.

Back in late 1998, Konami released Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima's return to the two 8-bit stealth-action games he had made for the MSX computer (plus an infamous NES port of the first) back in 1987 & 1990, respectively. With gameplay focused around being stealthy that the large majority of people had never experienced before (at least on console), a striking visual style by Yoji Shinkawa, an instantly memorable cast of characters (combined with stellar English voice work, especially for the era), amazing music (even if the main theme was later found to be way too similar to Georgy Sviridov's "Winter Road" for Konami's comfort), & a story filled with all manner of subversion of expectations & fourth-wall breaking tricks (which would only be dialed up more in the sequels), it's no surprise that MGS would go on to sell over seven million copies worldwide & turn the Metal Gear franchise into one of the most renown in the industry (at least until Konami decided to burn as many bridges as possible with its game development staff over time), while also popularizing the stealth genre as a whole, alongside the original Tenchu & Thief games from that same year.

Therefore, while people were essentially salivating over the eventual release of Metal Gear Solid 2, gaming journalists started noticing a game in development for the Sega Dreamcast titled Headhunter. Featuring a mysterious-looking action hero who can use stealth to either avoid confrontation or take out enemies covertly, a similar-looking radar system, & even VR missions (which itself was turned into its own bonus release for MGS in 1999), it pretty much instantly started getting labeled as the "Metal Gear Solid killer" in previews. Unfortunately, the incoming death of Sega's final console resulted in Headhunter being one the last PAL-exclusive releases, though if you use something like a boot disc on an NTSC console the game will still display just fine, showing that it likely still included support for 60 Hz displays; coincidentally, Headhunter came out just three days after MGS2 did on the PS2. However, Sega's move to being a third-party did result in Headhunter also coming out on the PS2, via Acclaim, in March of 2002 in Europe, with North America finally receiving the game later that May. Unfortunately, while the original Dreamcast version received tons of praise at the time, those few months of difference resulted in the PS2 port not being received quite as well, though still generally positive; today, the Dreamcast version is considered superior, with slightly better visuals & more stable performance. Still, Headhunter must have done well enough for a sequel, since Headhunter Redemption would come out in mid-2004 for both PS2 & Xbox in Europe & North America, this time beating Metal Gear Solid 3 to market by a few months.Unfortunately, developer Amuze would go out of business in 2005, having only made these two games, plus a couple that never saw completion.

But let's get to brass tacks, people. Was Headhunter truly deserving of being previewed as a "Metal Gear Solid killer"? No, though it obviously did take some influence, and I do think it did wind up coloring people's expectations of it when it came out, especially since it's a great game in its own right that should be talked about more.

So let's get the biggest detail of all out of the way first, and it comes down to a simple question: "Does Headhunter play like Metal Gear Solid?". The answer to that is interesting, because while there are indeed similarities between them as stealth/action games, & in particular between Headhunter & MGS2, the key difference comes down to which aspect is given the primary focus. You see, MGS prioritizes being about stealth, as while you can certainly go in guns blazing, you are limited in just how far you can go with that direction, as getting noticed & being put into "WARNING" condition can result in more enemies spawning in, and you have only so much ammo to fight back with for your weapons. Also, after beating any MGS game you're given a rank, and in order to get the highest ranking, Big Boss, you need to essentially never be seen, enforcing the fact that you're encouraged to act as covertly as possible; de-emphasize that element & you get something like Metal Gear Survive, which no one wants. Essentially, Metal Gear Solid can be best described as "a stealth game which allows for action to take the focus at points in order to assist you".

In comparison, Headhunter can be best described as "an action game which allows for stealth to take the focus at points in order to assist you", and while that only requires swapping two words to describe, it completely changes the feel in gameplay. The biggest reason for this change comes in the form of the Stimulator Automatic, the first gun you receive & can start using, which has, to quote Solid Snake himself, "infinite ammo", and you don't even need a cool bandana; you can equip some cool shades at any point, though, but that's just for fun. This is because, unlike Snake, main character Jack Wade has no real melee options in combat, outside of shoving an enemy back if they get too close for Wade's comfort, but it also allows the player to usually maintain some sort of distance during combat. However, stealth does still has its uses, namely in that Wade can be killed rather quickly, and taking out enemies covertly is as simple as sneaking up behind them & snapping their necks, instantly killing them with a single button press, whereas Snake requires a more complex method to do the same. Also, environments in Headhunter are much more cramped than most environments are in MGS, which sometimes necessitates getting into a firefight. Theoretically, it should be plausible to beat Headhunter without ever being seen, ala MGS, but there are just some sections that literally make doing so impossible. Essentially, the stealth in Headhunter, though allowing for some sections where you can sneak by without a single fight, is more often there to help alleviate the eventual firefights you will get into; it's not simply shoved into the game as an afterthought, but it's also not as much of a focus as in MGS. Also, since I have nowhere else to put it, Headhunter also sees Wade ride a motorcycle to go from one location to another, while also acting as the way to earn points before advancing to the next section of the story, which has no real equivalent in MGS; it doesn't really amount to too much, but it is a neat little addition that gives a little variety.

But gameplay, while arguably the biggest factor, is only but one aspect to take into consideration, so let's move on to Question #2: "Does Headhunter share the same general aesthetic as Metal Gear Solid?" The answer to that is honestly one that would annoy some people, but it quite honestly is "It depends". On the one hand, it's obvious that the Swedes over at Amuze were influenced by Hideo Kojima & his team when designing their game. Easily the most blatant example of that is the radar, which behaves almost exactly like the one found in MGS, right down to having three states (unseen, cautious, & seen), but with one notable difference, which is a lack of cone of sight for patrolling foes. They are absolutely the same in general execution, but it's not like Headhunter would be the only game that'd mimic that radar, because it makes complete sense. The other obvious comparison would be the inclusion of VR missions, though whereas MGS' use of them is completely optional & just for fun, Headhunter's L.E.I.L.A. missions are part of the overall structure of the plot, as Wade has to upgrade his headhunting license to gain access to new information, which requires passing the VR missions; each new rank also gives Wade new weapons to use, rather than having to find them on the field. After those, you have much more low-key aesthetic similarities, like Wade's Casio-branded "Visual Manager" (based on the real life WQV-2 Wrist Camera) allowing for video calls that are similar to the CODEC calls in MGS (though Headhunter only uses it for story-specific moments, not general use), Headhunter's weapon/item selection being somewhat similar to how MGS handles it (though using a shared menu, rather than separate item & weapon menus), and how the cast of characters in Headhunter does share some (very loose) similarities to MGS1's cast, most notably Jack Wade & Solid Snake (gruff & grizzled pros who have to save the day), Angela Stern & Meryl Silverburgh (tomboy love interests), Chief Hawke & Col. Campbell (ex-bosses who offer support at points), and Greywolf & Gray Fox (villainous rivals) in descending order of similarity, with any others beyond those require some notable stretching to pair up properly.

However, it's when you start to really look at the plots & worlds each game features that the aesthetic differences really start to make themselves known. While later Metal Gear Solid games would go on to become known for Kojima's penchant towards messing with people's expectations & poking holes into the fourth wall, the first MGS is actually a mostly straightforward espionage plot, where Solid Snake has to infiltrate an Alaskan nuclear weapon disposal facility in order to stop FOXHOUND from potentially using said weaponry. Sure, there are twists in the plot here & there, like the true purpose behind Snake's mission, various double-crosses & double agents, the truth behind Snake's very existence, & a handful of fourth-wall bits (most notably Meryl's CODEC frequency & Psycho Mantis), but compared to how crazy plots in the sequels would get, MGS1 is pretty standard, aside from the story's (slightly) overarching theme of over-glorifying the idea of being a solider in a war. In comparison, Headhunter starts off rather straightforward, with Jack Wade awakening with partial amnesia in a mysterious lab that he breaks out of, only to find out that he's been removed form the headhunter database. He's then hired by Angela Stern to find out who killed her father, the founder of the Anti-Crime Network that Wade used to work for, which then eventually ties into the secret relationship between the ACN, pharmaceutical company Biotech, & crime organization The Syndicate. All the while, you get the occasional live-action news broadcast that really showcases the game's admitted RoboCop influence, namely in how it satirizes things like fascistic regimes & the populace becoming slaves to mass marketing. In particular, load screens show praising ads for the ACN, Biotech's mastery of organ transplants for the law-abiding public ("donated" by criminals, as per law), & an energy drink known as X-Must (which features "no natural ingredients", since those have become illegal). This results in some great subtle worldbuilding, as the truth behind Biotech is slowly revealed through documents you come across, while the truth behind X-Must isn't revealed until near the end, but seeing all of the ads for it (& everyone offering it to each other in place of liquor) results in the late reveal making sense. The end result is that, while both games have similar surface level aesthetics, they really take wildly different directions when you dig just a little bit deeper.

The most interesting thing, though, is that Headhunter actually has some surprising similarities to Metal Gear Solid 2, despite them being developed in essentially the same exact time frame. While MGS1 generally kept the camera up high (minus specific situations), Headhunter brought the camera down to a more standard "third-person" perspective, something MGS2 would only do on occasion but would become more regular with MGS3. Both games also implemented early examples of cover systems, where Wade & Snake could "attach" themselves to walls & shimmy their way along it, while also allowing the ability to peek around corners & pop in & out to shoot; in this regard, both games were obviously inspired by Koei's Winback for the N64 & PS2. Yes, MGS1 also featured this to an extent, but Headhunter's usage is much more in line with MGS2. Both games also feature two playable characters (Wade & Angela vs. Raiden & Snake), and while MGS2's usage was a purposeful bait-&-switch that pissed off a lot of people at the time, both games do have a similar time ratio between how much you actually play of each. Both games even feature a section meant to show off new rain effects, Wade vs. Greywolf in Headhunter & the entire tanker section at the start of MGS2, which was kind of a hot thing at the time, and both still look cool to this day.To be fair, though, a lot of this just comes down to natural evolution of a genre over time, so this is more coincidental than a case of one company copying another. An interesting similarity, though, would be between Headhunter & Metal Gear Solid... 4. This requires explaining the direct ending of Headhunter, so I'll be putting this into spoiler text, so just highlight if you already know it, or are just that curious.

The head of Biotech reveals that he has created an Ebola-like virus named Bloody Mary that's been put into each & every can of X-Must, which everyone in the world drinks, since he feels that humanity has proved itself worthless & must be replaced with a new race of his own creation, Homo superior. On its own the virus is harmless & dormant, but a special X-Must ad containing subliminal messaging can activate the virus, which would result in people worldwide suddenly becoming ill & dying from the virus. Wade & Angela manage to kill the villain's prototype superhuman & prevent the ad from being broadcast around the world, while also creating a vaccine... Only for the last scene of the game to reveal that there was a backup broadcast elsewhere that gets accidentally unleashed, so Headhunter literally ends with the world being hit with a global pandemic, with the sequel revealing that millions die from it; a bit uncomfortably prescient, honestly. In comparison, MGS4 reveals that the FOXDIE virus Snake has had in him from back in MGS1 has mutated & can now potentially infect & kill the general public, which honestly feels somewhat similar to the Bloody Mary virus, because I'm sure Kojima would have considered ended MGS1 or 2 with Snake becoming an unknowing patient zero, had he thought of it first. While not directly provable that Kojima was influenced by Headhunter, the end of Amuze's game still remains immensely memorable, if only because you'd normally never see a major publisher approve of something like it.

Beyond all of that, though, Headhunter never really was intended to directly compete with Metal Gear Solid. Amuze created a game meant more to pay homage to 80s action movies, complete with action set pieces, plus occasionally cheesy dialogue filled with lighthearted jokes between characters after intense moments, & while both games feature leads that feel inspired by characters portrayed by Kurt Russel in the 80s, Jack Wade is more like Gabriel Cash or Jack Burton than Snake Plissken. If you want games that more blatantly copied MGS in gameplay and/or feel, then just look at the likes of Rogue Ops, Largo Winch .//Commando Sar, Predator: Concrete Jungle, Red Ninja, or even Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell & Hitman; some of these are much better than others. There's no doubt that Hideo Kojima's game was also an influence on the team at Amuze, but it was but one of other influences that helped guide Headhunter to its final product. I mean, the last part at Biotech Labs is pretty much like an early Resident Evil game, right down to having its own Tyrant equivalent. There's no doubt that Headhunter has aged a little rougher than MGS has in the 20 years since its release, the lack of direct camera control is definitely a sign of its Dreamcast source (only one analog stick, & all), but having played it again in 2021, which in turn inspired me to write this whole thing, I think it still holds up outstandingly well, including the absolutely amazing musical score by Sega legend Richard Jacques, and I wish it was more readily available to play today. Instead, the best we might get is the Xbox version of Headhunter Redemption being added to the Xbox One & Series backwards compatibility program (since Sega owns the rights), which isn't terrible, but it's no replacement for the first game.

As for the folks at Amuze, some of them have since gone on to other things since the studio went out of business. Most notably, Headhunter's game designer Peter Johansson would eventually join fellow Swedish developer Avalanche Studios, where he's become lead game designer for Just Cause 2, a designer for Mad Max, & lead combat designer for Rage 2, while Headhunter's programming director Fredrik Sjöö is currently COO of Avalanche Studios itself! For a studio that founder John Kroknes admitted went "from only 2 people with games development experience, to taking on and training 70+ people with no prior games development experience", there was indeed talent to be found at Amuze, and it's great to see that at least two of them have gone on to bigger & grander things after getting their starts with Headhunter. It may not have ever been intended to be the "Metal Gear Solid killer" that gaming journalists decided it should be, but it's still a damn fine game all its own.

Headhunter © Sega Corporation, 2001

Metal Gear Solid © 1987 1998 Konami Computer Entertainment Japan

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty © 1987 2001 Konami Computer Entertainment Japan