Grey Fox, Metal Gear Cosplay Costume

A final motif is the presence of support staff who can only be contacted by radio. Snake is generally inserted into a location as a solo operative without on-site backup. However, he is supplied with a "Codec" radio, which puts him in constant contact with a support staff who have been gathered to provide him with assistance. This staff generally includes: his commanding officer, who is in overall charge of the operation; a character or several characters who teach him to use any weapons and/or items he may procure on-site (often with direct reference to the DualShock controller the player is holding; the Metal Gear games often do not have a fourth wall); any on-site undercover or double agents Snake may come into contact with, including an anonymous contact if one is in the game; and a "data analyst" who allows him to save his game. They can be contacted at any time for advice or moral support; Snake may also be given opportunities to inquire about their histories, making them full-fledged characters in their own right. Codec conversations are so emblematic of the series that a number of them were included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, allowing Snake to call Col. Campbell, Otacon and Mei Ling for advice on defeating his opponents.
Inspiration
In a series of articles written for Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, Hideo Kojima identified Dawn of the Dead, Escape from New York, Planet of the Apes, The Great Escape, The Guns of Navarone, the films of Alfred Hitchcock, and the James Bond films as the primary sources of inspiration for the storylines and gameplay of the Metal Gear series. He wrote, "The 007 series is what influenced me the most regarding the birth of MGS. The nucleus of the idea of MGS - a secret mission on which hangs the fate of the world, spy-versus-spy, and espionage action - is all there in 007. Were it not for 007 films, modern action films would not be as they are. And without 007, there would have been no MGS."