Metal Gear pioneered the stealth genre and features a lot of characteristics which set it apart from most other video games. These include lengthy cinematic cutscenes and intricate, storylines which explore the nature of politics, warfare, science (especially genetics) and a lot of social, cultural and philosophical themes such as free will and artificial intelligence, among many others. The genre of the overall story can be described as "magic realism", meaning that it features unrealistic and supernatural elements (like ghosts or characters who are able to float in the air or walk on water) in a setting which is otherwise true to reality. The series features great amounts of background information on actual science and technology, despite the latter being partially way advanced over what