Power-Up #8: Cigarettes (Metal Gear Solid)

Today's episode of the 29 Questionable Power-Ups of Christmas does not make you bigger and stronger. In fact, today's power-up actually kills you. Not just in the video game, but also in real life. That's because we're looking at cigarettes, an item found in most Metal Gear Solid games. Watch this video to see why smoking is bad for you.



Purpose: In most Metal Gear games, you start the adventure with a small pack of useful items. One of those items is a pack of cigarettes, which can be smoked at any time. At first it seems useless. Actually, it's worse than useless, it's actually deadly. Smoking the cigarettes alerts the guards and takes down your life bar little by little. But don't count this unhealthy habit out yet, because smoking a cigarette might actually be the thing that saves the whole damn world from nuclear war.

Legacy: For better or worse, cigarettes have been featured in nearly every Metal Gear game. Most sequels and spin-offs have different variation on the anti-smoking message, as well as unique uses for the pack of smokes. Metal Gear Solid 4 goes one step further, showing a rapidly aging Solid Snake smoke in real time as the disc copies to the hard drive.

In Real Life: While I'm sure some smokers may disagree, cigarettes aren't much of a power-up in the real world. Not only does it lead to a number of health problems, but it also leaves you with less money to buy games and become a functioning alcoholic.