Life gauge
From the Metal Gear Wiki
The Life gauge is the bar at the top of the screen that indicates how healthy an operative is. As they gets injured it gets shorter until it runs out, resulting in a Game Over. The gauge is traditionally replenished by using rations, either manually or by having them equipped as the operative's non-weapon item. In some cases/games, the operative's life gauge will turn orange and they will bleed if considerable damage is taken. This can be stopped with a bandage or by crouching or lying down. Due to the Metal Gear series' focus on stealth, the Life gauge commonly starts at a particularly low maximum length (even on the easiest difficulties, three or four direct attacks will kill a careless operative at a game's outset), which is normally extended following certain in-game events (i.e. the aftermath of boss battles), though MGS3 allows the player some control over its length by extending it following healing from critical condition.
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[edit] Other Gauges
[edit] O2 Gauge
When under water or exposed to gas, this gauge appears under the life gauge. It decreases over time and, if it runs out, the life gauge decreases in its stead. This gauge is reset when the operative returns to a normal environment.
[edit] Stamina Gauge
This gauge is used in MGS3. This is a secondary gauge that has various effects on Naked Snake, the most prominent being that the fuller it is, the quicker Snake's Life gauge recovers after his injuries are treated. If it runs out, Snake will pass out and cause a Game Over. It decreases as Snake runs around or if he gets hit by a tranquilizer dart. Snake can increase it by eating food. Life Medicine takes the place of the previous games' Rations as an instantaneous Life recovery item, and is considerably rarer due to the Stamina Gauge's ability to automatically regenerate Life.
The Stamina Gauge is also used in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Portable Ops Plus as a sort of "fuel" gauge for the currently controlled operative. Due to the squad-based nature of Portable Ops, an operative whose Stamina Gauge runs completely out is merely rendered unusable for the remainder of the mission (or leg of stages in MPO+'s Infinity Mission mode), and is restored to 1 Stamina the next time the Sneaking Unit regroups. Since the Stamina Gauge is not drawn on for Life recovery in MPO/MPO+, recovery items for both the Stamina and Life gauges appear with roughly the same frequency.
[edit] Psyche Gauge
This gauge is used in MGS4. Like the Stamina gauge, its status affects regeneration of the Life gauge. The gauge decreases during battle, as the stress of combat affects Old Snake's ability to keep FOXDIE at bay. It increases if Snake gets out of a stressful situation, "uses" a magazine, or hides in the Cardboard Box or Drum Can.
During certain cutscenes the gauge increases or decreases during conversations with other characters.
[edit] Grip Gauge
The Grip Gauge, starting from MGS2 onward, determines the length of time an operative can hang on an edge or railing. Its maximum length is equal to the current length of the operative's Life gauge - the more damage he has taken, the less time he can hang onto surfaces (except when Solid Snake grips an edge in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, due to the overflow properties of its damage meter).
