After a long, arduous, misdirection-infested wait, Not Joakim Mogren Hideo Kojima finally let the cat out of the bag.

Most of the of the GDC presentation consisted of the technical usage of the FOX Engine which can let game devs produce a game in faster intervals with high quality visuals and overall great gameplay. But we’re not really here for that now, are we? I didn’t think so. Lets get to the meat of this whole smorgasbord, shall we? Ok good.

According to the new trailer HK showed today at the San Francisco GDC, The Phantom Pain is MGS: Ground Zeroes. Or better yet, TPP and GZ put together is MGSV. That doctor you see in the new trailer, who was in the previous Phantom Pain trailer tells Snake he was in a coma for 9 years, which I’m guessing takes place after the events of Peace Walker, that took place in 1974. Could MGSV happen in the 80’s? Or 1983 to be more exact? Because 1974 + 9, carry the 1…ya ok.

I bet the first bit of gameplay or cutscene action we’ll be treated with will be the events of a Mother Base takeover by Burn Victim Man. So this will have probably happened a short time after the end of Peace Walker. Those who haven’t played PW yet and want to keep up story wise can score a copy on PSP or the HD Collection for PS3/360. Totally worth it.

There are some clues to my educated guesses in the trailer if you’d like to see for yourself. At the beginning, a bloodied Kaz Miller, Snake’s right hand man, can be seen next to him in the emergency room of a hospital while medical staff try to resuscitate Snake, who falls into a coma. Kaz looks exactly as he does in PW, as does Snake with the same sneaking suit and all.

More noticeable similarities between this new trailer and PW are the scenes with what look to be Mother Base. As I stated above it seems MB will be burned to the ocean floor. So much for Outer Heaven in this instance. The other sections in the trailer are intercut with scenes that were shown in the TPP trailer.

I gotta say, one of my favorite scenes was at the end of trailer where Snake sits on a motorcycle like a badass motherfucker smoking a cigar, leather jacket and all. I did notice right away that he now shares a similar trait with another certain key character in PW. Big Boss is now apparently the owner of a Red robotic hand, as Galvez does from PW. I see a theme going on here with the colors and what they seem to signify. The color Red seems to mean 1) that you’re one of the bad guys OR 2) that you’re somehow part robot, OR both. This theme played well in PW with the AI bosses Snake had to face. Hell, even the MGSV title above says Metal Gear Solid V in Red letters!

MGR: Revengeance followed through with the Red theme, having enemy AI and especially the bosses embody this idea. There is even DLC available where Raiden gets to dress up in Red, just like his bad guy buddies.

But we mustn’t forget where the idea actually originated. Yep, the beloved Gray Fox aka Cyborg Ninja aka Frank Jaeger. He was the original robotic mental case of the Solid series.

Could this mean that Big Boss FINALLY showcases his unstable mental state and plunge into his darker side, as Solid Snake‘s commanding officer/mortal enemy from Metal Gear 1 (MSX2)?! Could we get to play AS ‘Crazy Snake‘?! If you’re an MGS fan you’ll want this to happen.

Other things worth mentioning:

1) Is this a young Psycho Mantis?! This kid is wearing a gas mask AND can levitate so it’s not off the table.

2) Who the heck is this guy on the left? He’s wearing what seems to be a FOX standard issue trench coat also worn by Liquid Snake and the much older Big Boss. I could be off but still. Hm.

3) What does this line mean? Does it mean villains from Snake’s past could be somehow haunting him?

4) That Fire Guy almost reminds me of Volgin from MGS3. Might it be his spirit coming back from beyond?

MGS3 even had gameplay where Snake crossed a swampy river and the spirits of soldiers the player killed in action actually came back for a piece of revenge.

Moving on to the second trailer we have what looks like gameplay footage from the events seen in TPP. We see Mr Bandage Face trying to help Snake out, who’s apparently been in a 9 year coma. Looking quite frail and missing part of his left arm, Snake seems to either be in a dream sequence or one hell of a hallucination, maybe from psychotropic drugs, but I’m just guesstimating.

The term ‘phantom pain’ typically has to do with those who have lost a limb by some unfortunate accident or a surgical procedure. It has to do with the amputee still somehow feeling than same limb, arm(s) or leg(s), as if they were still there. So I guess the title The Phantom Pain is very fitting for Snake’s current state in trailer 2.

I see more similarities between what’s going on in this trailer and other past characters in the MGS universe. Revolver Ocelot, the first boss in MGS1, and Solid Snake’s subsequent foe in MGS4, has his arm sliced off by Gray Fox. In MGS2 Ocelot explained to Snake that in order to have any semblance of normalcy he took the arm of his dead brother, Liquid Snake, from MGS1. What Ocelot hadn’t realized was that Liquid’s arm was somehow infused with the essence of Liquid Snake, himself, and he’d gone on to be totally consumed by this spiritual possession. Revolver Ocelot then became Liquid Ocelot, as he would later be referred to in MGS4 by his nemesis, Old Snake. The convoluted story still makes my head spin.

Other things to worth mentioning:

1) Is Mr Bandage Face being voiced by Keifer Sutherland?! It sure sounds like it from the trailer.

2) Is Snake being voiced by Keifer as well??!! I only ask because in the trailer you can hear Snake utter a few words, which also sound like Mr Bandage Face. There has been some contention about whether or not David Hayter will return to voice Snake once more. Hayter fans would be disappointed if the NOT were to come true. I would be too. But I wouldn’t mind Jack Bauer running around in a sneaking suit.

I surmise that this gameplay could be some sort of dream sequence Snake is having where the attacks in the hospital might just all be happening in his head, which is why MBF and Snake sound similar. It could be Snake’s subconscious trying to help him out of that 9 year coma. Far fetched? Sure. But this is an MGS game we’re dealing with so let’s go down this rabbit hole together!

Here’s the trailer.

This is the gameplay.

Snake..? Snake..?? SNAAAKE..!!!