MGSV To Be Open World, Split Into Two Games Says Kojima

There was a lot of confusion surrounding the announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. And then after GDC, where Hideo Kojima revealed that GZ and TPP were in fact, one and the same forming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, there was even more confusion as to what it all meant.

Geoff Keighley of GTTV hoped to clear things up and sat down with the MGS mastermind himself, Hideo Kojima for an interview about the reason why he was so elusive about the whole deal with GZ and TPP, and the current state of the game moving forward. Keighley also asked why Big Boss aka Snake seems to sounds a bit different than his former raspier self this time around. Another more important question asked of Kojima-san that I’d really like the answer to: WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH SNAKE’S FOREHEAD?!

Ok so I might the paraphrased that last question but it still stands. As to why Moby Dick Studios and Joakim ~~Migraine~~ Mogren were created Kojima simply answered “to do something interesting.” Interesting or confused. Well HK has always favored misdirection instead of in-your-face theatrics so I suppose this is no different. Kojima thinks he’s Batman or something.

Other questions about the game regarded its composition, Ground Zeroes is “a prologue” to The Phantom Pain and takes place 9 years prior. This signifies to me that it takes place right after the events of Peace Walker, whose storyline happens in 1974. The estimated timeline in MGSV points to 1984, just one year shy of my guesstimated prediction. Maybe it’s 1975 at the beginning of the Ground Zeroes section cuz HK can’t seem to do math. As for distribution of the game, GK asked HK we’ll get the whole game in one shot or will it be broken down into a couple pieces. While still being vague Kojima did say it’d be cut in half, Ground Zeroes first, then The Phantom Pain, which is the main bulk of MGSV. As I mentioned in my previous article I’d guess KJP would go the DLC route, almost like the GTA series with their Episodes. Ground Zeroes could be a sort of Pilot Episode, if you will, not unlike a new tv show. And then The Phantom Pain could be a typical disc based format, or the Missing ~~Link~~ Limb, hence Phantom Pain.

[Random David Hayter interview]

The reason for David Hayter’s absence from this game is they wanted to take MGSV to a different direction and KJP believe one way to convey that is to have a completely new VO. As for who that is remains to be seen. Ubisoft also went this route with their upcoming Splinter Cell: Blacklist as Michael Ironside will no longer voice Sam Fisher, the series’ main man. They didn’t specify who the VO is for Mr Bandage Face either so that’s still up in the air. I maintain that it’s ~~Jack Bauer~~ Keifer Sutherland so mark my words.

Diamond Dogs apparently has more meanings to this game than just an album David Bowie released in 1974. It is a new crew Big Boss is affiliated with that refers to the term Dogs Of War.

Note 1: MGS: Peace Walker takes place in 1974, the same year David Bowie’s album, Diamond Dogs is released.

Note 2: Dogs Of War is the title of a movie released in 1980 starring Christopher Walken whose likeness was used as a model for Solid Snake in MGS1.

Note 3: Dogs Of War the 1980 movie takes place in Africa, perhaps a location that players will get to travel to in MGSV.

Kojima also explained his reason behind the use of the Roman numeral V instead of the typical number system adopted by the four previous Solid games. He says it to be another step into the new direction he wants to take the MGS series. A few franchises share the Roman numeral system, that being the Final Fantasy series all the way up to XIII-2, and as I mentioned above, the Grand Theft Auto series all the way to V as well.

The more significant reason for the addition of the V is that Kojima really wants MGSV to be the best MGS game yet and the V stands for Victory. A section in Peace Walker reminiscent of this statement is at the beginning when on the beach one of Big Boss’ disiples exclaims “Vic Boss” and Big Boss explains to him that “for us there is no Victory.”

This screen grab at the bottom seems to signify that “V”, meaning MGSV(5) has arrived, or at the very least “V” has been announced. It could also mean that Big Boss is a Fifth patient out of a group of patients in that particular section of the hospital to have woken up.

Now we finally get to the most important, and quite frankly crucial question since the trailer’s debut: Why for art thou is Big Boss sporting what seems to be a HORN on the upper right quadrant of his forehead, and why is he acting so damned nonchalant about it?! Again, my first guess was correct, that it was some sort of shrapnel acquired from a previous battle. Or in HK’s words its a piece of debris and bone embedded in his skull. WHAT?! Now that’s really intriguing, actually. And seeing that BB is wearing a Diamond Dogs leather biker jacket while using his new Inspector Gadget arm to smoke and start his engine, we can surmise that this is well after the events of the Ground Zeroes section of the game.

Other bullet points:

• The game will feature new as well as old characters from the MGS universe: as I wrote about in my last article, the TPP gameplay trailer showcased a handful of supernatural occurrences while BB was trying to escape the hospital he woke up in. A few of those characters in those instances could either be new faces or old baddies from past MGS titles.

• Gameplay will be open world and feature realistic infiltration: sneak into an area any way you so choose. Sometimes you may encounter a side mission ala GTA.

• Time of day effects gameplay situations: based on a realistic 24 hour day cycle, the difficulty of infiltration may depend on if you choose to do so at night when there might be less guards patrolling, or in the daytime where things might get tougher since you’re easier to spot and alert guards.

• We will play as Big Boss for the entire game: this could mean no more switch ups like what happened in MGS2 where the 2nd chapter consisted of Raiden as the rookie soldier. This could also mean that even though the game takes place almost directly after Peace Walker that gameplay style won’t match that of PW where the player could either play as Big Boss or as his male/female recruits.

• As explained by Kojima the percentage of real world gameplay as opposed to supernatural situations will be about 80/20.

• As with past MGS titles, MGSV will also carry its own themes to present to us when the game releases. MGS1 had Gene, MGS2 Meme, MGS3 Scene, MGS4 Sense and PW Peace. Kojima has yet to reveal his new one.

• The game will target current gen consoles: this means Kojima will be making it easier on our wallets and bank accounts by not making us have to purchase a new next gen console just to play it (yet). HK pleaded the 5th amendment as to if his game will make the jump to say, the PS4.

And here’s a quick example of what the FOX Engine can do↴