Metal Gear Solid 4
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Wikipedia-Article "Metal Gear Solid 4"
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This article or section contains information about a computer or video game in production. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change dramatically as the game release approaches and more information becomes available. |
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| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | |
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| Developer(s) | Kojima Productions |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Designer(s) | Hideo Kojima (producer, director) Shuyo Murata (director) Kenichiro Imaizumi (producer) Yoji Shinkawa (character designer) |
| Engine | |
| Latest version | {{{version}}} |
| Release date(s) | TBA |
| Genre | Stealth-action |
| Mode(s) | Single player, online multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Rating Pending (RP) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 |
| Media | |
| System requirements | |
| Input | |
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (commonly abbreviated MGS4) will be the latest iteration in the Metal Gear series of stealth-based games, as announced by Konami in March 2005.
Using the motto "No place to hide" and the theme of "Senses", the game is being produced by Kenichiro Imaizumi, with series creator Hideo Kojima co-directing the game with Shuyo Murata. It is being developed by Kojima Productions (a newly-formed subsidiary of Konami) for the PlayStation 3.
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Director misdirection
Initially, Hideo Kojima announced that he would be retiring as director of the Metal Gear series after Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and would leave his position open to another person for Metal Gear Solid 4. The new director was announced as "Alan Smithee," but this was meant to be a joke, as Alan Smithee isn't a real person. Rather, it's a pseudonym often used by Hollywood film directors who wish not to be credited for their work on a film.
In R, a 400-page book bundled with Metal Gear Solid 3's "Premium Package" version (released only in Japan on December 16, 2004), the director was revealed to be Shuyo Murata, co-writer of Metal Gear Solid 3 and director of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner. He has also contributed humorous easter eggs to Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel. R also revealed Imaizumi to be the producer.
On May 17, 2005, it was announced on Kojima Productions' official website that Kojima will be co-directing the game with Murata.
Known details
Metal Gear Solid 4 will take place an undisclosed amount of time (Kojima has only gone so far as to say "X years," which may represent 10 as in Roman Numerals, or a variable) after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Hideo Kojima has stated that unlike MGS2 and MGS3, Solid Snake will indeed be the primary playable character. He's also said that the "no place to hide" theme does not imply that the trademark stealth gameplay of the Metal Gear series will be abandoned; instead, he suggests that many traditional ways of sneaking and hiding will change and that players will have to find new ways of using stealth. Walls may be destroyed, exposing Snake to the enemy, or elements such as trucks and crates may move. He has also commented that "the graphics and sound will rival anything Hollywood does" and that he is planning to hire psychiatrists to emphasise a "mental battle" between Snake and his enemies, so that "who controls the fear can decide the outcome". An example of the psychological aspect of the game would be that in certain points, Snake's potential adversaries might produce animal-based noises with their mechs to give the player a false sense of security.
The game is planned to utilize a new 360-degree third-person camera system (similar to the camera system of the Splinter Cell series) in addition to the top-down camera used in the previous three Metal Gear Solid games. An experimental version of this camera system will be included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. Originally it was planned that the new camera system would replace the old one in MGS4; Kojima recently revealed in his blog that an option to switch back to the old camera will be integrated after testing the new one in Subsistence. Another feature that will debut in Subsistence, an online battle mode, will also be featured in MGS4. A promotional image released at E3 contains several conceptual character designs featuring characters from previous Metal Gear games, including (as confirmed by the May 20th, 2005 issue of Weekly Famitsu) Vamp, Meryl Silverburgh, Raiden, Revolver Ocelot, Solid Snake, Otacon (image here), Big Boss, and Naomi Hunter.
The September issue of Official PlayStation Magazine contains a handful of details: "describing the Kojima Productions title as "a cross between Rambo and Black Hawk Down," with Solid Snake apparently dropped into an urban warzone with artillery going crazy around him, taking out his cover. Buddy AI is said to be crucial this time around, while a new camera system will reportedly be an essential part of the experience."
The September 30, 2005 issue of Weekly Famitsu ([1]) features an article on the game unveiling the first actual screenshots. Shortly after the magazine was published, a trailer showcasing actual real-time footage of the game running on the PS3 hardware was presented at the Tokyo Game Show as part of Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Saga presentation. A direct-feed version of the trailer is currently available for stream on the official Kojima Productions' website. Kojima has provided further information and hints about the gameplay and storyline in his interview with Famitsu, as well as at the Tokyo Game Show.
The new screenshots and trailer reveal what appears to be an aged Solid Snake, now bearing a resemblance to Big Boss. This comparison is helped by Snake wearing an optical eyepatch over his left eye, making him similar in immediate appearance to the legendary soldier who wore an eyepatch over his right eye. It is not confirmed if Snake has lost his eye, like Big Boss, nor is it clear whether the eyepatch is simply a slip-on device similar to thermal goggles, or an advanced integration of technological and biological components built 'into' the optical nerves themselves, though the device clearly relays tactical information in a visual format. The Solid Eye will serve as a replacement to the thermal goggles, night vision goggles and soliton radar used in previous games.
The trailer, set in a war-ravaged, urban environment, features Snake being partnered with a robotic navigator (resembling Metal Gear Mk. II, a robot in Kojima's Snatcher) controlled remotely by Otacon himself. Snake uses the Mk. II to communicate with Otacon, which serves as a substitute to the nanomachine-based communication system (CODEC) from previous games. Kojima commented that the development team will experiment with the idea of controlling the Mk. II via remote control for reconnaissance, although feature might not be in the final game if it's not considered practical.
An entire army is also shown in the trailer, patrolling with a group of mass-produced Metal Gear models known as Gekkou (月光, from the Japanese word meaning Moonlight), which are comprised of mechanical head and organic legs and are AI-controlled, similar to the mass-produced Metal Gear RAY units in Metal Gear Solid 2.
The graphics will emphasize natural movement in actions such as an enemy's discovery of Snake, thus eliminating the need of exclamation marks as an indicator. The setting is in a war zone, with multiple countries waging war against each other. The soldiers Snake will encounter are not specifically friends or enemies at first - rather, the player's actions towards them will influence how they respond to Snake. The CQC system (from Metal Gear Solid 3) will make a return (an explanation will be given for Snake learning of the fighting style as part of the game's backstory) and the player will have the ability to add attachments to Snake's weapons (in addition to suppresors) with more than a hundred possible combinations.
Kojima also commented that as a game designer in his forties, the game's storyline will be targeted to a much older audience, as reflected by the game's older protagonist. He has also confirmed that Solid Snake will not, despite his age, die in this latest chapter in the series.
Timeline Setting
In the recent trailer released by Kojima Productions, the phrase "X years since Big Shell..." is shown, confirming that the game will take place after Metal Gear Solid 2's Big Shell incident (set in 2009).
Some fans speculate that "X" is a use of the Roman numeral for ten, meaning that the game would take place in 2019, when Snake would be 47 years old. However, this is disputed, as the Japanese captions displayed on the trailer read "あのビッグシェル事件から数年後..." (ano Big Shell jiken kara suunen go...), which translates to "Several years after the Big Shell incident" in English. This would indicate that "X" is a variable, employed in an effort to retain a shroud of secrecy over the game's details (a typical technique used in popular Japanese fiction for ambiguity purposes).
It has been confirmed that Snake's old age is a side effect of advanced cell degeneration (a result of his cloned genetics) and not necessarily of the game's setting.
External links
- Official MGS4 trailer shown at the Tokyo Game Show 2005
- Details from Kojima Productions
- Metal Gear Solid: The Unofficial Site
- Hideo Kojima Blog in English
- IGN
- GameSpot GameSpace
- GamesAreFun article containing Famitsu scans
- GameRankings
- Meristation article containing confirmation that Snake will not die (Spanish)
- Metal Gear Week on 1UP.com, with Hideo Kojima interview
| The Metal Gear Series |
|---|
| By release order: |
| Metal Gear | MG2:Solid Snake | Metal Gear Solid |
| MGS2:Sons of Liberty | MGS3:Snake Eater | MGS4:Guns of the Patriots |
| By chronological order: |
| Big Boss Trilogy: MGS3:Snake Eater | Metal Gear | MG2:Solid Snake |
| Solid Snake Trilogy: Metal Gear Solid | MGS2:Sons of Liberty | MGS4:Guns of the Patriots |
| Updated versions and supplemental titles |
| MGS: VR Missions | The Document of MGS2 | MGS2:Substance | MGS:The Twin Snakes | MGS3:Subsistence |
| Side stories |
| Snake's Revenge | Metal Gear: Ghost Babel | Metal Gear Acid | Metal Gear Acid 2 |
| Dramatis personae |
| Solid Snake | Big Boss | Gray Fox | The Metal Gear Cobra unit | FOXHOUND | Dead Cell Recurring characters | Metal Gear Solid | Metal Gear Solid 2 | Metal Gear Solid 3 |