E3 Games by Eigotaku Part 5

Published by Leftover Brian

May 29, 2016 11:01 am | Leave your thoughts

Game 5. The future of Metal gear, what could have been for PT, and what’s next for Kojima.

This is personally the most bittersweet entry of my ‘games of E3’ for three reasons. In all likelihood, we will never get another original Metal Gear Solid game. If we do, it will most likely be in name only, and after the release of MGS V and his subsequent departure from Konami last year, mastermind Hideo Kojima won’t be involved.

But here is a history lesson anyway.

In 1986, as a college graduate, Kojima had aspirations of joining the video games industry after being heavily influenced by the Super Famicom and, ironically enough, Super Mario Brothers. Unfortunately, his first project was canned after 6 months, and the despondent young man was given one last chance to create an action combat game. What he designed was not a ‘run and gun’ rehash like many before it (even in the early days, a winning formula generated a lot of similar games wanting in on the action (pun intended). He went against the grain and created a game where the porogative was to avoid confrontation. Also the game carried a much deeper story of political intrigue and espionage and set of fleshed out characters that was not previously seen in games at the time, especially considering the limitations of hardware.

It was a risk and a hard sell to his superiors at Konami  but fellow games designers were very impressed, and the game debuted on the MSX and became popular on the NES. An unofficial (and disappointingly generic) sequel followed, prompting a colleague to persuade him to make a proper sequel in 1990. The slow burning success and two other franchises meant the next instalment waited in limbo until the birth of the Playstation in 1995. It would be 2 years until the reveal and a further year until the release of, in my opinion, one of the truly greatest, most ambitious, and innovative series in the modern era.

The man is Hideo Kojima.

The game is Metal Gear Solid.

While the joy of playing Mario 64 was in the near perfect transfer of the 2D institution that went before it, Metal Gear Solid started to bridge the gap between movies and video games like nothing else. Never had a game had such a rich and diverse array of characters, each with their own motives, personalities and back-stories. Backed up by amazing artwork from one Yoji Shinkawa, MGS was a technical and stylistic masterpiece.

The first 3d iteration of MGS also showed what the Playstation was truly capable of. The graphics look a bit ropey now (my advice would be to play The twin Snakes, which is essentially the same game, but with MGS2 graphics) but the physical structure of the indoor and out door environments was spectacularly realised with the inclusion of a cinematic camera system, built from the ground up to visually emphasise the stealth element of the game and to give the player a genuine sense of atmosphere and scale. Add to that, a seamless and extensive weapons and items system and a score worthy of Hollywood, and a true classic was formed.

The set pieces in this game still hold up today as some of the most groundbreaking on any system. From the opening credits rolling while you infiltrate the first area, to the battle with psycho mantis and even looking for the infamous CD case (if, after 13 years you haven’t played the game, I won’t spoil it). Suffice to say it evoked the same reaction as wondering around a certain castle merely 2 years before. The complex and layered plot touched on things from genetic engineering and morality, to espionage and political unrest.

MGS was not without it’s critics. Kojima himself proclaimed that he went into the project to create the best Playstation game ever. In my opinion, he succeeded. But the game was massively hyped and delayed, and many were against the long cut scenes fleshing out a game that could be finished in a day or two. But I believe that is missing the point. MGS is an experience that very few games have managed to replicate, not least back in 1998.

Subsequent games have had increasingly long, increasingly complex (to the point of just plain incomprehensible) story lines, and the surprise in the second game is still being felt. Rising was a fun, if shallow distraction.

MGS3 provided a welcome back-story, combined with a different location and some great boss battles (an area which the MGS series seldom disappoints), with subsistence being the best example on last gen consoles.

One thing is for sure. The MGS series has continually pushed the graphical capabilities of the respective hardware and taken the player on an epic and at times confusing journey.

It’s now September 2015. After reiterating that this will be his last, and especially how konami’s terrible handling of the whole relationship early in the year, Metal Gear Solid 5 is released and Kojima updates his Twitter feed while going to various games stores around Tokyo. Autographing signage and unsuspecting consumer’s copys of the game, he had the demeanor of a man with the weight of the world lifted from his shoulders. Finally his latest work is in the wild, and free from its pressure, he can walk free and enjoy fan reaction. His ‘Goodbye’ video on YouTube was heartbreaking.

In 2014, I stood about 30 feet from Kojima as he did presentations on ‘the phantom pain’ and his terrifying yet petulantly cancelled silent hill  project with collaborator and friend Guillermo Del Toro at TGS. There was passion, creativity, but also oppression.

Konami as a video game developer is all but gone. Their business in Japan is health clubs and pachinko parlors. After the time and budget spent on Kojima’s vision of the Metal Gear franchise, they very tortuously went their separate ways.

In all honesty, I don’t expect to see anything from Kojima at E3 this year, but I wanted to remember the good times and look forward to a time where he is back on stage talking about his new project, hopefully accompanied by a glorious Gregson-Williams score. Working with Sony, Kojima has been given the freedom to express himself and, while he has nothing to prove to the industry, it is just as exciting to see what he is doing as any of his previous games.

by @eigotaku

For more E3 Coverage in the coming days you should head over to Soundcloud and listen to Eigotaku’s Pubstumper Podcast !!!!

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Categorised in: Toy Addict

This post was written by Leftover Brian