Quite a bit of controversy surrounding Metal Gear: Survive has been stirred up at the 2016 Tokyo Game Show. That’s not to say there wasn’t anything being said about the first Metal Gear game being made without Hideo Kojima prior to the event. People had plenty of opinions on Konami taking the series to a place where we’ll have to fight zombies instead of the standard super-human soldiers. We just never had any official opinion from the creator of the series itself to help fuel the fires. Now, word has come down from on high.
For people who didn’t catch the video and want to see it, here’s a link on YouTube that shows Hideo Kojima discussing his thoughts on Metal Gear: Survive . At a stage show discussing his next game, Death Stranding, people brought up the new game. He first said that it had nothing to do with him. He then said that he considered entries in this series to be about espionage, tactically and stealthily accomplishing goals, and more political fiction. He said he didn’t know how zombies would work in that world. Yoji Shinkawa, the artist for Metal Gear , also denied any involvement, and joked he’d have put in mechs rather than zombies.
Kojima weighing in and offering thoughts on Metal Gear: Survive brings us to an interesting point. How much weight does his opinion carry, now that he’s no longer a part of Konami or the Metal Gear series? As the creator, his thoughts automatically take on a certain amount of gravitas. This is a man who knows the series better than anyone. If he’s looking at preliminary information on the game and says it doesn’t seem like a good or logical fit, you’d have to believe him. What he says matters, as he’s suggesting that this sort of gameplay, which will be a more team-based, active shooting experience, could end up being considered invalid by a number of people who love the series. Not knowing how zombies find a place is understandable.
But, you also have to wonder if he is in a place to judge. Kojima admitted he has nothing to do with Metal Gear: Survive . Anything he has to say about the game is anecdotal. He isn’t creating it. He hasn’t played it. The only things he has seen are the same things we have. His consultation is coming from the same place as ours. As such, he isn’t the same sort of authority here as he is on the other Metal Gear games where he did play a part.
We also have to consider the places where Kojima has taken the Metal Gear series before. The original NES games had a very different feel from the PlayStation-era installments, due to technical limitations, so political fiction and tactical espionage action worked differently between the original and more recent affairs. We’ve also had Metal Gear games like Revengeance, which was more like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta, and Acid , which was a turn-based, strategic adventure. While zombies may not be a good fit and most entries might involve espionage, that isn’t to say the series can’t adapt to different genres.
At this point, Kojima’s opinion on Metal Gear is important, but not as important as it once was. What he says absolutely matters and will influence sales, but only to fans. He simply isn’t going to be the same authority on Metal Gear: Survive as he was on games where he had actual involvement. Whenever he does say something about a concept or gameplay, people will be able to challenge that by citing games like Metal Gear Revengeance or Metal Gear Acid.