Hideo Kojima has revealed some new information regarding the upcoming open-world stealth title Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
During a Christmas special for Kojima Station, Kojima confirmed that a new piece of equipment, a chicken cap — before you start asking questions, yes, we’re being dead serious about this — would be included in The Phantom Pain.
The chicken cap is available in the multiplayer and single-player mode, but the main purpose of the equipment is to make it harder for the enemy to spot a player if they’re struggling in The Phantom Pain.
They'll also be releasing an official chicken cap after TPP is out. But it won't be as heavy as the one they had with them today.
— Junker HQ (@JunkerHQnet) December 25, 2014
Designed by Yoji Shinkawa, the lead artist on the Metal Gear Solid franchise, the chicken’s crown lights up in dark locations but still retains its ability to keep the player hidden from the enemies’ vision.
Shinkawa’s attention to detail on the chicken cap includes the feathers resembling Metal Gear Solid’s distinguished exclamation point (see images at the bottom of the article).
Additionally, the chicken cap’s novelty extends into The Phantom Pain’s cutscenes, as Big Boss will be wearing it should the player keep it equipped, according to Kojima.
Nana Mizuki, the voice actor for Paz Ortega Andrade in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes, made a special appearance on the show and explained how she was shocked to witness her character’s fate in Ground Zeroes.
Mizuki has also been one of the latest actors to join Kojima in the recording studio, meaning that Paz will be returning in some form in The Phantom Pain.
Paz's actor also talked about a cool bonus for people who've played Ground Zeroes
— Junker HQ (@JunkerHQnet) December 25, 2014
JunkerHQ, a Twitter user who translated what Kojima said during the show, tweeted that the Metal Gear Solid creator was rather “cryptic” about Mizuki recording dialogue, while hinting that “it’s something that is only possible [with] games.”
When talking about Paz and her actress recording more lines, Kojima was cryptic again, saying it's something that is only possible w/ games
— Junker HQ (@JunkerHQnet) December 25, 2014
Kojima, however, revealed that he does not have an official release date for The Phantom Pain at the moment, but the Japanese developer suggested that his latest title would be the best entry in the franchise.
Yesterday, a Konami representative dismissed rumours that The Phantom Pain would launch on February 24th, 2015, saying: “If anything I hope people realize that they should be wary when a retailer posts an unverified date unless corroborated by a publisher.”
Running on Kojima Productions’ Fox Engine, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is rumoured to launch in Q2 of 2015 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Check out the images for the chicken cap below.
Special thanks to JunkerHQ for the translation on all of the new information from this week’s Kojima Station.