The cancelled fan-made remake of Hideo Kojima’s 1987 stealth title Metal Gear has had the complete script from the project published online.
Brian Kane, lead writer on the Metal Gear remake, took to the Metal Gear Solid subreddit and released three scripts he had drafted for the title, including the main story, dialogue received via optional calls and a utilities script.
“So I was a proud member of the Metal Gear Remake team over the summer and a post from today got me thinking about all the work I put into the project,” Kane explained. “When I joined the team, I basically replaced the original writer. We transitioned from his Microsoft Word doc scripts to my final draft scripts.
“I am a writer by trade, but not by anyone else’s teachings. I studied a lot of screenwriting, watched a ton of films, and played a ton of games. I do not claim to be anything more than an enthused writer and a Metal Gear fan.”
The 69-page main script features all the dialogue, characters and the plot from the fan-made project, and Kane said that he “kept it as close to the original as possible, yet more fleshed out.” David Hayter, the former voice actor in the Metal Gear Solid franchise, was attached with the project and reprised his role as the iconic Solid Snake, but he was also involved with developing the script for the title, considering he had experience writing Hollywood blockbusters such as X-Men, X2: X-Men United and Watchmen.
“These two [optional calls and the utilities scripts] are less developed,” Kane said. “Hayter didn’t get a chance to look over the optional calls, and the utilities script is under developed as well. The optional calls script contains a (possibly) deleted call with [Roy] Campbell.”
Originally released on the MSX2, Metal Gear was the first title developed by Hideo Kojima and allowed players to assume the role of FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake, as he’s sent on a mission to infiltrate the military fortress Outer Heaven and destroy Metal Gear, a nuclear-equipped walking battle tank.
The Outer Heaven, developer of the remake, had been pushing forward with the project until publisher Konami halted complete development on the title earlier this year, with Kane admitting that he had “even started drafting Metal Gear 2.”