One of the many complaints regarding Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes was the lack of story-based cut-scenes. During a complete playthrough of the main “Ground Zeroes” mission, the player may only encounter three or so cinematics, including the intro and ending. In a new interview with Eurogamer, Kojima Productions Designer Jordan Amaro reveals that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be taking the same route, as the amount of cut-scenes will be significantly reduced.
Over the weekend, Eurogamer hosted an interview with The Phantom Pain Designer Jordan Amaro, and Mike Bithell, creator of the upcoming Stealth title Volume. The lengthy interview features several discussions between the two developers regarding their individual approaches to the Stealth genre, and how it can be redefined through each of their upcoming games. At one point, the relationship between the player and video game protagonist is brought up. Mithell states that in previous Metal Gear Solid titles, Solid Snake is an “awesome guy”, but as he’s a predetermined character with motives and already acquired skills, playing as him doesn’t feel so much like immersion, as “stepping into the shoes of a hero.” This is also due to the restrictive nature of the past games; set paths, events and objectives. Amaro claims that with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the open-world nature of the title will help to alleviate this, and bring players closer to the role of Punished Snake- not just playing as him, but becoming him.
“We’ve only created a place that our artists have okayed and hopefully makes sense and poses challenges. And that Snake route will be subtle and organic enough so it won’t jump to your eyes. We hope to reveal Snake’s character through the players’ actions in those spaces that are smart to traverse. That’s pure game storytelling, although it’s still primal because the odds are what they are.”
In order to “bring the player closer to Snake”, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain thrusts the player into an open environment, without any visual clues or UI notifications. According to Amaro, Kojima Productions believes that by “exposing the player to situations where he’s not in total control and understanding of everything the game has to offer”, the player and Snake are “on the same level”. Neither the player nor protagonist have any idea what’s going on in their current situation. The events that may follow are completely up to the player.
Another method of bringing the player “closer to Snake” came from Hideo Kojima. By decreasing the amount of scripted story-based cut-scenes, the pace at which the plot unfolds is entirely in the player’s hands. All of Snake’s actions are the player’s actions:
“[Hideo Kojima] wanted to explore what it means to bring the franchise to an open space. He wants to try to bring the player closer to Snake by leaving all these options and reducing the amount of cut-scenes. He wants you to feel close to him, reduce the friction and see what players make of it. And Snake doesn’t talk as much. He said, if he talks too much then we have to pay Kiefer Sutherland a lot more!”
Amaro also states that by creating an open-world Metal Gear Solid title, the developers can “get rid of all the narrative burdens”. The player can complete missions and objectives while focusing on the game itself, without having to stop for cinematics, dialogue, or any other predetermined events. Sounds like both parts of Metal Gear Solid V are taking a serious gameplay departure from the past games. Do you think the lack of cinematic cut-scenes will hinder the overall experience of The Phantom Pain, or are you looking forward to a more straightforward, character-driven stealth title? Leave a comment below!