Certain franchises are often linked to a proper name: Super Mario is the son of Miyamoto, Monkey Island is Ron Gilbert’s… and of course, Metal Gear is from Hideo Kojima. After his departure from Konami, the franchise seemed abandoned, but now a new team has Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater almost ready, an ambitious project for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC.
As a producer on this new development team is Noriaki Okamura, who already worked with Kojima himself on previous Metal Gearas well as in Zone of the Enders or PolicenautsWe were able to speak with him during our recent visit to London to Try Metal Gear Solid Delta.
He gives us some clues about the design of this Metal Gear Solid 3 remake, as well as his expectations for the current development team. Let’s get to the questions:
Metal Gear Solid 3 was chosen for this remake because it was an origin story, but… was it ever considered to remake another game in the franchise instead of this one?
When we did some research online, we realized that a lot of people, especially the younger generations, didn’t even know about the Metal Gear franchise at this point. They hadn’t played it, or even heard of it. That was the first trigger for us to decide to do this remake.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is my personal favorite, so I wanted to bring this game to the newer generation of gamers. This might help them better understand what the franchise is all about.
When we discussed the topic internally, we confirmed that this game was particularly loved, not only by us, but also highly rated by fans. The fact that it served as a starting point for many stories also helped, of course.
In that sense, the launch of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection was with that intention: to introduce the franchise to all kinds of players, not just veterans.
We know there have been no changes to the core gameplay or story, but what new content in terms of extra weapons, costumes, etc. can we expect?
We are actually still considering different options in this regard, but we will give you more information soon. We ask you to wait a little longer.
What graphical improvement are you most proud of in this new version?
We’re particularly proud of the jungle recreation. It’s something we focused on from the very beginning: how could we realistically present this environment to fans?
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The graphics department worked very hard on that aspect, although of course the rest of the aspects, such as the character models, were not neglected.
Another important pillar was to replicate that sense of wonder and excitement that we all felt when the game was originally released. We wanted both long-time and new fans to be able to feel that.
It wasn’t just about improving, but about being as faithful to the original experience as possible. When we got into it, we realized that there was actually very little we needed to update: just the level of detail in the graphics and the control, of course, since the new generations are used to more fluid controls.
In terms of gameplay, did you find that something in particular needed to be changed because it seemed outdated by today’s standards?
In terms of story, we concluded that nothing needed to be changed. Its quality stands up well to the test of time. However, it is true that trends in action games have changed a lot over the past 20 years.
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Younger players are more accustomed to playing in a more direct and instinctive way, so it was necessary to redesign the control scheme so that this profile of player did not feel that the experience was too convoluted.
If this game does as well as expected, could there be plans for more Metal Gear games in the future? Could we expect an approach from Hideo Kojima for that?
Well, for now we want to focus on the current games, on creating the best Metal Gear Solid Delta possible. Above all, we want to get feedback from people that this is the right team to develop such a game and to take over the franchise.
During the development of the game, we wanted to focus on the current team. Regarding the original team and Kojima himself in particular, as I mentioned in a previous interview, I would be very grateful to work with him again. Of course, this is a personal opinion of mine.
In any case, I don’t want to hold on to the idea that Metal Gear Solid needs the original team to make a good game. I want everyone to see that the current team is worthy of the franchise, even if the original writers aren’t there.
There isn’t one yet Metal Gear Solid Delta release date revealedbut given its current form, it’s likely to be sooner rather than later. Certainly, with Okamura-san and his team, the franchise seems to be in good hands. Keep an eye on your codecs for more information soon…
