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Metal Gear Solid 5's Fox Engine in pictures
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was the big news for Joystiq readers to come out of the Kojima Productions panel at GDC, but the studio also had a lot to say about the engine that powers the game, the Fox Engine. The talk involved a lot of technical terms we won't pretend to understand (linear workflow, something about "light probes"), but the pictures speak for themselves.Fox Engine allows for some impressive visuals, fueled by some interesting technology. One key component is the ability to scan real-life objects or take pictures of them to easily create in-game models and textures. Kojima Productions created an in-engine mock-up of its own studio conference room, and the result was eerily similar to the real thing. Using an array of cameras, the studio was able to fully scan a little boy into the Fox Engine with surprising fidelity and drop him right inside the virtual conference room alongside Snake and an enemy soldier.%Gallery-184157%
Seen@GDC: The Phantom Kojima
When Hideo Kojima unveiled the trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, he did so while wearing a head bandage like the one worn in the game by the character known as Ishmael. (He took the bandage off later, so we know it was him.) Joakim Mogren, as far as we could see, was not in attendance.
David Hayter says he wasn't asked to voice Metal Gear Solid 5 [update 2: separate games]
One thing you should have noticed in the today's trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5 is the supposed voice work of Kiefer Sutherland. Sutherland is most certainly not David Hayter, previous voice talent for Big Boss and Solid Snake since the series' humble beginnings on PlayStation, who's indicated he won't be reprising a starring role."Well look, at least I had a good run," Hayter tweeted today, likely after seeing the news himself. He also replied "nope" to another Twitter user, who inquired if Hayter was asked to reprise his roles as voice actor. Snake losing his voice is quite a phantom pain in itself, except for the whole Kiefer Sutherland part.Update: To clarify, the supposed voice of Sutherland can be heard from the bandaged man that is guiding Snake in the trailer, not Snake himself. Presumably, another voice actor has replaced Hayter.Update 2: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.
'Ground Zeroes' is the prologue portion of Metal Gear Solid 5 [update: separate games]
In typical Kojima fashion, Metal Gear Solid 5 was shown off, separately, as three different things: Ground Zeroes, an open-world game about a rescue mission; The Phantom Pain, about a recovering amputee under attack, and finally, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. In a tweet (or, technically, a Twitlonger post) following the panel, Hideo Kojima cleared up the relationship between all these seemingly different properties."'Ground Zeroes' is a prologue of MGSV," Kojima said. "9 years after that event will be 'The Phantom Pain.'" Metal Gear Solid 5 comprises these two parts, much like Metal Gear Solid 2 opened with the Tanker chapter, then moved onto the Plant portion starring Raiden. "The game play demo I presented today is the opening of [The Phantom Pain] which is tutorial that starts from crawling." [Update: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.]Wow, what is this feeling? Is it ... understanding a Metal Gear game?%Gallery-184116%
The Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain trailer [update 2: separate games]
Rather than describe the intricate detail with which Kojima Productions' Fox Engine renders Big Boss dragging himself around on the floor, you can just see for yourself.You'll also hear the surprise Kiefer Sutherland voice work and Garbage soundtrack behind the GDC trailer for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.Update: Konami has not yet confirmed if this is Kiefer Sutherland we're hearing in the trailer, or if it's the best Kiefer Sutherland impersonator we've ever heard.Update 2: Contrary to what Kojima said during the GDC panel today, Konami has confirmed with Joystiq that Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain are indeed separate games.%Gallery-184116%
Kojima to deliver GDC talk featuring FOX engine demo
Metal Gear Solid creator and nerdcool icon Hideo Kojima is speaking about the upcoming Ground Zeroes at this year's Game Developers Conference in late March.Attendees of the San Francisco expo can look forward to "Photorealism through the eyes of a 'FOX:' The Core of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes," a talk which features a demonstration of Kojima Production's shiny new FOX engine, including discussion of its environmental changes, as revealed last September. Kojima will be joined by Ground Zeroes technical director Junji Tago, lighting artist Masayuki Suzuki, and CG art director Hideki Sasaki.This is a rare coup for GDC; the last time Kojima spoke at the conference was back in 2009, when we were wondering if Metal Gear Solid 4 was coming to Xbox 360, and what "the next MGS" would be. Four years on, speculation lingers around the celebrated designer's long-running series after the curious reveal of The Phantom Pain. Whether or not Kojima chooses the venue of GDC to spill any stealthily concealed beans, the talk should provide more than a few exclamation marks to enjoy.
The Phantom Pain speculation round-up: Metal Gear?!
The biggest surprise to come from last night's Spike TV Video Game Awards was undoubtedly the announcement of The Phantom Pain, a seemingly new IP from a completely unknown Swedish development house called Moby Dick Studio. The debut trailer showed a hospital under attack from an ominously obscured figure, and ended on a macro shot of an amputee that bore a striking resemblance to Solid Snake of Metal Gear Solid fame.Wait, Solid Snake? Metal Gear?! But, how could that be possible in a new franchise from a new developer that isn't Konami or Kojima Productions? Hey actually, now that we think about it, why is a brand-new studio getting to premiere a teaser for its first-ever game at an event generally reserved for AAA titles from global publishers?Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye. Let's take an in-depth, spoiler filled look at what evidence there is so far, and why all signs point to this being a new entry in the Metal Gear mythos.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes brings back base-building
Not only will Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes mark the return of Big Boss, it will also bring back the base-building and development feature last seen in Peace Walker.Speaking at the Eurogamer Expo, Snake charmer Hideo Kojima noted that being able to use multiple devices to access a game lends itself "very well" to the Mother Base system from Peace Walker and "that's something we're planning on for Ground Zeroes." Mother Base is an updated version of the crew management system first included in Portable Ops, where players could train and manage soldiers."The concept of developing weapons at your base is a very cool idea, and something that could be popular," Kojima added during a packed developer session at the event. "It's something we've been thinking of."According to Eurogamer, the base will be accessible in-between the open world areas of Ground Zeroes, and that players will have access to the area via the on-call helicopter at Boss' disposal. Once at the base, players will be able to explore it on foot and watch its development.Kojima again showed his previously revealed demo of the game, noting Ground Zeroes was running off a PC with similar specifications to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is coming to the PC Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sometime in 2013.
Konami reveals Tokyo Game Show lineup, no Ground Zeroes yet
Konami announced its Tokyo Game Show lineup today via a new portal on its site. Sadly, the 360 version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance isn't going to make it.The PS3 version remains very much alive and kicking and joins Silent Hill: Book of Memories, Zone of the Enders HD, and Metal Gear Solid: Social Ops as the publisher's highlights. There's no sign of newcomer Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes at the moment.The Tokyo Game Show starts next week, running through September 20-23.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes features day/night cycles
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes' open world has a day and night cycle, something Hideo Kojima believes can enhance the game's replay value. The Metal Gear Solid creator told Eurogamer things like "enemy troop patterns" are noticeably different between daylight and darkness. Kojima also revealed a less inviting feature of the open world, confirming the game has loading screens.Ground Zeroes debuted at PAX earlier this month, showcased in a trailer which saw Snake try to infiltrate a compound at night. Whether or not that particular mission is possible during daylight remains to be seen (pun intended), or what other elements are dependent on the time of day.In the meantime, Konami has released some screenshots taken from the trailer, so you can have a hi-res gander right below.%Gallery-164827%
Here's what we know about the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer
The complexity and depth of Metal Gear's fictional history and lore rivals that of any RPG worth its salt, and as a result many of you may have had no idea what happened in the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer that dropped a few hours ago, especially if your history with Metal Gear never extended to the PSP.Luckily for you, the Joystiq Qrew has spent over four hundred trillion collective hours immersed in the murky waters of Metal Gear, so we're going to lay down what the eff just happened as best we can. Needless to say, things could get a bit spoilersy, so all the goodies have been tucked away after the break.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes gameplay footage sneaks out of PAX 2012 [Update: Now with official footage!]
What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is the very first gameplay footage of Kojima's next non-Raiden oriented entry into the annals of Metal Gear history, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes. As you can tell, Snake's ability to stealthily infiltrate a compound and mess up everyone's day has remained in-tact since Metal Gear Solid 4 launched in 2008. Sorry about the shaky-cam nature of this – Konami wasn't allowing direct streaming of the event, so here we are. We'll get a nicer version up for you as soon as it's released.As we heard a couple days ago, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is an open world stealth game powered by Kojima Productions' proprietary Fox Engine. And yes, it did look super, super impressive.Update: Konami's official release of the footage we saw earlier today has been embedded above for your viewing pleasure. Don't say we never got you anything.
Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes is gorgeous, open-world, and not Metal Gear Solid 5
Hideo Kojima divulged details on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes at an "introspective" PAX session about the series today. The game's demo was shown recently to attendees at a Metal Gear 25th anniversary event in Japan, and involved Snake sneaking his way through an open world.So what else is new about Ground Zeroes? It's a "prologue" to Metal Gear Solid 5, says Hideo Kojima. The open world of Ground Zeroes is literally the entire world – a helicopter can be called to help during missions or ferry Snake in and out of mission levels. Moreover, you can customize the music that the helicopter plays when it arrives to help you ("Flight of the Valkyries" played during the demo we were shown today – Kojima says the louder the song is, the more of a chance of you getting caught, so maybe Slayer wouldn't be the best choice).Kojima reiterates that Ground Zeroes is a current-gen game, though Fox Engine is scalable for next-gen as well. He wouldn't give specifics on the name, but calls the game "a beginning" rather than an end for the series.Is Ground Zeroes the "Project Ogre" we've been wondering about? That's still not clear. What we do know is it's headed to current-gen consoles (360 and PS3 were mentioned) rather than the next, yet-to-be-determined hardware generation.
