Hideo Kojima shared some interesting insights regarding the development of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was a PlayStation Portable title that launched way back in 2010. Following in the footsteps of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the classic Metal Gear title continued Big Boss' journey as he set out running his own mercenary unit in Colombia. It was believed that the game was originally intended to be the fifth main line entry in the series, and though that was not the case when it was released, Kojima has stated that it was once the plan.

Hideo Kojima has shared many tales regarding the development of the portable title. A news report told a story of one thing Kojima regretted about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, which aturned out to be a song that he originally wanted to use in the game. It seems that the highly-regarded video game designer had more interesting anecdotes regarding the development of Peace Walker.

On Twitter, Hideo Kojima shared a story of how Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was supposed to be the fifth mainline entry in the franchise. Envisioning the game as MGS5: Peace Walker, Kojima mentioned that his vision was to introduce a proprietary engine into the game. While the Fox Engine has since been dropped by Konami, it did become part of a few games made by the company.

It’s been 14 years since the release of “Peace Walker.” I was still in my mid-40s at the time. Many game companies had started shifting towards developing apps for feature phones. After creating MGS4, I strongly felt the need for a proprietary engine. The leap forward for games… pic.twitter.com/mkr4AqaHqh

— HIDEO_KOJIMA (@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN) October 4, 2024

Kojima continued by saying that Peace Walker was intended as a transitional evolution for the Metal Gear franchise until the engine was completed. However, the proposed Metal Gear Solid 5: Peace Walker title faced strong opposition from overseas marketing. This is why the team decided to drop the numbered title, while also lowering the target age range of possible players. Metal Gear Solid 5 eventually came out as MGS5: The Phantom Pain, complete with the envisioned Fox Engine. And while there have been differing opinions regarding the reception of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, many consider the fifth entry to be a solid game.

Kojima had previously hinted via Twitter that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain was meant to be read as Metal Gear Solid V instead, so it's possible that there really hasn't been a fifth entry in the series. With Phantom Pain completely reinventing the Metal Gear Solid formula, it's possible that Kojima still considers Peace Walker the fifth mainline game personally. And with Peace Walkerrumored to be part of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2, it's clear just how much value the game holds in Metal Gear Solid's mainline continuity.

Posted: Oct 11, 2024 11:21 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://gamerant.com/metal-gear-solid-peace-walker-hideo-kojima-development-story/