Konami has recently announced a Metal Gear game. Metal Gear Survive is a co-op survival game set in an alternate time-line after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. As an MSF soldier left behind, the player is sucked into a portal into a barren wasteland with the ruins of Motherbase. You need to work with other survivors against zombie-like creatures with all the fancy weaponry you can think of.
If you’ve been following Gamescom this past week, you already know the negative reaction towards this game. Some of it are due to the surprising departure from the norm that players are used to, but a majority of the hate seem to stem from Konami’s acrimonious divorce with their former star director, Hideo Kojima.
The Metal Gear series has always been associated with Kojima, and its loyal fans seem to want nothing to do with anything not made by him or at least had his blessing. But the reaction is surprising because no gameplay footage has ever been shown yet. This is different from the Pachi-slot remake of Metal Gear Solid 3, this is a legitimate attempt by Konami to move on with the franchise. More importantly, many people can’t seem to understand that despite the series being closely tied to its creator, the IP belongs to Konami.
I personally have never jumped on the #fuckonami bandwagon despite my objections to some of their reported business practices. I understand that Konami owns the IP, and despite everything that went down between them and Kojima, they too deserve to be given the benefit of the doubt when it comes to their games. A game should be judged based on its merits, and not by the reputation of its publisher. Few people seem to understand that Konami is set between a rock and a hard place with this IP: make a proper sequel to Metal Gear and it will be hated and compared unfavorably to the previous ones. Make a game in their own terms, and they will still be hated for “not being true to the spirit of Kojima’s opus” or something just as grandiose.
Two perspectives are at play here: from the point of view of fans, the Metal Gear series is video game art and whose legacy is greater than the company that owns it. From the point of view of that company, however, the fans’ views are important but ultimately they have to make the decisions. At the end of the day, it is the company that has to allocate resources to make the games. Their obligation is to make as good a game as possible, whatever way they decide for it to be. As for the consumer? It is our right to buy the game if we want, and not if we don’t. This symbiotic relationship between the company and the gamer is what propels the industry forward, for an excess of one or the other leads to an imbalance. A company that caters to every fan’s whim risks losing control over their own property, while a company that dictates how and what games are to be made risks losing touch with its own core of supporters.
I imagine that this drama surrounding Metal Gear will only increase as Metal Gear Survive’s release date comes near. It will probably increase to absurd levels when a proper sequel comes along. Survive seems like an attempt to wean players away from Hideo Kojima’s influence. A tentative, even seemingly half-hearted attempt, but an attempt nonetheless. It will be a tall order – fans are determined not to like it. But if we want to see more Metal Gear, if we want Konami not to slide it to the back-burner or archive it never to be seen again, then we must give it a chance. It’s survival depends on it.
2 Comments
For a casual gamer like me, I like this.
Though the concept is a bit old. But for the franchise, it’s a fresh one.
The hatewagon are like how MN9 is associated with Inafune.
Anything he directs after MN9 sucks. That’s what everybody else said even the game has just barely announced.
That’s what happening to Konami.
Any Metal Gear that Konami makes without Kojima, sucks. Big time.
e metal gear without kojima doesnt feel right.