E3 2007 Preview
Hideo Kojima, the genius behind the
unforgettable Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series, has toyed with the
possibility of killing off Solid Snake. He’s hinted at it multiple times, almost
as an inside joke to gamers who know it’s never really going to happen.
But one thing to remember is that
Kojima is not your typical game developer. He is as much a filmmaker as Peter
Jackson or the guys who work on Lost on 24. If there’s one thing TV has taught
us in the past six years, it’s that main characters should — and will — die.
When this trend began, it was completely unexpected, earning gasps and tears
from viewers all over the world. Which has to make you wonder: what would happen
if the game series that was inspired by older generations of film and TV was now
inspired by the current generation?
Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers have
become an annual event for E3 attendees, and for this year’s showing, Kojima
took the opportunity to reveal several story sequences that are aimed at
shocking and devastating the viewer. We will play Guns of Patriots one day (of
course, that time won’t come until early 2008, the newly announced release
date). But like the others, we will spend a large portion of the game watching
in awe, fearful and at the same time on the edge of our seats for what the next
scene will bring.
The trailer began with Snake
infiltrating what appears to be a battlefield in progress. No gunfire had broken
out, but there were several ominous trucks hulling large, concealed objects.
Several troops were seen walking the streets, ready to take action. Though most
of the soldiers were presumably men (it’s impossible to say for certain since
most of them were masked), the group also featured a new look at the female
soldier we were once led to believe had died: Meryl. She wasn’t masked and
didn’t seem to be wearing as much armor as the others, but given her history she
had to be safe. After all, she was the girl who came back from the dead.
Then, with a twist that will blow
the mind of every diehard Metal Gear fan, a strange, implanted substance is
unleashed, incapacitating every soldier on the battlefield. The soldiers try to
fight it and stand their ground, but the substance takes its toll, causing them
to fall over as they began to foam at the mouth. The sight was graphically
amazing and featured the same level of jaw-dropping, this-can’t-be-real PS3
effects demonstrated last year.
I was stunned and a little worried,
because knowing the history of movies and television, I knew what was next:
Meryl was going to fall. The following scenes were almost hard to watch — could
this really be happening!? She and her colleagues collapse while other,
similarly-dressed soldiers rush in to fight them. As this is going on, the
two-legged creature/robot walkers (introduced in the last two trailers) leap
into the battlefield. They’re vicious and, without any kind of human connection,
do not have a problem dealing with remorse — probably because they don’t have
the capacity to experience that feeling.
Snake, having lurked nearby, rushes
in to stop the enemy. But as he enters the swarm of dying allies, it was obvious
that the substance was effecting him as well. Snake has but one mission: to kill
Liquid — and he’s too weak to do it! His hand can barely hold the gun up high
enough to aim, let alone pull off a shot that’s steady enough to take out the
long-time villain.
With Snake out of commission, the
trailer switches over to the superhuman warrior of Metal Gear Solid 2, Raiden,
who says he "doesn’t fear death." Last time he showed no mercy when taking on
the walkers — this time he’s fighting a man who seems to be as equally
difficult to kill. The unknown adversary has the dark and rugged appearance of a
vampire, though he had no fangs. His body reacted like one as well, taking
multiple hits without any indication that he could feel pain.
The choreography of this scene was
unreal. Raiden whipped around the screen, reflecting knives with his sword while
dodging others. The martial arts moves are unlike anything you’d see in a movie,
with moves and stunts that are impossible to perform in the real world. That’s
what made it to so exciting. To see Raiden flip through the air, jump on his
enemy’s chest, and stab him with a knife that was hidden within his uber-suit
and came out through his feet — it was simply incredible. Had it not been for
the grim opening, this part of the trailer would have had me cheering. As it was
I couldn’t wait to see more. Devastating or not, the finished game has been on
my wish list since it was unveiled. Here we are, two E3s later and the world is
still waiting to play it.
Though it may have seemed like
Raiden had won, his enemy was not finished fighting. He yanks the sharp object
from his chest and eventually gains the upper hand. Soon the situation is
reversed and it’s Raiden’s chest that’s getting stomped on. But as we’ve been
shown before, Raiden doesn’t die.
In the final scene, Raiden is being
attacked closely from behind. Knowing this may be the only way to finish off his
enemy, he stabs his sword through his own chest, through his back, and right
through the enemy, who tries to break free. Raiden holds firm and wins the
battle…at least that’s what we’re led to believe.
This year’s Metal Gear Solid 4
trailer was just what gamers needed to remind them that Hideo Kojima’s
inspiration lies in filmmaking and that his stories are anything but
predictable. The gameplay, though likely to be some of the most groundbreaking
tactical espionage action you’ll have this generation, is still a question mark.
We know that the finished product will look like the trailer (since its movies
are powered by the game’s engine), but Konami has yet to reveal a single frame
of gameplay footage.
