Summary
- The Snake Eater remake has reignited franchise interest, but Kojima’s absence and uncertainty about future MG games linger.
- Kojima pitched many canceled concepts: Boss at Normandy, an open-world Rising, and a social PSP Metal Gear.
- He also eyed remakes, such as MSX originals and an open-world Shadow Moses using Fox Engine ideas.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s release is prompting a lot of fans to dive deeper into the history of the Metal Gear franchise and Hideo Kojima's history as a developer. The fact that he wasn’t involved with the remake is sad for some, along with the idea that there can never be a new Metal Gear game again, or at least not a new one in the way that Kojima would handle it.
Konami could surprise fans if Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater sells well. For now, it is at least reviewing well, which is a positive. So today, let’s dive into the games that could have been. Kojima has dropped hints at where he wanted the series to go, with vague details, tweets, and sometimes even sketches.
6 Canceled Metal Gear Games
For a series as extensive and established as Metal Gear, there are bound to be some game concepts that were permanently shelved in its history.
The Boss Goes To Normandy
A Sorrowful Pitch Gone Awry
One of the coolest ideas for a Metal Gear game was discussed in a behind-the-scenes video regarding what went wrong with Metal Gear Solid: Rising. Following MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima worked on a proposal for what would be MGS5. It was another prequel, this time about The Boss leading her Cobra Unit into battle at Normandy during World War 2.
As a refresher, the Cobra Unit was comprised of The Boss leading The Pain, The Fear, The End, The Fury, and The Sorrow. This history was discussed in MGS3: Snake Eater, so it made sense to make a game set in WW2. It would have been the first Metal Gear game to feature a lead female protagonist, and since it was never made, the series is still lacking a female-led game.
While this proposal was rejected in favor of moving forward with Metal Gear Solid: Rising, there was another proposal for a prequel as well. Takahiro Omori, an artist in the Metal Gear franchise, tweeted about his idea to make a sandbox game starring The Sorrow in his younger years. The tweet was deleted, but not before the Did You Know Gaming YouTube channel took a screenshot and archived it. Years later, it appeared as though Kojima was still not done dreaming about a game starring The Boss, as he was seen location scouting in Normandy during a promo tour for MGS5: Ground Zeroes. Many hoped this proved Kojima was looking around Normandy to resurface the lost WW2 game.
The Original Metal Gear Solid: Rising
And Kojima’s Sequel Idea
In the same Did You Know Gaming video mentioned above, they talked to some developers about the original idea for MGS: Rising. The game was to take place in-between MGS2: Sons of Liberty and MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, wherein Raiden would go into Area 51 on a rescue mission. He would be stopped by a man named Wexler, who would destroy Raiden’s body and rebuild him to make him a cybernetic slave known as Black Raiden.
Things You Might Not Know About The Development Of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
From cut bosses to missing mechanics, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater went through some changes.
He would eventually shake off the brainwashing and escape to Dr. Madnar, the scientist from Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, who made the Metal Gear mechs, who would rebuild him as White Raiden. Also, the game was going to be open-world. The team couldn’t hack it though, so the project was completely rebooted by PlatinumGames, which turned into Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Kojima told VideoGamer that he pitched his team the idea to make Metal Gear Solid: Rising as a Frank Jaeger, aka Gray Fox, game, and if they agreed, he would have directed it. As a refresher, Gray Fox was Solid Snake’s ally he had to rescue in Metal Gear before becoming an enemy in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. He then returned as a cybernetic ninja in Metal Gear Solid. When his team said no, Kojima didn’t give up and instead pitched PlatinumGames on the idea of Fox fighting nanomachine-infused zombies, which they also passed on.
Everyone’s Metal Gear
A Social-Based Action PSP Game
In a now-lost blog written by Kojima, he detailed his proposal for a PSP game that would later morph into Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. He called it Minna no Metal Gear, or Everybody’s Metal Gear. Fans of that title may also think about Hot Shots Golf, which was called Minna no Golf, or Everybody's Golf, in Japan for a long time.
Best Duos In Metal Gear History
While Snake is often acting alone in Metal Gear, he, his allies, or even his enemies will sometimes team up to form a dangerous duo.
Golf games aside, in that same Did You Know Gaming video, they translated and summarized Kojima’s idea behind the game. Players would turn on the PSP game and be left alone in the world. By meeting people in the real world, they could populate their game and assume their roles. If they died, they were gone for good, which was similar to an idea Kojima had for decades about a game that no longer worked once players died.
Everyone’s Metal Gear was still action-based, but he didn’t go into much detail about said action, as the social elements were the focus of the blog. MGS: Portable Ops fans will know that although Kojima didn’t work heavily on the rebooted project, some of his ideas made it in, like recruiting other players to populate their game via the PSP’s Ad Hoc and WiFi functions.
Kojima’s Wanted Remakes
Three Games Waiting In The Wings
Kojima has said he’s not a fan of game remakes, and yet for three years, he brought up ideas he had about them. Around E3 2013, Kojima expressed interest in Metal Gear Solid getting remade with the Fox Engine, the same engine used for MGS5: The Phantom Pain. This tweet was archived in that Did You Know Gaming video.
At Gamescom 2014, he did an interview with Geoff Keighley and touched on Metal Gear Solid being a good remake candidate again. Finally, at the 2015 Taipei Game Show, Kojima elaborated further on how he would want the game to feature an open-world version of Shadow Moses, the location of Metal Gear Solid.
Funnily enough, before that 2014 Gamescom interview, Geoff Keighley interviewed Kojima in London, and it was here that he discussed the desire to remake the MSX games, Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, to get rid of inconsistencies with how MGS5: The Phantom Pain ended. Without spoilers, fans know exactly how well MGS5: The Phantom Pain would lead into Metal Gear perfectly as a remake. It would have also, perhaps, answered why David Hayter didn't voice Venom Snake.
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