Hideo Kojima recently took to the stage at DICE in Las Vegas to reveal something long-forgotten. Shortly after the release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots in 2008, he ‘had many discussions’ with the late Vince Zampella about creating a first-person MGS game.
The title, which has understandably never seen the light of day, would have represented a major pivot for the Metal Gear franchise. While it has featured snippets of a first-person perspective in some sequences, we’ve never had a dedicated first-person title in the series.
What Might Have Been for Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots launched to a positive reception way back in 2008, emerging as a core PlayStation 3 title with immense cinematic potential. It represented a penultimate point for Kojima, as the next title, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, would be his final major release in the series before leaving Konami.
In 2008, Vince Zampella was busying himself with the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. This would have been when he was the CEO at Infinity Ward, and up to a year and a half before he was unexpectedly let go from the company.
In April 2010, Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment and went to work developing Titanfall.
But in a new segment at DICE, Hideo Kojima spoke fondly of the late Zampella, who died just before Christmas in a car wreck in California. In a post on social media from Geoff Keighley, it was confirmed that Kojima and Zampella had ‘many discussions’ about creating a first-person Metal Gear Solid game, building on the success of MGS4.
Nothing more was said on the matter, but it’s safe to assume that a first-person Metal Gear Solid game would have drastically shifted the game’s perspective in more ways than one. In the comments under Keighley’s post, die-hard MGS fans stressed that the franchise ‘only works’ as a third-person shooter.
Kojima also confirmed that Zampella helped him to establish Kojima Productions after parting ways with Konami around 2015.
Do you think a first-person Metal Gear Solid game would have worked? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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