Illustration for article titled emMetal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes/em Is A Prologue To emMetal Gear Solid 5/em

The next Metal Gear Solid game is considered a prologue to Metal Gear Solid 5, director Hideo Kojima said today at a PAX presentation.


He also showed off some stunning gameplay footage from the upcoming open-world game. Snake is back: and he actually looks younger than he did in Metal Gear Solid 4. The original Snake, also known as Big Boss, is back: and he's the star this time, like he was in Metal Gear Solid 3 and several other games in the series. He can use a helicopter to fly around the world, going between countries and taking on missions.

We're also introduced to a suited figure that appears to be one of the game's villains. The character wears a black, flat-brimmed hat, his face burnt and disfigured. He appears to be part of a group called XOF—FOX backwards—and he calls his squad of soldiers "an army without a nation."


The footage runs on Kojima's impressive Fox Engine, which the director says could be used for other Konami games like Silent Hill in the future. It's current-gen: PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It can also scale for next-gen platforms.

We'll have the full fifteen minutes of gameplay footage on Kotaku shortly.

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The game takes places after Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. It's the only aspect of the franchise (between MG2 and MGS1) that hasn't been explore as far as plot goes.

It's the only plausible reason for why the "villain" (naked snake) has a burnt face, whilst also in the timeline of Sans Militaires Frontieres.

The ending of MG1:

Having lost Metal Gear and much of his force, Big Boss seemingly starts the self-destruct sequence for the compound, and promises he will not die alone; Snake will join him. An underground battle ensues, and despite injury, Snake defeats Big Boss and escapes the Outer Heaven compound as it crumbles in flames behind him.

The ending of MG2:

Snake is met by Big Boss while trying to escape. Having lost his equipment and with no weapons at his disposal, Snake is forced to improvise using the only items he can find, a lighter and aerosol can. Fashioning a makeshift flamethrower, Snake defeats Big Boss for the second time.

Too much of a coincidence, not to mention the villains squad is referred to as "an army without a nation".