It was almost a forgone conclusion that Konami would look to pick up the Metal Gear mantle long after Hideo Kojima left the Japanese publisher under questionable circumstances.
Kojima was, after all, the founding father behind the stealth juggernaut, overseeing a military story of intrigue, collusion and supernatural bosses that spanned three decades. But, where does the series go from here? Into another dimension, it seems, with the release of Metal Gear Survive.
On the heels of yesterday’s bonkers first trailer, Konami has now premiered a series of stills for the co-op based stealth title, which whisks Mother Base and its legions of Militaires Sans Frontières soldiers into another dimension teeming with zombies.
It’s fairly radical departure for a series defined on tactical espionage action, but during an interview with Eurogamer, Konami Brand Manager Richard Jones outlined the ways in which Survive retains many of the franchise’s tropes.
A very forbidding, foreboding, alien-looking landscape with lots of twisted wreckage and lots of things that have fallen through this wormhole. This is where the co-op comes into this game. You’re not alone; there are other people there, and in order for you to survive and in order to be successful, you need to work as a team.
“Co-op is only one of the gameplay mechanics. Obviously Metal Gear is well-known for its stealth, that is, primarily, what makes Metal Gear. There is stealth in it, I know when you’re watching the trailer it’s all very action-packed and it doesn’t really elicit that feeling, but there will be stealth and one of the really interesting things that we will be exploring and playing with is how stealth and co-op can actually co-exist. We’ve formed gameplay that that kind of allows and enhances that.”
Metal Gear Survive will mark the franchise’s first foray into post-Kojima territory when Konami’s spinoff launches for PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2017.