Hideo Kojima developed a somewhat extreme idea regarding a boss of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Make the fight last for… two weeks!
Hideo Kojima is one of the most visionary creators in the video game industry. We owe him masterpieces like Metal Gear Solid or death stranding. He is the type to go to the end of these ideas to offer experiences that are unlike any other. However, he sometimes backpedals and makes up his mind, as explained by David Hayter (the English voice of the hero of Metal Gear Solid) in an episode of Did You Know Gaming broadcast on September 11, 2022.
Filled with gripping anecdotes, the show reveals that there was a time when Hideo Kojima envisioned the unthinkable for Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater : force the player to fight a boss for two weeks (in real life, not in the virtual time of the game). Two weeks of patience, playing the game of cat and mouse, in the company of a sniper capable of killing with a single bullet. Hideo Kojima believed in it so much that tests were carried out. They were logically inconclusive.
Who would agree to beat a boss in two weeks?
The boss, dubbed The End, has not been removed from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. This very old member of the Cobra Unit is considered an outstanding marksman and poses a serious problem for those who have to cross his path. Originally, Hideo Kojima wanted to be inspired by real snipers, who can stand still for days waiting for their target. ” Personally, I’m a fan of Stephen Hunter’s novels. [qui a aussi inspiré le film Shooter, tireur d’élite], where there are scenes in the mountains during which two snipers hide and try to find each other for days. This is something I wanted for Metal Gear Solid 3 “, he confided.
Hideo Kojima was visibly ready to accept the consequences, aware that his idea would divide the public: If ten players went through this fight, I don’t care if five of them would hate it so much they quit, as long as the other five loved it. His team eventually made him realize that it was an ordeal, with testers who spent hours and hours looking for The End without success. We understand the desire to be as authentic and realistic as possible, but the gameplay must still be fun. A priori, no one wants to look for an enemy in a forest for two weeks.
We still remember that Hideo Kojima takes malicious pleasure in imagining more than original concepts for his enemies. In the first Metal Gear Solid, Psycho Mantis asked players to put the controller on the ground to make it vibrate, in order to show the extent of his powers (he pretended to control it). He could also comment on the saves present in the memory card, breaking the fourth wall a little more. In the Metal Gear Solid saga, the clashes are really thought of as memorable moments, around a well-written cast.