• Posted April 7th, 2013 at 06:11 EDT by Don Oliveira

Some time has passed since Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was unveiled at this year’s Games Developers Conference, and that means that we’ve finally had the chance to simmer down from that drop dead gorgeous trailer. The MGS franchise has always been synonymous with the PlayStation brand, so it’s no surprise that some of us here at PSU, like myself, are diehard fans of the series. Kojima’s got us by the balls, and he knows we’re taking this trailer very seriously.

Probably too seriously.

You can find rumors and speculation pieces all over the internet--our very own Metal Gear forum, NeoGAF, even our podcast, Derailed! However, maybe we should take a break from all this theorizing and speculative thinking, and stick to what we know—for sanity’s sake.

Here’s a list of all things that we know (so far) for sure about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Let’s start with the basics, shall we?

General / Development

-MGSV is the first game built by Kojima Productions using the FOX Engine

-Published by Konami, the game will be produced, designed, written, and directed by series creator Hideo Kojima

-The game has only been confirmed for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A PlayStation 4/next-gen version has not been officially mentioned, but is expected to be revealed at some point by many, due to the impressive visuals of the new FOX Engine. There has been no mention of a PC version; however, a Kojima Productions job listing suggests that a PC version is, in fact, in development. It’s worth noting that the GDC 2013 gameplay demo of The Phantom Pain was running on a PC.

-Metal Gear Solid V is made up of two parts: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, just like Metal Gear Solid 2 was made up of the Tanker and Big Shell chapters. Ground Zeroes is a prequel to The Phantom Pain, taking place 9 years earlier. While together these episodes make up MGSV, Konami has been vague as to how these separate experiences will be distributed, confirming that both parts make up one game, but not confirming that they ship together in one package.

-David Hayter, the beloved voice of Snake (young Big Boss and Solid) since 1998, will not be reprising his role as the game’s protagonist this time around, according to various reports, namely the actor’s Twitter account. Furthermore, Kojima has confirmed that the reason for his exclusion is to give a new voice to Snake from here on out.

Characters / Story

Note: there is a ton of story analysis already available on the internet, either through canonical links between other Metal Gear games or in-depth trailer analysis, but we’ll just cover the broad strokes.

-Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain both feature Big Boss (Naked Snake) as the game’s main protagonist. Ground Zeroes takes place soon after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker; The Phantom Pain takes places 9 years after Ground Zeroes.

-When Big Boss wakes up from his coma, he realizes that he has a prosthetic limb, instead of a left arm. The game’s subtitle, “phantom pain,” is a medical term for when an amputee feels sensations where a limb or organ no longer exists--like Big Boss' missing left arm.

-Kaz Miller (A.K.A. Master Miller, Big Boss’ second in command) can be seen a few times in the GDC 2013 MGSV trailer.

-During the scene where Kaz is hospitalized, he stresses that Big Boss must survive, and subsequently asks how the third patient (identity remains unknown), whose perspective we’re watching from, is doing. This character is presumed to play an important role in the story, seeing as how they were brought in beside Snake and Kaz, leaders of Militaires San Frontieres.

-Ismael, a mysterious bandaged man, is present when Big Boss awakens from his coma and tries to lead him away from danger. The name “Ismael” is surely a reference to the 1851 novel Moby Dick, seeing as the character called Snake “Ahab,” who is also known as the captain of novel's whale ship. A giant, fiery whale can also be seen at one point in the trailer. Also, in a ruse orchestrated by Kojima Productions, “Moby Dick Studios” was initially reported to have been ... (continued on next page)