Gamescom 2016: Metal Gear Survive announced by Konami

Konami is moving on with the Metal Gear franchise, post-Kojima. But man is Metal Gear Survive an odd way to do it.

Metal Gear, a game reduced to a single instinct: Survive

Well, that is a Metal Gear game that you see above, even though it might not look much like it. But as we understand it, Survive is indeed a part of the long-running stealth series. Not that it, you know, looks all that stealthy. Zombies with crystals growing out of their heads and portals to other dimensions sure don’t scream Metal Gear after all.

Also kind of odd is that it looks like Survive is a direct sequel to Ground Zeroes. At the top of the video, we see Snake taking off in a chopper, which is a re-play of GZ’s final scene (spoiler alert). So that’d make it a prequel of sorts to The Phantom Pain as well.

It’s also different in that Snake isn’t the main character. No, instead of following him as he heads into the TPP storyline, we move back to an unknown soldier. As the base goes to hell, he looks like he’s pulled into some kind of other-dimensional portal.

If Konami wanted to do something different after the departure of series director Hideo Kojima, well this is it I guess.

Multiplayer only survival

Metal Gear Survive is also a multiplayer game first and foremost, which is very different for a major release in the MGS series. It won’t be competitive multi though, as Konami’s Tomotada Tashiro explains that the game is co-op in nature.

“We are delighted to announce another exciting addition to the METAL GEAR franchise,” said Tomotada Tashiro, European President for Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.  “METAL GEAR SURVIVE will offer a fresh take on the series’ famed stealth elements but within a unique co-op setting that is designed for a truly engrossing multi-player experience.”

Konami promises the series’ staple gameplay will continue however, even in the face of all these major changes. Yes, you’ll still be able to expect a mix of action and stealth gameplay. What’ll be new is that you’ll have to “manage massive threats” in this new world that you find yourself in. That sounds like base-building and resource gathering to me, which makes sense given the ‘badlands’ setting.

Though the threats might be “massive”, the size of the player’s human team won’t be. I imagine that there’ll be a fair bit of NPCs for you to order around, as the online co-op only supports four players.

The official story synopsis is below.

In a struggle to stay alive on this harsh terrain filled with deadly creatures, soldiers who were previously on Motherbase now must work cooperatively in order to survive. METAL GEAR SURVIVE continues the pedigree of METAL GEAR SOLID V’s highly praised gameplay design, with a unique blend of stealth and co-op play mechanics. Players can strategically manage massive threats with the help of four-player online cooperative play. New weaponry will also be introduced to combat charging creatures and lethal environments as well.