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Kojima: The Lighting Makes Snake Look Old In Ground Zeroes

"I'm not old! The lighting is just terrible around here."

That's what Snake would be saying right now, apparently. After Metal Gear Ground Zeroes was announced, it seemed obvious that the main character was a little on the aged side, due to his gray hair and beard after removing his goggles.

But in truth, that was just a trick of the eye. On his English Twitter feed , Hideo Kojima confirmed that Snake's hair wasn't gray at all; it was just a "rim-lighting" issue.

"Saw many tweet about Snake in grey hair after taking off the goggle. This is due to the rim-lighting."

He also posted up a picture of Snake with darker-looking hair, and we can sort of see what he means by the lighting. Still, we're going to need an explanation as to both the age of the protagonist and the time of the setting. Can it be a direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots ? Or are we looking at a prequel? Either way, though, the game looks downright fantastic so we're not too concerned about hair right now.

Related Game(s): Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes

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telly
telly
12 years ago

Love a good Kojima Mind-F**k 🙂

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

It's still grey in the pic, just not silver like in the trailer. Funny, Big Boss looks sorta like Old Harrison Ford.

I wish they'd be more clear and call him Naked Snake. It's bugging me.

People are saying it fits into the timeline after Peace Walker but I have no idea if there's any evidence to support this.

telly
telly
12 years ago

It's definitely suggested with some of the details, though nothing concrete to confirm it, so it's entirely possibly Kojima is screwing with our heads. Lord knows there's precedent for that…

…that being said, the evidence for the post peace walker/pre-Metal Gear timeframe is substantial. They name-drop characters from Peace Walker, the Snake in the trailer is wearing a Fox Hound patch, even the helicopter plays Flight of the Valkyries — a blatant reference to Apocalypse Now, which released in the very late 70s right around the time this game ostensibly (if we're going by the trailer) takes place.

But again, NEVER assume anything when you're dealing with Kojima. The man is a master of information manipulation (the issue of information manipulation is central to MGS, especially part 2.)

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
12 years ago

Nice observations telly

xenris
xenris
12 years ago

I'm pretty sure its Big Boss. He is wearing the suit that big boss wears in peacewalker. What more evidence do you need? I mean it could be a kojima mind F@#% but everything I have seen points towards it being before Solid Snakes time.

Also Big Boss lost his eye, naked snake doesn't need an eyepatch and this guys eyepatch looks like a real one and not a tech one. Those are just my thoughts though.

TheIllusiveMan
TheIllusiveMan
12 years ago

As a massive MGS fan, these are my personal observations of the trailer.

The song that plays displays a date of 1971, which is 3 years before the events of Peace Walker. This means it at least can't be too far before that.

The music is played on a Walkman, which was Peace Walkers version of the iPod.

There are several references to Peace Walker directly made. Paz and Chico are 2 major characters in the story (mainly Paz). The MSF references are constant (MSF was your group on PW). The patches on the uniforms, and even on random areas all hint towards it.

Most importantly though? The helicopters. They look just like some of the ones in PW (better detailed obviously). There's no reason whatsoever for a modern militia to use such outdated helicopters, and with this being MGS, they wouldn't do that unless they are trying to throw us off intentionally.

This game has to be the final link Kojima promised PW would be. There still hasn't been a true explanation of how and why Naked Snake/Big Boss turned and PW was supposed to show us. It didn't, and now this one can.

Maybe I'm wrong, but all that matters to me is this game looks amazing, and I can't wait to play it.

The Matt
The Matt
12 years ago

Like the Illusive Man says. It's definitely after Peace Walker based on the conversation between Big Boss and Miller. Someone also identified the rifle Big Boss carries as a Belgian weapon made in 1979. That suggests 5 years after PW. Could be less. We've seen anachronisms in Metal Gear before. For example, Naked Snake in MGS3 (1964) who called the Mk.22 "hush puppy" yet that nickname was only given to the Mk.22 in the 1970s from what I read.

sirbob6
sirbob6
12 years ago

I think the largest evidence is how they talk about finding ****spoilers**** Paz, who disappeared in the ocean during Peacewalker.

daus26
daus26
12 years ago

Well judging from that article image, there's no sign of gray anywhere.

YashaZz
YashaZz
12 years ago

He shouldn't have grey hair as of yet anyway. The story takes place a couple of years since the events of Peacewalker.

daus26
daus26
12 years ago

Yeah, I just thought I may be one of the few that never thought he had gray (or is it grey?) hair in this game, as a lot of people seem to think. Perhaps it's because I'm so used to a lot camera filters and artificial lighting in video editing.

BTNwarrior
BTNwarrior
12 years ago

Based on the MSF badge there can only be a short period of time where this could take place. Between Peace Walker and the original Metal Gear

556pineapple
556pineapple
12 years ago

Well he's definitely wearing a "Militaires sans Frontieres" patch, so it makes sense to me it follows relatively shortly after the events of Peacewalker. I'm not sure if they've ever officially disclosed his age in any of the games, but I figure he'd be in his mid-40's around the time of Ground Zeroes.

I'll play Revengeance, but this is the game I'm excited for!

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
12 years ago

He may not be grey, but you can certainly see how his face has aged. Compare it to that Hi-res image of Big Boss when Peace Walker was revealed… We're getting there slowly.

I am still really excited for this game, that trailer was so exciting, even the new character looks like he'll be one of the best new character in a Metal Gear we've seen for a while. I just got a good vibe. PW & PO seemed to me a complete diversion from Big Boss progression to MG1, I hope this game and MGS5 finish it.

Akuma_
Akuma_
12 years ago

MGS5 is a Solid Snake story, it has to be 🙁

Kojima told people that even though he wanted to finish Sold Snakes story in MGS4, he admitted they weren't 'finished' with him just yet.

Well Big Boss in MGS3, and then in MG1 are completely different people. It was a long and hard path for him to get to that point, plus they had to show how the Patriots were created, and Big Boss' involvement with them. It is a long story, Kojima himself even stated that although Solid Snake is nearly finished, Big Boss has a lot more story to tell.

tlpn99
tlpn99
12 years ago

I thought it was Big Boss not the Snake we know eye patch and there was something mentioned online i read about the patch on the arm.

Akuma_
Akuma_
12 years ago

Ben. What are you thinking? That is Big Boss!

Aparently it is going to be a prequel to MGS5. I am no 100% sure how that will work. However, the person in that trailer is Big Boss. Not only does he have Big Boss' eyepatch, but in the trailer they are talking about Chico, Paz, and Mother Base. Chico and Paz are characters from Peace Walker, and Mother Base is the MSF's headquarters.

slugga_status
slugga_status
12 years ago

This is clearly a prequel and it is clearly Big Boss. Any hardcore Metal Gear fan knows this. Something tells me this will delve a little deeper into the rift between Zero and Big Boss

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