Ben-DutkaWhen the long time voice actor for Metal Gear Solid protagonist Snake, David Hayter, confirmed he wasn't in the new MGS title , fans were peeved.
Some were a little more than peeved. Sure, Hayter's replacement – one Kiefer Sutherland – is an accomplished actor and he ended up doing a great job, but franchise purists really missed Hayter. Now, the actor has spoken out about the situation and why he's not really the biggest fan of Hideo Kojima right now.
In a new Game Informer interview , Hayter said he'd spoken to one of the producers for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain , and he said "Konami was going in a different direction." Thing is, though, it apparently wasn't the first time they'd tried to replace Hayter:
"They tried to do that before, and it never worked. They tried to get voice matches, and it never happened."
In fact, the handwriting had been on the wall for a while, as it was never a given that Hayter would reprise his iconic lead role:
"I had to re-audition for Metal Gear 3 to play Naked Snake. They made me re-audition to play Old Snake, and the whole time, they were trying to find somebody else to do it. I heard that Kojima asked one of the producers on Metal Gear 3 to ask Kurt Russell if he would take over for that game. He didn't want to do it."
All that being said, Hayter says he cherishes the time he spent working with the series, even if he wishes the relationship hadn't ended on a sour note. He also has no "ill will" toward Sutherland and he simply says- "The whole thing could have been handled better and a little more respectfully, but I'm not going to cry about it."
If you're wondering, no, Hayter hasn't played MGSV, as that would be "60 hours of humiliation." Furthermore, he says he has "no particular love for Kojima" and isn't in a rush to work with him again. So even though Kojima is on his own now (he recently opened his own studio and forged a fresh partnership with Sony ), don't expect Hayter's voice to be in the MGS master's new project.
Big mistake not using him.
Shame the series ended that way.
Honestly, this guy will always be snake. Plus…did Sutherland even say anything in MGSV. With that said, I like Sutherlands voice better.
He would be a lot more cheaper and probably insist of having more dialogue, Venom was almost a mute, Kojima it's a genius but a crazy one that unfortunately can be random in a bad way, since Peacewalker Kojima design on Metal Gear include cut bosses encounters and less interesting main villains.
And one personal con, he cut the CODEC! I loved that thing, even the guys of Platinum games included a very good one on Rising!, the tapes system on PW and PP were awful!
Last edited by Oxvial on 3/27/2016 10:55:15 PM
I thought it was kind of dumb to change voice actor for the last game in the series.
After his performance in Peace Walker I didn't care that they replaced him. His voice was perfect for Old Snake. But it just got progressively worse after that.
Well since MGSV focuses on 'Venom Snake' it's not such a big deal if David Hayter didn't voice that character.
But it is a shame that David didn't part in good terms with Kojima. I feel like there is much more to this story than what we're told.
"Playing the game would be '60 hours of humiliation'" yet the article includes an MGS5 trailer. How ironic.
I wonder how Kojima would feel if Del Toro decided to have Hayter in their videogame. If it were to ever get made of course.
hayter always sounded like a sissy talking to me. Im glad he is gone.
I know voice actors have to fake their voices when doing certain roles but Hayter took it too far when he did Snake's voice.
It sounded kinda cool, but no way any guy in real life would sound like that.
Sutherlands voice was more appropriate and realistic to the point I wished he voiced Snake in previous games.
I so agree. Replaying MGSIV proves this statement….in my opinion of course. I always felt MGS was over dramatic and alot has to do with delivery. I think the voice acting in MGS5 was much better and you could tell Sutherland was noticeably better then his supporting cast.
But that was the whole appeal in the first place! Snakes (or David Hayters) voice is so iconic. It's instantly recognizable by fans just like any other iconic character.
Sutherlands voice may be 'realistic', but I thought it was a little bland and almost forgettable. (Which is ok since he voiced 'Venom Snake')
Though, I do think that with the introduction of Solid snake, Big Boss's voice would have to be differentiated somehow, otherwise that final scene in MGS4 with Solid Snake & Big Boss would have sounded… Awkward.
If you go back and play MGS on PS1. His voice sounded great until 4. It started to go. But it worked for 4 because he was Old Snake. In Peace Walker he sounded like throat cancer snake. It was awful.
Fans love him so I can't blame him, if I were him I'd Hayte the f*cker.
Really sounds like he got screwed and was treated poorly by konami, personally to me he is all the various snakes. His voice is iconic for it.
I loved all of Hayter's performances, but it should have been a different actor for every Big Boss game. The voice is so identifiable as Solid's that it muddles the characters. Phantom Pain was the first time I felt like Big Boss and Solid Snake were truly two different people.
It would have been nice, though, if they'd gone a different route for the voice at the very end of Mission 50.
While the new guy is a better actor, for consistency sake, it would've been nice to have kept Hayter through Kojima's tenure with the franchise.
Someone on the internet comment boards once said:
"Kojima is a David hayter".
He's not accidentally misdirecting most of it to Koji as opposed Konami right?
I didn't like that he wasn't used. He IS Snake. However knowing the story of MGSV I understand the use of someone different…
I said this in the overrated game article before, and I'll say it again.
MGSV: The Phantom Pain was an excellent game with great graphics/physics/ost/gameplay…and yet the most crucial part of Metal gear solid was missing: a story. Aka: as most people refer to it a PHANTOM PLOT.
I'm rather glad that David hayter wasn't in it considering it would have been an absolute waste of his talent…and also considering how Snake didn't speak AT ALL.
Crazy how they replace a great voice actor like Hayter, yet they have such BLAND voice actors such as the guy for Skull Face.
Who's doing this…such a lust for bad VOICE WORK, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!!??!
"Playing the game would be ླྀ hours of humiliation'" yet the article includes an MGS5 trailer. How ironic.
I wonder how Kojima would feel if Del Toro decided to have Hayter in their videogame. If it were to ever get made of course.
Really sounds like he got screwed and was treated poorly by konami, personally to me he is all the various snakes. His voice is iconic for it.
hayter always sounded like a sissy talking to me. Im glad he is gone.
Well since MGSV focuses on 'Venom Snake' it's not such a big deal if David Hayter didn't voice that character.
But it is a shame that David didn't part in good terms with Kojima. I feel like there is much more to this story than what we're told.
I thought it was kind of dumb to change voice actor for the last game in the series.
I loved all of Hayter's performances, but it should have been a different actor for every Big Boss game. The voice is so identifiable as Solid's that it muddles the characters. Phantom Pain was the first time I felt like Big Boss and Solid Snake were truly two different people.
It would have been nice, though, if they'd gone a different route for the voice at the very end of Mission 50.
I know voice actors have to fake their voices when doing certain roles but Hayter took it too far when he did Snake's voice.
It sounded kinda cool, but no way any guy in real life would sound like that.
Sutherlands voice was more appropriate and realistic to the point I wished he voiced Snake in previous games.
After his performance in Peace Walker I didn't care that they replaced him. His voice was perfect for Old Snake. But it just got progressively worse after that.
If you go back and play MGS on PS1. His voice sounded great until 4. It started to go. But it worked for 4 because he was Old Snake. In Peace Walker he sounded like throat cancer snake. It was awful.
While the new guy is a better actor, for consistency sake, it would've been nice to have kept Hayter through Kojima's tenure with the franchise.
I so agree. Replaying MGSIV proves this statement….in my opinion of course. I always felt MGS was over dramatic and alot has to do with delivery. I think the voice acting in MGS5 was much better and you could tell Sutherland was noticeably better then his supporting cast.
I didn't like that he wasn't used. He IS Snake. However knowing the story of MGSV I understand the use of someone different…
Fans love him so I can't blame him, if I were him I'd Hayte the f*cker.
I said this in the overrated game article before, and I'll say it again.
MGSV: The Phantom Pain was an excellent game with great graphics/physics/ost/gameplay…and yet the most crucial part of Metal gear solid was missing: a story. Aka: as most people refer to it a PHANTOM PLOT.
I'm rather glad that David hayter wasn't in it considering it would have been an absolute waste of his talent…and also considering how Snake didn't speak AT ALL.
Crazy how they replace a great voice actor like Hayter, yet they have such BLAND voice actors such as the guy for Skull Face.
Who's doing this…such a lust for bad VOICE WORK, WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!!??!
But that was the whole appeal in the first place! Snakes (or David Hayters) voice is so iconic. It's instantly recognizable by fans just like any other iconic character.
Sutherlands voice may be 'realistic', but I thought it was a little bland and almost forgettable. (Which is ok since he voiced 'Venom Snake')
Though, I do think that with the introduction of Solid snake, Big Boss's voice would have to be differentiated somehow, otherwise that final scene in MGS4 with Solid Snake & Big Boss would have sounded… Awkward.
Someone on the internet comment boards once said:
"Kojima is a David hayter".
He's not accidentally misdirecting most of it to Koji as opposed Konami right?
He would be a lot more cheaper and probably insist of having more dialogue, Venom was almost a mute, Kojima it's a genius but a crazy one that unfortunately can be random in a bad way, since Peacewalker Kojima design on Metal Gear include cut bosses encounters and less interesting main villains.
And one personal con, he cut the CODEC! I loved that thing, even the guys of Platinum games included a very good one on Rising!, the tapes system on PW and PP were awful!
Last edited by Oxvial on 3/27/2016 10:55:15 PM
Big mistake not using him.
Shame the series ended that way.
Honestly, this guy will always be snake. Plus…did Sutherland even say anything in MGSV. With that said, I like Sutherlands voice better.