Ground Zeroes: The first non-Metal Gear Metal Gear. Part Two.

Ground Zeroes: The first non-Metal Gear Metal Gear. Part Two.

, Edit

One big issue I have with the story of Ground Zeroes is one of the most confounding to me: The new voice of Snake. After David Hayter was fired and Kiefer Sutherland was hired, it really wasn't easy for me to accept. It still isn't. The voice of the english version of Snake for over 15 years and let go without notice because they were shifting focus from voice acting to facial capture.

I need an adult
There exists an entire bible of conspiracy theories on David Hayter's involvement with Ground Zeroes, but it's been evident that he, as he says, is no longer under employment with Konami and will most likely not appear in The Phantom Pain in any shape.
The issue with this isn't over the messy breakup by Kojima and David, but rather the result of the new facial capture technology. One thing in particular is my love for David Hayter and him making Snake's voice as memorable as he has for the past 15 years. In the same way Kevin Conroy brought the Batman to new heights and Michael Ironside giving Sam FIsher the cold profile of a lifelong soldier and secret agent, David Hayter turned what should have been a one-and-done job into a 15 year long journey that helped cement Snake's gravelly, growly voice as an icon. The ship has sailed and while fans won't forget what David Hayter has done for Snake, it's tough to wonder exactly how Hideo Kojima planned to translate the iconic growl into subtle facial movements by an unfamiliar voice.
NO I DON'T LIKE YOUR SUNGLASSES CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY
 I am a lifelong fan of Metal Gear Solid. I played the games when I was very young and I have been devoted ever since. To David Hayter, to Hideo Kojima, to everyone involved. It wasn't my intention to hate the new voice direction(Face direction?). Sure, they all but threw David Hayter in the dumpster when they fired him, but I was willing to see it through and hear what Kiefer Sutherland brought to the table, and, whil e I'm not a big fan of him, I am quite fond of his film career and I generally think positively of him. So the issues I have with the performance of Snake in Ground Zeroes is quite the predicament for me.
The most obvious of this is the major emphasis on facial expressions. In the words of Hideo Kojima himself, "In previous Metal Gears, Snake's emotions were expressed in phrases like, "Kaz? Are you okay?" But this time, all he says is, "Kaz?" I wanted everything else to be expressed to the player through Snake's facial expression & vocal performance."
While it sounds ambitious, especially seeing how intensive the face-scanning technology is in their behind the scenes videos, I found it very hard to be awed by playing through Ground Zeroes. Knowing that every single detail of Kiefer Sutherland's face was captured for the performance of Snake made every cutscene even more underwhelming than the last. Most of the time you don't even see Snake's face and when you do, you don't get a very good look at it. It was difficult for me to be immersed by this new technology when all of the faces look, well, typical and "video gamey". I should point out that they don't look bad, they just look average. If you would have told me that the faces in Ground Zeroes weren't captured and are just hand animated back in a studio, I wouldn't be surprised.
What is surprising is the lack of dialog by Kiefer Sutherland's Snake. As Kojima pushed for more focus on facial capture, he also pushed for a more "subdued performance" for Snake. So much change in the way of how you record and even who you hire to record, and there is less dialog spoken by him overall. And as Snake speaks less and less, so too must someone fill the empty space. And in doing so may have led to Ground Zeroes being a weaker experience overall with constant codec calls interrupting your every move.
Hell Master Kazuhira MacDonell Benedict Miller returns from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to carry the reigns as the active voice in Ground Zeroes and manages to get in the way of everything you will ever do. Trying to sneak next to a guard?
I'M TRYING TO SNEAK CAN YOU PLEASE JUST LET ME BE!!
Trying to listen in on some guards talking about where an important prioner has been located?
YOU JUST TALKED RIGHT OVER THEM NOW I'VE GOT NO IDEA WHERE TO GO
How about just using simple mechanics such as climbing, crawling, or jumping over gaps?
KAZ I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I GET BACK TO MOTHER BASE I WILL KILL YOU
You get the idea. He gets in the way, talking over everything, explaining everything over and over again and just generally never knowing when to stop talking. Thankfully Kojima Productions seem to be aware of the issue and are implementing a way to cancel him out to and properly enjoy The Phantom Pain. But this goes all the way back to my point in Part One of my blog, the game is loaded with bugs and glitches. It almost feels like there was little to no quality assurance on this project as consumers were aware of this overtalkative issue almost immediately, yet somehow the issue managed to sneak its way into the final release. This leads me to hope for a stronger quality assurance for The Phantom Pain, as Ground Zeroes seems to have a fair share of annoying hinderances that Metal Gear Solid is usually known for avoiding.
STRANGER DANGER!! STRANGER DANGER!!
It was clear that Ground Zeroes was released to test the waters of a truly next generation Metal Gear Solid, but I can't help but feel burned by this decision has resulted in a less polished, overlooked and overall less important title in the franchise. They say it's not a demo, and in some way I agree with that, but it certainly doesn't feel like Metal Gear Solid either.

 To be continued in Part 3.

My name is Ryan. I like to play video games and Dungeons and Dragons and all kinds of other cool stuff. I also like to write. This is my website, it's nothing special, but I write about topics from time to time that probably make no sense. But if you think they do make sense, then hang around and check out some other articles. My friends call them "blogs" but goddamnit I've got a URL and everything, so they're "articles".

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