Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is the latest game in the Metal Gear series. It was released for the PSP in 2010. It explains the story of Big Boss and lead up to the events of the founding and the creation of Outer Heaven. The game was officially announced at Sony's E3 press conference on June 2, 2009. Hideo Kojima designed, wrote, produced and directed the game. The theme song for the game is titled "Heavens Divide."

The game is set in 1974, ten years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, four years after Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, and just two years after the Les Enfants Terribles project. The setting is Costa Rica and depicts the rise of Outer Heaven.

The game was released in Japan on April 29, 2010; and will be released North America on June 8, 2010; Europe on June 17, 2010; and UK on June 18, 2010.

Plot
Main article: Operation Peace Walker

The year is 1974. In Costa Rica, an unknown army of well-equipped soldiers has taken over the defenseless country. The soldiers have also brought along a nuclear warhead labeled "Peace Walker", to set off their last nuclear warhead for deterrance, and demonstrate their power with the perfect deterrance. Big Boss is asked to save the country along with his Militaires Sans Frontieres (Soldiers Without Borders). It is later learned that the soldiers that invaded the country are a rogue CIA unit, as well as the fact that the Militaires Sans Frontieres' client, a University for Peace professor named Ramón Gálvez Mena, is actually an agent of the KGB. If Big Boss fights them then he will become an enemy of America. Eventually, Big Boss and his soldiers would come to be known as the founders of Outer Heaven.

At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show, Kojima stated that President Richard Nixon's resignation during August 1974 may be factored into the game's storyline. Kojima also stated: "Solid Snake's storyline has ended with Metal Gear Solid 4. But there's still a lot more when it comes to Naked Snake's storyline. The Cold War was a time where people, neither good nor evil, were manipulated by various factors, and they became good or evil. The same goes for Liquid Snake, and we'll get to see just what happened to him."

Kojima also stated that there will be flashbacks to events from Metal Gear Solid 3 and that the game's theme will be nuclear deterrence.

Characters
Until late September 2009, only Big Boss was confirmed as a character. On September 23, 2009 Konami opened their official Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker website, with a comprehensive list of characters and their Japanese voice actors. In Session 102 of the Kojima Productions report the English voice cast was announced. Naked Snake/Big Boss will be voiced by Akio Ōtsuka and David Hayter, who both previously voiced the role in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops. Hideyuki Tanaka and Christopher Randolph, who both have previously voiced Otacon, will also return as Huey, a nuclear scientist with a resemblence to Otacon. Kikuko Inoue (who previously voiced the Japanese versions of Rosemary in Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4, The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, and Sunny Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 4) will voice Chico, Vanessa Marshall (who previously voiced the English versions of Olga Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2 and EVA in Portable Ops) will voice Strangelove, Tara Strong (who previously voiced Elisa and Ursula in Portable Ops) will voice Paz Ortega Andrade, and Steven Blum (who provided the English voice to Gene in Portable Ops) will return as new character Ramón Gálvez Mena.

According to the voice credits of the Peace Walker demo released in December 2009, Suzetta Miñet (the English voice actress for EVA in Metal Gear Solid 3) and Grant Albrecht (the English voice actor for The End in Metal Gear Solid 3) will also be voicing characters in the game. Similarily, in the TGS 2009 version of the demo's voice credits, Misa Watanabe (the Japanese voice actress for EVA in Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops), Osamu Saka (the Japanese voice actor for Sergei Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2 and The End in Metal Gear Solid 3), and Takeshi Aono (the Japanese voice actor for both Roy Campbell in Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4 and Granin in Metal Gear Solid 3) will also be voicing characters in the game.

Gameplay
An E3 2009 trailer for the game revealed that Big Boss can crouch and walk around, similar to gameplay in Metal Gear Solid 4. The same trailer showed Big Boss walking through jungles and hanging onto the side of a suspension bridge to avoid detection.

In a July 2009 press release, Kojima stated that players will be able to customize Big Boss before going on a mission. Players can also choose to play the game stealthily or charge in with their guns blazing. If they choose to be stealthy, then their arsenal will be slimmed down in favor of quieter movement. The game will also include a "growth feature" that allows Big Boss to "evolve", similar to role-playing games and certain first-person shooters. There will also be multiple types of cardboard boxes.



In August 2009, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reported that Peace Walker will contain multiplayer co-operative gameplay, and a trailer shown at Gamescon 2009 showed the co-op gameplay in action. The game will allow two to four players to play together, helping each other to clear missions, such as one player using the other player as a step to reach a higher platform. Players will also be able to heal and revive their teammates and can make the other players follow the movements of one player. Famitsu also stated that some of the different cardboard boxes that can be found throughout the game, such as one shaped like a tank, can affect the player's status. While the demo didn't allow the player to pause the game, the full game allows the player to pause in single-player mode.

Closer inspection of the Gamescon 09 trailer reveals more new gameplay mechanics and features. The inclusion of a type of shield, made of clear material, allowing the player to defend and shoot at the same time, a first for playable characters outside of Metal Gear Online. New CQC moves, including being able to throw an enemy a few feet. A circle now surrounds each player in co-op that grows when near a comrade. When these circles are connected, the players can trade items with each other, and the two players health bars will then join to make one large health bar. Other special actions such as having allies able to mark targets to avoid or engage. The ability to discard the box, which can be used as a scalable object without breaking. Each player also has special codenames to distinguish them, such as "Sneaking Snake" and "Battle Snake."

The recruitment aspect of Portable Ops also returns in this game, only this time, the way to recruit the enemies to the player's side is with a Fulton Balloon. Captured characters may be used to replay completed missions.

It has also been recently revealed that the Mother Base is a playable hub used for captured soldiers and weapons development. Players can add more facilities and expand the Mother Base beyond its original length by recruiting more soldiers/personnel. The soldiers differ both in look and capabilities and will support Snake in various ways as the base's staff. Similar to Portable Ops, the player has the option to assign recruited characters to different teams (Sneaking, Weapons Development) and develop weapons, items, and more.

It has also been revealed that in addition to the four-player co-op mode gameplay, Peace Walker will also utilize a three-player battle royale in which the players participating will form teams and fight each other using the PSP's Ad Hoc capabilities.

Development
Hideo Kojima officially announced the game at Sony's E3 2009 conference, after running various countdowns for the announcement on a Konami website, stating that the team that made Metal Gear Solid 4 will return to help develop Peace Walker. Kojima is writing, producing and directing the game, stating that the game is not a spin-off, nor is it a sidestory. Kojima refers to both Peace Walker and Metal Gear Solid: Rising as Metal Gear Solid 5, while specifically calling Peace Walker "the MGS5 inside me."

A trailer for the game shown at E3 2009 also described it as the "missing link" in the Metal Gear series. The same trailer also revealed multiple Big Bosses, indicating multiplayer or co-op gameplay, which was confirmed by Famitsu in August 2009. Credits appear at the end of the trailer that show Kojima is writing, directing, and producing the game; Shuyo Murata is also a writer on the game; Yoji Shinkawa is the character designer; and Kenichiro Imaizumi is also producing the game. While developing Portable Ops, Kojima originally planned on only creating the overall guidelines and concepts for Peace Walker and then leave the rest to the next generation of developers at Kojima Productions. He was also planning on only being a producer of the game and focus on games not set in the Metal Gear series. He made the setting for the game in Costa Rica and created a story with themes about nuclear deterrence and the Cold War. When it looked like the story may be too confusing to a younger audience, he decided to become more involved in the development of the game and decided to direct it, feeling that it was still a little too early to leave the game in the hands of the developers without his help.

In an open letter to fans in August 2009, Kojima stated that Peace Walker will be a "full-featured" sequel that will "require hundreds of hours to complete." Koijma further stated that Peace Walker will include many features unique to the PSP and a new gameplay system. At the 2009 Tokyo Game Show in late September, a demo of the game was playable and was available to download for anyone who brought a PSP to the event, which IGN later made available on their site. A nine minute trailer was also shown that introduced the characters that will be featured in the game along with "Heavens Divide", the game's theme song. It was also revealed that Ashley Wood would be illustrating the game's cut scenes, similar to how he illustrated the cutscenes in Portable Ops.

In early December, Famitsu stated that Peace Walker will be released in Japan on March 18, 2010, though on January 29, 2010, Konami declared that the release date will be delayed to April 29. On December 3, Konami announced that the game will be released in Europe on May 28, 2010. The following day, Konami announced that the game will be released in North America on May 25, 2010 and that an English demo would soon be available. On December 17, Konami released an English demo onto the European and North American PSP PlayStation Stores. This demo contained everything the Japanese demo had plus a new level which involved infiltrating an enemy facility located in a mountainous region. On March 16, 2010. Konami announced that the game will be released in North America on June 8, 2010, pushing the release date two weeks ahead. Also Konami announced it will be released on June 17, 2010 in Europe, while in the UK it will be released June 18, 2010, pushing the dates three weeks ahead.

Also, according to an FAQ on the official site, a few new details have been revealed about the game. The reason that Konami had chosen the color yellow as being the main color for Peace Walker related materials was because the target audience was going to be slightly younger than before (school aged kids), so they went with the POP style. It is also stated that they based the Skull logo mark of the Militaires Sans Frontieres off of Gondowana land (Pangaea). The limited edition PSP containing the logo in the bundle pack is also unique from the others, as the MSF logo is in a different spot in each PSP.

Kojima also revealed in a recent article that, due to it lacking blood and less violence, Peace Walker is going to be rated "T", although he would have preferred it if it were rated "E" for everyone.

Music
Peace Walker 's soundtrack was composed by Nobuko Toda. The Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Original Soundtrack is due to be released in Japan on April 14, 2010. The game's theme song, "Heavens Divide" is performed by Donna Burke, and will also be released in Japan on April 7, 2010, coupled with the song "Koi no Yokushiryoku" as well as various other versions of both songs.

Bundles and limited editions
On January 20, 2010, Famitsu scans revealed that Peace Walker would be bundled with a PSP upon its release in Japan. The following day Famitsu updated their website with more information. The bundle will feature a camouflage PSP, a pouch, a cleaning cloth, and a strap as well as a copy of the game and will retail for ¥26,980. A Limited Edition bundle will also be released at the game's release in Japan which will include everything the standard bundle has and a PSP stand, dog tags, and a booklet, which will retail for ¥36,980. Only 1,974 Limited Edition bundles will be available. On March 16, 2010, Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will release an entertainment pack that includes a "spirited green" PSP 3000, the Peace Walker UMD, and a free PSN movie voucher that will release in North America. This entertainment pack of Peace Walker will also have exclusive in-game items like a FOX camouflage uniform, also a stealth gun feature that can be unlocked early in the game. At GameStop, the preorder bonus for pre-ordering Peace Walker is a bandana. And finally, Gamestop and Konami announced that Gamestop will make available an exclusive Limited Edition "Big Boss Pack" that is similar to the Japanese bundle. It features a camoflage PSP-3000, "Premium" carrying case, code for downloadable content unlockable early in the game, code a downloadable movie from the Playstation Network, 4GB Memory Stick, and a copy of the game. According to the Kojima Report Podcast, the camoflauge PSP-3000 is a camo pattern that is called "Skull Camo" for its incorperation of the icon that identifies the Militaires Sans Frontieres (Soldiers Without Borders).

Trivia

 * This is the first Metal Gear game to include both the Hind A/B/C models and the Hind D models.
 * Because of the broader target audience for this game, this is the first main Metal Gear Solid game to be rated "T" and the second of any Metal Gear game to be rated "T" (the first was Portable Ops Plus, an expansion pack of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops).
 * There was a trailer released between the second and third gameplay trailer that had Paz in her underwear and the characters almost acting like they were in a musical.
 * Series creator Hideo Kojima makes a cameo in this game as a recruitable soldier for MSF.
 * Similar to Metal Gear Solid 3, the ending displaying a timeline of events and what the characters ended up doing prior to the credits.
 * The original title of this game was Metal Gear Solid 5: Peace Walker.
 * This is the first Metal Gear game where all the bosses are machines instead of real people.

Behind the Scenes

 * This is the first Metal Gear game to feature two post credits conversations. On that note, it is also the first Metal Gear game to feature a post credits conversation occuring before the final battle rather than afterwards.

Easter Eggs

 * When the player talks to Rose in Metal Gear Solid 4, they can shake their controller to see her breasts jiggle. Two characters: Amanda and Cécile (also Strangelove) has a feature called "Model Viewer." This will show the player a 3D view of the character and if they move the analog stick, their breasts will jiggle. Also, the player can have the female characters pose in bathing suits in the Model Viewer.


 * While searching through the trucks, the player can come across the following things: Hideo Kojima will be in one of the trucks and Snake will say "Director!" Another one will have gears for a vehicles and Snake says "Metal....gears." One truck has a poster of Mei Ling during Metal Gear Solid. The last one has numerous plushes of Solar Boy Django's sunflower-like companion, Master Otenko from the Boktai series (at which Snake will yell "SUNLIGHT!"


 * In a briefing file with Cecile, Kaz will talk about adding Kojima to her name which will be: Cecile Kojima Caminades. In Japanese, Caminades can also be translated into "I am God" or Kojima is god.


 * The player can obtain a soldier that is Hideo Kojima. His profile says "My body is made up from 70% movies, the extra 30% is up to you."


 * In Extra Ops, there is a mission where the player can date with Paz. During that mission, if the player has the love box, they can invite her into the box (actually, using the Love Box is required for completing the mission). If the player does the mission while wearing the naked uniform, Paz will become embarrassed and will run away from them. If the player beats this mission with a S rank, the next time they do the mission, Paz will be in her underwear. Similarily, there is also an Extra Ops mission where Big Boss dates Kaz, and has similar methods to completing the mission as well as similar results with a S rank.


 * In the Interactive cutscene where Amanda is being caught by the kidnapper, the player can shoot Amanda instead, Snake will miss and she will curse him.


 * Looking at soldier's profiles can be very interesting as there are random things. One of the soldier says "I have a friend named Johnny, do you know him?" which probably means Johnny from Metal Gear Solid 3. Another had said "If I make a girlfriend one day, I would like to go in a cardboard box with her." Another one talks about Santa.


 * Unlock Extra Ops 63, 64 and 65 then you will get to play the game Pooyan. The player will have to shoot all the fultoned soldiers that appears. Pooyan is a well known NES game.


 * Metal Gear Mk. II made an appearance in the cutscene between Big Boss and Huey after the Pupa battle.


 * When the player shoots a soldier with Tanegashima, a tornado will shoot up the soldier into the air and Miller will call them and say "There's a soldier hanging on the helicopter."

Gallery
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