Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is an upcoming game in the Metal Gear series to be released for the PSP in 2010. It will explain 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 is writing, directing, and producing the game. The theme song for the game is titled "Heavens Divide."

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

Plot
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 give the biggest explosion to set off their last nuclear warhead for 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 financed by the CIA, where 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 MGS3 and MPO. 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 MGS2 and MGS4, The Boss in MGS3, and Sunny Gurlukovich in MGS4) will voice Chico, Vanessa Marshall (who previously voiced the English versions of Olga Gurlukovich in MGS2 and EVA in MPO) will voice Strangelove, Tara Strong (who previously voiced Elisa and Ursula in MPO) will voice Paz Ortega Andrade, and Steven Blum (who provided the English voice to Gene in MPO) 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 MGS3) and Grant Albrecht (the English voice actor for The End in MGS3) 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 MGS3 and MPO), Osamu Saka (the Japanese voice actor for Sergei Gurlukovich in MGS2 and The End in MGS3), and Takeshi Aono (the Japanese voice actor for both Roy Campbell in MGS, MGS2, and MGS4 and Granin in MGS3) 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. Also notable, is that when the item/weapon menu's are up, the game does not pause. The game does not even pause at all, in an attempt to simulate "not being able to pause real life." However, a recent gameplay trailer released implies that pausing the game is back.

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. Recent evidence has implied that the recruited enemies are playable.

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.

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.

Kojima and Konami also revealed on Gamernow new details in regards to Peace Walker. One of the biggest details revealed was related to the Mother Base, the Offshore production facility that the Militaires Sans Frontieres is using in their mission to halt the invasion force in Costa Rica. The Mother Base is accessed in-game as "a hub for items and weapons collected in the game." The player can also make new "expansions" for the Mother Base, and unlock more features by recruiting soldiers and/or personnel. The Mother Base can also be used as a weapons development facility, where new weapons and equipment can be created and/or upgraded.

The other biggest detail that has been revealed is the identity of some of the machines witnessed in the various promotional materials. These machines are called "AI weapons." Konami revealed that these weapons can talk and even sing during their deployment into battle using VOCALOID technology, which implies that these weapons have a surprising amount of intelligence. Konami also implied that these new AI weapons have a deeper role in the game's intricate plot. The three AI's which have been revealed are:
 * Pupa - Hover type. It may look big and heavy, but it can speed through steep roads, giving it great mobility. It has four guns on its backside. It bears a slight resemblance to the Shagohod.
 * Cocoon - Tank type. Has multiple canons and giant arms.
 * Chrysalis - Helicopter type. Its three propellors give it great dexterity, but it also has great power.

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. The FAQ also explains that there are different ways of fultoning new recruits, and their reactions are also different as well. The three ways to fulton them are to hold them up, tranquilize them, and beat them into a pulp until they lose consciousness. Likewise, the time it will take for them to join depends on how Snake fultons them. If Snake manages to beat them to a pulp, for example, the recruit will bear a grudge against Snake and not open up easily. Likewise, if Snake merely holds him up harmlessly, he'll warm up instantly. The FAQ also sheds more light on the Mother Base concept. There are at least three divisions that the player can place his new recruits into: The Mercenary Division (presumably this is the division that is utilized as the Sneaking Unit), the Tech Division, and the Mess Hall Division. The FAQ also reveals that the Mess Hall Division is especially vital to the Mother Base and gameplay, as they are the ones who procure food for the base. In other words, if there isn't a Mess Hall Division in the Mother Base, the staff will become extremely famished, and sooner or later, one of the soldiers might actually quit. The FAQ also hints that an auto mode is available to be used in case trying to choose an appropriate category is too difficult for the player. The exact form of the Mother Base's ultimate pinnacle is also implied to be different between gameplays. The FAQ also states that the AI weapons are difficult bosses, and implies that trying to destroy their core will also require the player to sacrifice one of the rewards.

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.

A new gameplay trailer that was recently released has revealed that Snake can leave behind a decoy figure of himself to trick the guards, hurl an enemy off of a building if Snake is directly below him and on a ladder, and can make use of a special sheet that can allow himself to blend in with the surroundings. He can also use special goggles to determine the stats of a soldier are when knocked down in case he wants to recruit him/her, and can utilize a device that can track an enemy's location by the use of what is apparently sound. He can also use a transmitter to direct the Mother Base to send supplies to him, which he can also use as a weapon by throwing a transmitter near an enemy and cause the supplies to land on his head and knock him out cold. Interrogation also makes a return in this game. It is also officially stated that nine more gameplay trailers will be released before the Japanese release date. From what was shown in the trailer, Big Boss apparently had to sneak into an American base that was recently taken over by Soviet Soldiers that are wearing similar uniforms to Strangelove.

The second gameplay trailer, released on March 17th, explored some of the Co-Op Functions, namely the two player function. NVG is also revealed to be back in the game. The player can also cause the enemy to see him or her deliberately in order to distract the enemy while his or her partner sneaks up from behind. The trailer also reveals that the Tank Box was also capable of attacking enemies by firing rounds like a real tank. The trailer also reveals two new kinds of devices known as a Stealth Gun and an EMW Gun. The Stealth gun can be used to cloak the player's partner so long as the player is within the beam's trajectory, although trying to cloak the player himself/herself wouldn't work due to the size of the gun. The EMW Gun is more of an offensive weapon, as the player and his or her partner could use the weapon's tracer beams to intersect his or her partner's weapon's beam to, in a similar fashion to the Proton Packs from the movie Ghostbusters, cause the beams to overload and create an explosion killing the enemies nearby if caught in the explosion. The trailer also hints that these weapons are exclusive to Co-Op mode. The gameplay trailer also confirmed the use of smoke grenades to ambush the enemy and if possible, hold them up while on the ground. The trailer also hints that there is a risk towards recruiting enemies, as when Snake holds up a character in a certain point, the guy being interrogated mentions that he wants to join the Militaires Sans Frontieres so they could conquer the world.

The third gameplay trailer, released on March 23rd, explained how boss battles in Co-Op/Co-Ed mode function. The Boss battle was against a Hind A General Purpose Helicopter, and plays out in a similar fashion to the Tank battle in the demo (meaning the player can fulton any of the squads before they take on the commander, or in this case, the pilot). The Calorie Mate has also been confirmed to make a reappearance, as shown on the menu. The menu also reveals a new item: The Box Bomb. It resembles a regular box, but it is apparently rigged to explode if enemies shoot at it or come in close proximity. The EZ Gun has also been confirmed to make a reappearance in the trailer, although with a notably different function. Apparently if the player shoots the EZ Gun at one of his/her partners, it actually recovers said partner's health. The trailer also demonstrates how to revive a fallen partner via CPR, as the player needs to press up after coming near a fallen partner. The game also reveals that even soldiers who are technically dead can be fultoned out so long as a red skull is imminating from their body. Another new type of box, Rescue Box, was also unveiled in a recent trailer, and is used to automatically revive partners who are underneath it if there isn't enough time to use CPR. There was also a new device similar to the Supply Mark that was unveiled in the trailer, known as the Strike Mark. As the name implies, the Strike Mark pinpoints the target(s) for motherbase to send in support in the form of an air strike upon enemies. An Aerial Mines are also revealed to be in the game, and can be used to make it easier to hit the enemy after studing its movement patterns and launching it. It is especially useful against Choppers. The trailer also reveals that the player and his/her partners can also use special attacks, one of which, specifically is the Co-Op Thunder, which Kills any enemy on sight. Finally, a weapon known as the Rail Gun Dynamo has been revealed. The Rail Gun dynamo requires the player to wind it up to charge power and then fire a burst of electrical energy at the target.

In an issue of Famitsu, three editors of the magazine were given the oppurtunity to play through the game in full. One of the editors, Fujinocchi, hinted that there is a very secret thing in the game that he heavily suggests players try and find before thinking they are done with the game, commenting that it is capable of "shaking the entire industry." He went on to state that it may not be essential to the game, but it's too big to be considered a simple "bonus" either.

The fourth gameplay trailer, released on April 1st, mainly covered the orthodox metal manner of playing, and were several clips strung together. The first clip had Snake KOing an enemy with a brown moustache, a white t-shirt, green pants and headphones by tranquilizing him. Snake then ran over to the other side of his position and did a hang-grab, going the rest of the way via hang-grab to directly behind the enemy and then choking him unconscious. The next clip had Snake dropping down behind an enemy, holding him up, and then shooting his partner with a tranq gun. The third clip had Snake sniping a shielded variant of the enemy in the previous trailers in the arm with the M21, leaving him grievously wounded, but not dead, as evidenced by the red skull. Snake then throws a sleep gas grenade onto the balcony knocking out the soldiers on top, and then threw a smoke grenade into the corridor, and with the aid of his NVG, sniped the remaining soldiers, this time killing them. The fourth clip takes place in an outside corridor with a garage at the end. Snake uses the RK-47, after avoiding enemy fire, to shoot down a Kidnapper probe, which knocked down debris in the process. Snake then, after dispatching an enemy with the CAW, and dispatching enemies near the bridge and stairs (resulting in the collapse of said bridge), plants C4 near the debris, and blows it up and takes down an enemy with it, although not before being caught in an explosion prior to detonating the C4. Snake then tries to dispatch an enemy with a grenade, but the enemy noticed and evaded at the last second forcing Snake to dispatch him with the RK-47. Snake then, after leaving an enemy grieviously wounded with the CAW, attempts to snipe the enemies near the garage with a WA2000, but was forced to evade when one of the enemies fired a RPG-7 at him. He then decided to take out a bridge by destroying a fuel barrel, taking down one of the enemies and a Kidnapper drone in the process (the forner by the bridge falling on him, and the latter by the blast.), and then took out the remaining enemy by sniping him in the leg and the head. In the final clip, Snake, after getting off of an elevator, is forced to contend with a Hind D firing at him. Snake tries to evade them with a Smoke grenade but is forced to fight them. He kills a soldier by planting a Claymore mine in his path, and then dispatched the remaining enemies with either the M16A1 or the WA2000 while the Hind-D tried to fire missiles at him. Snake later attempted to take down the Hind-D with the FIM-43 but he couldn't shoot it down with the two shots it had. Snake was then forced to fight it outside with the M16A1 until it ran out of ammo, and then used a Machine Gun turret before it got away. Interestingly, the title of the trailer implies that this was the last trailer. This is also the first gameplay trailer to be recorded entirely in English (the previous trailers were mostly in Japanese and subbed in English).

The fifth (or from IGN's) gameplay trailer [Assassin's Stealth ], released on the same day as the fourth, introduces creative director of Assassin's Creed, Patrice Desilets showing his gameplay (while having "hay fever"). {CO-OP} In the gameplay, the player can perform a dive action (same action from THAT game) into a hay stack ( or known as the hay box)in a safe drop. A hay box can carry, hide, and can fit with another player like any box but also can perform CQC on an enemy in it (like stealth). Another clip shows Big Boss and his female partner both wearing his tuxedos. Last clip shows boss battle in CO-OP. When a kidnapper (precursor of the Cypher model) drags up the second player at two stories up, Big Boss can carry the hay box and act as a safe drop leaving his partner to struggle and perform the dive action without any damage.

As shown in the newest issue of Fame (a Japanese video game magazine), Monster Hunter Portable 3rd 's elements would be added into Peace Walker, though currently not much details was given out.

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.

Trivia

 * This is the first Metal Gear [Solid] 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."
 * 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.

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