4. Metal Gear Solid 5 will have a competitive online multiplayer to rival the best shooters around

While Metal Gear Online, the competitive multiplayer component of the Metal Gear Solid 4 experience, is popular, it can't be considered brilliant. And despite the fact that it's free (it's comes with MGS4) we shouldn't allow it any more leeway when it comes to assessing its quality. Let's be frank - it's good, but it's got nothing on other competitive multiplayer shooter offerings on the market, like Call of Duty 4, Resistance 2, Halo 3, GTA IV or Gears of War. The perception is that Western gamers demand a quality competitive multiplayer online shooter component to go along with the epic story-based campaign. If Kojima subscribes to this view then he'll feel that in order to make his games appeal to more than just the Japanese market, where online competitive shooters are less popular, he's going to have to do better than Metal Gear Online. Expect Metal Gear Solid 5, then, to feature an online experience to rival that of Halo 3 or Resistance 2, with full support inspired by Bungie.net and the Rockstar Games Social Club.

3. Metal Gear Solid 5 will have shorter cut-scenes and a more comprehensible plot

Long cut scenes and baffling plots are part of Metal Gear's soul. They make the series the unique, epic fusion of game and film that Kojima has pioneered throughout his illustrious career. But, when Kojima says "I don't think you can make games that just appeal to the Japanese market", and that he's "noticed" the odd thing from Western development, it's a clear indication that some of those "unique" gameplay elements that have, let's face it, spiralled a bit out of control, are under threat. Chief of these is the length of the cut scenes, which, in Metal Gear Solid 4, often bordered on the 90 minute mark. Don't get us wrong, we loved the epicness of the game, and the cut-scenes themselves were often of such a high quality that we forgot we were playing a game and instead thought we were watching an actual Metal Gear movie, but at times they started to grate. There's no reason why they can't be reduced while still preserving the essence of what makes Metal Gear great. And the plot, well, let's be frank, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Again, there's no reason why Kojima can't spin a quality yarn without making gamers' heads hurt. Expect Metal Gear Solid 5 to have shorter cut scenes and a more comprehensible plot.