Konami feels pressure “all the time” over Metal Gear Solid Delta

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Taking on the task of remastering one of the greatest games ever made is no small feat… especially when your track record with the community isn’t as strong as it could be. But to Konami’s credit, they’re giving it a real go with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater – a high-fidelity remake of Hideo Kojima’s stunning 2004 smash hit.

We’ve mentioned on VideoGamer just how impressed we’ve been with Konami’s attempts to bridge the gap between the fans of the game and the development team. A lot of this comes via the Metal Gear Production Hotline, a YouTube-based series that gives the team working on the game a chance to update everyone with progress and field questions. However, the team also connect with fans via the PlayStation Blog.

In a post where a blog author spoke to the game’s producer, Noriaki Okamura, he revealed just how much pressure they are under to get Delta to the levels fans expect. “There’s only pressure all the time, every day,” he said.

Naked Snake on a tree in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid Delta has been rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5 and boasts stunning visuals. Image credit: Konami

“We have a lot of veteran staff at hand but they’re also aging out as well, so it might be the last chance for some of the critical members to work on these titles while they’re still at the company. But it’s our duty to make sure these games are still playable – not only to current players but future generations as well.”

While the team has been criticised at stating too close to the source material, scartch the surface and it’s clear a number of improvements have been made. One such new addition is the Battle System, where Snake will show wounds, cuts and burns as he picks up damage. The team at PlayStation actually tested just how bloody they could make our hero, reporting that he was ‘practically crimson’ at the end of a heated firefight with a handful of soldiers.

Naked Snake with visible wounds thanks to the battle damage system in Metal Gear Solid Delta
Naked Snake shows off some damage to his body, powered by the new Battle Damage system in the game. Image credit: Konami

“Initially we thought we could just change the basic outside skeleton of the models,” said Okamura. “But once we saw them move around in the game with the old character movements, we noticed they didn’t quite blend that well anymore. So we had to tweak them.”

There’s still no concrete release date as yet, but early signs are pointing to the Tokyo Games show at end of this month for that announcement, where the demo will be playable to the public.

About the Author

Talal Musa

Talal has been writing about videogames for nearly 17 years. He has interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry and leads content at BGFG.