Games Development: Hideo Kojima

Hideo Kojima

Who is Hideo Kojima? Hideo Kojima is a Japanese games designer, who is the mastermind behind the fantastic series, Metal Gear Solid. To those who don't know what Metal Gear Solid is, it is a stealth action game, based in the Cold War era, where the player plays as multiple characters, depending on the game title. The usual protagonist the player plays is Big Boss, and Solid Snake. Since Metal Gear Solid is a huge franchise, with more than 15 installments (19, to be exact), I will be talking about Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

In Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, you play as Big Boss (a.k.a Snake) who was wildly known as a hero in the United States. However, he disappears from the US, and makes his own military group, called MSF (Militaires Sant Frontiers - Soldiers Without Borders), with his partner, Kazuhira Miller. The game is set mid Cold War, during the 1960's, and the threat of nuclear war is rising. A scientist tries to launch a nuclear missile, in the hopes that the nuclear deterrence theory will be true, to achieve "true" peace.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Cover Art

Up above was the basic plot of the game. The game play is pretty simple, not too complex, which is good to anyone who is knew to the game play mechanics of the stealth action genre. The game has a noise detection mechanic, where if the player moves around too much, the enemy or AI will be able to detect the player. A rather simple, yet positive aspect of the game, which encourages the player to think on their route.

Another good aspect of the game is that since Big Boss has a military of his own (MSF), the player has the option to capture enemies and hostages, in the hopes that they will join your command. Each NPC (non-playable character) has a skill that they are proficient in a skill (Research & Development, Combat Unit, Medical Team, Intelligence Team and the Mess Hall team). Each skill will have their own perks. For example, if a player's R&D team is high enough, the player has the ability to research better gear, equipment or weapons for future missions.

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker skill icons (From left to right: Combat Unit, R&D, Mess Hall Team, Medical Team, Intelligence Team)

However, everything has a bad side, and one of them about this game is the unrealistic boss fights. The boss fights varies in the game. It goes from tanks, to helicopters, and all the way to weird machines (called Metal Gears) which has ridiculous amounts of health. When playing the game, the player will have to conserve ammo, or research a supply marker, allowing the player to call ammo packages during the battle... but usable for 10 times only, per mission. Imagine yourself, in a battle, with no ammo, up against a boss that is way too difficult to kill, would be very disastrous, and rather rage inducing.

Another negative about the game, which is tied up with the boss fights and supply markers, is the health system. Each player has different health points, depending on how high their combat level is (the maximum health points being 9999). The game features a food system, where the player will have to reserve space for rations, as medical kits. Of course, in a fight, the player is bound to lose some health, due to the enemy returning fire, which is fine. However, just like the supply markers, the player is limited to 4 rations, which is really not enough in a boss fight. And of course, if you run out of rations, you'll have to restart the whole mission. Oh did I forget to mention that there are no checkpoints?

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Ration icon

These aspects are really common in most of the Metal Gear Solid franchises, and despite the negative aspects of Hideo Kojima's work, he does inspire me to become a really good games developer/designer. Despite the really bizarre concepts with Metal Gears, his attention to detail, game play and mechanics do make him my inspiration. I believe that paying attention to detail (like shooting lights, allowing to conduct electricity on conductive materials such as water and metal and more) lead to a good game. Its these small, little details that allows people to feel immersive in games, making them crave for more. I did forget to mention that the story in the Metal Gear Solid franchises do feature a really good story line, which also inspired me to be a good games designer/developer. A good story makes a game interesting to play, and I do agree with this.


References:
Fulton, W. (2015, October 20). KONAMI STILL INSISTS THAT HIDEO KOJIMA WORKS THERE, DESPITE MORE REPORTS TO THE CONTRARY [Digital image]. Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/kojima-konami-vacation/

MEMORABLE METAL GEAR MOMENTS: TRUCKLOADS OF EASTER EGGS [Digital image]. (2014, February 22). Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://www.metalgearinformer.com/?p=12190

Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker Cover Art [This is the cover art for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to Konami. ]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Metal_Gear_Solid_Peace_Walker_Cover_Art.jpg

Ration [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2017, from http://metalgear.wikia.com/wiki/Ration