It seems like Hideo Kojima isn’t being shy about his Metal Gear Solid inspirations for Death Stranding 2, prompting fans to lose their minds. Hideo Kojima is one of the few people in the gaming industry that can be appropriately labeled as an auteur. His games are distinctly his vision, uncompromised and filled with very specific choices. He loves to get big Hollywood names in his games, even if they aren’t traditionally actors, and loves to make extremely weird stuff. It can be a bit daunting for those who are unfamiliar with his work, but they are absolutely captivating pieces of art that push the gaming medium to new bounds.
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Of course, Kojima famously made a name for himself on the Metal Gear games and the various Metal Gear Solid titles are praised as some of the finest stealth/action games on the market. They’re not only great stories with rich characters, but have deep gameplay that has yet to be rivaled by other games for the most part. Sadly, Kojima had a pretty public break up with Konami resulting in the cancelation of his Silent Hill game along with his departure from the Metal Gear Solid series, something he had suggested he would do regardless after Metal Gear Solid V. He went on to create the even weirder Death Stranding, a game that focuses on connecting people together. For the last few years, he’s been working tirelessly on Death Stranding 2 and it’s finally almost here.
Death Stranding 2 Fans Are Going Crazy for Solid Snake Lookalike and Metal Gear Rex-esque Mech
Now, Kojima has confirmed that Death Stranding 2 will release in just three months and celebrated the release date with a new trailer. While there is a lot to pull from in the new trailer, one of the big takeaways seems to be that Kojima is shamelessly pulling from Metal Gear Solid. There’s a new character named Neil that is identical to Solid Snake, bandana and all. Neil’s motives are unknown, but he’s played by Italian actor Luca Marinelli, someone that Kojima previously said would make a “splitting image of Snake” back in 2020. On top of that, there’s a big ol’ mech that looks exactly like Metal Gear Rex.
Of course, fans are losing their minds over this as Kojima hasn’t made anything like Metal Gear since 2015. He’s suggested he’s making a Metal Gear Solid successor with his next game Physint, but we know next to nothing about that one. Of course, one has to wonder if Death Stranding 2 and Physint are directly connected over the similarities. Once again, this kind of stuff is something only Kojima would really dare to do. Fans are welcoming the absurdity of it all with open arms, though. As of right now, we’re not quite sure what to make of all of this. Is Kojima just making a fun nod to the past and nothing else? Is there something much bigger at play? We’ll just have to see.
One thing is probably for certain, it likely doesn’t actually connect to Metal Gear Solid. Hideo Kojima still seems to be on bad terms with Konami or at the very least, has no interest in working with them again. He hasn’t consulted on the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 3 remake and seems to have distanced himself from other new Metal Gear projects happening at Konami.
What do you think of the Solid Snake-esque character and other Metal Gear Solid references in Death Stranding 2? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
Death Stranding 2 will release on PS5 on June 26th, 2024, but an Xbox release may happen later down the line as well.
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The OA. Courtesy of Netflix.
