Does Metal Gear Survive Taint the Series’ Legacy?

Konami’s latest installment in the acclaimed Metal Gear franchise, Metal Gear Survive, is the first installment to be made after the departure of series creator, Hideo Kojima. It takes place immediately after the events of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, when Big Boss leaves a destroyed Mother Base and four random soldiers of his are sucked into a wormhole to another dimension.

These four characters are four players, working together in online co-op in this horrific new setting that forces them to fight demented zombie-like beings. Konami states this is part of the complete MGSV experience. 

Pardon my French, but this is horse crap. I’ve been a fan of Metal Gear for a long, long time. Everything important about Hideo Kojima’s world can be found in the incredibly complex story, the bombastic boss fights, and the thrill of infiltration. These three core things are what make a Metal Gear game. This new game, Survive, is a slap in the face to everything that makes a Metal Gear game, well, Metal Gear.

Yes, Konami has stated that the new game will have stealth, and thankfully they are not calling it a new Metal Gear Solid game, otherwise my fanboy side would probably be too hotheaded to write even the most opinionated of articles. 

But think about it- this game is 4-player co-op against a bunch of zombies. That’s the game idea we have here at its core. With this gameplay foundation, the game isn’t anything like the series fans love. The game whitewashes a time-vortex scenario so half-assed, the creators might as well be outright telling us – no, this isn’t Metal Gear. But would you have bought anything else from Konami?

And it’s true! I wouldn’t buy anything they throw at me after not letting Kojima finish Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain with the awesome ending he had intended. I love this series, it pains me to see that they’re merely using the famous franchise as a lifting off point for a game that, from what we can see, has nothing to do with Metal Gear. 

Even if Survive is a good game in its own respect, it pains me to even see it as a game. When I look at it, I have the same feeling I did with Metroid Prime: Federation Force, A Good Day to Die Hard, and Rainbow Six: Siege. They use a title to get the name out there, but they don’t carry the weight, the content, or the heart of what made their franchises so great. Maybe this is a way to help me – and many other livid fans – understand that Metal Gear is truly over.

What do you think? Is Metal Gear Survive worth having the name of the franchise, or should it have been a standalone title? Leave a comment with your thoughts, and as always, thanks for reading.