The Complicated Kojima Legacy
The elephant in the room is that Konami remade Metal Gear Solid 3 without any involvement from franchise creator Hideo Kojima, who directed, produced, designed, and co-wrote the original 2004 game. Konami and Kojima had famously, and fractiously, parted ways toward the end of development on 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It effectively ended a partnership that spanned 30 years. Adding salt to the wound, Konami canceled Kojima’s in-development Silent Hill revival, Silent Hills—going out of their way to scrub the game’s demo P.T. from digital storefronts—and removed Kojima’s credits from Metal Gear Solid V’s game packaging, along with associated merchandising.
This is in contrast to the Silent Hill 2 remake, which saw the return of the 2001 original game’s creature designer, Masahiro Ito, and musical composer Akira Yamaoka. Konami’s relationship with much of the Silent Hill 2 team hadn’t been nearly as publicly contentious as its rupture with Kojima Productions, and the 2024 remake masterfully balanced new elements within the familiar framework of the PS2 game it was based off. Like Metal Gear Solid Delta, there are plenty of moments in Silent Hill 2 that directly call back to the original game, but not slavishly so in its execution.
Konami is likely well aware of the continued controversy behind its relationship with Hideo Kojima, particularly when it comes to the Metal Gear Solid games. With that in mind, noticeably deviating from Metal Gear Solid 3 might’ve been perceived as a slight against Kojima since any changes to his original vision would have been made without his consent. And to ensure that proper credit was given where it was due, Kojima’s various credits are displayed prominently, sometimes in stylized triplicate, throughout the James Bond-inspired opening title sequence, itself featuring a re-recorded version of the song “Snake Eater.” If Kojima and Konami split under acrimonious terms a decade ago, the company wanted to ensure he was at least respected when positioning a remake of his 2004 masterpiece.
Konami had a tricky tightrope to walk in adapting a game that comes with publicly aired dirty laundry linked to its creator. In remaking Metal Gear Solid 3 so faithfully, it’s clear that the development team wanted to play things as safe as possible. But one still cannot help but wonder what a bolder modern reimagining of Snake Eater might have been.
Developed and published by Konami, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
