Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes star Kiefer Sutherland helped raise bar, says Kojima

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes' Snake is voiced by 24 star Kiefer Sutherland, much to the annoyance of many David Hayter fans. Kojima has explained that the demands of the role needed someone like him, and helped raise the bar in terms of expression and performance.

It follows the announcement of Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes' release date, along with two new trailers and Raiden DLC.

Now, Xbox Wire has spoken with Hideo Kojima, who explained what Sutherland's performance brought to the table.

"It's no longer just about the words that a character speaks," Kojima explained, "it's about the depth of their facial performance and the expressive tone of their voice. As technology evolves, it's vital that the expressiveness of the characters in the game evolve to match the capabilities of the hardware. Kiefer is helping us to raise the bar in that respect, and I'm looking forward to the final result."

Kojima also discussed the nature of Ground Zeroes' open world. He clarified, "First of all, to avoid confusion, I would like to clarify that my vision for "MGSV" does differ a bit from what most people may assume when they think of the current "Open-World" genre. A more accurate way to describe it would be a "stealth simulator" in an open world environment.

"The open world elements exist to remove the rails from the stealth experience, allowing players to freely plan their own routes and experiment with their own unique infiltration strategies. However, at its heart, the gameplay is all about stealth and we don't intend to shift the focus away from that."

Are you happy with Sutherland's adoption of Hayter's role? Let us know below.