Konami have shown the first look at gameplay for Metal Gear Survive at the Tokyo Game Show 2016. Metal Gear Survive is billed as a spin-off to Metal Gear Solid V, and set just after the conclusion of Ground Zeroes. If you don’t want the end to GZ spoiled, you should probably look away now…
When XOF destroyed the base Snake and company spent all that time and effort into building since Peace Walker, things looked pretty bleak for those on board the oil rig they called home. After the main characters departed, the remaining survivors suddenly find themselves sucked into a wormhole and deposited in an alternate dimension populated by zombie-like creatures with red crystals for heads. The Metal Gear franchise has never shied away from the strange and bizarre, but this is certainly tops those past events.
The gameplay showcased various elements of Survive, coming across as a hybrid of Metal Gear Solid V, Left 4 Dead, CoD Zombies mode, and countless Horde modes in various other games. Despite the alternative dimension, the game appears to be set in the same Afghanistan map as Phantom Pain. The demonstration took place in an area of the map those familiar with Phantom Pain will easily recognise. It has a slightly different look though, looking slightly post-apocalyptic, and with the fog filter turned up.
As a four player online co-op game, each player is given a different type of character as is the norm in similar games. These characters make use of different items and weapons, for instance one guy has a large machete for melee combat, whilst another has a bow and arrow for long-range and quiet attacks. Another has a spear which can be used to keep enemies at bay, particularly effective at stopping fences from being destroyed.
New additions to the gameplay involve a crafting system, in which a member of the team can build items to help set up a perimeter for the group’s base. In order to create these items, the players must venture into the open world and find crafting elements, similar to Phantom Pain‘s material collection. Barricades and fences can be crafted and placed around the location the team wants to use as a base, as well as gun turrets to fend off the approaching enemies.
When I say “base”, it appears that the team can pick locations to defend, and set up a transmitter within the area. This starts a timed event where the players must defend the transmitter, which attracts a lot of enemies who seem determined to destroy the transmitter. As you’re main goal is to find a way back home, and a blue wormhole appears above the device, it seems apparent that this is the main objective, rather than a fleshed out story driven campaign. The enemies come in waves, and have the ability to destroy your carefully placed defences (the footage showed a large group of zombies piling up and climbing a chain fence, which slowly buckled and bent before crashing down). If too many enemies get past the perimeter and manage to destroy the transmitter, you and your teammates can always run away and find another place to set up shop.
Another new feature is damage. The footage involved a sequence where the player was ambushed by an enemy on the ground who attacked his leg. After a fellow player helped defeat this enemy, the player started limping slowly, dragging his leg behind him. An in-game menu shows the player which parts of the body are affected by damage, and can be healed from there. As leg damage affects player speed and movement, it seems safe to assume arm damage probably affects combat, maybe head damage affects vision.
You and your three amigos can traverse the open world together, or split up into teams of two, or venture off alone. The i-Droid map will keep track of your teammates, so regrouping at a discovered village to hold out in more manageable. Each player can set up markers for locations of interest for the others, such as incoming waves of enemies or items required for crafting.
Enemies seem to be very similar to the infected soldiers from Phantom Pain, and use melee attacks rather than weapons. They can be avoided using stealth, as attracting ones attention brings all surrounding enemies bearing down on you. Distraction is another method. For instance, using a Fulton cannon, the TGS demo showed one player firing a live sheep into the air, bringing a group of zombies together underneath it. One molotov later, and the area is clear. The sheep was then sent through the wormhole extraction device from Phantom Pain. As part of survival includes keeping your hunger and thirst meters up, I guess this sheep isn’t going to live on another platform out at sea.
Released in 2017 for PS4, Xbox One and Steam for around $30, Metal Gear Survive is more like stand-alone DLC (think Far Cry 3 :Blood Dragon) than a main entry into the Metal Gear series. Also the first release since Konami and series creator Hideo Kojima’s very famous split, the success of this title could determine the direction of the franchise in the future.
