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Metal Gear Solid V's Disturbing Scenes Must 'Go to the Limit'

S

Sn4ke_911

If I ever post something in Japanese which I don't understand, please BAN me.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ends with one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s gross, it’s violent, it’s painful, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s something I won’t spoil here. But it’s going to draw attention.

The scene is in line with the more mature tone series creator Hideo Kojima wants to hit with this sequel.

So I asked him: Why is this sort of scene necessary?

“I’m already thinking about sensitive things,” Kojima told IGN. “If we don’t cross that line, if we don’t make attempts with what we want to express, if we don’t go beyond that, we won’t be able to achieve what movies or novels have achieved. It’s trying to go beyond what the original media was supposed to be…. If we don’t go this far, games will never be considered as culture.”

Kojima doesn’t want games to be thought of as something lesser than other media. “Look at something like Breaking Bad,” he said. “I see these guys are trying to go to the limit, trying to take it as far as they can, trying to get their message across.”

To that end, he continued, “We have to go to the limit [in games] We look around, we don’t see too many games like this. That is unfortunate. I don’t think all games necessarily have to go this far, but we have a message we want to convey. One of the main topics of Metal Gear Solid 5 is this chain of revenge.”

Ground Zeroes has numerous scenes with unsettling imagery and events. The specific scene I discussed with Kojima “becomes a ground zero for a lot of events that will come afterwards.” The director explained, “That is one thing I really didn’t want to step back from, I really didn’t want to go around it. I know I will probably face a lot of criticism for it, but I really wanted to portray that.”
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http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/05/metal-gear-solid-5s-disturbing-scenes-must-go-to-the-limit
 
Maybe those child soldiers will end up being enemies at some point in the game...



Also: Lol Kojima, you are not Vince Gilligan.
 
It's good to see him standing by his decisions and not caving in to those offended, but on the flipside, Cannibal Holocaust pushed the limits yet I wouldn't really say that it was something that pushed film as an artistic medium. Hopefully he straddles that line nicely.
 
I wonder if this torture scene will be as offensive as the "rape scene" in Lords of Shadow 2?

/s

Although, I do remember be fairly alarmed when I was young playing the torture scene in Metal Gear Solid for Playstation. This one.
 
I applaud Kojima for being willing to take these steps. One of the hallmarks of creative expression is that it allows creators to explore moral situations beyond the everyday. If Kojima feels that doing so will strengthen his story, and if he has a reason to do it, then he should.
 
That still doesn't really sound like a reason. He just wants people to notice and talk about it. Breaking Bad is compelling because of how it's written, not because they don't pull punches in the violence.
 
okayfrog said:
It's good to see him standing by his decisions and not caving in to those offended, but on the flipside, Cannibal Holocaust pushed the limits yet I wouldn't really say that it was something that pushed film as an artistic medium. Hopefully he straddles that line nicely.
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I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt anything ever again will push the limits of its medium quite like Cannibal Holocaust.
 
I wish this stuff wouldn't be spoiled for us like this. Even telling us that it's pushing the limits is kind of a spoiler in itself.
 
Valnen said:
I wish this stuff wouldn't be spoiled for us like this. Even telling us that it's pushing the limits is kind of a spoiler in itself.
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I can understand them saying that there are some scenes that push the limit as we've known that since E3 last year, but yeah, I really wish I didn't know that it was the closing scene of the game. With that being said, I do enjoy hearing that a game has an interesting ending, at least.
 
There's pushing it past where games normally go, then there's weird anime grimdark subject matter which would do more harm then good.

I hope Kojima can find a balance.
 
neverknowsbest said:
He says he has a message he wants to convey. Isn't that a reason?
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We'll have to wait and see what it is, which I'm definitely interested in doing. The article just makes it seem like the scene is "gross" and "violent" because Kojima thinks that will elevate it to more than just a video game.

If it's well written then he has a totally valid point, I just think it's treading into dangerous "more violence = more mature" territory that a lot of games suffer from.
 
Yoda said:
Most likely it is Big Boss murdering children.
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2014-03-0522_20_18-_m0iqtf.png
 
I'm guessing it's a combination of
Paz getting the bomb/tracker(?) cut out of her while she's still conscious as seen in the trailer, and possibly a final scene of Big Boss getting shot or being next to an explosion as Mother Base is destroyed, and the shrapnel in his head and his blown off limbs are explicitly shown before cutting/fading to black.
 
Making the series more disturbing like that honestly only pushes me away from the game. I was interested until I saw the red band trailer. It's too bad, I really like Metal Gear Solid and I wish I could play it. Not that I don't want him to do what he wants, but it'd be better if he did this with a new IP instead.
 
SJRB said:
It better not just be the Paz "package removal" scene.
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That's definitely one of the scenes that Mitch was talking about but apparently there is more disturbing ones that we haven't seen which will explain why Big Boss and Kaz will be seeking revenge in The Phantom Pain.
alr1ght said:
Jack Bauer did all sorts of over the line stuff already.
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Exactly why we need Kiefer Sutherland to voice Snake (face motion capture) rather than David Hayter who have absolutely no experience in acting specially when it comes to something like 24.

Can't wait! 13 days left!
 
Dandalf said:
I wonder if this torture scene will be as offensive as the "rape scene" in Lords of Shadow 2?

/s

Although, I do remember be fairly alarmed when I was young playing the torture scene in Metal Gear Solid for Playstation. This one.
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Wow, because a new and never before seen level of cruelty makes your game more worth culturally or more mature, seriously some guys got hit hard on their heads ...
 
I think he is mostly talking about Phantom Pain. Ground Zeroes will be just a starting point of a much more violent story, downfall of Big Boss that will always loose battles against Zero.

We still don't know how will Kojima showcase "evil" Big Boss that we know from MG1 and MG2. Will he become truly evil, or his infamy will be manufactured by the Zero? It could go both ways.
 
I bet the entire thing is going to be mgs4 levels of dumb storytelling and when we look back on these quotes in 2016 when the game comes out it, it's going sounds so silly.
 
SJRB said:
It better not just be the Paz "package removal" scene.
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Probably.
Or some other torture scene.

As someone who watches plenty of graphic horror movies, all i can say is: "ok" and shrug.
One way or the other context is always what makes or brake any scene, controversial or not.
 
EmCeeGramr said:
I'm guessing it's a combination of
Paz getting the bomb/tracker(?) cut out of her while she's still conscious as seen in the trailer, and possibly a final scene of Big Boss getting shot or being next to an explosion as Mother Base is destroyed, and the shrapnel in his head and his blown off limbs are explicitly shown before cutting/fading to black.
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Your second example doesn't sound that extreme.

We've had extreme (to comical lengths) gore.
We've had sort of taboo violence (basially the gimmick of every CoD).
 
im assuming that he's talking about chico and boss playing skill crane with paz? im really hoping that isnt this big dsturbing scene everyone is talking about because they showed that in the Phantom Pain trailer. My guess is alot of people getting killed in the fall of mother base
 
EmCeeGramr said:
I'm guessing it's a combination of
Paz getting the bomb/tracker(?) cut out of her while she's still conscious as seen in the trailer, and possibly a final scene of Big Boss getting shot or being next to an explosion as Mother Base is destroyed, and the shrapnel in his head and his blown off limbs are explicitly shown before cutting/fading to black.
Click to expand...

Besides the fact that all of this is already practically known from the trailers, this would be pretty tame, God of War >>>>>>> that
 
okayfrog said:
It's good to see him standing by his decisions and not caving in to those offended, but on the flipside, Cannibal Holocaust pushed the limits yet I wouldn't really say that it was something that pushed film as an artistic medium. Hopefully he straddles that line nicely.
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'straddle the line'? kojima? :) ...

that said, i think he handled the beauty & the beast squad thing in mgs4 very well. wasn't earth-shattering or anything, but it was disturbing/depressing in a low-key, but very effective way. all i can say is, i've always trusted his instincts (which have obviously been all over the place :) ), & i'm confident that, wherever he goes, he'll go first-class...
 
Call me cynical but I don't think Kojima can handle something like this well.

I also think it's the death of Paz.
 
semiconscious said:
'straddle the line'? kojima? :) ...

that said, i think he handled the beauty & the beast squad thing in mgs4 very well. wasn't earth-shattering or anything, but it was disturbing/depressing in a low-key, but very effective way. all i can say is, i've always trusted his instincts (which have obviously been all over the place :) ), & i'm confident that, wherever he goes, he'll go first-class...
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B&B felt like a troll about super melodramatic villain backstories, even Snake himself starts getting annoyed by the stories
 
The MGS V hyperbole being thrown around by Kojima has made me so bummed out. Not looking forward to this game at all anymore.
 
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