After shifting away from 'traditional' games in favour of mobile title and pachinko machines, Japanese developer Konami has announced a return to the world of Metal Gear for 2017.
Metal Gear Survive is a very different Metal Gear game though. Pitched as a "co-op stealth game", it takes place in an alternate timeline branching off from the end of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and there's no sign of the series' iconic leading man, Snake.
The divergent continuity occurs when wormholes appear in the sky, transporting a handful of Mother Base soldiers to a blasted, desolate world full of half formed structures and military ruins. While the franchise is no stranger to weird enemies – looking at you, Psycho Mantis – Survive will see players teaming up to take on rampaging hordes infected with what looks like some sort of silicate mutation, turning them into crystalline monsters.
"We are delighted to announce another exciting addition to the Metal Gear franchise," said Tomotada Tashiro, Konami's European president, via statement. "Metal Gear Survive will offer a fresh take on the series' famed stealth elements but within a unique co-op setting that is designed for a truly engrossing multi-player experience."
Our impressions from a hands-off presentation at Gamescom in Cologne are that Metal Gear Survive may be similar to Left 4 Dead – a team based survival game with elements of story. It does appear to factor in Metal Gear's traditional stealth mechanics though, with the introduction of new weaponry such as high-tech bows and drill arrows, designed to take down the rocky monsters silently, from afar.
Set for release on PS4, Xbox One, and Steam in 2017, Konami brand manager Jen Tsang confirmed to WIRED that the game would not be a full-priced release. However, Tsang could not say whether there would be a single-player component to the game.
Survive will be the first Metal Gear game to be released without any involvement of series creator Hideo Kojima, who departed Konami in 2015 following the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Konami has not confirmed which studio or creators are heading up development of Survive.