Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes may mark the start of a stark new era for the popular stealth saga. Creator Hideo Kojima has explained that games must push the boundaries of what is acceptable, if they're to compete with other storytelling media.
"If we don't cross that line, if we don't make attempts to express what we really want to express, games will only be games," Kojima said at a roundtable press event reported by Gamespot. "If we don't try to go beyond that, we won't be able to achieve what movies or novels have achieved. I didn't want to stay away from these things that could be considered sensitive. If we don't go that far, games will never be considered as culture."
He went on to compare Metal Gear to a recent cult TV sensation. "In Breaking Bad, I also see that these guys are trying to go to the limit; trying to take it as far as they can to try to get their message across. For us as well," he said. "In games we have to go to the limit; we want to stay within this limit of how far - pushing the boundaries of conveying our message. We look around and we don't see too many games like this; that is unfortunate."
"One of the main topics of Metal Gear Solid V is this chain of revenge. That is something that I really didn't want to step back from, I really didn't want to go around it," Kojima concluded. "I know that I will probably face a lot of criticism because of it but I really wanted to portray that accurately."
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes launches on March 20th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.