David Hayter could have been taking a shot at Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes regarding its game length.
The former voice actor of Solid Snake tweeted the following:
I’ve never had to justify my game length.
This was a response to the fact that Konami and Hideo Kojima defended the fact that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes can be completed once in just 2 hours.
David Hayter is no longer the voice of Snake as Keifer Sutherland has that job now. He voiced Snake on four previous occasions and they were much longer than just 2 hours…
No. David Hayter hasn’t voiced Snake just 4 times. He has voiced Snake for the main METAL GEAR SOLID games, like:
– METAL GEAR SOLID (1998)
– METAL GEAR SOLID 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
– METAL GEAR SOLID 3: Snake Eater (2004)
– METAL GEAR SOLID: Portable Ops (2006) — Not a main title in the series, but an additional MGS chapter, nonetheless.
– METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
– METAL GEAR SOLID: Peace Walker (2010)
Not to mention his voicing in spin-offs, such as Metal Gear Ac!d (specifically its sequel) or guest appearances like Nintendo’s “Super Smash Bros.”
Hayter has been with this franchise, voicing the iconic Snake, for over decade. And considering all the re-releases/enhanced versions of several of the above mentioned games, we’re talking about 15 years of being on board with the METAL GEAR SOLID franchise. So, yeah, it IS a big deal not having him around anymore. I won’t call it a mistake, but it is very much noticeable.
He voiced Snake on more than 4 previous occasions. Main 4 entries, plus Peace Walker, the Metal Gear Ac!ds. Get your info right
Jim pretty much nailed it, there’s also the graphic novels and he’s been willing to screen write the Metal Gear movie for years (assuming he was asked) but the suits still haven’t struck a deal with whatever/whoever else. David brought a lot more to the franchise than just a voice and if he really has been shoved aside for Kiefer Sutherland, it’s a massive loss to us all, that distinct voice gone, for a generic video game American voice.
To those who say he lost his Snake voice from 2008 onwards, go watch the MGS4 documentary, he was asked to put that on, he also recorded the Smash Bros Codec calls while recording MGS4. There’s also various videos online where you can hear his original Snake voice, most recent I know of is the Canadian VG awards 2012.
The whole situation is a bit depressing, the way he was treated was disgusting, 15 years of being the voice of Metal Gear Solid and they just put him aside.
Metal Gear will hit a dead end with Kiefer, I fail to see any love or passion for the franchise, it’s just another role with a big cheque. Will we see anything else on a smaller scale like a Vita game, Smash Codec calls (assuming it’s Big Boss this time) or another graphic novel with Big Boss etc? Doubt it unless the price is right for Kiefer, only to have said thing cancelled because it isn’t worth the cost.
Can’t wait to meet Kiefer at gaming expo’s and ask him to do the Snake voi.. oh wait, he won’t ever go to one and no one will care to hear his Snake voice.
I don’t hate Kiefer, he is great a great actor, loved 24 and rate him as a good VA in things like WaW and MvsA but dislike him for taking this role, no one can replace a voice like Hayters, especially on an iconic character. Sutherland must of seen the backlash on the voice reveal and should of said nope, this isn’t right.
Whatever you think of me, passionate MGS fan, butthurt MGS fan, Hayter fanclub, Kiefer hater etc. I don’t care, to me and many Metal Gear fans, the wrong call was made, if this is a hoax, then well done Kojima, you got exactly what you wanted, if it isn’t and Kiefer is Big Boss, MGSV will be partially ruined for me, I just won’t be able to get over it no matter how good GZ/TPP are.
I think Hideo Kojima is smart enough to see that we want David back, but obviously he wasn’t willing to sacrifice more time to re-record all the vocals. He’ll bring David back in the next chapter of the franchise, if he cares what we, the fans, think about anything. Sutherland could do the aged Big Boss voice when a game is made, but Solid Snake NEEDS to be David Hayter.
Stupid move by Kojima. A video game genius but a terrible move unless he has something up his sleeve to explain why it’s no longer the same voice. Which is actually a very legit possibility.
David Hayter IS Snake.
keifer is the new voice of Big boss, not Solid Snake. If it’s a reboot, we will see solid snake and bigboss together again, we need two voices for these iconic characters in a sequel. make sense now?
i agree jon, david will most likely return for solid snake while they may keep keifer for bigboss, pretty cool idea i think.
that would be cool!
I am life long fan of MGS and Koonami. I will certainly not buy the next MGS if its kiether and probably will by less Koonami games. Ridiculous. I got 20mins into ground zero and its hard for me to even play it with this obviously fake voice.
You guys are going to feel really stupid when you find out that Keifer is only doing the voice in Ground Zeroes. Notice Big a Boss barely even speaks in Ground Zeroes? It’s maybe a handful of lines. Phantom Pain will have David Hayter back and you’ll all look silly for crying like babies over a video game voice.
I will even go as far as to bet that Kojima and Hayter are in on the crap talking. Probably told Hayter to crack a joke about game length to add credibility to the hoax. It seems way to odd to just ditch the voice actor but keep the same voice for the Japanese version.
I’m a huge MGS fan but honestly the old snake voice is kind of cheesy and fits more with the older games which were more comical. The new game feels more mature and way more serious. Keifers voice sounds way more legit and I actually started to like it and wanted to hear more. But I think hayter will be back just because of fans that whine anytime something changes. it’s simple…IF YOU WANT THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE THEN GO REPLAY THE OLD GAMES.
Look guy, David Hayter IS SNAKE, if you found him cheesy blame the script and director, not the actor, although I completely disagree, its your opinion. Ground Zeroes is a great game, brief, but good. Hearing Sutherland’s voice as Snake, though I think he did pretty good, is just not snake, its kiefer Sutherland pretending to be snake. Ground zeroes would’ve been perfect if hayter was still involved. Though this isn’t the first time big bosses voice actor was changed (see the ending to mgs 4). So I believe that this series is going full circle up to when big boss meets solid snake for the first time (prior to the original metal gear when he was in foxhound with him) and hayter will reprise the role he made legend as solid not big boss. I truly believe this is what he has planned for the series. Maybe even remaking metal gear and metal gear 2 solid snake for next gen, would be incredible if true.
Maybe I watched too much of “24” but prominently hearing Kiefer Sutherland’s voice in the opening mission briefing and in the “operation” near the end – without actually seeing Snake / Big Boss put the image of Jack Bauer / Kiefer Sutherland into my head.
With all the level of realism featured in “Ground Zeroes” that took me out of the illusion. How much of Kiefer Sutherland’s voice acting are we going to hear in “The Phantom Pain”?
The minimal compromise could be either a voice selection (Sutherland or Hayter) in the next game’s menu or even an option to unlock David Hayter’s voice.
We are dealing with a virtual gameplay character whose heart and soul is and has been David Hayter for the past 15 years. MGS is really not the same without him.
Then I’m glad I haven’t watched 24, but even if he wasn’t in 24 or MGS5, I still wouldn’t have watched it anyway.