David Hayter, the voice of Snake in almost every Metal Gear Solid game, has said he’s forgiven Konami for not casting him in the two titles he was dropped from.
Having voiced Snake for 12 years, it was Keifer Sutherland that Konami decided to cast as Venom Snake in both Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes and the main game The Phantom Pain. At the time, Hideo Kojima said the reasoning for the recasting was down to the team wanting an older actor to convey “a more subdued performance expressed through subtle facial movements and tone of voice, rather than words”.
In reaction, Hayter refused to play the two entries, saying it would be “60 hours of humiliation”. Claiming it would be “too painful”, he still hadn’t played the two games a year after release.
Fast forward almost 10 years, though, and David Hayter has now played Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain despite his initial reluctance. “I didn’t want to play the game because I figured it would hurt my feelings. Then, you know, 10 years went by and I was like ‘ah, to hell with my feelings. What do I care?’”
He continued: “I’m a screenwriter, so I get fired for a living — like, I literally, eventually, get fired from every single gig that I’ve got — and I’m not a child. I was like: ‘Stop being a baby and play the game.’ So I played it. It’s amazing.”
Hayter now agrees The Phantom Pain has the best gameplay of the series. “The fact that you can go into the same scenario each time, and the [enemy] soldier’s gonna be doing the same thing, but you can take on different routes or different strategies of attack, makes it feel like time travel.”
“So, yes, that was badass. So far as I’m concerned, all is forgiven.”
David Hayter returns to the role as Snake in next week’s Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, which uses his original voice work in a faithful remake of the third entry. It’s out on 28th August for PS5, or the 26th if you opt for the Digital Deluxe Edition. When we previewed the Virtuous Mission last year, we said:
“This essentially is that original game with a complete current-gen makeover, updated controls, and a few new quality-of-life additions and improvements. While the base inputs remain an option, this Delta version is designed to make Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater a world-beater all over again.”