Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was Hideo Kojima’s final Metal Gear Solid game, and it was an odd one. Despite having some of the best sneaking action and gunplay, the open world and “missions” structure didn’t necessarily speak to fans of the more linear, tightly scripted feel of the previous games.
But MGS5’s most unexpected change was the decision to replace David Hayter, Solid Snake’s English voice actor since Metal Gear Solid’s release in 1998, with movie star Keifer Sutherland. And, as many fans rightly point out, the casting decision is even stranger considering that Snake doesn’t speak a whole lot in The Phantom Pain. Kojima’s decision to pass on Hayter for the part amounted to a bit of 2010s video game drama, as it seems Hayter was largely left in the dark as to why the casting change took place.
But maybe it’s time to turn a new page? In a recent post on Twitter (currently known as “X”), Hayter reports that he finally played the 2015 Metal Gear game that didn’t include him. Not only that, he seems to have enjoyed it.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1737575758393176168
After saying he “put it off for years”, he confessed that the “game’s pretty fun” (maybe a not-so-subtle reference to the “you’re pretty good” line featured in a number of Metal Gear titles?) after noting that the “Laryngitic Snake” didn’t resonate as well. Right there with ya, Hayter.
Hayter has been known to post various Metal Gear- and other video game-related jokes, including one about just how long it’s been since the last main GTA game came out—that one garnered an MGS4 “Old Snake” reference.
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1722325585152929961
David Hayter has recently appeared in advertisements for the kinda-not-so-great Metal Gear Solid Master Collection. His “this is only the beginning” line in said ad has certainly left fans wondering what else is around the corner in the Metal Gear universe.