Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes shown off at PAX

Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima showed off the first gameplay footage of his latest in the stealth-action series Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes earlier today at PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington.

[Editor's note: The first 11 minutes of the footage was just uploaded online. Here it is!]

In true MGS fashion, the first half of the 15 minute demo was entirely cutscenes. It opened in rainy Cuban prison Camp Omega where a severely burned man wearing what looks like The Boss' rain cloak gives a tape player to a child locked in a cage.

We come to discover that Peace Walker characters Paz and Chico are being held captive and Snake must rescue them. Which Snake? It looks more like Solid Snake's father Big Boss to me, only older with grey hair and a beard along with the eyepatch he's been sporting ever since that bit of unpleasantness in MGS3.

The footage portrayed him climbing up a cliff side until he reached some mountainous terrain bordering the prison camp. Kojima explained that you could infiltrate the base from any angle rather than the predetermined routes in previous games. Snake looked through his binoculars to spot a guard at a watch-post, before shooting him the head with a tranquilizer dart.

New to the series is the ability to steal vehicles. Snake hopped in a jeep and started to drive in, but an armored car cruised towards him, so he backed up and got out. He then shot a flare, which can be used to summon a helicopter at any point for backup or transport.

Amusingly, the chopper's arrival was greeted with Ride of the Valkyries blaring on the soundtrack. Kojima said you could change what songs it plays, but that a louder tune would increase the likelihood of getting caught.

Using Kojima Productions upcoming proprietary Fox Engine, the game looks stupidly attractive and it's due for PS3 and Xbox 360. The demo we saw was rendered on PC, but Kojima assured us that it had roughly the same specs as a PS3, so it should be indicative of what to expect.

He did however note that Kojima Productions was developing for next gen consoles as well, indicating that this could be appearing on those too.

When asked if Ground Zeroes would be Metal Gear Solid 5, Kojima said it would be more of a prologue. That being said, he noted that Ground Zeroes would be headed up by him. "I'm putting all my effort into it," he stated.

"Snake is back, but I'm back too."