Heads up, gamers – actor Kiefer Sutherland just upgraded your “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" experience.
Konami brought Sutherland on to play the iconic role of franchise hero, "Snake," the game developer said Sunday. On Thursday, Konami released a behind-the-scenes video of the process, with interviews of series creator Hideo Kojima and Sutherland.
“It’s an honor to be able to play this character," Sutherland said in the video. "This character has an unbelievable legacy, but there’s a real personal quality to the character that I’ve connected to.”
I’m not a gamer and even I knew about this game,” he added.
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It won’t just be the “24” star’s voice that appears in the game. Konami also captured Sutherland’s facial movements for the game‘s animation – the first time the actor’s been through the process.
Kojima said the games take on heavy subjects such as race and revenge, so he "wanted 'Snake' to have a more subdued performance, expressed through subtle facial movements and tone of voice rather than words.”
“Furthermore,” Kojima said, “the game takes place in 1984, when 'Snake' is 49 years old. Therefore, we needed someone who could genuinely convey the facial and vocal qualities of a man in his late 40′s.”
It is hard to say whether Sutherland’s voice is more or less recognizable to Konami’s audience than voice actor David Hayter‘s, who’s worked as Snake since the first “Metal Gear Solid” game in 1998.
“The game will probably still be excellent,” said Hayter on Twitter. “Like New Coke!”
Watch the video: