10 Problems With The Metal Gear Series Nobody Wants To Admit

1. Hideo Kojima

The release of The Phantom Pain is still six months off, but already Metal Gear Solid has been back in the headlines. Rumour has it that Hideo Kojima might finally be leaving not only the franchise on which he made his name, but severing all times with his former employers as well; he's been threatening to retire from Metal Gear for years now, and has been involved with Konami from more of a distance for the last couple of games, developing them under his own company. Now Kojima's name is being dropped form all the marketing around MGSV, where it was previously omnipresent. Fans are taking this to mean that the creator/producer/writer/director of every (proper) Metal Gear game so far is finally going to be leaving the franchise, and most have taken that as a bad sign. In reality, though, it may wind up being the best thing to happen to them. Pretty much every problem on this list is down to Kojima. He's got the most creative control over the games, which means everything €“ the tonal shifts, the crappy stories, the left-field turns, the early games, the terrible misogyny €“ all originate with him. He's perhaps better as an ideas man than an actual hands-on game creator; imagine how much better a game that looks like Metal Gear, but plays a lot better and has a plot that makes sense would be. The biggest problem with the Metal Gear series is, yes, Hideo Kojima himself. But with the mastermind off to bother Silent Hill now instead, maybe those problems will soon be a thing of the past.