In preschool and in daycare I would never answer to my name. I would only answer to Indiana Jones, Doctor Jones, Henry Jones Jr...etc, etc. I would pretend nearly everywhere I went that I was Indiana Jones. Sometimes I still do things like I think Indiana Jones would do them. One of the first gifts I received at my sons baby shower was an officially-licensed Indiana Jones fedora (for children) and a short leather whip, both for my son.

I might have spent a lot of time pretending I was Indiana Jones, but I never did a voice for him. Indiana Jones just sounded like Harrison Ford. When I wasn't Indiana Jones though, I was Solid Snake, and Solid Snake does indeed have a voice.

For a large part of my life, David Hayter was probably the only voice actor I knew by name. I've carried an extreme fandom for Metal Gear Solid since I was three years old, and I first played the game by way of Pizza Hut demo disc.

Let me tell you this again: I love David Hayter's voice for Snake, whether it's Solid Snake, Old Snake, Venomous Snake, Naked Snake, Big Boss, Garden Snake, Snake a Larange.

But now Kiefer Sutherland is voicing the famous stealth hero now--and I'm really okay with that.

I'm writing this post because I bought Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on my PS3 when it first came out, but didn't really spend much time with it for a myriad of reasons. I did recently purchase on my PS4 (and for like fourteen fucking dollars, like whats up) and have been playing it to death. Kiefer isn't a chatterbox like Solid Snake was, okay--but let's review some of the facts.

1. Ground Zeroes is the only story mission

The inaugural mission, Ground Zeroes, is the mission that matters. It both introduces the game and shows you all of the story content their really is to see. Kiefer does a sufficient amount of talking in this, and you get to hear him more than a couple times on different cassettes. He even re-recorded the voice snippets for the Deja Vu mission! They have Kaz doing quite a bit of voice work for the filler missions, but to have Kiefer do a bunch of work for throw-away stuff like that would be a waste of resources.

2. Codec, as we knew it, is gone.

With the removal of the Codec system, we just get direct radio in real-time, putting an end to a gameplay mechanic and interface that ran pretty much the same from 1987 until Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. No longer are we freezing time in the middle of gunfights to ask somebody about equipment, or talk about Godzilla. I'm okay with this and I'm not okay. On one hand, I really enjoyed being able to just float around and talk to people the same way I liked taking cab rides and listening to the radio in Grand Theft Auto, but I have been playing GZ with headphones and it's pretty damn cool hearing it in your headset.

3. This was a prologue.

This was a lead-in, guys. Nobody got to have an arc. Like any Kojima production, 1,000 questions are hanging in the air and this was just the tip of the iceberg. To people saying that Kiefer didn't say anything...he did, but what did you want him to say? This was a big teaser

4. At this trajectory, we might see Snake take on Big Boss soon.

And at that point, what happens? Would we have David Hayter talking to a less-gruff David Hayter? Kojima has expressed interest in remaking certain games in the franchise, and Metal Gear Solid has already seen it's re-release even if it was years and years ago now. Big Boss wasn't voiced by Hayter at the end of MGS4 and nobody batted an eye. My guess is that if nothing else, this is a step hinting at us seeing the legendary soldier fight his clone in the near-future.

*

Hideo Kojima is a visionary. He's absolutely crazy, and we all love him for it. He's behind one of the most well-loved and bizarre franchises in all of video games, and he has done far wilder things than change out a voice actor with great success. He went as far as to hide the MAIN CHARACTER from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty from everyone until release! Even going so far as to swap the character model of Raiden into Solid Snake while demoing the Fortune boss fight, as seen in the Metal Gear Scanlon bonus video.

Hayter is not a bad voice actor. In fact, he's really good! But Kiefer is an actor of a caliber that David simply isn't, and he might bring something new to this character. I don't buy that he was too expensive and that's why he has been so silent thus far--Kojima is way too indebted into what Metal Gear is to chop the script into tiny bits because he could have the Hollywood actor for ten minutes instead. Kojima is a big name, Konami is a big studio, and Metal Gear is their mealticket. I would be utterly shocked if they didn't give Kojima whatever the hell it was he needed.

To date, Hideo Kojima has given me four fantastic experiences in a row. I absolutely trust him, because he has confounded my expectations every time only to leave me in pure adoration. He is one of the last great visionaries in AAA games. I'll follow him wherever he goes.

Now, give me The Phantom Pain already!

I don't think we've heard enough of good ol' Kiefer to tell either way.

I tend to dislike celebrity casting in video games because it often makes me self-conscious of how tin-eared dialogue can be in games.

When David Hayter recites some Kojima nonsense in his Snake voice, I feel like he knows what the score is, but imagining Kiefer Sutherland in that voice booth looking down at that script in bafflement just makes me uneasy. Clearly, I'm projecting my own feelings onto these actors, but I feel that's easier to do when I'm familiar with their screen presence outside of games.

Yup. It just makes sense. Its time. I'm just also waiting for the part where we find out MGS V somehow ends up being Metal Gear from BB's perspective and we see a young SS voiced by Hayter take on BB.

I've always just assumed point #4. If in future games, Kojima wants Solid to confront Big Boss, then I'm ok with Kojima wanting to differentiate the two more so than he did at the end of MGS 4..

I just have a few things to say, really.

One: I am still not convinced that David Hayter is not in the coming MGS game, but we'll see. I think Kojima likes to play jokes, and I wouldn't put it past him to make an elaborate hoax only to go " Oh and btw, the reason Keifer plays Big Boss is because David Hayter is playing someone else" or something. I don't know, just sayin. I'm not convinced yet.

Two: Keifer is a decent screen actor. He himself admits he's done a lot of bad movies. A lot. He actually disappeared for a while due to his own personal problems and because he was just making shitty movies. When he came back, before 24 got super popular (maybe even before he was in it, I forget) he said that he would only come back to acting again if he was getting good parts. If he was only being offered shit he was going to turn it down. It can be debated if he has done that, but it's seemed like he's stuck to that for the most part.

So he's alright as an actor. Not one of the best, but he certainly has nostalgia points (Young Guns 1 and 2, Lost Boys, Stand By me, etc.). That being said, he is not a voice actor. It is completely different and anyone arguing that just because they do mo-cap more consistently now means that his talents are better suited to games is mind blowingly wrong- we've seen this time and time again. Voice acting is not the same as on screen acting and even with mo-cap it will never be the same. Even mo-cap acting is different than on screen acting.

I won't rule Keifer out as being any good- I'm sure he'll be fine or... something. Kojima saying he's better suited for mo-cap than David Hayter just seems like nonsense to me (as they're both around the same age). There's no reason to not use Hayter other than either Kojima is playing a huge prank (not out of the norm for him to do) or he was pressured to or something else I'm not thinking of.

Hayter's going to be in the game. He absolutely has to be. There's too much of a legacy there, Kojima knows it, they're both screwing with us, game people lie all the time (David Jaffe/Twisted Metal), I want to believe, etc.

There was more voice work in the briefing stuff and it seemed fine. Kojima's probably got a ridiculous budget at this point so they can afford the dude.

And hey, maybe he's primarily in the cutscenes and that'll mean less Codec. After just seeing the end of MGS2 again, I'm just fine with that. If anything, they have their stable of voice actors that'll say whatever the hell Kojima wants. Snake going "cardboard tank, huh?" on occasion will allow his buddies to talk for another couple minutes.

Or maybe they just recorded every single thing Sutherland said while at the office and wrote a story around it. To maximize his time.

I don't fucking know what MGS V is going to be.

Though I'm not expecting it, I wouldn't put it past Kojima to still have Hayter in Phantom Pain in one way or another.

I feel like the whole Kiefer Sutherland thing is some crazy diversion, and when Metal Gear Solid V comes out, we'll be seeing "David Hayter" come up in the opening credits. With the whole Kiefer Sutherland saying he was going to be in the next Mortal Kombat game, and then not being in the next Mortal Kombat game, I feel like he might have been told by Kojima to act like he was going to jump into doing more videogame acting/voice work. Pulling the wool over our eyes is nothing new when it comes to Kojima.

follow the money

I think the main problem for me is just how much Kiefer will actually be in the game. What I've heard exists I suppose, but it's not a lot. The budget for the game is probably huge, but how much of that is put towards getting Kiefer in a damn booth is the question.

Also, I went and played MGS3 recently and hoo boy... still a great game, story, characters, etc. but Hayter's little inflections were really grating for some reason. I think he's still pretty good in MGS 1 and 2, but 3 and 4 he started to get a little too hammy. To be fair, that's Metal Gear. Kinda the point, I know, but still. I'm all for something new! I just hope there's enough new to matter!

I was a big fan of Kiefer Sutherland back in the 80s because of The Lost Boys and Young Guns and, well, he's the son of freaking Donald Sutherland. Based on those films, Sutherland Jr. is a great choice to voice Snake if they can't get/ don't want Hayter for some reason, though I've never seen an episode of 24, so I don't really know if Kiefer has aged as well as his dad did.

My ultimate problem with Kiefer isn't that he's voicing Big Boss, but that every time he talks I immediately think "Jack Bauer".

It's not too late to change the title of this blog to "Kiefer Madness".

I was pretty skeptical at first, but the more I hear of it, the more I like it. The tone and delivery of his lines in the newest Quiet trailer really got me on board.

@matpaget: Warning! This post contains X-Files spoilers! Yeah, betcha didn't expect that.

I don't know if you're joking, but I've HONESTLY been considering this. First, this feels like a reverse of the MGS2 switcheroo: at that time it was "hey, here's Snake! Play as Snake! Snake's awesome! Look at him fight Fortune!" before it just completely cold cocks us with Raiden like it's not even a big deal. Now, it's become "hey, we got Jack freakin' Bauer as Big Boss! You're hyped, right? Jack Bauer! Look at us recording stuff in the studio and shit! Jack! Bauer!" It feels like they are (or were, media has kinda died down since a few months ago) overdoing the coverage purposefully. Like they want us to believe a bit too much. Second - and honestly, this is a big one - when Hayter told that rather suspicious story about being taken out to lunch and told he "wasn't needed" like he was being dumped by his girlfriend of one month... I mean, what kind of big name company is that cavalier about that? Especially someone Kojima clearly respects like Hayter? Anyway, the date when Hayter posted that story on Twitter and other outlets was April first! I thought it was a legit joke for a whole week! I mean, what are the chances, come on! It seems like the most Kojima thing ever to have the game open, Boss look right into the camera and say, in Hayter's gravelly voice, "Kept you waiting, huh?" And when everyone finishes putting their faces back together, and asking Kojima what the Hell's going on, he's just like "Remember almost a year ago when Hayter officially confirmed he wasn't voicing Boss? Check the date. APRIL FOOLS!"

However, it also feels like a very Kojima thing to hype up and show a ton of the game you're producing because... It's MGS. It makes sense to make this big of a splash out of one of Konami's flagships. And the date thing could very well be the most cruel coincidence in the universe. I'm personally fully prepared to accept Sutherland as Boss and judge his performance as fairly as I can.

Anyone who watches/watched the X-Files can probably relate to me calling this a "Mulder situation". Sure losing Duchovny in X-Files sucked hard, and no one could've adequately replaced him. But if it was going to happen, who would've been best to -- the freaking T-1000, that's who! I feel it's the same with Hayter and Sutherland. Sure, I'd prefer Hayter any day, but Sutherland is cool and is famous for playing a character a lot like our beloved hero (seriously, watch some 24, he really seems partially inspired by Solid Snake).

So, my body is ready for Ace Merrill to ice some dudes in the MGS universe, sure. But until I hear that voice, I'm not completely giving up hope.

I want to believe.

This is a must, it has to be done.

That said, I thought he did fine in Ground Zeroes. Keifer is very well suited to the part and character, while he is no voice actor let's also not all pretend that being a voice actor is somehow harder than being an actual actor. Most of the key differences just come down to voice control since in the booth you don't have expression and body language helping you along.

After MGSV, you will watch reruns of 24 and only think "Big Boss".

@karkarov: It's not pretend and it's not harder. It's different.

They are two different kinds of acting.

There is no reason to be dismissive of facts.

I don't think I want to ruin my pristine memories of 24 anytime soon by reminding myself what 24 eventually became.

Then you'll never have an issue! :D

I just wish they'd get some dialogue in for the guards during hold ups.

Also, why remove the codec if you're going to make me sit and listen to a bunch audio logs anyway? That's more in regards to Peace Walker, which had hundreds of those things.

I have less of a problem with Kojima replacing Hayter someone else to play Big Boss specifically than I do with both the way it was done (allegedly) and the man they got to replace him.

That Hayter had to find out he wouldn't be voicing Snake in MGSV by hearing it second hand through a third party is completely absurd. Assuming this ISN'T an elaborate Kojima troll, that is pretty disrespectful to a guy who gave your character a voice for the past 15 years. And then to find out he was replaced by Kiefer Sutherland...

I'm sure Kiefer is a cool, talented dude, but the fact is he's going to cost a lot of money merely by being a member of SAG. When Hollywood actors are hired to do voice work they get paid in a different manner than regular voice actors, and it means they cost substantially more to keep in the booth. This means that either A. They got him because the script was much shorter for this game than previous ones so they could afford it, B. they cut the script down so that they COULD afford him, or C. the most unlikely case, they emptied their wallets to keep him on a long script.

I wish they had gotten either of the other two fantastic voice actors that played Big Boss in the previous games (personally I'm partial to John Cygan's version). This would cost a lot less, and solve the problem of Hayter talking to himself later on while still making sense within the context of the series.

I'm hoping that Kiefer is doing Big Boss, because Hayter will actually be voicing Solid Snake.

I really hate how much this comment is making me chuckle right now.

I know it's nerdy as hell, but it's so dumb that Big Boss's voice changes from Hayater's at the end of Peacewalker to Kiefer's for Ground Zeroes--which takes place not long after Peacewalker.

Casting Kiefer to make Big Boss sound older, fine. Phantom Pain is 10 years after Ground Zeroes. Believable. Weeks later? Nah, dawg.

I'm fully willing to accept that I'm just biased toward Hayater, but I couldn't get into Kiefer's voice at all in Ground Zeroes. And I'll take a voice actor doing voice work over a screen actor doing voice work any day.

I don't care whose voice it is. Would Hayter talking to himself at the end of MGS4 break some sort of immersion? Would it not be dumber for the entirety of the arc to have Snake, with the same voice as his nemesis throughout and for neither character to bat an eyelid? And if they followed that through, why not give Liquid Hayter's voice as well?

On the subject of known actors taking on these roles, it all depends on how they approach working in that environment. Peter Dinklage and Bill Murray have phoned it in whereas Patrick Stewart always delivers. We haven't heard enough of Kieffer to see which way it pans out.

There is a big difference between being a good actor and a good voice actor. Take John DiMaggio and Peter Dinklage for example. DiMaggio barely does any real-life acting, but he's an incredible and prolific voice actor. Dinklage on the other hand is brilliant in front of the camera, but we all know he's not exactly stellar in Destiny. It's a completely different set of skills. From what I've heard, Keifer just seems to be doing Keifer, which is kind of disappointing. It really surprises me that more game studios don't record their voice actors in groups so they can bounce off each other and give a more natural performance. Probably a whole lot more of a headache to arrange, but surely the results would be worth it.

I can almost guarantee you the Snake you're playing as in TPP isn't BB. So I think differentiating VAs makes perfect sense.

I'm convinced that David Hayter won't be making an appearance in the upcoming game. He sounded pretty miffed when MGS5 was announced. That or it's all part of Kojima's long con.

@gatehouse said:

I love Tyrion Lannister as much as the next guy, but Peter Dinklage doesn't exactly have a pristine track record on screen, so Destiny wasn't a big surprise to me. Personally I don't think it's a different set of skills, I just don't think celebrities take video game voice over seriously. To voice actors starring in a AAA video game is a big project, to celebrities its just a paycheck in between projects.

That theory reminds me a lot of the crazy "MGS3 is actually just Solid Snake in a simulator" theory that became so popular before MGS3's release, meaning I really like the idea of it, but it's probably not true.

I've been vocal about this before, and my stance is the same. I'm 100% for a different voice actor portraying Big Boss if the story Kojima is going to tell is the story of how Naked Snake finally goes off the deep end, and becomes the sort of person that would resort to threatening to use nuclear force against the rest of the world (which is basically the plot of the original Metal Gear). Like, this is the story of how the hero becomes the villain, and I think Kiefer has a more villainous voice than Hayter.

Also, yeah, there's precedence for it being a different voice. Hell, Solid, Liquid, and Solidus all have different voices, despite being clones of Big Boss.

I still am a bit worried that there's not going to be a ton of dialog from Kiefer in the final game, though. Hearing things about how much he costs to hire, and everything involved in the facial capture process makes me think that they might be toning that stuff back a bit. Which isn't the end of the world, I'll love the game either way (because the game part looks phenomenal), but who knows.

Also, I really hope the big plot twist in Phantom Pain isn'tand you were really Grey Fox all along, or something like that. I don't want the end of this game to be, "Well, that wasn't really what Big Boss was doing in the 80s, so look forward to MGS VI when we go through that." I know I obsess about that damn shadow without hair more than just about anyone else (though I'm pretty sure I saw it casting a shadow in some of the TGS footage), but come on guys.

@mooseymcman said:

I mean, Skullface doesn't have any hair. Maybe it's him? ;)

I didn't get into Metal Gear until after 4 had been released, so seeing all the crazy theories involving Ishmael, fake Big Bosses, and Chico being Quiet, are all really fun to see. Kojima seems to know just what to show to get everyone invested in trying to figure out what the big twists will be, and that's awesome. I just wish more videogame franchises evoked this kind of discussion.

@teddie: Oh, don't get me wrong, I looooooooooove that these theories exist, and that people (including myself) get so into them. The reason I don't want the big plot twist to be "You weren't Big Boss all along" is because I care so much about this franchise, and I don't know how I would feel about that.

I mean, this isn't like with Raiden in MGS2. You know? That was, at the time, the farthest ahead in the timeline that MGS had gotten to at this point. But this is set right smack dab in the middle (more or less), and is being advertised as a very specific story that hasn't been told yet in the series. And my fear is that a big bait and switch like that is just going to lead to MGS VI being the story we were sold on this time. Not that I don't want there to be an MGS VI, I'd just rather this kinda be the last arc in the Big Boss story, and have whatever comes next either be a full on reboot, or be set so far in the future that it might as well be a reboot.

I don't mind Kiefer, but I also don't think they're getting their money's worth for him.

@cornbredx: The problem with your post is this isn't just voice acting anymore. Actors are in the same room, speaking in person to each other, and physically acting. It's acting.

I actually think Keifers voice works. I have no problems with change. The latest trailer worked for me.

BUT I have this little problem/concern.

Why isn't Bigg Boss saying anything during THREE whole minutes?! That freaks me out. Snake/Big Boss have always been quite vocal. To just watch him look at Ocelet having a monologue while silently staring at him as he was Link from the Legend of Zelda comes of a super weird.

Will he say more in the actual game? Are they saying actual plot things that Kojima wants to keep secret and therefore changed in the demo? He has done that before. Because imagine Snake being silent in a Codec conversation or any conversation i the seriers when engaging with only one other characters. That almost never happens. Snake/Big Boss may be a rough tough guy but he does speak, quite a lot. This seems very out of character for him.

How hard is it to repeat the last thing you heard with a tone of annoyed confusion?

I'm not sure about a re-imagining of the Outer Haven incident would work since Kojima has said he's retiring the character of Colonel Campbell since the Japanese voice actor died... It would kind of spoil the continuity for Campbell all of sudden not to have been on that mission. Just a thought.

@dogma: I know Kojima's said that he wants Big Boss to be more expressive through his actions and expressions, and the trailers have been showcasing some really great work in this regard.

But then we see all these other characters yapping away all the time anyway, and it makes Big Boss's new-found silence look even more out of place.

How hard is it to repeat the last thing you heard with a tone of annoyed confusion Brodehouse!?

The only problem with Sutherland is the fact that they probably only did half, 25% or even 10% of the dialogue they would've done with a voice actor who doesn't charge 3 billion dollars an hour. Long ass codec and face to face conversations have always been a hallmark of the series. Now I fear snake is only going to speak in specific cutscenes and they'll have less expensive voice actors monologue at him the rest of the time.

haha this is my response to a previous complaint about how Snake used to be chattier. A lot of it was pointless response.

I'm cool with Keifer voicing Big Boss, because if you think about it he's a different person by these events. In the Phantom Pain trailers Big Boss just straight sounds fed up with everything around him. He lacks the naïveté of his younger Naked Snake and early Big Boss self. Now he's older, disabled, and betrayed in in the worst way possible.

Now on to my looney hope for MGS V. I'm hoping that in the beginning they have you play as Big Boss setting up Outer Heaven/ Zanzibar Land. Depending how you set that up will affect the obstacles in the second half in which you play as Solid Snake, and recreate the events of the OG Metal Gear. This sounds insane, but it's the kind of insane Kojima is capable of.

Having never really watched any TV shows with Kiefer, I'm actually really digging his voice. I also like how they've scaled back the amount of dialog he had. I played through MGS4 a couple of months ago and that whole game felt so overacted and melodramatic. I actually ended up liking it a lot less than I initially did when it was released. So the idea that Big Boss is kinda this changed, quieter, seen-some-shit guy is kinda refreshing. Also, I feel like they're able to convey a lot more just with the facial animations at this point.

Either way, scaling back the amount of dialog can only be a good thing after 4.

Yeah, I understand that and I am overall optimistic. I just find it kinda weird. It's not just that he's silent but that he just stairs. He feel very silent protagonist like in that scenario.

Really pumped for this game though!

@berserker976: fair enough, but I've seen a lot of convincing arguments.

I enjoyed this post. Particularly "Snake a Larange".

I agree with a lot of people here. While I think Keifer's voice fits Big Boss, It's tough not to hear Jack Bauer every time he speaks.

I think Hayter's gonna be in this game a whole bunch, and I think his Twitter "outrage" was all for show. I hope I'm right. That's the kind of stuff I'd expect from Kojima. That, and vagina bombs.

Fuck it. Bring me Keifer. I don't care if he says jack shit or Jack Bauer, I want me some Big Boss. I wanna shoot some motherfuckers and snap the rest in half with some CQC.

Half the dialogue in all the other MGS games is pointless fluff anyways. Stopping every 30 feet to call someone and talk endlessly about a pedantic story point gets old after about the 4th damn game already.