e have been drooling over the idea of Metal Gear Ac!d 2 for too long now. More juicy details were needed and Director Shinta Nojiri was the man with the answers. During our time at the Konami Gamers’ Day, we found out more on the crazy world of Ac!d 2 and its story and characters.
Game Informer: Ac!d 2 is out in Japan. After finishing the game, what are your thoughts? Are you happy with how it all turned out?
Shinta Nojiri: I’m a really great state right now because I was able to do everything I wanted to do in Ac!d 2 and that includes the Sol!d Eye 3D goggles. That was something I had wanted to do for a long time and I was able to. I also had a checklist of thing I wanted to do in Ac!d 2. So you could say I am very satisfied. I’m very happy with the way it turned out.
GI: What about in comparison to Ac!d 1. Are you happy with the way it came out in comparison?
Nojiri: With Ac!d 1, I think it was a good game but there was a lot of feedback from users on what they wanted to change or they weren’t happy with. So I addressed all of those with Ac!d 2. For example, the new graphic style. I also just cleaned up the game play to make it less irritating. I would get frustrated. Now when I play Ac!d 2, it’s much more smooth and intuitive. I guess you could say I forgot about Ac!d 1 and it’s all about Ac!d 2 right now.
Director Shinta Nojiri
GI: What new feature in the second game are you most excited about?
Nojiri: One thing that I am really excited about is actually the story. We have really sped it up and that’s something I really wanted to experiment with in sort of a way and see how the users react to it. And I think the will react to it very well.
We set up this really simple story at the beginning and people are going to think this game is going to be done in three stages and Snake is on a mission. But of course it does not end in three stages - Snake gets wrapped up in a lot of other stuff. I just said, “Let’s do something really simple at first and the throw the user into a huge world that they weren’t expecting.”
One thing I wanted to do was create this world to communicate to users this scary world we all live in then put it into Ac!d 2. In the game, there are those characters that might cry for help and it’s like a dog-eat-dog world. So maybe people will see some parallels in the real world and it will bring attention to the story.
GI: In the first game, you start playing and it comes off as a very normal Metal Gear game but then once you get a little bit in, everything just goes crazy. Is this what users should expect from this game as well?
Nojiri: You won’t be thrown into a very fearful world this time. Like I said before, Ac!d 2 isn’t going to freak out on an airplane. But we also have these two really stupid characters, but stupid in a good way. Ones named Dalton and the other BB. They try really hard and try and help out Snake but they just make a lot of mistakes. They are charismatic in that sense.
GI: Kind of comical?
Nojiri: Yes, kind of comical but they don’t mean to be comical. I think the users will laugh because they will think their just not doing their jobs right. I just a big fan of movies like Ocean’s 12 where they kind of have silly characters in a way. They act serious but they just come off being kind of silly. Like they are trying too hard. That’s what I really enjoy.
GI: When I met with you at Tokyo Game Show, it was right after the announcement of the Revolution controller. You kind of mentioned that you were on the team that was working on that. Are you excited about with that new hardware for new productions?
Nojiri: To be completely honest, I have been wrapped up in Ac!d 2 and haven’t even touched the Revolution development kit. Nothing has been decided yet but I am very interested in the Revolution. To be 100% honest, all I have is ideas in my head. I am not working on anything.
GI: Well you usually handle the “different stuff” for Kojima Productions.
Nojiri: I have always wanted to be in this position so I could create new directions for games. However, it’s the budget that’s always the dark cloud over my head. So this is why I am so fearful of the next-generation. Because it will be so spendy. I am not going to be able to put together all of these great ideas I have in my head. I am going to try every year but we will see.
GI: Thank you very much for your time.