The Phantom Pain announced, though it's likely just viral marketing for Metal Gear Solid

The Phantom Pain from Moby Dick Studio was announced at Spike's Video Game Awards tonight, and it's definitely... Something. Its cryptic debut trailer featured a man awakening in a hospital, his left forearm amputated and replaced with a prosthesis, confused and frightened by what's happening around him.

As the trailer progressed, things got weirder and weirder. The hospital filled with smoke and eventually caught fire, with men in tactical gear executing other patients. Things finally unhinged near the conclusion, with a fiery pegasus charging through the scene and then--why not?--a fiery whale.

Rumors are it might just be viral marketing for Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes (because Kojima), but we don't know for sure. We'll let you know when we get more details on The Phantom Pain.

UPDATE: The evidence is mounting--the protagonist's distinct mullet, bandaged eye, some similar facial scarring, and a nightmarish appearance from Snake Eater's Colonel Volgin all make this look like a bad dream from the Big Boss.

It doesn't hurt that unknown developer Moby Dick Studio is allegedly led by one Joakim Mogren--Joakim being an anagram for Kojima. La-li-lu-le-lo...

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.