From 9/11 to a beaten-up mocap actor, Hideo Kojima is reminiscing about Metal Gear Solid 3

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The iconic MGS 3 title screen left one actor in "physical pain" for days

Metal Gear Solid
(Image credit: Kojima)

Hideo Kojima has been reminiscing about the development of Metal Gear Solid 3, in particular, its close-quarters combat and the game's title screen.

In a series of tweets, Kojima talks about Metal Gear Solid's menu screen revealing: "The silhouette of CQC that can change the color of the title screen. This is a production effect I put in the PV with the "Ultra Seven" opening in mind. I put it in the title because it was well received." 

In a follow-up tweet, Kojima revealed that a similar technique was used in the James Bond film Casino Royale in 2006, the developer then added: "I remember when we were doing the mo-cap, we applied CQC for real, and the actor seemed to have physical pain for a few days." 

Knowing what we know now, it's no surprise that the iconic menu sequence - which sees the silhouettes of two soldiers engage in close-quarters combat whilst the background colors change - caused the actor some pain. The two characters can be seen pulling each other around, throwing each other onto the floor, and pulling weapons out of each other's hands - I'm exhausted just watching them. 

This isn't the only thing Kojima reflected on recently, in another tweet, Kojima said: "After 911, it was foreseeable that close combat tactics on the battlefield would change, and since MGS3 would take place in confined spaces such as jungles and caves, would traditional CQB be ineffective?" The tweet continues, "so we consulted our military advisors and came up with the idea of CQC."

As for the future of Metal Gear Solid, there's been several rumors over the years of some kind of Metal Gear Solid 3 remake but, at the time of writing this, nothing has been confirmed yet. Earlier this year, we did get a hint that something Metal Gear shaped was on the way after Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance actor, Quinton Flynn, teased that something was due to be announced "in the coming weeks." 

On the topic of Kojima, Assassin's Creed managed to do what Metal Gear Solid 4 couldn't, and it made Kojima sad.

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.