Watching the latest previews and gameplay footage from the "Metal Gear Solid 5" reveal yesterday, did you notice that Snake is awfully quiet? Well, it looks like there's a reason for that.
We got a few grunts and some questions, but it sounded...wrong, unfamiliar, and there's a reason for that. Longtime voice actor for Old / Naked Snake, David Hayter, is not lending his vocal talents this time around. And what's more, according to a tweet, he wasn't even asked to return. I love what Kojima has done for the "Metal Gear" franchise, but that's just low.
Hayter's been the English voice actor for Snake for 11 games in all (12 if you count "Super Smash Bros. Brawl") ever since the first "Metal Gear Solid" on the original PlayStation in 1998. Snake without Hayter is akin to Batman without Kevin Conroy.
It remains to be seen what caused the disconnect with Hayter, but everyone seems down in the dumps about the revelation. Hayter had earlier sent out a tweet tagging Kojima and Konami's twitter accounts, in which he asked fans about their opinions regarding Hayter's non-involvement in the next "Metal Gear" game.
Quite the prolific tweeter, it's doubtful Kojima somehow missed the poll, especially since #DavidHayter was trending on Twitter Wednesday, or it's possible that he was a bit taken aback by Hayter's attempt to garner attention. Or, being that this is Kojima we're talking about, there's a good chance he and Hayter are just screwing with us.
If this turns out to be legitimate, whoever's stepping in to voice Snake next has some awfully big shoes to fill.