[Vic Viper]

IGN: Do you feel that with MGS3 you are tying up all the loose ends of the story of the trilogy?

Kojima: With the gameplay, the story, and even the skills of the guys on the team who've been working on the MGS series for the past 10 years I think we've been able to wrap up the trilogy.

IGN: What kind of role will you have in the next Metal Gear game?

Kojima: (laughs) There is no actual team that is working on MGS4 right now, but now that we've pretty much finished up MGS3 and if there are a lot of fans who want a MGS4 there will be one. There's planning going on in my head, but there is no staff working on it.

IGN: So for right now what is the staff doing? Is everyone about to go on a well-deserved vacation?

Kojima: We're still working on the European version right now. We're done with the U.S., Japanese, and Korean versions, but we still have the European version so the guys are still working on the game.

IGN: Will there be any gameplay differences between the U.S. version and the European one?

Kojima: We feel sorry for the American fans, but the European fans have to wait until the very end, and so to compensate for that we're going to add a few modes and some extra features for the European version.

IGN: Will we ever see those modes and features in America?

Kojima: In the past you've seen additional versions like Integral or Substance. It could happen, but we have no plans right now.

IGN: Can you say what any of these modes might be for the European version?

Kojima: We can't really talk about them now. One thing we can say now is that we will be adding a new difficulty level called the European Extreme. We've always added that in the past. It's a very difficult mode.

IGN: Do you feel like you've really nailed the Metal Gear Solid feeling of a game that is very fun the first time, but rewards players for playing through it multiple times?

Kojima: I always say when I come up with a new Metal Gear Solid game that it's a masterpiece, but this time I think we nailed it in terms of gameplay and in terms of volume as well because it's a big, long game. I think it is a masterpiece and Yoji Shinkawa is a critic and his evaluations can be pretty severe, but this time he thinks it's a masterpiece as well. (laughs)

IGN: That depth shows in the many different situations in the game that provide several different ways of going about solving them. I was curious as to which of these areas you feel best represents this open gameplay.

Kojima: I guess the battle with The End.

IGN: So where did the inspiration from The End come from? It's such a different boss battle from all the others that take place within much more confined spaces.

Kojima: I just wanted to come up with totally different boss battles for MGS3 such as for The End and also The Sorrow. I just wanted to do things that you don't see in other games. And one interesting thing with The End battle is that you can kill him earlier in the game. And so if you kill him there it's a boss fight that you don't have to fight. That's another thing you don't see in other games.

We've done sniping battles before as with Sniper Wolf, but you sort of know where she is so you try a few spots and you eventually get her. But this time we wanted to set it in a real jungle where you don't know where he is so you can fight for hours.

IGN: For people who have not played the demo beforehand and are coming into the game as a new experience there's a very steep learning curve. Was there a fear that that might be a turn-off for players?

Kojima: I always had these worries, especially introducing new game systems like camouflage, the food capturing, and the cure system. The CQC is fighting so I guess you can put that aside. These things are totally new to the players and I had to think of the right timing of when to give which game system to the player in the game so that's something I had to think of.

That's why in the game you can start out by changing your camo. The first enemies you see in the game are the crocodiles, there are no human enemies. That's where you can try out your food capturing for the first time. After that there are human enemies so you can use your camo when there are humans around you. And after that you don't even get to use the cure system, you don't get any sever injuries. Only after you enter Operation Snake Eater, then you get to treat yourself when you get injured severely. That's why we lay these things out separately early in the game so that people can learn them one by one.

IGN: I loved the fact that the tools are reduced in this game and that players need to use the sonar with the AP sensor and all of that. Was this decision to go back in time to a more limited system because it was too easy for people to use the radar system before?

Kojima: The series was turning into a radar game where you just pay attention to the radar and not use your visual senses or listening. That's what I wanted people to depend on instead of the radar so in the jungle I wanted people to listen to the grass moving or noise and so that's why I got rid of the radar.

IGN: Good decision.

Kojima: (laughs)