When The Phantom Pain's true identity was finally revealed at GDC, Hideo Kojima fanboys and fangirls were delighted with the prospect of yet another Metal Gear to immersive themselves with. But there was one hitch: the absence of David Hayter, the man who has supplied the voice of Solid Snake and Naked Snake/Big Boss for the past 15 years.
Shorty after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's formal unveiling, Hayter mentioned on Twitter that he was not involved. His initial tweet, and the ones immediately after were succinct. Days have passed and Hayter has had the time to ponder the situation further. Recently, he passed along the following:
I have been up in Toronto, for the past eight months, directing my first film, (WOLVES — 2013, TF1/COPPERHEART). On the December break, I came home to Los Angeles for the holidays. I heard then, that recording sessions for MG:V were being put together.
But I didn’t hear anything about whether I’d be needed or not.
So, I got in touch with someone involved in the production. We got together for lunch, and he told me that they "wouldn’t be needing me" on this game. No reason, or explanation was given beyond that.
And that was it.
I drove home through Laurel Canyon, bummed, and thinking about Snake.
To be clear, I love being a part of the world of Metal Gear. I admire its technological innovations, the gameplay, the political message of it all. But primarily, I love the fans of these games. Two grown men burst into tears upon meeting me at the Vancouver Fan Expo last year.
Now that… Is a rare and excellent role. You know you’re making an impact.
And I love doing it.
In 1998, I tried to do come up with a voice which epitomized the kind of worn, put-upon, genetically-engineered clone-soldier that I saw Snake to be. Over time, as the games became more stunning and visually sophisticated, I tried to transition that initial voice into the increasingly real environments in which Snake found himself. My level of success is up to you, but any perceived deficiencies were not for lack of hard work. I have dedicated a huge amount of time and effort into creating a compelling character, capable of expressing the myriad emotional, physical and psychological hurdles that Snake has to face.
Anyway, now it’s been fifteen years, nine games, and an enormous blast to undertake.
Though it's the following sentiment that is most the telling, as Joystiq also notes:
If it were my choice, I would do this role forever. To hear anyone else’s voice coming from Snake’s battered throat, makes me a little ill, to be honest.
To hear even more from Hayter, here his being interview by Electric Playground. Again, it's very much evident that the role of Snake was near and dear to the man, and how saddened he is to be along for the ride anymore.
The absence of Hayter's vocal talents is, for many, a massive blow to the series. In a previously cited interview, Kojima chose to go with another voice actor to further cement the differences between Metal Gear Solid V and its predecessors.
And many have pointed out how at Big Boss's voice during the later years is quite different from his earlier days, as evidenced in the end of Metal Gear Solid 4. But at the same time, the trailer for Ground Zeroes (back when it was being promoted as a separate game, has the same Japanese voice actor playing Snake since day one. Clearly there's some inconsistency going on.
It could be argued that perhaps Hayter will do the voice of Big Boss for just the Ground Zeroes portion of Phantom Pain (which takes nine years later, further legitimize the notion that age would cause a different sounding voice). But if that was the case, you'd think he would have been clued in by now.
Perhaps, as he says in the Electric Playground interview, that the English voice work in general has never been a priority with Konami since day one?
