Are you unhappy with Kojima’s choice to drop David Hayter for Kiefer Sutherland in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain? Troy Baker asks that you give them a chance.
Baker, of course, is alluding to the mysterious and sudden recasting of Kiefer as Snake. The way it played out, Hayter was not even made aware that he was recast, so after nearly two decades of playing Snake in theMetal Gear Solid series – including both Solid Snake and Big Boss – he was no longer working one of his most famous and iconic roles.
Baker happens to still be involved in in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, playing Ocelot. His defense of Kiefer is simple to understand. To quote:
To his credit, Kiefer Sutherland knocked it out of the freaking park, and he came in and he put the work in. I love David Hayter, I love David, he's a good dude and he's Snake, but so is Kiefer. And that guy showed up, rolled up his sleeves and got dirty on this game. So reserve judgement until you play it. You only have like two more months left and trust me it'll be worth it.
Baker also had kind words for Hideo Kojima. He pointed out that Kojima had made a video game series that inspired many people to make games like it. Regarding the relationship between Konami and Kojima, he has this to say:
I don't know what's going on at Konami, but I love Kojima, and I love him as a dude, I respect him as a game maker, as really one of the first cinematic game makers that we had, someone that really understood in a very Sergio Leone spaghetti western way of making film in a game, and for giving us one of the greatest video game characters ever in the multiple iterations of Snake.