Hideo Kojima has said that Metal Gear Solid 5 will be darker in tone than previous entries in the series.
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"We're taking on some very heavy subjects such as race and revenge. This makes the tone much darker. As a result, I wanted Snake to have a more subdued performance, expressed through subtle facial movements and tone of voice rather than words."
Kojima revealed that the game takes place in 1984, when Snake is 49 years old.
"Therefore," he said, "we needed someone who could genuinely convey both the facial and vocal qualities of a man in his late forties.
"It's different from anything we've done before, so I asked a producer friend of mine in Hollywood, Avi Arad, for advice. He's the one who introduced me to Kiefer Sutherland [who voices Snake in the game] and I was like, 'why didn't I think of that?'"
Kojima later said: "The system has been changed to embrace an open-world game design. It's different from previous stealth games and results in a more tension-packed experience.
"This new type of stealthy gameplay, along with the new creative process and realistic characters, will add more depth than ever before to the storytelling and atmosphere."
During Kojima's presentation the game's name featured on-screen behind him with the subtitle "Tactical Espionage Operations."
