Metal Gear Solid 5 is often considered one of Hideo Kojima's greatest works, though it also marked his departure from Konami. The game explores many complex themes including revenge, child soldiers, and language. Gamers are made to think about language and its effects throughout MGS 5's gameplay, and they encounter a particularly clever puzzle that requires them to understand language and its power before their entire staff is wiped out by a mysterious illness. As players learn, sometimes words can truly kill.
Though Kojima is no longer with Konami, his gaming career has not slowed down. Following Death Stranding, gamers can look forward to a new Xbox game that Kojima Productions is developing using Microsoft's cloud technology. Furthermore, comments from Norman Reedus have all but confirmed that a Death Stranding sequel is on the way. Although it is unlikely that Kojima fans will get another Metal Gear Solid title, the gaming world will still get to enjoy the legendary auteur's imagination.
Metal Gear Solid 5's Mysterious Illness
In Metal Gear Solid 5, players take control of Venom Snake who runs a group of mercenaries known as the Diamond Dogs. Missions take players to various parts of the world, including Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border, though they can always return to Mother Base to take showers, check on their staff, and complete challenges. Along the way, players discover that a strange illness is spreading through Mother Base, and its effects are catastrophic. To stop Venom Snake from losing more skilled soldiers, players have to figure out how the disease is spreading and which soldiers should be quarantined.
Figuring out how the disease spreads is difficult, and it requires a careful analysis of all the staff members, including those that are sick and those that are healthy. Soldiers that are infected should be quarantined immediately, as they can spread the illness to others. Players with a keen eye will eventually notice that all the soldiers have the same thing in common - they speak Kikongo, which is a language spoken by the indigenous people of Congo.
The disease is spread by a vocal cord parasite, and it infects hosts depending on what language they speak. Quarantining all staff members who speak the language will bring a halt to the spread of the illness, saving Mother Base. The puzzle is an ingenious one, as it requires a bit of abstract thinking and attention to detail. To solve it, players need to slow down and carefully pay attention to patterns which are easy to miss, and things are made more stressful by the fact that every passing day results in more staff members becoming infected. It is quite possible for players to spend days trying to figure out how the parasite is spreading without finding many clues to help them out. Most importantly, the puzzle synergizes well with the main themes of MGS 5, including the role of language and its potential for tyranny.
Metal Gear Solid 5 and Language in Gameplay
Although figuring out the vocal cord parasite puzzle is difficult, the game does not leave players entirely in the dark, and those paying careful attention will recognize that they are being pointed toward a certain answer. Throughout MGS5's regular gameplay, language is a recurring theme, and players constantly have to think about the languages spoken by their enemies, and how to overcome complex language barriers.
When Snake is infiltrating enemy camps, the soldiers will speak their native tongue. Whether it be Pashto, Afrikaans, or Russian, players can't understand much of it at first (unless they happen to speak the languages). However, after extracting an interpreter, players will be able to eavesdrop on the soldiers as they speak, which is incredibly useful as it allows players to intercept their plans. Consequently, players are trained to constantly think about language, even as they're stuffing soldiers in toilets or hiding in cardboard boxes.
The vocal cord parasite puzzle is an extension of this theme, and if players have been noting these details, it makes the vocal cord parasite puzzle a tad easier. MGS 5 has a lot to say about language and its role in both war and general society. However, not everything it says is positive and raises concerns regarding language's power to dominate.
The Tyranny of the English Language
Though the vocal cord parasites are used for nefarious reasons, the villains are motivated by experiences of having their identities torn to shreds by the domination of English over minority languages. Code Talker's interest in the parasite stems from his traumatic childhood which had him separated from his Navajo tribe and thrown into an American Indian boarding school. There, he is forced to speak English, and he is taught that his native language is bad.
Skull Face's resentment for the language is also rooted in his childhood. He grows up in northern Transylvania during World War 2. He is forced to learn new languages due to Hungary being dominated by various other countries, and this makes him resent any language which attempts to dominate others. With the vocal cord parasite, he wishes to eliminate English and its dominance over minority languages.
Kojima's post-Konami career has seen the artist continue to tackle complex themes in his video games. Death Stranding attempts to explore loneliness, and how it can be banished through the connections that people forge with each other. Though Metal Gear Solid 5 is a controversial title in Kojima's catalog, there is plenty it can be praised for, including intricate gameplay that makes it possible to sink dozens of hours into the game and still discover new things. Through its interrogation of language and English's dominance, the game is elevated from mere entertainment to a work of art that critiques society.
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is available on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.