In a three-hour stream on Christmas Day, Hideo Kojima revealed the “chicken hat mode” for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Surprisingly, it actually serves a purpose.
Many showed up to this stream to see more of The Phantom Pain, and seeing as a release date has yet to be announced, hopefully learn when we could expect to see the game released. Seeing as this was also on Christmas Day, it was heavily implied that some sort of “gift” would be given by Kojima. Needless to say, fans were excited. Kojima opened gifts, discussed movies he liked, and just generally behaved like a regular guy on Christmas.
However, in a move that makes just as much sense as about anything else in the Metal Gear universe, Kojima revealed The Phantom Pain’s “chicken hat mode” approximately two hours and forty-four minutes into the stream. At first glance, it seemed like just another typically insane move – and the culmination of a three-hour-long trolling session – that fans have come to expect from Kojima. Let’s be honest, it is that. But oh, it is so much more.
On top of being festooned as a fashionable fabulous fowl, the chicken hat serves as a way to make the game easier if you’re having trouble. In The Phantom Pain, if you die too often, or get caught by enemies too frequently, you’re given the option of putting on the chicken hat. This attire, aside from being dead sexy on Snake, makes enemies become aware of you much more slowly, making the game temporarily easier. The chicken hat also glows in the dark because this is Metal Gear Solid, a game that does not ask “Why?” but asks, “Why not?”
It’s an interesting mechanic in that it makes the game easier for the player, but at the cost of a little bit of pride. As well as obviously calling you a chicken, Snake also keeps the hat on during serious cutscenes. And seeing as this is Metal Gear Solid, you’ll be wearing that hat for some pretty long cutscenes.
Mechanics designed to help the player through difficult portions and ease them into the game are becoming more commonplace in recent years, with gaming now thoroughly embedded in the mainstream, but it’s nice to see The Phantom Pain poking a little fun at the player. It’s basically saying, “Sure, we’ll give you a helping hand through this portion. But your pride will suffer for it.”
There’s no official release date yet on Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but rumor has it that we’ll be sobbing in shame while wearing a chicken hat in Summer 2015.
