If you've just finished up the ending to Metal Gear Solid 4, you may be wondering just where the series could go from there. Well, it's pulling a Back to the Future and going back in time in the form of a possible prequel (ala MGS3). 1UP has the scoop.
MGS4 assistant producer Ryan Payton said there is "still a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as Big Boss is concerned." When asked about the possibility of a Metal Gear Solid 5, Payton responded, "There are some misunderstandings that this is the final Metal Gear game. But it's really the final chapter of the Solid Snake story. That's all."Also of note is the fact that the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database was released this past week. It gives a historical time line of the entire Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid series, a relationship tree, and encyclopedia. If you've beaten MGS4, your save data will unlock hidden plot elements to better fill in the gaps.
"I'm happy we could wrap up Snake's story in MGS4," Payton stated earlier in the interview, continuing, "because it gets to the point where if we continue on with Metal Gear Solid 5 with more Solid Snake adventures, we'll get to the point where the game has absolutely no basis in reality. I do like the idea that this character has had four or five big missions and then that's when it ended, rather than have 20 missions where there's no chance in hell a secret agent could ever survive. He's had four or five really big missions, and that seems a little more realistic to me."