For years now Hideo Kojima has been our go-to developer for massive espionage epics, focused on a tight-but-linear storyline.  It seems as if Kojimasan is breaking his own mold, according to an interview he gave with CNN. Project Ogre, his next title, will feature up to 100 hours of gameplay and follow more of an open-world design flow rather than have a linear progression.  "Rather than making something very cinematic,' he says, "[I plan to] make something very free."

This week Kojima tweeted images that are reportedly from Ogre, and from what I can tell this game sounds like this will be a World War II Skyrim game.  Now, I completely understand the need for a game designer to break out and do new things.  We create based on our current passions, and if the standard espionage cinematic epic isn't getting the creative juices flowing for Kojimasan, then it's time to switch things up.  My concern is that in pursuit of his passions Kojima is allowing the Metal Gear series to suffer.  It would have been better to have no Metal Gear title rather than have a Bayonetta clone, and passing the buck on his signature IP is a disservice to the series' loyal fanbase.

We've seen developers switch up their game styles before. Let's just hope an open world war RPG doesn't leave me picking up shrapnel on a battlefield to hand in so that a quest giver can turn it into a gun for the local governor.