Solid Snake will return on a new game engine.

After years of speculation, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has announced that the fifth entry in the series is officially on the way. The game will feature his studio's in-house FOX Engine, and may even introduce Deus Ex-inspired conversation trees to the series.

"On the topic of Metal Gear Solid 5, I can tell you two things," Kojima told the French publisher IG Magazine. "There will be more infiltration, spying, and convincing people to do you 'a favor' than in the previous MGS. I loved the idea of the social interactions in Deus Ex: Human Revolution that we've seen. And if I say more about it, the ninja PR woman behind the door will chop me into pieces."

Kojima also noted that the new game will not be directly connected to the upcoming Metal Gear Rising. "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance never pretended to be Metal Gear Solid," Kojima said. "It's not a game about our beloved Solid Snake. It's a spin-off that tries something different. We haven't seen the last of Solid Snake, despite the fact that I wanted to let him die at the end of Guns of the Patriots."

The addition of conversation trees would be a welcome addition to the series. Since the biggest criticism of MGS4 was its lengthy cutscenes, replacing them with social interactions players can control would go a long way towards restoring a sense of agency for the series. The concept is also a natural fit for a series dealing with stealth and infiltration, as Deus Ex: Human Revolution proved.

MGS5 will use Kojima Productions' FOX Engine, although Kojima notes that the final game will not include content from previous FOX demos. No release dates have been announced, but as the game is still in its planning stages, it would be reasonable to assume that we won't see it this console cycle.

Source: Gamekyo via Gameranx

Thanks to Marshall Honorof for the English translation.