Torture in MGS5: Phantom Pain sets the stage for revenge

Metal Gear Maestro Hideo Kojima has reiterated that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain's torture scene sets the stage for "the main topics pf revenge," and wasn't included for the sake of it.

Speaking with Gamespot at E3 2014 this week, Kojima said he expected people to react to the scene, and that's the point: there's a purpose behind it, plus, he empathized, it's not playable.

"Of course I expected people to react to this, but then again, the theme of the game I'm trying to bring here," he said. "Themes such as race, chain of revenge - that's something I don't want to look away from. I did kind of see it coming that people would react to this. But that doesn't change the message that I want to relay. And there are things that I really think that we cannot look away from."

"Certainly what I'm trying to do is different from just shooting at a zombie that pops up. I think because I have a very specific theme I want to relate, there are things that I just cannot look away from and I need to depict."

Such scenes, according to Kojima allow the player to empathize and understand Snake's feelings. To be able to discern "why he feels the needs to go after someone."

Granted, according to the man himself, there are "barely any" torture scenes implemented into the game, as they are mainly referenced in hidden tapes the player will need to discover along the way.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is out next year on PlayStation 3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.