UPDATE: Unfortunately, it has now been revealed by another Reddit user that the hidden game allegedly uncovered here was actually a modified original Portopia tape with the Ground Zeroes code inserted into it. While all signs point to Portopia being hidden within the game’s files, users have still yet to connect the missing pieces of the puzzle and get the game working in MGSV itself.
ORIGINAL STORY: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is filled with Easter Eggs and neat little things for players to discover, as is typically the case with Hideo Kojima games. However, the latest revelation uncovered by fans of the game is seriously impressive, and indicative of the amount of effort Kojima has put into the MGS series in order to keep us on our toes.
It transpires that hidden in the data of both Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain lie files that can be rebuilt in order to create an incomplete ROM for The Portopia Serial Murder Case, a 1983 PC game later ported to the Famicom in Japan that inspired Kojima to get into the video game industry. According to a post on subreddit NeverBeGameOver, where the discovery was initially unveiled, the incomplete ROM “then requires an additional value found in the color of the strange barcode-like lens flares in certain cutscenes.”
The discovery appears to have initially been made by Reddit user DidSomebodySayFIB, with images of the game running in MGSV being posted to Imgur, which you can view below:
Considering that MGSV hasn’t been out for very long, it’s even more impressive that players were able to discover this secret so quickly, and it’s incredible to think that someone had the foresight to recognize those lens flares as pieces of this elaborate puzzle.
While the majority won’t be able to solve this puzzle for themselves, we’re glad that there are some among us who are intelligent enough to do so. Kudos, anonymous Redditor!
