Fox Engine, Konami’s forgotten gem. Even 10 years later, Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain still looks like a modern game
MGS V The Phantom Pain is still visually stunning a decade later. Here's how Fox Engine made it possible.
Am I the only one who was completely blown away when I first saw the Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain trailer back in 2013? It kicked off with Big Boss in the hospital, accompanied by Garbage's "Not Your Kind of People". We caught quick glimpses of Skull Face, the XOF badge, the usual explosions and such, Ocelot on a horse, and the enigmatic “V has come to” at the end. Sure, it’s old news now, but back then, even if you weren’t an MGS fan, the breathtaking visuals were undeniably impressive.
How did MGS V manage to look so good in 2015
MGS V Phantom Pain was released in September 2015, yet its graphics still look amazing even by today’s standards. This is all thanks to Konami’s Fox Engine, which first made its debut in 2011.
After the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 in 2008, Konami wanted to ease their development process for future games. They decided to create a new game engine that offered more control and efficiency, ultimately enabling them to bring MGS V Phantom Pain to life exactly as envisioned.
At GDC 2013, Konami demonstrated the power of the Fox Engine by presenting pictures of their conference room – on one side, real photos, and on the other, images created using the engine. It was nearly impossible to tell which was which. So, how did this tool achieve such astonishing graphics at that time?
Fox Engine in a nutshell
The Fox Engine had a feature called referred rendering, which basically separated how geometry and lighting were rendered. This means objects weren’t stuck with a fixed lighting setup, so there was no need to re-render everything whenever items or light sources changed. It made things like adding a day-night cycle way easier.
Additionally, the engine used linear space lighting, which helped balance out the high contrast on monitors for smoother lighting and shadows. This approach allowed the engine to run on both consoles and PCs while still delivering photorealistic visuals.
It also enabled for real-time editing on screen. Since the engine wasn’t tied to any specific game or console, it was incredibly versatile. Changes could be made instantly, making it a lot quicker and easier for developers, since they didn’t have to keep waiting for things to be re-rendered before making more edits.
As we all know, after MGS V was released, Hideo Kojima left Konami, and the Fox Engine ended up being mostly used for Pro Evolution Soccer from 2015 to 2020. Then Unreal Engine 5 came along, and the Fox Engine kind of faded into the background. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see more games made with such a unique engine, especially considering how ahead of its time it was.
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