Konami has thrown a fairly tough puzzle at Metal Gear Solid fans, trying to get the gamers to solve it. The official Metal Gear account tweeted a picture of a beautiful jungle scene, with the caption ‘Find Ga-ko! 👀🐥’-referring to the famous yellow duck of the series. The challenge is actually spotting Ga-ko hiding in the jungle foliage and dropping comments. The company will reveal the answer tomorrow.
But this really is not just a random Easter egg hunt. The tweet had the hashtag #MGSDelta, which sent the whole Metal Gear community into a frenzy. MGS Delta is the upcoming remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and this tease suggested that Konami might be loaded with nostalgia and secret puzzles tucked away in the game. The original Ga-ko appeared in Metal Gear Solid 3 as a collectible that could distract guards-gluing the mechanics together to become the hallmark of the series.
The jungle shown in this image could very well be the environment we have seen in the previews of MGS Delta, and many are now arguing that this is, in truth, in-game footage-if so, then really does the remake sell on foliage and lighting systems! Players are now going through every pixel, discussing if that yellowish blur near those rocks is their dearly beloved duck or just a case of confirmation bias.
On the replies… well, not many are actually going along with Konami here. One persistent fellow called Βαλ Που (that’s Greek for Val Pou) is completely spamming the thread with demands about Master League mode in eFootball. I mean dozens of identical comments about release edit modes as DLC. It’s… intense. And completely unrelated to Metal Gear. But hey, that is Twitter for you, where every gaming announcement somehow becomes about someone’s personal wishlist.
The Ga-ko hunt comes at an interesting time for Konami. After many years almost always silent on the Metal Gear front since Hideo Kojima’s departure, the company may have started really trying to get into the hearts of the fans with projects like MGS Delta. Small interactive teases like this speak to the idea that the company might understand what made the series so special-these little quirky things and moments shared with the community that went beyond Metal Gear being just about stealth.
Where Ga-ko is actually hiding? Your guess is pretty much as good as ours. Some players swear they’ve seen it by the waterfall, while others say it’s hiding on some tree branches. A great thing about puzzles like these is that everyone’s going to see something different until it’s finally revealed. Judging by Konami’s track record, it’ll be such an obvious and clever spot that you’ll feel really, really dumb for missing it-I mean, you were probably looking right at it for five minutes before it clicked.
As we wait for tomorrow’s reveal, this will be a fun throwback of what to expect with MGS Delta. If they’ve committed this much effort into one tiny social media tease, then just think about how many Easter eggs will actually be found in the game. The Metal Gear series has always been densely packed with secrets, inside jokes, and fourth-wall breaks. This little Ga-ko hunt might be just the beginning of what is in store for Snake Eater from Konami. Now, I really have to stop myself from glazing over that jungle image.
