Portable Ops added to Official Metal Gear Canon

Portable Ops has always been the black sheep of the Metal Gear Solid world. It never got the official spin-off status like Ac!D and Ghost Babel, but it was never officially included in any timelines either. This was partly because Hideo Kojima was never included, but considering it includes a chunk of time between Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Whatever the reason, this has now changed, with Konami recognising Portable Ops as an official part of the timeline.

There’s another reason Portable Ops has remained in such a grey area for all this time: it’s not especially impressive. The plot is more or less standalone and the characters involved, like a very young Roy Campbell, aren’t really much more than fan service. It’s also not an especially amazing title all these years later, with a control system that was definitely improved upon in Peace Walker. It was a decent first attempt at Metal Gear PSP, especially after the Ac!d titles, but that’s about as remarkable as it gets.

What’s more interesting is why, after all this time, Konami have decided to add it to the official timeline. Might it hint at something to come in The Phantom Pain, or is it just an acknowledgement of the fact that it was a little weird not to include it in the first place?