Back in 2005, Kojima Productions rolled out the first look at Metal Gear Solid 4. It's 2008 and game site 1up is looking back with Metal Gear Solid 4 Associate Producer Ryan Payton — who was since left the company. This exchange is insightful:

1UP: "Nowhere to hide" was one of the promises in MGS4's first teaser trailer, suggesting dynamic, destructible environments...which weren't really present in the final game. What happened to them? Will we ever see a Metal Gear like that?

RP: It's fun to go back and look at that trailer, since it was made so early in the production of the game. I think it's safe to say that we didn't even know exactly what MGS4 was going to be when we made that.

Yeah, that early bill of sale doesn't look like the final product. Payton's right though, it is fun to go back and look at that trailer. The expectations it created and the hype it built, not so fun.

Metal Gear Solid 4 Afterthoughts With Ryan Payton [1up]