Game Review: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

"V has come to". That's how the game opens up and soon everything is set into motion. The Phantom Pain is the latest (and possibly final) entry in the genre defining Metal Gear series. Director/Creator Hideo Kojima went all out in an entry that was set to explain what went wrong/turned the legendary Big Boss into the antagonist we've come to know in the games that came before it. You wake up from your 9 year coma after the events of Ground Zeroes. With help from your patient "Ishmael", you slowly get back into the swing of things considering so many people want to kill you. Your hospital is under extreme siege from the XOF unit introduced in Ground Zeroes. In game cutscenes detail the horror of every other patient getting killed as you are being hunted down. Tanks come in along with choppers sending in men all to kill the iconic character. Course, their plans are put to a halt by a floating psychic kid and someone only known as the Man on Fire.

With this character absorbing blasts and bullets, he shoots them out killing the armed forces of XOF. You barely make it out and flee in an ambulance truck along with Ishmael who's been assisting your escape. Afterwards, he seemingly dies and you get rescued by our old pal Revolver Ocelot. This culminates on a horse back chase scene where you're trying to shake off the Man on Fire. His ride being a flaming unicorn. Oh and a giant whale shows up out of nowhere. Ladies and gentleman, that's the first 30 minutes in a nutshell, and it gets crazier from there. You could almost say you were playing through a glorified intro to a movie which makes sense considering who we're dealing with in terms of who made the game.

The Phantom Pain marks the series first foray into open world territory. Literally that means you accept missions as you please unless specified it being an emergency. The first mission eases you into this type of game play which honestly had my scared/overwhelmed at first. Afghanistan is your stomping grounds taken hold by Soviet Russian forces and you're tasked with first getting your pal Kazuhira Miller out of captivity. Metal Gear games are known for introducing/revolutionizing the stealth genre and this game takes it even further. To a point where you don't even have to play stealth, it's your sandbox to make it what you want it to be. You use your binoculars to scope out territories and mark objectives/areas to head towards. Spot an enemy? The game will automatically mark him/her for you so you know how to avoid contact.

Should an enemy spot you, the game will freeze and enter in Reflex Mode. This is when you're given the opportunity to kill off your spotted friend with precise headshots to prevent them for calling help and entering combat mode. The day passes by as you wander through the sandy terrain and that has an effect on the bases/guard posts you run through. Units will change shifts, fall asleep on the job, even move around. The game is all about making it your own experience. Some missions you can stray from what Ocelot recommends doing and still successfully pull it off. You can obtain weapons from enemy soldiers but I hardly did that, considering that's what Mother Base is for right?

Early on in the game, you construct your brand new Mother Base where you develop platforms designated to certain fields. R&D handles weapons and items, Intel can provide info in the field regarding sandstorms and when you near enemy encampments, Support handles dropping off ammo/assistance which you can call upon at any time in the field and much more. Snake, Ocelot, and Miller can't do it all on their own though. You need to recruit soldiers for your own force! That's when some of the fun comes in with the Fulton system. If you knock out an enemy through tranquilizers or CQC (Close Quarter Combat), you have the option to extract them and convince them to join your group.

This can make for easier infiltrations and possibly draw out more units to inspect what's wrong. Of course extracting people won't always work. The weather plays a part in its success rate as does the fact that you can't do it indoors. Snake also gets several buddies to hang out and help him in the field. Your horse helps you traverse Afghanistan faster, D-Dog (who's the cutest thing ever) can spot enemies and landmines on top of many other things, and the controversial sniper Quiet can help in killing off units/drawing their fire so you can sneak in. Your iDroid is your tool for viewing the map, mission details along with Mother Base functions like developing new weapons and calling in support from your helicopter. The latter is what you start in before taking part in missions, your Aerial Command Center.

You can easily get addicted into assigning extracted soldiers to areas on Mother Base. This leads to these units leveling up which provide new upgraded weapons (which are marked with a grade from 1-6), and soon you can expand each area with new platforms. One such unit is used to be sent on other missions that open up while you take on the main story. You'll be advised from Miller or Ocelot from time to time to come back to Mother Base because believe it or not this takes a toll on you. Slower time in Reflex Mode, more damage taken from bullets, even your run speed/climbing abilities is halted a bit.

Metal Gear games have been known for their incredible story even if it is convoluted and so confusing. Truth be told, I didn't really pay too much attention to the plot since it didn't grab me as much as past entries have. Plus I had skipped out on Portable Ops, Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes (catching up via Supercuts of every cutscene in those games), so some of the stuff/key moments were recalled that way. I have to wonder why they made such a big deal with replacing Snake's actor for this game. Keifer Sutherland does have his voice but he's rarely active/doesn't say much. Half the time you have Ocelot and Miller explaining things to you such as story moments and mission objectives. Troy Baker and Robin Atkin Dowes did an incredible job with capturing the emotion the characters felt. I was definitely impressed. Props to Kojima to having stellar music taste with great hits from the 80s which you can obtain at bases by finding cassette tapes. This allows you to then listen to tracks while you play the game. Even your chopper plays it when you call it, who doesn't want to have a chopper come down to rain hellfire on your enemies with "Take on Me" in the background?

The Phantom Pain is one incredible game, definitely a contender for GOTY. With its incredibly solid stealth gameplay and graphics, it's an absolute beauty to look at. The story unfortunately wasn't as memorable considering how this was supposed to fill in an important gap in the Metal Gear timeline. There are also reports coming in that certain important scenes were cut from the final game so it's unclear whether or not those will be released.

Should you Play this Game?

Yes! Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is a fitting end to the world famous Metal Gear franchise and a perfect sendoff for Hideo Kojima. Movie like graphics, stellar directing, and amazing game play with a memorable cast. The story can be confusing and if this is your first experience to the franchise, you will be lost. I won't sugarcoat that XD. Nevertheless, it's a fantastic game.