The latter is generally preferred, since helicopters can be used to shepherd the player from one area to the next. Optional missions in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain can be tackled as you encounter them in the world or completed one-by-one. Side-ops offer a bit more flexibility than their story-focused counterparts.

Some of which are so powerful they’ll limit your potential score if/when used during story missions. Everything from Buddy costumes to helicopter parts can be developed by your team if you have the necessary money/materials. As you recruit new personnel to work at Mother Base, and expand the Diamond Dogs’ base of operations, the research and development unit will come up with new items and enhancements to make your time in the field a bit easier. Over time, players will build up an unbelievable arsenal of firearms, thrown weapons, spy tools and cardboard boxes.

Missions in The Phantom Pain are split between two regions, Africa and the Middle East, with the occasional trip back to Mother Base thrown into the mix for good measure. Snake won’t be returning to Cuba in Metal Gear Solid V. Another big change for MGSV is the area of operations. Eventually, players have the option to send other characters out in place of Venom Snake, Boss’ nom de guerre for The Phantom Pain, each of whom have their own strengths and weaknesses. Set nine years after Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain sees players step back into the boots of Big Boss the legendary mercenary at the center of the Metal Gear franchise. But it feels like director Hideo Kojima tried to tell one too many tales in his final Metal Gear release. With so much history behind the Metal Gear franchise, not to mention some of the iconic characters who return in The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions seemed to have all the ingredients needed to cook up something really special.

Then it might actually live up to all the perfect scores we saw just before launch.Ĭoming off of Metal Gear Solid 4, which might as well have been sold as an interactive movie, I was hoping for a story that would grab me by the collar and refuse to let go. I just wish The Phantom Pain’s narrative bits were half as extraordinary as Metal Gear Solid V’s gameplay. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is one of the greatest action games to ever grace a console and easily the most enjoyable stealth-action game I’ve ever played.

Metal gear solid v review pc