Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - PlayStation 4

Metal Gear Solid V brings all the greatness of Metal Gear onto these new consoles and lemme tell ya, the hype was real!! Not only does MGSV: Phantom Pain live up to the legendary status of the ones that came before, it may even surpass them and trust me it takes a lot for me to say that. I have been a huge fan since MGS released on PS1 in 1997 or 1998, and I have followed the series loyally and loved every single game thus far but MGSV offers even more. Not only can Snake (Big Boss) now traverse freely as he sees fit and explore the vast world Hideo Kojima has brilliantly laid out for us, but he can do so and still maintain the badass MGS style stealth and shooter-fanatics. He definitely took a huge risk in choosing to expand and sort of make an espionage-RPG, cuz previous MGS titles confined you either in an area, or jungle or facility of some sort. But now, Snake can take and acceprt side missions, recruit new members, liberate enemy bases and expand his own base and earn money to upgrade weapons and gear that you will need to take down tougher enemies. And yes I was skeptical of the whole idea at first, but I am very pleased to say Kojima and Konami knocked it out of the park. There is so much to do, and so many scattered fun Easter Eggs that Kojima has laid out for you, that alone could entice you to continue. And there are tons of eggs for players who have played any of the previous games and the answers he provides on some topics is much appreciated. The shooting is great. same MGS style battling and stealth espionage style combat returns with all the stuff we loved about it added in the mix with a huge open world to sneak around in. And if your new to Metal Gear, even if sneaking isn't your style, Kojima makes it fit to your needs as well as you will have the full control over whether to not be seen by enemies and take them out silently one by one and covering your tracks by hiding the bodies of the NPC's you subdue or if you prefer you can go in guns a blazing and have every enemy in the Middle East after you at once. The 2nd option is not always possible however, and is much more difficult and I would advise assessing the situation before you commit. The enemies are tough Also, the epic bosses and superhuman abilities they possess make a return and its a joy ro have another chapter in the MGS saga of ultimate boss encounters. I wiont give it away but fans of the series will be pleased. MGSV also sports the best looking scenery in the series up to date, beautiful, well designed locations. Even Afghanistan (which is where you will begin the story), a vast wasteland of desert sand and sun scorched wildlife somehow manages to look beautiful and alluring. The nights in the desert are also stunning in their own ways and you can tell their was passion put into creating it. You will go to many other locations and all looked and felt just right!! The story of MGSV is true to the roots of other MGS titles and may seem a little far fetched to some, or unbelieavable even. But one thing that MGS has done from day one is tell a grand story of serious relations but does it in a creative and not so serious way. The content of the plot and the world that has become is all very harsh, brutal and cold. Yet, Kojima manages somehow to craft it in a way to make it enjoyable and not seem so serious and driven like games such as Call of Duty. MGS gives ppl a break of that and allows you to enjoy this ride and lets you ride it the way you want to. Needless to say,the story is full of surprises, betrayal, and old friendly and not so friendly faces of the past and is indeed a story done well and a perfect way to cap off MGS!!! And u don't have to be literate with MGS series at all to enjoy or understand, MGSV has Ocelot your instructor break it down to u as the story goes on. Although, it is much better having knowledge of the other games as there are tons of references, old familiar faces and stones unturned and Kojima really does well in leaving old fans of the series rewarded and satisfied. So, I'll cap it off with saying not only did Hideo Kojima and his (former??) company Konami manage to make a great open world stealth/rpg/action journey, but they managed to add Metal Gear in the mix of all that and its a formula hard to accept at first but man foes it work wonders. Snake has access to way more weapons, build his own unit of men and expand his home base, decide whether or not to let foes live to join your squad or kill them, have access to TONS of side missions that are all so rewarding in their own right that I did nothing but side quests for a solid 2 weeks. And to top everything off, Kojima threw in a banging 80's soundtrack cassette tapes as goodies you can find and have access to the musicas you going on your missions or whenever you want. So, lemme be the first to say that I have had a blast playing Metal Gear over these years, and that I believe this to be the greatest one yet. I know the whole sort of rpg elements and free to explore world may be too big a pill to swallow for some fans of the genre, but I got over it and accepted it and ended up being grateful for the change. It was time to bring Metal Gear into this age and by doing so, it opens a lot of doors and creates massive opportunities that weren't there before so before you condemn it, go try it!! I can only hope that Kojima and Konami can work things out and that isn't truly the last Metal Gear Solid game!! Its been much fun!!! A must have for even the slightest fans of Metal Gear and even newbies who just like shooting or exploring worlds!!

I would first off like to say, Konami and Kojima need to work out their differences, because i for one, am not ready to see snake go, and Konami (with respect) you can't do it (correctly# without Kojima. That being said, i would HIGHLY recommend MGSV to anyone that loves stealth, and Metal Gear still holds the crowd. I've recently had the chance to play about half the game, and everything from visuals #graphics) to how smooth CQC feels, the gadgets, weapons, the amazing way the story is told and unfolds... I can go on and on. I don't want to ruin any of the story, but with the main story, side ops and virually limitless ways YOU can choose to play, You really get your moneys worth out of this franchise. One thing to note though, that Kojima tried to soften the blow a bit for the newbies to the franchise is, as the title suggest, This is the fifth Metal Gear, but in reality, it is like the seventh. The "Snake" you are in the very first Metal Gear Solid, is a different "Snake" then you are in MGSV. I would truly recommend playing all the games, their ALL amazing, but if you want to at least fully enjoy MGSV, i would recommend playing MGS3, then Peace Walker, after that, Portable Ops, then MGS: Ground Zeroes. Don't make the same mistake i did and jump into MGS4 without knowing the history of the characters. It will be like never seeing a star wars movie in your life, then jumping right into episode 6 LoL. Anyways, whether your fresh to the series, or a veteren, one thing is for sure... YOU WILL BE HOOKED! Even though the game is released on XBOX One, I had to do this franchise justice, and buy a Playstation 4 mainly just for this game, it really started with Playstation, and if the series does die along with Kojima and Konami relationship, then I'm proud to say, I'm going out with the Playstation on this one.

In a year of really great games like Witcher 3 and Batman: Arkham Knight, this one has been my favorite so far. I left the "so far" in there because at the time of this review Fallout 4 hasn't come out yet. The thing I love most about this game is it's approach to the open world game. Most open world games have a really rigid mission structure where you have are shown exactly where to stand, hit this button/lever, go other there and open the door, talk to the guy, kill the other guy, mission over. Don't get me wrong, there are elements of that in this game too. 95% of the time though the mission objective looks like this: Find prisoner, Rescue prisoner. That's it. You aren't told exactly where the prisoner is but you do have a general idea where they are. You get to choose your load out. You get to choose your approach: loud or silent. (Read: hailstorm of bullets or no one knew you were there.) You get to choose how you'll get to the mission objective: by horse or on foot. I guess what I'm trying to say is, this game lets you play it how you want to play it. It (eventually) provides you with all the tools you need to succeed. The really fun and interesting thing about this game is that the enemy will adapt to you. Example, score too many head shots and expect the enemy to start wearing helmets. The enemy will start wearing body armor and gas masks too. At the beginning of the game the AI can be a bit intimidating. I'd encourage anyone to experiment with your weapons and tools. You might be surprised at all the different things you can do. Try completing missions or side ops only using the empty magazine. I'm about 40 hours into the game and am still enjoying myself. If you were intimidated because most Metal Gear games are confusing with tons of weird stuff going on nonstop, you can put those fears aside. The first hour of the game is pure Kojima weirdness, but after that, the weird stuff takes a backseat for a compelling espionage action game. My only complaint with the game is it's save feature. Whenever you quit you can never quite tell where you'll be (progress wise) when you start back up. This is most annoying when you finally get to Mother Base. Other than that, the game is extremely fun and an awesome closer on Kojima's Metal Gear series.

Being a fan of Metal Gear Solid series, this was a must try game for me and after playing it for 40-60hrs, here is how I feel. *************************************PROS**************************************** - Amazing gameplay: This really impressed me. I was not sure how Metal Gear in open world would turn out but I guess never doubt Kojima. He knows what he is doing. Just amazing gameplay really enjoyed it. - Variety of weapons and tactics: What make this game really enjoyable is its wide range of weapons and tactics. Combine them you can come up with multiple ways to complete the same mission. Loved creatively using different weapons to overcome different challenges. - Buddy System: In addition to weapons, you have access to customizable buddy (horse, dog, quiet and D walker). Won’t spoil much here but loved all of them, especially the D-walker. Loved roaming in the open world with D-walker. Very comical and fun experience. - Some of the villains/bosses: Loved the design of some of the villains and bosses. Quiet, Man on fire and new metal gear were pretty neat. - Initial story: The story starts out very strong and promising. Really enjoyed the act I story. - Open world: Open world in Metal gear is not bad. I really liked African region as opposed to Afghanistan. - Replayability: This game has many similar looking missions with varying challenges. They are great to try out with your different weapons and buddies. All of them are replayable. *************************************CONS**************************************** -Incomplete story/rushed game: This was the most disappointing. When the act II started, I was very excited but then as I played through it and was disappointed to see that the story just leaves you high and dry (won’t spoil) *************************************CONCLUSION************************************* I really want to give this game 4 starts as its story ruined the overall experience but the gameplay is so amazing, I simply can’t. In most metal gears I have enjoyed story a lot more than gameplay, this is one metal gear where the gameplay is just mindblowing and better than its incomplete story.

Metal Gear Sold: The Phantom Pain is an outstanding game brought down by a near completely nonsensical story and a mission structure and progression design choice that practically tells you when Hideo Kojima left the project. The intro gameplay sequence is perfect, serving to establish the story and the protagonist's role in it, build tension, show off the Fox Engine's graphical capabilities, and demostrate the game's core controls. After that, you're dropped into the initial conflict zone of Afghanistan (with North Africa added later) and introduced to Mother Base, your home "hub" of operations. The lushness of the graphics and animations all serve to pull you into a world of believe-ability, despite the impossible mix of modern/future tech with 70s/80s tech and a game world nearly devoid of anything other than wildlife and combatants. Controlling Snake is relatively seamless and rewarding, especially his stealth mechanics. But about halfway into the mix of compelling, but hokey story-driving missions and side missions that become repetitive after a while, it all falls apart as the game designers decide to have you replay story missions that you've already completed, and merely ramping up the difficulty in them, in order to advance your progress in the story. If I didn't know any better, I'd wager that this is the moment where Konami grew tired of the slow progress on the game, asked Kojima to "pick up the pace", he refused, and the two parties parted ways. After that, Konami throws in this mission replay conceit to feed the "hundreds of hours of gameplay" back-of-the-box selling point. It's patently ridiculous and really breaks the immersion in the gameworld. For me, it brings what could have been an all-time great game down a few notches. Even the online, FOB attack and defense missions seem lazy in that all bases are identical with practically no variety other than level of defending AI soldiers and armaments. In the end, this was a tremendous missed opportunity at greatness for me.

To put it simply, Metal Gear Solid V does some incredible things with it's gameplay. The AI is some of the best in gaming, the guns feel responsive and fun, and both the stealth and action mechanics provide ludicrous amounts of entertainment. There is so much replay value in this game without even factoring in online FOBs (which suffer from server issues, unfortunately) and the upcoming Metal Gear Online. However, for long time Metal Gear fans, this game may be a bit disappointing. There are some unfinished storylines and cut content from this game. The plot is mostly familiar, and at times it feels cheapened by bad writing or questionable progressions. There is still some enjoyment to be had in its storylines, but the main focus, where the game truly excels, is the gameplay. Outside of the most important factors of the game (gameplay and story) the game continues to excel. MGSV offers some of the best graphics with one of the most beautiful gaming environments seen today. Afghanistan truly feels alive. The detail of the surrounding mountains, the dunes, the damaged, ruined structures. It all feels alive. A later play area is shown the same attention, and while it is entirely different in climate and look, the same love was shown to it. Sound is handled well in every category. The voice acting is top notch for almost every character, with the exception of a few poorly delivered lines, some of which can be blamed on bad writing. The sound of gun fire, vehicles, and general atmosphere is among the best in the industry. It isn't quite on par with the echo or gunfire effects of Battlefield, but it remains quite good, and with a superb soundtrack to back it all up, it truly is a pleasure to listen to. Gameplay - 10/10 Story - 7/10 Replay Value - 10/10 Graphics - 10/10 Sound - 9.5/10 Overall - 9.5/10 I recommend this game to *anybody*. Metal Gear fan or not. Rewarding stealth and action gameplay is enough to warrant this game as a must purchase.

In one of the side missions (side-op), the goal is to eliminate the enemy General. The only person who has information on his location is his trusted Soviet Captain. Naturally, I was supposed to tail the Capitan to find out the general’s hiding place. However, during the mission, I accidentally killed the Capitan when I was actually aiming for his body guards (/facepalm). In any other game, that would be “game over”. Time to restart at the check point. Not in this game! Since my only lead is gone, I decided to search the military outposts one by one to try to identify the General. After thoroughly searching 2 outposts with no luck. I got a radio call saying radar detected several Jeeps mobilizing in one of the nearby outpost and they were heading to the extraction point. I thought this must be the General trying to make his escape! So I got on my trusted horse (yes, you get to ride a gorgeous horse in this game), checked the map for short cut, figured I could intercept the Jeeps near the extraction point and start riding furiously. As I got closer to the extraction point. The Jeep was reaching escaping velocity and about to disappear from the playable map. I galloped down the cliff, rolled off my horse, pulled out the rifle, aimed at that general’s head and pulled the trigger as the Jeep was about to cross the boundary of the map. Not surprisingly, I missed my mark. However, by sheer luck, the bullet found its way into the driver’s head. The Jeep span and stopped just at the edge of the map with the confused and panicked General yelling in his seat. I then proceed to swap out my sniper rifle and shot him between the eyes. Turned around, got on the horse and rode into the sunset. Mission accomplished

As a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, I'm very disappointed with MGSV, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any good things about it. MGSV being the first game in the series to go open-world is refreshing and adding stealth elements to a franchise that has been linear for a long time is so new that you can pretty much play the game how you want; you can go guns blazing, be stealthy, and infiltrate with whatever is necessary for YOU. The gameplay is superb and adds depth to an already established franchise, but overtime it just gets tedious and repetitive. Now to the disappointing parts - the story is so minimal that I'm actually surprised that I get excited for a cutscene whenever they happen. The rest of the story? It's all heard through cassette tapes that you acquire throughout the game and at the end of missions. If you follow gaming news, the mastermind of MGS, Hideo Kojima, has been kicked out of Konami due to unknown reasons, which leads to the game feeling unfinished. In addition, without me giving anything away, the story doesn't "close the book on the saga" as it adds more questions to the lore of the franchise AND is not the ending to a series that people were looking for and to see the downfall of the character you're playing as. Can you blame Kojima for doing this? Maybe. Can you blame the higher-ups at Konami for shipping out a game that isn't complete? Absolutely. The online potion, Metal Gear Online (MGO) doesn't hold up to the previous MGOs that released back then as well. Do I still recommend it? Sure! As it gets more people into the franchise, the better, since it is one of the best ones out there that's been going on for 28 years!