Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes served to ease fans of the series into the new mechanics of the game, as well as the new Fox Engine. It doesn't feel like a definitive ending although it's going to be interesting to see where Konami will take the series without Kojima's vision.
The aforementioned twists might not be to everyone's liking, however. The overall story is solid and, as always, filled with references to past games, events, or characters. As such, if you're not careful and thorough, you can easily miss out on some important things. Kojima has refrained from delivering lengthy cut scenes or dialog, but now many important things can only be found out if you collect and listen to cassette tapes, which are quite lengthy in their own way. There are major twists along the way but most of the action still feels a bit confusing. You control Big Boss after the events of Ground Zeroes as he, alongside other acquaintances like Ocelot or Kazuhira, not to mention newcomers like the mysterious Quiet, goes to Afghanistan and Angola to stop Cipher from coming up with a brand new Metal Gear walker. I won't post any major spoilers, limiting the review only to details that have already been confirmed by Konami through statements, videos, screenshots, and other such things.Īs a result of the aforementioned lack of an introduction, the plot of The Phantom Pain can feel confusing, especially if you take everything at face value. The Phantom Pain makes little effort to get newcomers up to speed and seems to focus more on veterans who have already played through pasts games at least once. Many attempts at summarizing its events have fallen short due to the staggering amount of details included by Kojima in each of his titles. The story of the Metal Gear saga is complex, to say the least. However, with recent turmoil at Konami and Kojima Productions, not to mention the lukewarm reception of the prologue, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain has a lot to prove.ĭoes the new game manage to live up to expectations or should Big Boss and his complex story come to an early end? Let's find out. Promising to deliver a new story with some classic characters as well as bigger worlds and more varied missions, the new title seems to be the quintessential Metal Gear Solid experience. After quite a few spinoffs and side stories, the famous designer is back with his magnum opus - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The Metal Gear saga has been around for decades and amassed a cult-like following for both its games and its creator, Hideo Kojima.