Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain - PlayStation 4 Standard Edition

A fun game to watch. Especially when my spouse plays.

Metal gear solid is mostly know for the story. The complex story that will take so much detail to fully explain. So when I found out mgs v will be going open world I was worried. Sure there are open world games that have a good story but no where near mgs standards. I only watched a few trailers as I wanted to be completely surprised and trust me you will. For the review I won't be spoiling anything but simply giving you an insight on what to expect. Graphics- not the most important thing in a game but I sure does help, the mgs series has been known for pushing graphic to the limitations on the console it's on and it is ever so present with mgs v. Everything is top notch from the blood spatters to the facials. One thing that is pretty mediocre are the explosions. A lot of games just don't make it look amazing ( just cause 3 looks amazing so far ) but it's still great. The stand out by far is the lighting. This game probably has the best lighting effects I've seen in any game I've played. Gameplay- it's sucks. If you hear someone say the gameplay sucks just disregard what they say cause it's spectacular. Probably the most important reason to buy a game and it doesn't fail. Everything feels right. D horse is the best horseback gameplay in any game. But where the gameplay stands out is the variety of ways to complete the mission or whatever your doing. From killing no one to killing everyone it's just a blast. The cardboard box is back and it's better than ever with some new tweaks to it that mgs players will find super satisfying. Story- here's what I was afraid of I was afraid the story would become less as they focus on the gameplay and I'm kinda right but it's still there. Kojima is known for the long cutscenes which are still present but there are less now. The expansion on the story more revolves around how much you want to know as you'll collect cassette tapes explaining more. But the story is still there and from what I've played it's sort of different form past games. This time around it's more dark. There are still silly moments and weird Kojima moments but it's the darkest mgs game. It helps to know the backstory of mgs befor playing but the games story does a good job welcoming new comers, overall the story is still here and amazing so far. Overall- I'm going to get hate from some people that don't understand a review is an opinion but metal gear would phantom pain is the game of the year so far. It will take a lot to knock this game down and I don't think anything can. It's dark, mature, fun, and simply satisfying. It meets expectation then surpasses them. After receiving this game early I've played 20 so hours and every second I played this was worth it. The intro is the best I've witnessed in any game...ever! Kojima ends the mgs saga on a high note. If you love mgs you won't be disappointed if you are new and debating on playing for the first time...get it. Chances are if you're reading this review you're wondering wether to get it or not and I honestly think it's worth the 60. And with that 60 you're getting an amazing story, extremely fun gameplay, and a top notch quality game. Metal gear solid is back and better than ever. By the way ignore the 1 star reviews...yes there's a microtransaction method for the FOB but ok don't need it. Repeat YOU DONT NEED TO BUY IT TO ENJOY THE GAME ITS FOR PEOPLE WHO DONT HAVE THE TIME. If you notice all the 1 stars aren't even an Amazon verified purchase so who knows if they've even played the game. Don't trust the one stars.

After putting in more than a week with this game, I can comfortably state that not only is the ultimate Metal Gear Solid experience (and the best MGS to date), this is without one shred of doubt, the best game of the year. For those who are considering buying this game, I'd like to note a few things that are of vital importance. First, and perhaps most crucial, if you're a long time fan of MGS, but failed to play Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, I strongly urge you to do so. The MGSV system is such an incredible leap forward from past games in the series, Ground Zeroes serves not only as a prologue to The Phantom Pain in terms of plot and set up, it's a critical primer in familiarizing yourself with the new game mechanics of the entire MGSV experience. Getting familiar with the play style and ramped up mechanics in Ground Zeroes will help newcomers to jump into the Phantom Pain ready to sink their teeth into the game. Oh, and what a game! The Phantom Pain is really, two games in one. The main game, puts you in the middle of a fully realized world that is as beautiful and awe inspiring as it is dangerous. Set in 1984, the story opens in Soviet occupied Afghanistan. The stark landscape, combined with the time shifts and weather changes make for a digital world that feels so real, it's ridiculous. Get Snake on his horse, and go for a run, and the animal's movements are so lifelike and enigmatic, there truly are no words to describe it. Couple the visuals with the audio (especially if you have a great pair of headphones), elevates the game to a true interactive film. Wander the Afghani desert, and you'll animals in the background relative to your position, enemies engaging in banal conversation, even an enemy vehicle rumbling somewhere in the distance. The execution is flawless. The second important note revolves around the game within the game: the construction and micromanagement of your HQ, Motherbase. Building, customizing and just exploring the vastness of Motherbase itself is an important, and incredibly fun experience that will take hours and hours and even more hours of devotion, but it's worth every minute, as well as vital to advancing the main game's story. Through Motherbase, you will establish an R&D branch, which will give you the ability to develop and customize weapons, camo, items and more. Once you start to build and expand Motherbase, you'll find yourself spending an unbelievable amount of time just wandering around and exploring. Be diligent in your exploration! You will uncover valuable items and crucial secrets! I've stumbled on four so far, and I just know that there are more waiting to be found! All in all, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is an absolute must play. For seasoned MGS veterans, or newcomers to the franchise, there is something here for everyone. This game is a one of a kind experience that is absolutely not to be missed. There is so much to do and discover, to create and play around with, to list it all here would be take forever. From the playstyle and the game mechanics, to Motherbase and free roaming the vast landscape while on side ops, to the plot and your buddies! (Quiet's story is gutwrenching), you won't regret one single second playing, hell, EXPERIENCING this absolute masterpiece!

My objective was to find and rescue a captured soldier than had intel the Diamond Dogs need. Map marker placed, it's not to far at 800 odd meters. Instead of calling in my support chopper to pick me up I opted to stick with my trusty horse. I had recently cleared out the guard posts along the main route there so combat was not a worry either. Decided to listen to some tunes and found my recently acquired track of "Kids in America" and set off. I noticed I was low on tranquilizer rounds and the suppressor was almost worn out. Calling in a supply drop was a few buttons away and I set it to be right outside the enemies base with the prisoner. A few minutes later I was there, loaded up, and darkness was upon the Afghan desert. As I approached the base I noticed i had to cross 1 of 2 bridges and opted for the one on my left. Suddenly the HUD showed a enemy was starting to notice me, but who? there's nothing out here. Miller comes on the radio and informs me of why I can't see them. The base had posted snipers up on the ridge across the river overlooking my original route I had planned. Worried I was already spotted I dove down into prone behind some shrubs and a boulder, the sniper was still suspicion but as I slowly crawled down along the embankment I was safe once again. I got out my binoculars and spotted not one but two snipers up on the ridge. I quickly looked around for another route around them and saw a crack up the side of the ridge on their side. I slowly made my way down to the water and crossed it, made my way to the cracks and climbed up. This put me in optimal position to take these two marksmen out and I moved around the cliff-side towards their nest. To my surprise there was yet another sniper facing out overlooking the base. He was slightly further away from the other two so I wanted to take him out first. I threw an empty mag off to the left and he instantly went on the alert. 1 dart to the head and he was out. Next up was more difficult and would require faster reaction. Popped a shot in the closest snipers back he shrugged it off but soon after went to sleep which the other guy noticed right away, but it was too late. I was already behind him and my knife at his throat. The rest of the mission went smoothly and I also gained some new recruits at Mother Base, but this is just an example of many situations that happen in the game, and that whole objective was only a side-op. Combine amazing sound, smooth controls, beautiful graphics and mix it with the BEST gameplay of the series yet and MGS5 is instantly on road to one of the best games in years.

I am not one to review games all that often. In fact this will be my first but I have used enough reviews to know that they help a product tremendously. First overall after only playing the game through 8 episodes of the main game and several of the side ops, this has to be the greatest MGS game to date. I have played most of the games in the series minus MGS3 (why I skipped it is beyond me. I have it and never played it.) This is HOW MGS SHOULD BE PLAYED. Big Boss has always been gun for hire so this makes so much sense to create this type of Open world for MGS. I have loved Kojima's methods of engaging the audience with the story and the cut scenes and the CODEC (kind of miss that part of the game), but love the free ability to go in stealth or full Rambo style into each mission. Its also great that you still have to watch your funds and make sure you don't over spend since everything in the game costs money. Resupplies, change of weaponry, etc. from Mother Base costs you money to supply you in the field much like it would in real life. I have had to change my plans on some episodes from doing it Snake style to calling in support to finish the job cause the sun was about to come up. Believe me you have to plan it out and take your time. This is not a RUN AND GUN FPS.( For which I am super tired of each year). I had a goal to finish this game in 2 months in time for FALLOUT 4, but just judging by what I have done over the last 16 hours of gameplay, this game has a lot to do. Each mission has taken me a hour minimum sometimes 2 to get it done cause finding extras on each mission to further your base and weaponry. This is not a do the main mission only. I find it just looking around and finding everything is great. Graphics are good and gameplay is smoother that the previous installments (to be expected since the Next gen systems can handle it). Overall I think this will be a great end to the series under Kojima. I think Konami is crazy for letting him go.

Long time MGS fan, from the first time I played MGS on PS1. The Phantom Pain is hands down the BEST game in terms of game play, no questions asked. It has a great open-ended system when engaging missions, literally giving the player a near infinite number of ways to go about completing the same mission. This is different than previous MGS games, where the paths were more made for you, and you simply followed one (usually the best one). In Phantom Pain, you have two areas, both of which are open-ended and feature re-spawning enemies. The game also gives you an insane amount of gear (weapons, utilities, support mechanics, etc.) which you can spend well over 100 hours fully developing if you're crazy enough too. Realistically though, you don't need more than 80% of what they give you, but it is fun getting some of the later game weapons maxed out and revisiting missions (or the open world) with them. MGS5 also features a base-leveling mechanic, where you obtain resources to build out Mother Base. The larger your base, the quicker you can develop items, better support you get (such as helicopter bombardments), and the more soldiers you can get to do off-missions (automated missions you don't control which net you resources). The micro-management is very simply, and the game handles most if it on its own. You have the ability to take a more direct hand if you want, but unless you're really sure of what your doing, there is no real need. There's also an online mechanic which allows you to attack other players bases for resources, though they can attack yours in retaliation. Interesting, though I didn't do much of it. Overall, I can say the game play alone can last one 60-70+ hours, easily. I think I had 80 hours logged before I decided to finish the game off, and that was only with about 50% of my items developed. The game itself is fluid, responsive, and it takes everything good from MGS4 and expands upon it a great deal. Like I said, easily the best MGS in terms of raw game play, bar none. However, where the game is AWFUL (and I mean AWFUL) is where MGS is usually strong: the story. The Phantom Pain takes place in the 80's, after Peacewalker (assuming anyone played it), and is supposed to explain Big Boss and his fall to villainy.I can't say it does that at all. As a matter of fact, it hardly tells the story of anything. It has a weak premise, weaker characters (hardly any, so to speak), and baseless, boring villains. It starts strong ... then falls apart after the opening act. Well, doesn't fall apart, it just never goes anywhere. I was stunned at how lackluster and bad the story was, given that MGS is known for crazy, elaborate, and over the top storylines. And what's worse, the characters are horrible. Big Boss hardly says more than 10 words the entire game. Your supporting cast (Ocelot and Kaz) talk, but generally only over tape recordings or through radio while you're in the field. Ocelot is nothing like Ocelot - he is just there. He and Kaz sound similar when they talk to one another, it's hard to tell who is who. The rest of the characters have less depth than those two, such as Paz (why is she there?), Emmerich (why is he there?), and Quiet (why is she there?). The cut scenes are nice, but there's frankly far too few of them. And when they do occur, no one says anything. It's awkwardly silent at times. Anyway, I don't want to rant, but they really dropped the ball on the story here. On top of that, the Helicopter landing zone really gets annoying and interferes with migrating the story forward. The game is divided into missions, each of which plays like an "Act". Each time you engage, you have to be airlifted to the mission (unless you walk there on foot, which is rarer). Even so, you'll tally up a number of hours overall calling in helicopters and then either waiting for one to arrive, or waiting for it to lift you away. There's simply way too much break up in game play with the helicopter mechanic, and it hinders both your time as a player (sitting around doing nothing but twiddling your thumbs) and Konami, as they did a really bad job of sorting the story telling out through the use of the helicopter LZ mechanic. I'll say this. This is the only MGS game I feel that has no impact at all on the other games. If it weren't for the stellar game play, I'd give this game a 2. It's really that bad as far as story goes. But the game play saves it.

Coming from a huge Metal Gear Solid fan, I actually wasn't initially planning to check this out. To me, the series ended at 4 and that was that. It was such a great ending and a great game and I just had a happy place in my imagination for the Metal Gear Solid series and many of its characters that I had been following since I was younger. I knew about the game while it was in production and I was just like yeah whatever another Metal Gear spin-off. I wasn't interested and didn't pay much attention but caught some details here and there, such as playing as Big Boss again and the setting. Ground Zeroes was really disappointing to me as well after I reluctantly checked it out, and that contributed more to my doubt for this game. Nevertheless, it came out and started to get great reviews (10's on IGN and Gamespot) and I was like alright lets see what this is about. Picked up the game, and after two weeks with it, I not only had over 200 hours of gameplay, but I had platinumed it. It wasn't because I was in any kind of rush either, I just couldn't stop playing the game. It is a lot different as far as the other Metal Gear games go, but it still totally works. It feels like a Metal Gear game. Technically awesome, great boss fights, beautiful locations and graphics, mature, deep thematics. There is an attention to detail here present only in Metal Gear Solid games. It asks a lot of you as a player too. You have to be smart and know the game and its system to be able to conquer it. Some really great Metal Gear moments, although the story does take a backseat to the gameplay for the first time really with a major game in the series. What is so great about this however is just how well it works. It goes to show how innovative and original the Metal Gear Solid team is. Another fantastic game

Hideo Kojima does it again brings one of best games in years and this time its sandbox freedom metal gear This spectacular opening establishes a mood and a bundle of plot-related questions that are more or less abandoned until the time comes, some 30-60 hours later (depending on which answers you’re seeking and how you play). Though some connect to the greater Metal Gear lore nicely, those answers are generally rushed and unsatisfying, lacking any real build-up or thematic relevance the Voiceover of Snake from past games David hayter is not here but Keifer Sutherland does a great job as Snake and other Cast is superb in this installment of game you get motherbase in sea and you can invest to built your army which will help you take break from action You’ll also invade the bases of other players in an attempt to secure resources, high-ranking recruits, and most importantly enemy nukes. FOB is, ultimately, about nuclear proliferation, where you can choose to build up a massive WMD stock, or steal and disarm those of others. I only got a couple of hours to mess around with it, but since these extra bases require resources just like your main one, they provides ample incentive to continue to explore and plunder Phantom Pain’s sizeable sandboxes well after the credits have rolled. the game have Tons of gadgets and abilities and bunch of weapons the game starts out slow from prologue but from there it grab you and doesnt let go you also get air support and airstrike support Cons: everytime you finish a mission you see credits its not big deal but is annoying a bit Graphics are amazing the design team did great job on detail of landscape there are tons of missions to keep you coming back worth $60 you will not regret it