



There are a few things that keep it from plummeting completely into the abyss of repetition. They also teeter on the brink of being overly samey, which is something Metal Gear Solid V spends its duration fighting against. The open-ended nature of the missions can be quite fun, but the relatively non-descript bases and airfields suffer in comparison to Shadow Moses and Groznyj Grad - compelling settings that were almost characters in their own right. That approach has its advantages and its disadvantages. In structuring The Phantom Pain the way he has, Kojima has more or less created a direct successor to Peace Walker, which was a compelling game in its own right but greatly limited by the fact that it was developed for the PSP. There are many ways to tackle The Phantom Pain's individual challenges, though sometimes just shooting them is the most efficient. More often than not, though, you will find yourself saying "eff it" and pulling out your rocket launcher, which can be satisfying in its own way. Sometimes you will find yourself pulling off the perfect heist, which is thrilling. They are essentially puzzles with multiple solutions that encourage you to experiment with the many tools at your disposal. These operations, which typically involve rescuing a hostage or eliminating a target, are very similar to Ground Zeroes - the prologue that served as a paid demo for The Phantom Pain. Ostensibly an open world game dotted with bases and guard posts that you can explore at your leisure - you can drop in to Afghanistan or Africa at any time and just ride around on your horse if you wish - Metal Gear Solid V is primarily structured around its missions. But for better or worse, there's no denying that Metal Gear Solid V is a huge game one that is basically on par with a fairly long RPG. Some of that is due to the often frustrating difficulty spikes that crop up when the Skulls arrive - an enemy that you will come to fear and hate as the story progresses. Some of that is pure content - there are more than 40 missions in the story alone, and that doesn't include the large numbers of side ops. I've been playing MGS V for about 40 hours now, and I'm still not quite finished. For what will almost certainly be Kojima's final turn with the series, he has thrown the proverbial kitchen sink into The Phantom Pain, producing what is easily the most expansive game in the series. But with Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima has taken a different approach. From the very start, he strained against the limitations of the medium, often with brilliant results. Hideo Kojima has never been what you would call a conservative designer. Lodging and airfare to the event was provided by Konami. Review of Metal Gear Solid V was conducted at both a review event at Kojima Productions and on a private PlayStation 4.
