The Phantom Pain

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Created on Tuesday, 08 September 2015 19:58

Written by KTP

MGV 5: The Phantom Pain: So good, it will make the baby commando inside of you smile.

The Phantom Pain is finally out and the hype train is in full effect. The game, which is probably the last Metal Gear game we’ll see from director/mastermind Hideo Kojima, aims to close the door with Big Boss’s history and brings the open world gameplay from Ground Zeroes into a much bigger environment. After the hype train leaves and the dust is settled, we still have a Metal Gear game, but it’s also one of the most addicting and overall best action games ever made.

When your mission goes to shit, and it will, expect to fight your way through in the best way.

I won’t get too deep into the plot or history of the games, but it takes place 9 years after the events of Ground Zeroes when Big Boss’s mercenary army was betrayed following what was supposed to be a routine weapons inspection by the Cipher organization. Nine years pass after his helicopter crashes and he wakes from his coma looking like...well…he survived a helicopter crash. He escapes from an unknown organization who is trying to kill him and sets out to rebuild his army for revenge. Don’t worry, this is Metal Gear, so there’s giant robots and crazy ass super soldiers sprinkled throughout the plot.

After a “holy shit, what the fuck is going on” tutorial and your first mission to free your comrade Miller in Afghanistan, the game lets you loose on the area to tackle the missions or side quests in a free roam format. There is also a base building aspect which you can use it to develop weapons, expand your base, and create home units that can help you in the field. To build up your unit’s strength, you can capture soldiers who come with their own set of stats. So, you may want to think twice about murdering an entire outpost since one of those soldiers may have the stats or skills you need. Most of your time will be spent on your Aerial Command Center which acts like a hub in between missions. All of this is blended almost seamlessly.

This is Mother Base, where you upgrade gear, intel, and supply drops.

Sometimes there’s a need for stealth, sometimes there’s a need for assaulting an outpost, and other times there’s a need for making your horse shit on command and setting your chopper’s music to David Bowie. The Phantom Pain drops you in the world and lets you tackle the missions your way and makes it amazing. The enemies aren’t slouches either and they WILL investigate sounds or alert the CP for reinforcements. Seriously, the AI will call for reinforcements, coordinate searches, and even call down mortar fire if alerted. So, even though you can just straight out assault a position, stealth and planning usually works out much better. This, mixed with the environment, gives the missions a very fluid feel.

The half naked sniper Quiet eventually joins your crew. I'm ok with tactical stockings.

It has been a really long time since something like this has come along. This game is flat out addicting and fun. I’ve personally managed to put in 30 hours and have only gotten through about 16% of the game, so you will definitely get a pretty damn big bang for your buck. If you ever had reservations about Metal Gear, but love action, get this right now. For Metal Gear fans, this is the game we have all been waiting for it to evolve in to. It’s a good time for stealth action fans.