The WhatsNext verdict
If you enjoy experimenting with stealth tools, improvising mission approaches, and steadily expanding a tactical base, this delivers a remarkably flexible sandbox. Play it if you can tolerate repeated objectives and a story that feels incomplete and emotionally distant.
What it does best
The definitive open-world stealth sandbox
A tactical toybox that constantly creates stories
Remarkable freedom in how every mission unfolds
A compulsive arsenal-and-mother-base progression loop
What might put you off
An incomplete, emotionally distant story
Repetition and open-world padding
The setup
What you are walking into
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the sequel to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and a prequel to the original Metal Gear. The game has a complex story with long cut-scene sequences, but there are fewer and they are shorter compared to earlier Metal Gear Solid titles. Most of the gameplay mechanics introduced in Ground Zeroes are carried over: it is still an action game and stealth oriented but replaces the linear corridor design from most earlier titles with large open world environments that offer the player unrestricted freedom for the approach. The world has now a real-time day and night cycle and various weather effects that influence enemy behaviour, visibility and sound. Sabotaging or destroying certain structures can also influence other parts of the map.
Where it lives
Genre
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