“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” is the last creation of the renowned game director Hideo Kojima, who also created the “Metal Gear” game franchise. Before he left game company Konami, he intended to make this as the best title of the franchise that culminated all of the features and the addition of the open-world gameplay. Here is my video game review after I finished it with 200+ hours of gameplay.
Perfection in graphics and animation
Kojima’s last creation had one of the best graphical animations when it was launched on September 1, 2015.
Many game reviewers praised how fluid the animations were, and the environment was almost flawless. There might have been some imperfections here and there, but the game director made sure that it was almost invisible for all critics to find out.
The animations of the 3D character models, the vehicles, the weapons, and even the swaying of the trees were done perfectly. Fans and even the players that are new to the series felt the meticulous design of the game. Even the lighting during the evening is perfectly done, which makes it almost realistic to play.
The choice of music complements seamlessly
Kojima revealed in the past that he particularly chose specific songs for “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” because it was set in 1984 and he was a fan of some of the artists singing those songs.
These songs were perfect for the game actually because it set the mood and it added nostalgia for the fans who were waiting for this game for a long time. While most of the voice actors were perfect for the characters they were portraying, it was a shame that the original voice actor for Snake was replaced by another.
A lot of things to do with gameplay with lots of freedom
This video game from Kojima is an open-world type of game with lots of things to do compared to the previous game titles, which were linear. This has a story to follow, but players can choose any method they want to enter a mission, which is a significant improvement for the series.
They can either go in by stealth without killing all of the enemies inside a base, or they can go guns-blazing, make buildings explode, and just be loud.
The amount of detail in terms of customization is large as well. Players can customize guns, vehicles, their soldiers, their base, and more. They can bring a limited amount of weapons during a mission, but they can freely choose from them. There are other things to do as well and a lot of secrets to uncover.
A mix of mystery, plot twists, action, drama – a typical ‘Metal Gear’ game
While the start of the game was a bit unclear, the story progresses slowly letting players understand what was at stake and what the main protagonist wanted to achieve.
And just like the typical “Metal Gear” game, they will experience a lot of emotions all over the place, and it will hit them unexpectedly, which makes it interesting to follow. The fans will take this as another clue as to what the whole story of the game franchise is all about.
There are some missteps at this section though like the obvious incomplete game. There might have been a conclusion to the story, and it felt like that, for the fans it was obvious that there was more to it. The Collector’s Edition of the game had a separate disc that revealed there was supposed to be a few more missions to finish that would conclude and connect this game to the first game of the franchise and even to the one on the PlayStation 1, which was “Metal Gear Solid.”
Another slight issue in the story is its weak main villain.
In all of the villains of the whole franchise, even the first two games, they all had a strong aura, a person who is in charge and can handle on his or her own without the help of the army. This one was like working in the shadows, giving commands and leaving it all to the soldiers.
Replayability is high due to all replayable missions
Players would want to replay “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” over and over again due to the missions that can be replayed again, even the story based ones. There are several items, weapons, soldiers, and even animals to gain in every mission, which is why they would want to replay the mission again until they get the best ones from it. There is also the multiplayer section of the game, which has a lot of customizations and a big community.
Overall, “Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain” is a great game to play and I highly recommend purchasing the Definitive Experience that has this game and the prequel, “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes” and also all of the DLCs. I would rate this game a solid 9 out of 10 points even if it has two issues towed behind.
Check out the “Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience” Launch Trailer here:
