Amidst the endless uninspired military first-person-shooters, there are few games in the action genre that remind people of what an excellent video game looks like.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain fulfills this promise, and defies that trend of bland military games through its intricate gameplay, and complex story about revenge, humanity, and the nature of reality. At the heart of this endlessly re-playable game are the players themselves, who are given the tools and environment to have their own unique experiences inside of the game’s overall plot.
Set in 1984, the player heads into the dauntingly massive open worlds of Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region on a quest for vengeance. Not wanting to spoil the plot, I’ll leave it at that.
The Phantom Pain offers the player a vast array of tools for distraction, espionage, stealth and—if they choose—battle. In this installment of the series, cut-scenes are less frequent, and instead those cinematic moments unexpectedly occur through the nearly infinite ways to complete objectives.
Thus, I simply cannot stop giving Metal Gear Solid V praise, from its plot to its gameplay: absolutely stellar. This title is definitely one not to miss.