- #METAL GEAR SOLID V THE PHANTOM PAIN ENDING SOFTWARE#
- #METAL GEAR SOLID V THE PHANTOM PAIN ENDING SERIES#
On paper, this may sound like a simplification of Metal Gear's traditional radar-based gameplay, but it's essential to balancing the challenge. To keep track of enemy patrols, you must view them through your binoculars and mark them. That's when The Phantom Pain's new enemy-tagging system shines. Metal Gear Solid V's open-world nature means that trees, cliffs, tanks, and several other objects will block your field of vision. You simply tie a Fulton recovery balloon to those soldiers and watch them sail off into the sky toward your rebuilt HQ.
"Recruited" (i.e., kidnapped) soldiers could potentially be the ones to unlock a weapon or item you need. Since enemies are potential allies, you're encouraged to complete the game's many missions using knock out gas, tranqs, and other nonlethal tactics. For the first time, you won't struggle with the controls of a Metal Gear game, as the melee fighting, shooting, running, and driving have been honed to perfection.īig Boss navigates the battlefield with grace, too, which makes infiltrating forts and capturing bad guys-to turn them into good guys through off-camera means-such a joy. Throughout, the Phantom Pain is a joy to play, and it controls wonderfully, too. To do this, you must sneak through Afghanistan and Africa, freeing prisoners, rescuing child soldiers, retrieving lost comrades, collecting and customizing weaponry, and battling Metal Gear Sahelanthropus. Your mission is to rebuild your lost army and exact revenge on Skull Face, XOF's mysterious leader. Heroes You play as Big Boss, a man who's lost nearly everything, including body parts and his Militaires Sans Frontières private military company. Thankfully, The Phantom Pain's stellar gameplay makes up for its narrative shortcomings. When you finally put the controller down, you may feel a phantom pain of your own. It's difficult to know if this is due to the very public fallout between Kojima and publisher Konami, or if it's simply the result of botched storytelling. Unfortunately, some plot points go unresolved, missions repeat themselves, and there's a huge swerve that attempts to fit into the larger themes without enough build up. That said, Kojima handles the idea with far more care and creativity than Lucas did.
#METAL GEAR SOLID V THE PHANTOM PAIN ENDING SERIES#
Like Revenge of the Sith, The Phantom Pain details a hero's fall from grace, but it may be in a way that series fans won't appreciate. The game's plot, which promised to complete the narrative circle by tying the Metal Gear Solid series back into its 8-bit Metal Gear NES roots, is a bit disappointing, too. It's also a far less passive experience than watching lengthy cutscenes. It enables you to stay abreast of things while in the field.
Still, there's an advantage to delivering story details via audio. The moment when Kaz fully embraces his lust for revenge on camera is absolutely frightening. It would've been a joy to have seen Kaz-Big Boss's number one, and a man who suffers from phantom pains on multiple levels-visibly emote some of the venom he spits on tape. The Phantom Pain's story is a serious examination of modern culture's obsession with war and the emptiness of revenge, but many of the vital plot points are relegated to audio tapes you receive after a successful mission. Perhaps taking the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots criticisms to heart, Kojima doesn't let The Phantom Pain's characters dive into over-the-top monologues, exhibit wacky super powers, or simply embrace weirdness, elements that have all become series trademarks. That said, the remaining game doesn't sustain the same level of mystery and WTF moments.
#METAL GEAR SOLID V THE PHANTOM PAIN ENDING SOFTWARE#