Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, A Final Farewell
From regular players to developers, Metal Gear Solid is a series that has left an incredible legacy.
Most recently, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows is an open world action-adventure stealth game created by Hideo Kojima, developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami.
This is the eleventh and final entry in the Metal Gear Solid series, serving as a continuation to 2014’s Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes and a prequel to the original Metal Gear game.
Players in The Phantom Pain take the role of legendary soldier Punished Snake/Venom Snake as he comes out of a 9 year coma after the events of Ground Zeroes where Snake seeks revenge on the Cipher Organization after the destruction of the Militaires Sans Frontieres (MSF) in an effort to kill him. As Snake continues on with his revenge, he unearths a plot by Cipher that threatens to change the world forever.
This is a game where you can truly play as you see fit. I spent hours on end exploring every nook and cranny of its open world, from gathering root, healing herb, weapons, ammo and coming across bases, camps and outpost patrolled by enemy soldiers.
The Phantom Pain allows players to play in whatever style he or she wishes; play in stealth mode without killing a single person and getting by undetected or go in, guns blazing, leaving a warpath in your wake.
The game also features a buddy system where players can take partners into the field, each with their own special perks and abilities that offer different gameplay options.
For example one buddy, D-Dog, marks enemy locations, medicinal herbs or weapons to the player without the player having to mark them himself. There’s also D-Horse which allows players to travel the open world and get from point A to point B much quicker than on foot.
The Phantom Pain is at its best when you’re out in the field in the middle of a mission and in a second everything changes. There are no scripted events so missions play out like a movie.
As per the storyline, gamers are better off going into it knowing the Metal Gear lore. This game wastes no time explaining details of the story, and for newcomers to the series it can be a turn away as players can find themselves lost.
Metal Gear fans will find that the story fills in key plots and ties in the whole series altogether, but hardcore fans may find this not pleasing as the story isn’t the game’s strong suit as it was in past games.
Most of the game’s story is found on cassette tapes in the open world or given to you after missions. This time around they seemed to focus on player choice and the open world leaving a huge portion of the story on the side.
The title of the game is a recurring theme throughout. With the main characters struggling with the loss of their old home at the hands of the enemy and having lost comrades in the process, they tend to hold on to that “Phantom Pain” to remind themselves that they are fighting to take back what was taken from them.
Overall Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is an excellent send off to the legend of Snake. Being such an influential series I find myself with sadness to see such an incredible series end, but at least it ends on high remarks.
Hideo Kojima truly created a masterpiece and it’s a beautiful farewell to a series that many have come to love.
