Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Reviews
Metal Gear Solid V practically redefines the notion of what open-world gameplay can be.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the best playing entry in the series, and while it's not going to wrap up the entire story in a neat little bow, it's a technical marvel that works beautifully as a playground for espionage.
The Phantom Pain strays from the formula to perfect a new one, offering the best in open-world emergent gameplay we've seen this generation. While the story sometimes falters under expectations, the characters, aesthetic, and polish of this game set it apart as one of the year's best. Thank you Kojima, for one last Metal Gear Masterpiece.
The unfortunate truth is that its narrative fails to deliver a coherent and satisfying conclusion to the series, but as a stealth sandbox The Phantom Pain is peerless. Responsive controls, freedom to approach objectives, and extensive replayability make it an absolute joy that you won't want to put down. It's a diamond that may be flawed, but it is one that Kojima (and gamers) can hold with awe.
Phantom Pain is hands down one of the best game's I have played in a long time. The open world environment offers you an endless amount of ways to play. Phantom Pain is a game you can sink over 100 hours into and still come back for more. Even if you haven't played past Metal Gear games, Phantom Pain is a great place to start.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the most divisive game in the series for me. On one hand I love the game play. Building up Mother Base, the missions, the stealth and gunplay all feel so refined. The open-world sandbox is endless fun. The Metal Gear portion though sadly disappoints. The boss fights are lackluster, the cut scenes are not as wacky and outlandish as I expected, and the story never really grabbed me. The Phantom Pain is the best "game" in the series by far, but also the worst Metal Gear. Still, it will be hard to top it when it comes time to choose my game of the year.
With The Phantom Pain Hideo Kojima has realised his Metal Gear dream.
But how does it stack up as a Metal Gear Solid game? As the final entry in the series, can its ending and its out-of-left-field plot twist really be accepted as the ultimate farewell to this long-running story? Not unlike the man who sold the world, MGSV feels like it’s lost its way a little, resulting in an ending that feels strangely unsatisfying. As tempted as I am to praise the game for its crazy plot twists and overdramatic moments, it’s hard to do so, knowing that this insanely wild ride ends not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Though diehard fans intent on playing the same old Metal Gear may be upset with a few of the changes here, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain stands as a crowning achievement for Kojima and one of this console generation's best games.
An impressive epic, even if it falls several steps shy of the open-world grandeur realized by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
If you didn't get the idea, I love this game. It is a marvelous addition to the open-world genre and another one I can add onto the short list that I love. I think I need to use my left hand now if we are counting. It's also a great addition to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, portraying it in ways I didn't believe possible until now.
If Kojima wanted to end his time with Metal Gear on a high note, he certainly pulled it off with Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Nice work indeed.
Kojima's last is Metal Gear's best. Astounding.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the definitive stealth gameplay experience.
The Phantom Pain makes a major departure from the gameplay of the earlier home console games, but it’s brilliant for it. The story loses its momentum half-way through and the boss fights can fall flat, but those are minor points compared to the outstanding open world that has been created for you to play in and the freedom to do so.
The Phantom Pain is the kind of game that actually feels as if every seemingly insignificant gameplay detail actually has a real purpose. Every mission, side-op and minute spent assigning staff back at Mother Base makes a real difference to what can or cannot be achieved out on the field. At its core, it is still a stealth-action game, but it never ties you down to just being stealthy. Every mission can be approached in a multitude of different ways and it's left up to the player how to progress. The more manageable approach to storytelling may not seem true to the Metal Gear Solid series to date, but it fits in well with the game's more flexible approach, which lets people attack the game head on or play in smaller bites without needing to worry that at any moment they may have to set aside an hour purely to watch a surprise cut-scene.
This is the Metal Gear universe as it was always meant to be.
It's a game that's often obnoxious and clumsy in the handling of its subject matter and the treatment of its own characters, but it's also that rare game that showcases the treasure of undying delights to be found within meticulously crafted interactive worlds.
It's gorgeous, it has a fantastic soundtrack -- including a satisfying array of 80s pop hits to remind you of the time period -- and you always feel like you have perfect control over Punished Snake. And yeah, the story's bananas but... you absolutely have to play this game.
An imperfect perfection, the series draws to an end with a bang, and a whimper.