I’ve barely scratched the surface of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and it may be a game that I never see the end of or the coveted 100% completion stat. Nevertheless, I’d like to share my initial impressions of the game that has been dubbed Game of the Year winner.
The current generation of consoles have now been on the market for two years and we’ve begun to witness their superior processing power with the inundation of open-world games this year. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Batman Arkham Knight, Dying Light to name a few with the likes of Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Just Cause 3 on the horizon. It’s a daunting prospect to think that we’re getting about ten of these massively open-world games a year but if your time is as divided and precious as mine and you’re to only play one or two of these a year then I’d definitely advise that you opt for Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
I haven’t finished Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. As a matter of fact I haven’t even scratched the surface. It’s a gargantuan game boasting fifty story missions and one hundred and fifty-seven side missions. And its sandbox nature incentives you to replay missions and tackle them from a different perspective. Therefore this isn’t a comprehensive review of Metal Gear Solid 5 as my limited exposure to its vastness wouldn’t quite do it justice. Rather this is an impressions piece but it must be said that my initial impressions are extremely positive.
Metal Gear Solid 5 starts off with a bang. A phenomenal and tense opening sequence that lasts around an hour made me realise I had no idea what was going on; I’m not versed in MGS lore; but it was nevertheless a spectacle that I enjoyed and appreciated immensely. Those who haven’t played many games in the series (like myself) won’t understand what’s happening either but the fact that this game grossed more than Age of Ultron in its first day on store shelves, one is led to believe that it was more people other than the MGS faithful who purchased the game and the narrative plays second fiddle to the gameplay.
And that appears to be the overall response to MGS5. Usually with these tent pole games you have to be in an internet vacuum in order to not have crucial plot points ruined for you in comment sections but it feels like people are more excited to discuss the mechanics of the game compared to anything else( And deservedly so). MGS5 is not only colossal in terms of its open-world scale, but also in its scope. It epitomises the term ‘sandbox’; there are no boundaries or limitations that hinder the player. It’s lawless. The world is adaptable and has been designed intelligently so that it can cater to any play style without an irritable ‘objective failed’ message and swift return back to the menu screen. You didn’t kill that target? That is just Fine. But you have to be prepared for the ramifications of that decision in a later mission. Each mission feels fresh and different from its predecessor and successor; not least because each mission can be tackled with any load out or companion or at any time during the day, but also because they are not generic fetch quests. I would say that returning to familiar locations can get a little stale from a visual standpoint, but from a gameplay perspective it feels like you’re going to a completely new space since the objective always differs, allowing you to view the same areas from a completely new angle.
Snake is the human equivalent of a Swiss Army knife and has many different abilities and move sets but the control scheme is easy enough to grasp. However, when you go to the menu screen, things become far more complicated. Some people may feel intimidated by the number of different menus and sub-menus that reveal MGS5’s RPG elements. There is a lot to digest and you may discover some cool features that were unbeknownst to you that you could have benefited from in a previous mission. Granted there is a tutorial at the beginning of the game and new mechanics are introduced to you along the way, but there are a lot of hidden features that aren’t revealed from the get-go. Also, Mother Base is an equally daunting prospect with the ability to manage a team, assets and resources away from your missions. Mother Base feels like a separate game entirely; like a tower defence game that could have easily been a standalone project has been dropped into MGS5. So with this and the RPG side of MGS make sure your Wiki is at the ready. I personally don’t care for the online integration wherein other players can attack your base and I shall rue the day when somebody starts looting my assets when I’m on a serious mission to steal cassette players. It is a case of each to their own I guess.
People will still be glad to hear that dumb Kojami-esque things still run deeply in the roots of this game and haven’t been supplanted by any po-faced seriousness. The Fulton system on its own is hilarious but there are other cherished comedic devices such as the cardboard box and pin-up posters. Like any game, MGS 5 does has its flaws. As mentioned previously the story is entrenched in MGS history and isn’t accessible for those unfamiliar with previous instalments (although even some MGS fans will still tilt their head and say ‘huh’ at some junctures in the narrative), the cover mechanic is sometimes a bit sticky and enemy detection cones can sometimes be a bit erratic. But these are just a few forgiveable negatives in what is an indisputably stellar game.
As I progress further into the MGS5 I’m sure I’ll be able to share more thoughts on its overall gameplay, story and also the newly released online multiplayer. But for now I’ll just say that It Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is a culmination of decades of gamers saying ‘wouldn’t it be cool if you could…’ It’s a master class in game design and is one of the stand out games of the generation thus far.
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