Phantom Pain is all gain
Near flawless Metal Gear instalment a must for open-world gamers
In an early mission in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the player is tasked with assassinating a corrupt colonel who’s up to no good. While such a chore is standard fare for a video game, Phantom Pain provides dozens of ways to off the military leader.
Should he be taken down first thing in the morning or the middle of the night? Would it be better to shoot him in the head with a sniper rifle or blow him to smithereens with explosives? Does it make sense to stage his death and force him to work for your private military corporation?
Those decisions — and many more — await players in over a hundred missions facing Metal Gear protagonist Snake, who awakens at the start of Phantom Pain from a nearly decade-long coma during the Cold War. After a lengthy prologue, the mercenary is unleashed on freewheeling renditions of Afghanistan and later Africa.
Other open-world games predating Phantom Pain have similarly offered players such freedom, but the latest edition in the stealthy 28-year-old Metal Gear series masterfully does so with hardly any flaws. It also inventively rewards players for sticking to the shadows and avoiding unnecessary blood on Snake’s hands — bionic or otherwise.
The rewards come not just in points and virtual currency but in resources that Snake (played by Kiefer Sutherland) must use to advance Mother Base, his offshore headquarters that can be visited between assignments. The development of the base is almost another game unto itself.
As with most quests for revenge, Phantom Pain is not without casualties. The switch from linear to open- world adventure means the story has suffered. A few integral plot points are revealed off-screen, and when the narrative pops up between all the sneaking around, it feels less important than it should for a game this huge.
It’s a minor annoyance considering previous Metal Gear instalments were actually too heavy handed with story. For fans of open-world games or anyone who has played a previous Metal Gear title, there is no choice. They must experience Metal Gear Solid V.