Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(PS3)

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(PS4)

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
(XBOX One)

The so-called final chapter of the Metal Gear Solid prequel saga has arrived and it's definitely worth the wait for those who want to jump out from their cardboard boxes just to try the latest installment of one of the most influential video game franchises ever. The Phantom Pain pushes the Metal Gear formula to greater heights because, for the first time, MGS goes open world. Because it's now open-world, players have been given the freedom to unleash their stealth tactics or whatever means necessary to complete series of missions as well as gaining items to build their own Mother Base and defend against rival players worldwide.

Set years after the tragic events in Ground Zeroes, Snake was left in a coma by a mysterious intelligence network known as Cipher. Aided by his old enemy, Ocelot, Snake sets on a trail to Afghanistan to rescue his partner, Kaz Miller, who was held by Soviet troops. As the search for Miller progresses, the conspiracy behind Cipher lurks and who's the enemy is Snake facing on now?

With lessons learned from Ground Zeroes, the newest bits in the world of Metal Gear has been implemented in The Phantom Pain such as taking advantage of means of transportation, CQC takedowns, and so much more. That's just the beginning because while this game is best played with next-gen consoles such as XBOX One and the PS4 (we'd recommend playing that game on that one), The Phantom Pain feels more realistic than ever thanks to realistic passage time and realtime weather. That looks realistic but further stealth measures need to be implemented while harnessing the elements thrown at you.

In some missions, you are never alone because thanks to the Buddy System, you can seek help from elsewhere to finish the mission with efficiency and cleverness. You can summon help from wolves, have several uses with a horse, and get a little help from a character named Quiet.

Gaining resources as learned from Peace Walker is now more than ever because apart from using Fulton Recovery (which is time-efficient than dragging them to your ally chopper called Morpho, amidst their limited quantities) on your enemies and vehicles, you can even use it on animals and other objects. As you get more, you can use them to build your own Mother Base and, for an added bite, defend against other players trying to steal your valuables from your Mother Base. If you had the urge to steal other players' stuff from the Mother Base, feel free to do so.

If you had enough fun with the innovative solo gameplay, you can turn over to multiplayer gameplay via the return of Metal Gear Online but you have to wait till next month to do so. With MGO's return in TPP, gamers must work together to defeat opposing teams in series of multiplayer matches and win.

With The Phantom Pain now out on both Playstation and XBOX consoles as well as for PC users via Steam, players can witness the end of the prequel saga that tells the secret origins of the legendary mercenary known as Big Boss. It's kinda shame that despite the marvelous work poured in by the Metal Gear people, this is nothing more of a parting gift from the man behind the franchise, Sir Hideo Kojima himself. But let's not get to wistful about it because even though this is the parting gift from Kojima-san himself, this is by no means the best Metal Gear played ever and, for once, you can't really put a cardboard box-related joke on it.

For those who have it, as always, best of luck!