METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN

I have several hundred hours of this game on my console. This game is an incredible experience from the building of your own PMC to hearing Take on Me blast from your helicopter while the roaring sound of machine guns and missles fire from your helicopter mowing down the enemies you are sicking it on. The questions of the players moral compass enriches the experience so much more and has kept me drawn to this game for several years. While I am a MASSIVE fan of the entire franchise, I've always felt there's an underappreciated magic in this game that the fanbase won't acknowledge because of how different it is.

So, so good. I just wish they let Kojima finish it.

Welp, at least they make Delta now. Delta better be fucken good. See you in 4 months peeps.

INVISIBLE, BY DURan duran isn't in this game, false advertiserment

The gameplay is absolutely fantastic. Too bad the story will never be finished. Waiting for Delta to come out. Play this game even if you aren't good at stealth games, you'll enjoy it.

Finally finished it since i postponed it 10 years ago. this the first open world MGS with side mission. so i need more commitment and time to play it since i used to the linear gameplay in previous game. Anyway pretty Good 80 hours for the last metal gear. Thanks kojima. hell of a story!

Tbh for fan of stealth such series as Hitman, Splinter Cell or Deus Ex this title completely misses the main target: being entertaining and get's killed by various bad design decisions.

Playing any game shouldn't feel like a chore, yet it felt like one most of the time.

This is my 1st time playing any Kojima game and for somebody who really is into storytelling, this one somehow wasn't feeling remotely interesting to follow trough. I do appreciate over the top humor with very dramatic character expositions, but it somehow this does not sit right with this particular genre for me.

When it comes to the story, very long unskipable cutscenes that plays over and over whenever we visit bases, fly to our drop zones or when opening a game. Like I know this was meant to immerse player in the world, but instead of helicopter sound in each sequence, they might as well play elevator music, because the game puts you on hold, slowing down already slow to play stealth game.

Speaking of stealth, its very good. I do appreciate how the enemies are behaving overall, your outfit color matters I believe in how easy you can get spotted in each environment etc.

My main gripe with this title is progression lost due to not being able to quick save, and I know that other titles spoiled me with it/ it's not very much in spirit of this franchise, but I just can not stand reloading 40 mins of flawless stealth due to enemy RNG. This is a very much turn-off and should be in this game, so if somebody yap "go play diff game", please go fuck yourself because quicksaving is fully optional and if you don't want it, then don't use it. Other argument is that if I would want to play "souls like game" I'd buy one.

Sure it's probably a gag at this point seeing Kojima name plastered all around every main mission opening expose, but again for somebody who's 1st time playing his games, he comes as very unlikable and self centered.

It's a nice thing to see variety in gameplay tho due to micromanagement of the facility. It's very complex and poorly explained with too much information just bombarding you since launch instead of gradual introduction. Enhancing your core stealth experience trough that mechanic is very much awesome addition.


I just kept coming back and off because genuinely it did not land for me, but I do believe that maybe other fans of stealth might have better time playing it.

Step 1: Spend most of game recruiting S tier soldiers
Step 2: Have to kill them all off
Step 3: Profit

She Metal on my Gear till my Snake is Solid.

Invisible
Invisible
Invisible
Invisible
walking by the wall
(Shy one) the shadows will not fall
(Shy one) is silently ignored
(Quiet one) discouraged by the noise
(Quiet one) living without choice
(Quiet one) is a life without a voice
When you can't even say my name
Has the memory gone? Are you feeling numb?
Go on, call my name
I can't play this game, so I ask again
Will you say my name?
Has the memory gone? Are you feeling numb?
Or have I become invisible?
the dreamers wish away
(Hindsight) it's falling on my face
(Highlights) the shape of my disgrace
When you don't hear a word I say
As the talking goes, it's a one-way show
No fault, no blame
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
And have I become invisible?
Invisible
Invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible
No one hears a word they say
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
Not a word they say
But a voiceless crowd isn't backin' down
When the air turns red
With a loaded hesitation
Can you say my name?
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
Have we all become invisible?

Absolute masterpiece of gameplay

If you're looking for in-deep lore from the MGS saga, this is undisputedly the game with less lore developement, partly because Kojima didn't want to do it at all, and because Konami kicked Kojima before the game was even done

The character developement is vague, and altough it treats backstories of existing characters, most of that is learned through listening to tapes rather than by playing the game. It isn't the best closing to the franchise, but it does close it
If you are a real MGS fan and have played previous games, play it, enjoy the gameplay because it is also part of kojima's conceptual artwork, and figure your close to the end. It is chronollogically set before MGS4, so it covers mostly the events after MGS3 and Peace Walker, before the MG games.

If you don't care much about the story and want to have a good stealth gameplay, this will be your new standard. The options the game provides, how you can approach every single mission, and the well designed stealth factor within the game (day, night, camo, sandstorms, etc) and how it affects the stealth aspect is amazing, very good gameplay experience

Even with the "flaws" about the storyline, it is a game that I would recommend anyone to play if they are either into stealth games or anything like armies and politics, because the game and the saga in general covers it all.
you can even pick this up first, and if you are interested in the storyline, grab the other games! (Most can be played on pc properly by now)

The story is crap, there's way too much dead time traveling between missions and mother base, it takes forever to get the higher level equipment and soldiers, and the game is missing it's final chapter. However for all it's flaws this is still a fantastic game if you treat it more like a sandbox stealth game rather than the big finale for metal gear and Kojima. You can feel that Kojima was really done with metal gear with this game, but he and his team still managed to put together a very fun experience that will keep you occupied for hours and has nearly endless possibilities for how to play missions. It's probably the best "bad" game I've ever played.

I'll be brief - this is a great game. The game part. Super rewarding and fun. The "plot" is crap if you want a good story but if you want to be rewarded as a super devotee of the series it's super fun to play. But if you're waiting to get the "next big snake tale" as some spectacle with a huge concrete payoff that's not here due to...many reasons.

10 Years old and it stands up better than any game I have seen in the last 5 years. Solid buy

Honestly one of the best games I've played in recent times.

Invisible
Invisible
Invisible
Invisible
walking by the wall
(Shy one) the shadows will not fall
(Shy one) is silently ignored
(Quiet one) discouraged by the noise
(Quiet one) living without choice
(Quiet one) is a life without a voice
When you can't even say my name
Has the memory gone? Are you feeling numb?
Go on, call my name
I can't play this game, so I ask again
Will you say my name?
Has the memory gone? Are you feeling numb?
Or have I become invisible?
the dreamers wish away
(Hindsight) it's falling on my face
(Highlights) the shape of my disgrace
When you don't hear a word I say
As the talking goes, it's a one-way show
No fault, no blame
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
And have I become invisible?
Invisible
Invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible, invisible
Invisible
No one hears a word they say
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
Not a word they say
But a voiceless crowd isn't backin' down
When the air turns red
With a loaded hesitation
Can you say my name?
Has the memory gone? Are you feelin' numb?
Have we all become invisible?

This is one of my favorite games, but i have to say if you haven't played any metal gear solid 4 the intro may confuse you, Hideo Kojima does an amazing job with this game. highly recommend

When he said "Kept you waiting, huh?" i was shocked. What did he mean by that? And what are the lore implications? That just makes this game one of the GOATs!

The actual story is questionable but the storytelling/vibes are immaculate and the gameplay is amazing

The natural and final evolution to the MGS gameplay loop. kinda like the world of assasination trilogy to hitman. its such a pity this game was never finished and expanded upon. its the most replayable and gameplay rich game in the series even tho it sometimes doesnt make narrative sense. i can see myself sink even more hours into it with mods. the only problem is the mobile game style "waiting times" for making progress in development.

one of the best game about, stealth-action-open world

I've never played any of the other games in the series, so I'm very intrigued about why there are flaming whales and intangible, teleporting bikini girls intermixed with what is otherwise a stealthy military game. I'm about 10% of the way through, and I'm enjoying the "power creep" of the enemies, Kiefer's acting, and the overall "vibe".

Capturing people with tranq darts as a staffing method is weird, (especially when you consider how many of their friends I've murdered) but fun so long as you suspend disbelief a little.

The base management aspect is a little less interesting, but not so cumbersome as to be annoying. Just have to remember to deploy people and build things from time to time.

I'm guessing there's a way to fulton out the huge crates, but I haven't figured out how, yet, so resources are a little slow to build up, but aside from the sniper rifle and the bazooka, I haven't felt the need to buy much anyway.

The cardboard box is silly, but you have to use it to capture former "diamond dogs".

The (ahem) camera work on "Quiet" is... okay, I'm not complaining, but it's a little "obvious" when it lingers or zooms during the cut scenes.

I miss my horse for travelling from one base to another, but that dog is OP. Gotta love a clairvoyant, one-eyed puppy.

I really hope silencer durability is something you can upgrade, or you can carry additional ones to equip, as I don't like the "supply drops". It's also silly that you can't set a weapon down if you drop in a weapon eg if I switch out my sniper rifle for a rocket launcher, I should be able to go pick my rifle back up, not have it disappear. (but that's a minor complaint as it doesn't come up much)

All 'n all, enjoyable, and a story and gameplay I'm looking forward to exploring.

I might edit this review later if the flaming whales are never explained ;-)

This is far and away the "best" game in the Metal Gear franchise when you go by certain metrics. Mostly combat, and moment to moment gameplay. Everything I have to say has been said more articulately by others over the last 11 years, and we all know the story by now. Kojima's firing leading to this game being completely and nakedly unfinished. It has no third act. The knife twist is the reveal that we were likely to get a remade/retold Metal Gear only to have all those plans ruined by corporate leadership so out of touch they thought pachinko machines were a better investment for this IP (right before Japan cracked down on pachinko with gambling laws LOL).

I love this game. More than I can express here. But I can not in good conscience recommend anyone else who isn't a series completionist play it.
The disappointment that it leaves, and the HATRED that you will feel for Konami isn't worth it to bring into your life. I played this game on launch on PS4, and going back to it just brought all of those emotions back. They have not dulled, and the knowledge that Death Stranding 2 is right around the corner isn't making me any less furious for the possible future we were denied.

If you must, then I URGE you to please stop after the first act. Once you clear the mission SAHELANTHOPUS, feel free to stop as soon as you feel bored. There is no more meaningful story left in the game, and only really filler missions and dangling plot threads that lead to nothing. The FOB missions were a neat idea, but not fleshed out enough to keep anyone hooked. IDK if anyone is still playing MGO or if it's still even on. I didn't try it.

Long live Kojima!
Fuck Konami!

Game is unfinished, story is your typical zany dogshit Hackjima superhero nonsense. What really matters here, is the gameplay and damn it, if it's not FUN. Damn, I love dropping into a foreign warzone from a helicopter blaring the song "I Staple Tapeworms on My Penis" by Passenger of Shit over the built-in PA system. What game is there is good if not great, gameplay is king.

Just makes you wonder what the finished product could have been...

Gameplay is excellent and highly addicting, sadly the game is unfinished in terms of story, so quite unsatisfying ending, but cool regardless.

When you can't even say, my name

Is the memory gone, are you feeling numb?

Go on call, my name

I can't play this game, so i ask again

Can you say, my name

Is the memory gone, are you feeling numb?

Or have I become

INVISIBLE?

On the 1st of September 2015, the modern world was forged in the ashes of Konami's game studio...

After years upon years of intricate and precise development, Hideo Kojima had finally produced his zenith, his apex, his coup de grâce, a mighty and grand culmination of all his work at Konami...

Metal Gear Solid 5 Phantom Pain was born...

It is said that the world is split into 2 eras.

Pre-Metal Gear Solid 5...
and Post-Metal Gear Solid 5

History now revolves around this central summit to which game developers will spend their entire lifetimes trying to climb...

...but they are forever humbled and reminded that they will never reach glory, for they can only bask in its warm and gracious light.

Once someone plays this game, they have to carry the burden knowing that they will never interact with peak ever again.

Forged in metal, this game will survive the arduous gear of time, forever carrying the burden of being the solid foundation of modern gaming since that fateful day.

Made for console controller. It says it's compatible with PC/Mouse/Keyboard but extremely awkward. Horrible game play with mouse/keyboard. Way too many cinematics, too much story not enough play. Should have read all the reviews. Wasted a lot of time and money.

One of the best games in history. it is a MGS sandbox game basically and it's so fun.

So old and still looks better than alot new releases und so much fun.

I really love this game
The story and gameplay are legendary
A Hideo Kojima Game

Online Ruined my offline experience

40% done all offline and connected online to see what was up and moved over 2/3 of my fucking inventory to fucking online and now i have to have hotspot on just to fucking use my materials or vehicles i collected for the last 20 fucking hours of playing.
Trash fucking system and fuck playing more of this. fucking garbage
just needed intel and support and medical to upgrade 4/4
whoever designed that shit i hope your kids come out mentally defective

even though an unfinish game, still a masterpiece to play it,
nice stealth gaming, wish it was a real open world

classic 100% worth it / replaying
decent weapon selection!

Spectacularly made, second best game I've ever played apart from Dishonored 2. Gameplay is smooth and glitch-free, the graphics and cut scenes are pure cinema, and the buddy system is immaculate. Story is confusing at times, but it's technically an unfinished game so you can't really fault it for that. Ridiculously difficult most of the time too, so if you like a challenge, oh-ho-ho-HO this game delivers! Tugs at your heartstrings a few times too, second video game to ever make me cry. Absolutely 3000% cannot recommend this game enough.

Simply the most original take on a franchise that only mildly re-invented itself upon each release.

Then MGS5 is released and it massively reinvents itself for the better in every aspect. Its open world. Both maps are huge. It can be played full stealth, full out third person shooter mayhem or a combination of both.
A brilliant game engine, an insane attention to detail, infinite replayability, a sense of humour, coupled with an eccentric and fun story just lead me to conclude that this is the open world game design other open world games need to emulate. Theses a Base building section, you recruit members for your covert army from enemies you defeat. Do you like that tank the baddie is using? Airlift that sucker out and now its YOUR tank! Raid outposts and bases for materials, save the wildlife in the war zones if you want, brutalise the enemy, or take want you want and vanish like a leaf on the wind. It's truly an open game.

With 50 story missions which can sometimes take hours ( if you want them to), and around 175 side missions ( all but a few are optional), this game is worth its asking price.

If you like open world games, this is for you. I simply cannot give this game enough credit for its brilliance.

But it now, and be prepared for a wonderful all encompassing experience, that, at this time, I can not ever see being equalled

This game is far more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I been a fan of the Metal Gear series, but MGS5 took the cake,

The only real way to experience this game -

Step 1. Mute all in-game audio, including dialog, etc.
Step 2. Play "Invisible" by Duran Duran in background at max volume on loop
Step 3. Enjoy

I didn't know it was possible for there to be a game with pure gameplay as good as this game.



If only the story was finished

This game is a masterpiece of the stealth genre. I have over 500 hours in on my PS5 save, I just bought the game again so I can play it on Steam Deck

Masterpiece!!!!

In my opinion the most complete metal gear that exists. The open world experience combined with classic stealth missions are super funny.
I've replayed this game in SteamDeck, and it works perfectly, but it doesn't have that much merit taking into account that the game was originally published in 2015.

Gameplay:
A very strategic game where you need to infiltrate in enemies bases and stole info, rss, evacuate allies/prisoners an avoid a world nuclear war from the (XoF). U will be have the control of a horse to drive you in the whole map, vehicles, weapons, allies, teach and info to make the missions more easiest to complete. You can make your own private base and army capturing survivors and enemies.
It have a multiplayer mode where u can create, defend and attack enemies bases from other players and stole rss and stuffs.


History:
You play as Big Boss after waking up from a coma of 9 years after the fall or the mother base. In the middles of the cold war and the upcoming nuclear weapons and one mother time the worlds need you one more time to defeat a clandestine group called (XoF). You play as Snakes (BigBoss) Driven by the need for revenge founds a new private army to fight against this the mortal enemies to try to defeat them and avoid a world nuclear war and do not let them take the control of the world.

Conclusion:
A very enjoyable action-adventure game dat u can enjoy as single player or in a multiplayer, lot of hours of gameplay guaranteed.

Score: 8/10.

Best gameplay out of all them, still prefer the console version, story was not bad but some of the main missions just felt like they could be side op missions, overall what a great game, sadly we never got chapter 3

Kind of a mixed bag. On one hand, this is the best game in the series mechanically. On the other, it is by the worst narratively, and your mileage on that will vary depending on how big a fan of the rest of the series you are; ironically, the clearly unfinished nature of the back half of this means that casual fans and newcomers will probably get the most out of this. Still, chapter 2 is straight up terrible. Hours upon hours of transparent padding (literal repeated missions! That are not optional!) in a slow trudge to an ending that is genius in theory but woefully miscalculated in execution -- this exact heel turn was so much more effective and disturbing in Sons of Liberty, which this is clearly quoting (Mother Base looking exactly like the main setting of MGS2 is clearly no accident). The AU version of this game where Kojima didn't spend the last third of development in an uphill battle with Konami is probably the greatest video game ever made. The one we have is still a very fun stealth game, and probably the best game to ever be released in a clearly unfinished state.

MGSV is among my most played games. Other stealth games I've enjoyed include Splinter Cell, Dishonored, and Hitman. MGSV absolutely hits the spot as a giant open-world stealth sandbox. Even 10 years after its release, it still holds up—both the gameplay and the graphics.

The freedom to complete missions however you like is unmatched. You can go full stealth or guns blazing if you want. You unlock a lot of weapons, gadgets, and tools which make replaying missions lots of fun just trying out new approaches. Different companions support different playstyles too, whether you want to zip across the map or have combat support. After playing for a bit, I'd encourage you to look up how others play because you'll have these "aha" moments all the time learning how to make full use of the kit the game provides.

At times, it's a wonderfully silly game too, and one that doesn't take itself too seriously. The cardboard box, for example, being a totally valid stealth tool. You can also put posters of women on the outside of the box to lure guards to you, then knock them out. Or you can request supplies via parachute and drop them directly on an enemy's head. Just look up videos on YouTube of people doing funny things in MGSV and you'll get what I mean.

I didn't play any previous MGS games and just jumped right into this. As a result, the story was confusing at times. I'm not sure how much of the confusion is just it being a Kojima game though. In any case, some major story beats probably didn't hit as hard because I didn't play the previous games, but it's still an enjoyable and interesting. Cutscenes are very cinematic. There's a lot of underlying messages and themes in the story.

I've gotten 2 long playthroughs of ~80 hours each, once at launch and another more recently. And I still haven't unlocked everything or replayed every mission the way I wanted, so there's a lot of game left for me still. So if stealth games are your thing, you'll probably get a lot of mileage out of this game.

A classic, great gameplay, the freedom to tackle missions form different angles is really fun!
If you can get it with a discount do so, be careful with mods though as some of them may get you banned from servers, however some of them really improve the quality of life, gameplay and replayability of the game.

While Konami harmed the story greatly by shoving it out the door, it's still top-notch stealth and action gameplay.

I was INVISIBLE during these stealth missions. The walls of the soviet facility were made out of METAL for some reason. I wonder what more of tactical GEAR I missed out on. SOLID game, 5/5. Soviet soldiers thought I was PHANTOM during one of these missions. It did leave me in PAIN after I found out that DURAN DURAN's song was really hard to find.

MGSV is a fundamentally unfinished game that contains brief glimpses of a world where it is the best video game efur made. i recommend it, but i recommend the chip and ironicus let's play over actually playing it. the latter is free and does a good job of exploring REALLY thoroughly what this game has to offur. if you're a sicko though, absolutely get this game. there are things this game does well that modern video games are still despurrately trying to recapture a decade later.

Fabulous game, and one of the greatest of the 2010s. As the last installment in the Metal Gear franchise before Kojima left the studio, he masterfully weaves themes of war, leadership, and the everlasting struggle of humanity's duality.

It's hard to truly express its impact without diving too deep into the story, but I'm sure that anyone who has played this game will understand its general ethos.

Beyond the artistic aspects, the game is also tons of fun. At the time of its release, Kojima had been perfecting his take on the action-stealth genre for the better part of two decades since 1998, and it shows. Brilliant stealth mechanics, a truly diverse range of gadgets that allow you to tackle situations in whichever way you want, and a detailed world that feels fleshed out.

Incredible game.

Out of the MGS games i've played this is my favorite. It's story is kind.. ok... but the gameplay makes up for it imo. While MGS 1-3 all have better stories none of them have me coming back like this one does. I still want to finish 100% this game despite the amount of content it has. Alongside Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom this game is one of the few open world games I have truly loved.

very swagger game i punched kids for 3 hours once i popped into africa (im not racist it was just funny)

Such an epic game that just makes you yearn for more. It is truly epic