Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2905 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,071 out of 2905
  2. Mixed: 461 out of 2905
  3. Negative: 373 out of 2905

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  1. Bane2087
    Sep 4, 2015
    7
    + Good graphics, well optimised
    + Gameplay is fun when not fighting the controls
    + Tons of content - Bad glitchy controls, movement and cover system - Completely nonsensical plot and backstory - Dodgy PC port with no mouse support in menus Seems people will rate anything a 10 with Kojima written on it, because this game is by no means perfect. The worst offender here is the    + Good graphics, well optimised
    + Gameplay is fun when not fighting the controls
    + Tons of content
    - Bad glitchy controls, movement and cover system
    - Completely nonsensical plot and backstory
    - Dodgy PC port with no mouse support in menus

    Seems people will rate anything a 10 with Kojima written on it, because this game is by no means perfect. The worst offender here is the glitching controls that fight you at every turn whether it's something as simple as opening a door that takes 3 attempts or trying to take cover behind a wall the game developers forgot to mark as cover. In those times you aren't crawling backwards instead of turning around, or climbing on a ledge you are actually allowed to climb the game shines and makes you wish they'd spent more time polishing the terrain traversal instead of the cut scenes because it could have been much better than it is. Also Assassin's Creed (yes the first one in 2007) did a better job of implementing horse movement.

    Other than that the story is barely coherent, extremely disjointed and nonsensical, If you haven't played the previous games in the series be prepared for a rough time because very little is explained and the game expects you from the outset to care about characters who you've only just been introduced to. There's very little to explain wtf is going on really apart from a bunch of audio logs.

    Finally this game is a jarring blend of seriousness (like witnessing graphic cold blooded murder of innocents) and the completely ridiculous (such as stealing enemy troops by sending them into orbit via a balloon). It does not blend well at all.    … Expand
  2. Captiosus
    Sep 4, 2015
    7
    The game is structurally sound and plays as one would expect a modern Metal Gear Solid game to play. Graphically it's better than most and the gameplay is pretty good. I have a few quibbles about the play, such as Big Boss' movement - he feels sluggish, almost drunk - and some pretty unrefined gunplay, but these quibbles aren't really that big of a deal. The narration is ho-hum andThe game is structurally sound and plays as one would expect a modern Metal Gear Solid game to play. Graphically it's better than most and the gameplay is pretty good. I have a few quibbles about the play, such as Big Boss' movement - he feels sluggish, almost drunk - and some pretty unrefined gunplay, but these quibbles aren't really that big of a deal. The narration is ho-hum and sometimes absolutely annoying, especially when getting harassed a bunch at Mother Base. But I could list a dozen games that are infinitely worse in this aspect.

    The problem I'm having with the game is that I'm finding it all so dreadfully BORING. I've enjoyed every Metal Gear game since its inception back on the NES, including the movie-fest that was MGS4, but for some reason MGS5 just doesn't really make me want to keep playing. So far it's missing the "WOW! DID YOU SEE THAT!" factor. The game features large terrains but they're are mostly bereft of life outside of your side ops and main mission areas. 15 hours in and I'm already tired of the samey repetition of the game's mission designs.

    The open world design doesn't seem all that impressive because most of the time is spent just traversing to predetermined destinations. But it's sure beautiful to look at. Also, the microtransactions really grate my nerves. I don't understand how anyone can defend this behavior. I don't think this is a Kojima design - I'm almost certain this was forced into the game by Konami.

    (PC Specs: i7-3770, 960GTX 4GB GDDR5, 16GB DDR3 System RAM, Win7 Pro x64)    … Expand
  3. Tylaris
    Sep 21, 2015
    7
    +Great performance and a very polished game...a lesson to almost ALL developers
    +Overall great visuals, animations, voice acting, music and sound design...very high production values
    +Excellent game play with amazing flexibility that allows you to tackle missions in a number of different ways...action stealth at it's FINEST +Intense intro and fantastic cinematics +"Thematically    +Great performance and a very polished game...a lesson to almost ALL developers
    +Overall great visuals, animations, voice acting, music and sound design...very high production values
    +Excellent game play with amazing flexibility that allows you to tackle missions in a number of different ways...action stealth at it's FINEST
    +Intense intro and fantastic cinematics
    +"Thematically strong", but only at certain( and very sparse) points within the game
    +Plenty of content, good replayability, interesting motherbase building concept
    -Convoluted, unfinished main story that fails to provide a sense of direction through majority of the game, plot holes, badly written dialogue at times, mute protagonist and little character development
    -Bland and unimpressive environmental design and world setting...game would hugely benefit from a change of scenery, especially later on in the game
    -Same applies to overall mission design, which can also get very tedious and repetitive
    -Typical MGS silliness that completely feels out of place with a more serious tone and setting of the game
    -Misc: Undeveloped motherbase, lot of unnecessary waiting periods, At times (Noticeable, but not frequent) buggy AI, "Kojima intrusion on the game"( you will know it when you see it, and you will...a LOT), credits rolling after each mission, at times glitchy controls, some minor graphical issues
    - In game Micro transactions, PC copies sold with nothing but a Steam installer on it, DRM...little respect for customers
    With finishing it, I can safely say that MGS V is a VERY polarizing title...if you are the sort of player who loves games that offer you amazing depth in game play mechanics and creating your own scenarios, then stop reading this and go buy this game...you're in for one hell of a ride.
    But if you're more interested about the story, characters, atmosphere, world or exploration...you won't regret passing on this one.
    Overall, don't listen to either "fanboys","haters" and ESPECIALLY to the majority of professional "journalists"...neither shows the full picture here. I recommend reading "yellow" reviews here and watching more detailed videos soon coming from independent and mature youtubers.    … Expand
  4. Jack_Felix
    Sep 2, 2015
    6
    Previous Metal Gear games was most cinematic and story driven productions of their times so imagine my disappointment when it turned out that MGV is one of the least cinematic games in this year...

    After great beginning - which is probably the most story driven part of the game - you landed in Afghanistan and there story is just... gone. Your getting one short cutscene and some    Previous Metal Gear games was most cinematic and story driven productions of their times so imagine my disappointment when it turned out that MGV is one of the least cinematic games in this year...

    After great beginning - which is probably the most story driven part of the game - you landed in Afghanistan and there story is just... gone. Your getting one short cutscene and some cinematic action sequence per 3 to 4 hours of gameplay! How is that even possible in Kojima game?! To hell with that... How is that even possible in 2015, after we get such narration-based games like Witcher 3, where almost every single quest has cinematic story to it?!

    I mean **** the story... **** the narration... It is just incredibly bad for the pacing. The moment you get into "open world" game becomes "choose the mission => go from point A to point B => do the stealth => repeat". It's almost like Destiny all over again. True, game has some great story-driven moments but they happen between hours upon hours of doing stealth missions all over again. And missions themselves aren't so much varied!

    The gameplay is great, no doubt about that, and game looks and runs gorgeous but the amount of story per hour and overall pacing make it repetitive after first 4 hours. It's like Kojima made amazing 10 hour game and then someone stretched it out to 50 hours by putting in completely story-lacked missions with only Ocelot speaking something of little importance to your ear. I can not understand those 10/10 from everyone. It is just impossible how everyone love this game with its repetitive "do the steath mission over and over again" while there are such games like Witcher or the Last of Us out there. It is just crazy.    … Expand
  5. Amerika
    Sep 19, 2015
    7
    Well, it's a good game - but not more. This is my first MGS, but I've known about the series for a long time, and I've heard that all the games are very, very good. There are a lot of good points: optimization, decent stealth, good (with some unexplained and plain stupid parts) story. And a big minus - it's surprisingly repetitive:
    1. "Good luck, boss".
    2. Put everyone to sleep (some    Well, it's a good game - but not more. This is my first MGS, but I've known about the series for a long time, and I've heard that all the games are very, very good. There are a lot of good points: optimization, decent stealth, good (with some unexplained and plain stupid parts) story. And a big minus - it's surprisingly repetitive:
    1. "Good luck, boss".
    2. Put everyone to sleep (some variety included)
    3. Fulton everyone
    4. Mission complete.

    Of course, there is a good amount of variety, bot core parts don't change a bit. And you'll have to replay the story missions again. They will be more difficult: remember that there are no difficulty "sliders" and no quicksaves.

    Sandbox, base building, online (fob part): it's bad because it consists of 10% chopper, 25% fulton, 15% boring objectives, 40% boring terrain, 10% gameplay. Grinding soldiers for motherbase feels like mmo.

    In the end I want to say that if we'd excluded repetative parts it would've been very short game. 7/10 is the maximum for this Hideo Kojima game.    … Expand
  6. Digitalkid
    Aug 8, 2016
    6
    Two hours of soapy cutscenes, to finally get to a stealth action, where you run to your target, shoot it and run away under a nose of his guards. Running under the nose of spetsnaz in a BOX? Or sending them to your base via balloons! SRSLY?! O_o
  7. marcelus
    Mar 17, 2017
    7
    Pros:
    - One of the best stealth games out there.
    - Replaying missions is most of the times a different experience. If the games is boring or repetitive is because you don't use all the tools you have. - Environments looks great. The weather system and day / night cycles changes the way you approach a base. The terrain has good use of vertical design. The FOX Engine works great on all    Pros:
    - One of the best stealth games out there.
    - Replaying missions is most of the times a different experience. If the games is boring or repetitive is because you don't use all the tools you have.
    - Environments looks great. The weather system and day / night cycles changes the way you approach a base. The terrain has good use of vertical design. The FOX Engine works great on all next-gen platforms. I played the PS4 and this PC versions. Between both versions more than 200 hs. Still playing both for whiiiiiiiiiiiiilee!
    - The main advantage of this PC version is the lighting. Some shaders respond better to specular maps. The texture work between PS4 and PC at least looks kind of the same range. There're some critical closeups to textures like some Diamond Dogs logos and Quiet sniper riffle that looks awful on both. But aside that the game looks outstanding and runs great even on "Borderless Fullscreen" mode ;) It had some stuttering issues and problems with alpha maps of particles during day one but they are solved.
    - The game adapts to your gameplay style. It changes the experience every time you replay a mission.
    - Master Miller rules!
    - If you liked MGS Peace Walker this is a great evolution.
    - The buddies of course! D.D. Is Love!    … Expand
  8. DanielCorfour
    Sep 14, 2015
    7
    Pros:
    -Best and most polished gameplay I've seen in a long time.
    -100+ hours worth of (mostly) worthwhile content. -Great Chapter I, story is mostly nice. -Excellent, meticulously crafted cut-scenes, even if the cinematographer at times tried too hard to make greatness and ended up botching some scenes. -Amazing graphics, great environments, and surprisingly good level design for an    Pros:
    -Best and most polished gameplay I've seen in a long time.
    -100+ hours worth of (mostly) worthwhile content.
    -Great Chapter I, story is mostly nice.
    -Excellent, meticulously crafted cut-scenes, even if the cinematographer at times tried too hard to make greatness and ended up botching some scenes.
    -Amazing graphics, great environments, and surprisingly good level design for an open-world game.

    Cons:
    -Missing a lot of story. Lots of plot holes, unfinished stuff. Half of chapter 2 and the entire chapter 3 missing from the game.
    -The story, even without the cuts, is often times contradictory and nonsensical. For a game that's supposed to explain the Big Boss's fall from grace, it does nothing of the sorts. Instead of acting as a bridge between Metal Gear and Peace Walker, it acts as the bomb that blew up the hypothetical bridge: it creates more plot holes than it solves... actually it doesn't solve any, it just creates new ones.
    -Some important story points are told trough audio logs. It's jarring. A cutscene would've been better.
    -Motherbase is gigantic and completely empty. Outside of some cutscenes, there's nothing going on there. There are only 2 indoors locations, and only one of them has anything interesting going on.
    -You build an awesome tank, and do nothing with it. Yeah, there was supposed to be something there, but it got cut from the game, like so many other things.
    -Controls are wonky at best. Shootings' fine, great even, but free-running, climbing, stances, cover are all horrible. Often times Snake gets up, instead of crawling, he goes out of cover, instead of moving a bit to the side. etc. There's also no mouse support in menus, which is a pain, and for some reason or the other, the button prompts are some time for the controller and some time for KBM. Oh and every single action in the game is bound to the "e" button. So a lot of times you'll struggle to get the guy to do what you want him to do.

    All in all, the game has a lot of problems. I could sit here all day listing them. But the short version of it all? I've had a tone of fun with it. It's dumb, and you'll get angry when you finish it, but the journey there might just be worth it.    … Expand
  9. Arkunsaas
    Sep 23, 2015
    7
    Positives:

    + Amazing new and fun gameplay features + Good graphics on 60fps + Buddy support system + Some serious issues touched upon in the story + New stealth mechanics with open world freedom + Awesome classic soundtracks + Day/night cycle + Dynamic weather Controversial elements: +/- Motherbase (for some it might be a distraction for other it might be a    Positives:

    + Amazing new and fun gameplay features

    + Good graphics on 60fps

    + Buddy support system

    + Some serious issues touched upon in the story

    + New stealth mechanics with open world freedom

    + Awesome classic soundtracks

    + Day/night cycle

    + Dynamic weather

    Controversial elements:

    +/- Motherbase (for some it might be a distraction for other it might be a cool new feature)

    Negatives:

    - No closure for MGS fans

    - Pacing sucks. The game revolves around gameplay only and the story has been sidelined to such an extent that it doesnt really matter how good the story line is. Cutscenes have been replaced by audio tapes that you listen to when you want. Do the first 20 missions and ask yourself how much has the actual story progressed and how it unfolded.

    - Forgettable villain

    - Repetitive main/side quests (Extract targets or Kill them thats pretty much the whole game). And sometimes you will find yourself doing similar missions at the exact same site. Whats up with this sh*t.

    - Lack of indoor stealth

    - Forgettable boss battles (Final boss is like a bad joke. Infact all the boss battles is this game are nothing compared to the battles from previous MGS games)

    - It is obviously a work in progress

    - Bland open world

    - First ever game i have played that asks you to replay the story missions on hard mode as a part of the main campaign

    - O and the "Boss" feels like he is Kaz's errand boy. All the high hopes of MGS fans to meet the legendary boss will be crushed to mush. His attitude shows that he really doesn't care about the story or the events of GZ because.....(the answer lies in mission 46).

    - The secret ending is a big Fu*k You to all the MGS fans. I am sorry but i cant see it any other way.

    This game doesn't deserve to be a part of the MGS series. One cannot just possibly praise this title as an MGS game simply because the gameplay is awesome while everything else great about the series is sacrificed.

    In short:
    Would i recommend this game: Yes (purely because its ultimately Kojima's MGS and the gameplay ofcourse)
    Is this game a disappointment: Yes (because of pretty much everything else)    … Expand
  10. TenchuuKhan
    Sep 15, 2015
    7
    Simply unfinished and unpolished game. What saves it is that it's super fun to play.
    I'd recommend the game to anyone but there's simply things that are so criminally bad and awkward in this game that one should know before purchasing it.
    Now, to begin with, what are you in for? Before you can do anything you are in for a ~90 minutes intro mission with various cutscenes and not much    Simply unfinished and unpolished game. What saves it is that it's super fun to play.
    I'd recommend the game to anyone but there's simply things that are so criminally bad and awkward in this game that one should know before purchasing it.

    Now, to begin with, what are you in for?
    Before you can do anything you are in for a ~90 minutes intro mission with various cutscenes and not much fun in terms of gameplay. Afterwards the real game starts.
    Basically you have an open world with various main and side missions that tell you to infiltrate some base, however you'd like to do that then, finish an objective, and get out again.
    In order to get in and out you can call in a heli that can pick you up and drop you off at various locations around the target - which is pretty atmospheric, even after doing it a hundred times.

    On top of that you have the opportunity to upgrade your mother base and compete with others online. You hire soldiers that defend your base, and you can attack other bases. Never tried that though.

    Now, if that sounds fun to you, and it is, here's the problems:
    Controls:
    The controls are basically good, the problem is more the reaction your controls have in the gameworld.
    For instance, if you push forward against a wall, like only 30% of the time he actually attaches to the wall. It doesn't work with all walls either. Some do, some don't... some sometimes do.

    The other issue is with climbing terrain. I'm not talking Skyrim laziness level: I'm trying to climb High Hrothgar from the Northeast in a straight line. I'm talking: there's a 20% angle upwards, you can't go... sometimes you can though. Also sometimes you can hit E to climb up a wall, sometimes you can't.

    Missions:
    If you thought Skyrim was lazy in terms of recycling locations you better fasten your seatbelt because this game brings a whole new quality to this.
    To begin with, yes - locations are recycled and used for various missions and side missions. No problem.

    But, even missions themselves are recycled. To be perfect, pretty much everything in the second chapter is doing chapter 1 missions (same cutscenes btw.) on ridiculously hard. Like: you can't get detected or, we just make that really hard bossfight a tick harder to make the game longer. Where we are at it...

    Bossfights:
    This is the number one atrocity in MGS5 Phantom Pain. I've never seen anything like it. The last MGS I played was the first MGS on the PSX. And those bossfights were hard, but original and had some tactic to them.

    Here though the tactic looks like this:
    Skulls: 4 guys jumping around that take ~30 Bazooka shots each that will grant you hours and hours of frustration. (On Extreme (Mission 42) - one mistake, you're dead... which sets you back around 30 minutes if you almost just made it)
    Quiet: That one was fun actually, basically it was a sniper duel in a valley. Even on Extreme I enjoyed it.
    Sniper Skulls: That one was okayish, basically you fight against 4 weaker versions of Quiet. Still not fun. Just aim at them, let them shoot, dock, then aim - take your shot. They'll run, and after a few seconds they go back to their old position. Rinse and repeat.
    Sahelanthropus: Yea, basically shoot your bazooka in his chest for 20 minutes... towards the end a single shot from him instakills you though.
    Eli: Since you're also in Africa there ought to be child soldiers... with a white kid commander that is a boss.... basically he jumps around, attacks you, quicktime... then he runs away again. Chase after him, rinse and repeat. Oh and hit him with your tranqus in between. (For whatever reason kids are almost immune to tranqus and take 3 headshots (regular kid soldiers, not this one))

    Story:
    The story is badly implemented into the game. The fact that there is a chapter 2 and that it sends you back to story missions from chapter 1 on hard should be proof enough for that.
    Still, whenever the story progresses, it's interesting.

    Quiet - yes she deserves her own section:
    Basically she's a a really likeable, but underdeveloped and hypersexualized character that deserved more. It feels more like after the sniper battle you tamed her.
    Having done her whole storyline it feels like this character was written this way solely for the purpose of trolling Anita Sarkeesian.

    Quiet is still a great buddy and I wished they did more with her.

    Small positive stuff:
    Soundtrack is great 80's music and you can collect tapes you can then listen to on your walkman.
    Extracting persons and animals is a fun, comical feature.
    AI will adapt to your tactics - in my case they now all wear helmets and there's heavy units all over the place.
    Game is 100% worth replaying and you can always just replay single missions.
    You find a stray pup at some point that then gets bigger and trained and he can accompany you at missions.

    Bottom line - buy it, play it - it's great. But oh so flawed.    … Expand
  11. 0235
    Sep 18, 2015
    7
    first off. i just cant give this game any higher than a 7. a game that fails to have a function save feature and will almost always throw you right back the the very start of hour+ long missions due to a tiny slip up, or poor planning from the start is not fun at all.
    Aside from that, the game is regularly boring, completely hollow, and a façade for what should have been a linear game.    first off. i just cant give this game any higher than a 7. a game that fails to have a function save feature and will almost always throw you right back the the very start of hour+ long missions due to a tiny slip up, or poor planning from the start is not fun at all.
    Aside from that, the game is regularly boring, completely hollow, and a façade for what should have been a linear game. mother base is but a tech tree you can walk around and get people to salute you, nothing more nothing less.
    the world just isn't real enough. they promised all sorts of different tactics, but nothing. there is no benefit to daytime attacks, AI can instantly report your location to every surrounding soldier, even if you shoot them before the radio reaches their mouth.
    the start was fantastic, then suddenly you are dumped into two boring maps with little going on. think farcry 2, and you will have pretty much nailed every element of MGSV: TPP, except MGS has more dart guns.    … Expand
  12. dduggan
    Nov 17, 2015
    6
    Disclaimer: I've never played a MGS game before, and I typically do not like stealth games. If you enjoy difficult stealth games then I expect you to have a significantly different experience than me.

    The graphics in this game were generally beautiful. The stealth mechanics were realistic, and somewhat fun. The game's interface was not great. The controls felt clunky and wrong in my    Disclaimer: I've never played a MGS game before, and I typically do not like stealth games. If you enjoy difficult stealth games then I expect you to have a significantly different experience than me.

    The graphics in this game were generally beautiful. The stealth mechanics were realistic, and somewhat fun. The game's interface was not great. The controls felt clunky and wrong in my hands. I couldn't figure out what the base building stuff meant.

    The open world was nice, but eventually got repetitive and difficult to get anywhere I wanted. Objectives weren't always clear.

    I really wanted to put in a chunk of time into this game, but I did not mesh with the system. I think it is a graphically great and well polished game, but it definitely appeals to a more hardcore niche. I am sure that for the people who like MGS and stealth games, it was all they dreamed. All in all, I may return to it eventually but it was not fun for me.    … Expand
  13. Wegnas
    Sep 18, 2015
    7
    Easily the best stealth game I've ever played, amazing gameplay. That being said, MGSV has the weakest storyline in the series. There are a lot of plotholes and inconsistencies. Story is not coherent at all. Storline seems rushed and narrative is the worst of them all. There were parts which made me stop playing for a while. Skull Face is the worst antagonist in the series, can't even callEasily the best stealth game I've ever played, amazing gameplay. That being said, MGSV has the weakest storyline in the series. There are a lot of plotholes and inconsistencies. Story is not coherent at all. Storline seems rushed and narrative is the worst of them all. There were parts which made me stop playing for a while. Skull Face is the worst antagonist in the series, can't even call him an antagonist he is more like a simple, generic and dull villian. Story starts interesting but it goes from interesting to boring very quickly and ending didn't satisfied me.

    Even though gameplay is great, story is the worst in the series. Since I value story more than gameplay MGSV is slightly disappointing to me.    … Expand
  14. Bishi
    Sep 12, 2015
    6
    +Reasonably fun at first once you are in the open world
    +Plays similarly to Far Cry
    +The character visuals (faces etc) are generally well done -MASSIVELY overhyped for what has actually been delivered. To sum this up in one phrase would be 'Far Cry Lite' -Fulton is entertaining at first but overused as hell -Awful selection of songs for the tape walkman -Cover system is so bad it    +Reasonably fun at first once you are in the open world
    +Plays similarly to Far Cry
    +The character visuals (faces etc) are generally well done

    -MASSIVELY overhyped for what has actually been delivered. To sum this up in one phrase would be 'Far Cry Lite'
    -Fulton is entertaining at first but overused as hell
    -Awful selection of songs for the tape walkman
    -Cover system is so bad it may as well not exist
    -Guns feel far too similar, little differentiating them
    -Voiceovers are annoying as hell 'he's coming too? EVERY time you use a Fulton'
    -Crappy textures even at max settings
    -Game looks very last gen. Not terrible but I have no idea why people are excited by these visuals.
    -Boring as hell prologue. Lasts about an hour in which time nothing happens. You should skip this.
    -Once you have the basics down the missions all become very repetitive and very easy
    -The whole mother-base part of the game feels bolted on and uninteresting
    -Quiet might as well be naked, camera likes to focus on her **** What year is this?
    -60 FPS lock, unacceptable in 2015. Can be bypassed with some hacking but can affect physics apparently
    -The two zones in the game Afghanistan and Africa are really boring to look at, very limited palletes and no interesting landmarks etc    … Expand
  15. georgio
    Sep 18, 2015
    7
    Now to preface the whole review - I have never played any MGS game. I just saw stellar reviews and bought the game on impulse. I do not regret the buy, but I have to say that my expectations definitely were not met. Also to note - I have around 25 hours clocked in the game, so I cannot really comment on late-game stuff. But I think I can still reasonably evaluate the game experience

    +    Now to preface the whole review - I have never played any MGS game. I just saw stellar reviews and bought the game on impulse. I do not regret the buy, but I have to say that my expectations definitely were not met. Also to note - I have around 25 hours clocked in the game, so I cannot really comment on late-game stuff. But I think I can still reasonably evaluate the game experience

    + Graphics, scenery and everything is top notch.
    + Combat system and movement is a little bit clunky, but it is not terrible
    + The story I actually do not mind that much. There are some weird things going on, but I get the gist of it. You were once glorious private army leader who fell hard due to some powerful enemies, you are now trying to rebuild and have your vengeance along the way. All in all I think the starting story sequence in the hospital was well done and a really well done
    + Base management is a plus. It fits with the whole rebuilding theme and I like it. I think it is done as well as it could given it is a console port

    Now unfortunately we get to the first and big minus: sandbox mode. At least for me it is very repetitive and boring. Sneak into the guard post/base/village, put everyone to sleep by tranquilizer/takedowns, chute everybody and everything out and rinse/repeat. I am not that far into the game and I cleared all the villages/guard posts several times over. I know where the guards are, I know the layout of everything by heart. Now you get something new every now and then (blow up some tanks and such), but it is not enough.

    Now I have to say that I am a little bit spoiled by having over 100 hours of Witcher 3 played. But the comparisons are not misplaced. While witcher lacks basebuilding concept, it gets everything else right. The world is large but also alive. You get separate story-lines that do not feel repetitive. You get a change in scenery (caves, open world, city streets even water) - in MGS it is same old.

    I am in a state where I still thing MGS is a good game but I now play it in bursts - log in, do one or two missions for hour or so, get fed up with doing same stuff, log out and go play other games. The game is not compelling for me, it lacks the element where you are curious what is over there or where this quest leads.

    If there is any comparison, I would say MGS V feels like FPS version of "Mount and Blade", only without Mods that freshen the game up and with less compelling combat (at least for me).

    PS:

    - Also a minor point, what the hell is this business with the crate? I can totally eat floating girl-ghost appearing from nowhere and hurling large boulders around with her mind. I can enjoy indestructible guy set on fire going around and killing everyone or packs of some cyber soldiers pursuing me in Afghanistan. I can even eat sending T-72s on a parachute to stratosphere while listening to Phil Collings from my walkman. But I refuse to go around in hidden in a crate lunging attacks on unsuspecting russian soldiers. It totally breaks my suspension of disbelief (fortunatelly I don't have to use it).    … Expand
  16. Thylbanus
    Sep 3, 2015
    5
    This game's ratings has clearly played to Kojima's reputation rather than actual quality. This has all the long time fans cheering the virtues of Kojima. These are the same people that say all the other ones are good, when they really aren't. This is just horrible, but no less horrible than any in the series. You may find it odd that I went with a 5. Had I been reviewing it on it'sThis game's ratings has clearly played to Kojima's reputation rather than actual quality. This has all the long time fans cheering the virtues of Kojima. These are the same people that say all the other ones are good, when they really aren't. This is just horrible, but no less horrible than any in the series. You may find it odd that I went with a 5. Had I been reviewing it on it's own merit, it would be a 2. Given the comparisons between the others, it's average for the series. It's pretty, no doubt, but it hardly compensates for the poor story and weak characterizations. It's like watching a bad B-Movie. Horribly delivered lines. Cheesy, predictable story. I had to check to see if George Lucas was given a screenwriting credit.

    TL:DR, if you liked the series, this one is for you. If you have never played any of the Metal Gear series, or didn't like it to begin with, this will make you hate it.    … Expand
  17. Nomus
    Sep 17, 2015
    7
    It's an okay game in small bursts.

    I'm doing roughly one mission a night, maybe a side-op if the game hasn't bored me already.

    I think we just overhyped the living **** out of it for ourselves.

    GZ and the trailers just looked so promising.

    The open-world premise got me thinking we'd have several Camp Omegas to explore, but we got tiny boring based and Far Cry outposts instead.
  18. suneater
    Sep 13, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Full review too large for Metacritic. Visit my Steam profile at /id/verticalcleave for more, including a breakdown of the pros and cons of MGS5.

    For a game that was supposed to bridge the gap between the original Metal Gear games and the MGS series's later titles, there is very little storytelling or character development here. The only character with real growth is Huey, who is a piece of trash that you (and everyone in the game) grows to hate. Sure, Huey might be the best written character in the series, but it doesn't excuse how everyone else is fueled by revenge and has their arc concluded with revenge. There are also few cutscenes, with most of the meat of the story being told through Codec calls- *ahem* -I mean, cassette tapes. The game also takes a sharp turn from GZ's tone, with Skull Face going from being a creepy, mysterious horror one step ahead of you to being a caricature of a bond villain (who exposes his whole scheme to you during an awkwardly long caravan ride to his "real" base). The worst part is a lot of the story is repeated; you seem to be expected to listen to all of the cassette tapes to get the full story (imagine how bad previous games would've been if you were expected to pay attention to every non-critical Codec call!) and yet the conversations on them are often repeated or paraphrased during the main game! The game also fails to conclude all of its threads appropriately; most notoriously, a cut Mission 51 has shown up on Youtube which concludes a cliffhanger that happens in the middle of Chapter 2. The fact that such an important mission was left undone makes me think that this game was unfinished and rushed out the door, despite being in development for a supposed 5 years.

    There is a lot that could be nitpicked about this game but the biggest issue I have with it is the story. The MGS games have always been known for their story, with lengthy cutscenes and frequent Codec calls crafting a believable parallel world to ours. Snake (despite being voiced by Jack Bauer) is almost a silent protagonist in 5, who doesn't respond to radio communications (the replacement for Codec calls) or even talk to non Diamond Dog characters outside of Mother Base. Even during the ridiculous caravan ride with Skull Face he doesn't say a word during Skull Face's exposition. Snake had some ridiculous writing in the past (often repeating lines and adding a question mark on the end to comical effect) but it makes no sense for him to play the mute during key story points. I understand that Kojima wanted players to insert themselves as Snake this time around... But isn't that what players have always done in this series? People wanted to play as Big Boss and watch his descent into madness as advertised, not play as a silent body double. This might've been an attempt to reproduce the twist that Kojima created with Raiden in MGS2; however, that twist was acceptable because it happened near the beginning of the game. This game's twist just seems like a big "screw you" to the fans. All of this is on top of Kojima's obnoxious handwavium of choice, VOCAL CHORD PARASITES, which have effectively replaced MGS4's nanomachines as being the cause and effect for everything supernatural that happens.

    MGS5 could've been a good game had it ended with Chapter 1, could've been a great game with better writing, and could've been an amazing game with more series staples (more & better bosses, more (!) cutscenes, more character development). Things might change in the future; Konami might just be holding out on later chapters to milk the player base for DLC money (MB coins are already disgustingly distorting the singleplayer experience). As it currently stands, I'm going to get everything I can out of this game because its money already spent and its decently playable. However, because of all the glaring issues previously mentioned, plus broken online components such as MGO3 being delayed to January 2016 while consoles get it Oct. 6th and FOBs being invadable while offline, I cannot recommend this game to anyone. Both MGR and even the "paid demo" Ground Zeroes were honestly better Metal Gear Solid games than this embarrassing train wreck of game.    … Expand
  19. ZaPaAl
    Oct 27, 2015
    6
    Really great gameplay, good looking. Bad and convoluted Story, told in tiny fragments and needing alot of listening to long tapes without hardly any message. Bad Pacing, dislikeable characters. Quiet and her part is ok, but she does not carry the main story. Forced online elements, built around griefing and wasting time. Lot's of repetitive time sinks between the "gameplay" action. Quite aReally great gameplay, good looking. Bad and convoluted Story, told in tiny fragments and needing alot of listening to long tapes without hardly any message. Bad Pacing, dislikeable characters. Quiet and her part is ok, but she does not carry the main story. Forced online elements, built around griefing and wasting time. Lot's of repetitive time sinks between the "gameplay" action. Quite a few annoying repeating radio messages. Baseline: very depressing and not fun the more you play and the more you understand the story. Feels unfinished, but I doubt even a finished version would have lifted the experience, as this was obviously not built around a strong and emotionally engaging story to begin with.… Expand
  20. Ansatsu83
    Sep 22, 2015
    7
    This game could be close to perfect but suffers from some very MAJOR issues... these are issues I cannot look past for whatever reason they chose, most of them just poor design flaws or poor implementation.

    1. FOB missions and connection to the server, yes you will get disconnected quite often. If you are in an FOB mission, and get disconnected cause their server derps up, you not only    This game could be close to perfect but suffers from some very MAJOR issues... these are issues I cannot look past for whatever reason they chose, most of them just poor design flaws or poor implementation.

    1. FOB missions and connection to the server, yes you will get disconnected quite often. If you are in an FOB mission, and get disconnected cause their server derps up, you not only automatically fail the mission, you lose rank points and they get a location on your base, opening you up to their raids. VERY BAD IMPLEMENTATION!!!!!!!

    2. The open world portion gets very repetitive and doesnt feel like I'm getting a lot of reward.

    3. Some of the missions feel like they drag on and on for no reason. The last mission in afganistan, in particular, takes far too long, when it should only take half of the time.

    4. At the time of writing this, there is a movement bug, where your character will continue walking in one direction. The fix is to run around in a circle... but this is enough time to either a. get spotted, or b. get focused down after being spotted... its a big bug that shouldn't have made it past their play testing.

    Otherwise, the stealth concept is sound, the combat is pretty good, and its overall a good game. I would say it is not worth 60 dollars, but closer to 40. Either way ive had a lot of fun, but these issues really kill the fun factor of the game. If this changes, great, I could go up to an 8 or 9, but until then, its a solid 7.    … Expand
  21. xavia91
    Oct 19, 2017
    7
    Pro:
    Great Graphics with no lag at all.
    Overall the game works pretty well, no real bugs.

    Con:
    Repetitive repetitive repetitive.
    The concept of basically being forced to extract people totally disturbs the stealth part for me!
    Range of some weapons seem pretty low.
    Story?
    taking cover has a kinda weird mechanic.
    controls on pc is badly ported.
  22. Chapa9dj
    Oct 21, 2015
    5
    Disappointment of the year.
    It feels so rushed, empty and boring. The story is more convoluted than ever and unfinished, just like the entire game.
    A shame that one of my favourite franchises goes straight into the trash with this entry.
    I simply cannot fathom how did it go so wrong.
    Open world doesn't fit in this game. It's like trying to make a linear GTA game.
  23. Mjolnir
    Sep 26, 2015
    6
    + Great gameplay
    + Well optimised
    + Interesting meta-game - Nonsense story - Little design flaws which impact entire game experience (e.g. repeating story missions) - Scars from cut content (e.g. unable to use Metal Gear Emmerich designs, unexplained origin story for D-Dog) - Limited to two environments which get stale (Afghanistan and Africa) - Story loopholes (e.g. Big Boss'    + Great gameplay
    + Well optimised
    + Interesting meta-game

    - Nonsense story
    - Little design flaws which impact entire game experience (e.g. repeating story missions)
    - Scars from cut content (e.g. unable to use Metal Gear Emmerich designs, unexplained origin story for D-Dog)
    - Limited to two environments which get stale (Afghanistan and Africa)
    - Story loopholes (e.g. Big Boss' descent into villainy)    … Expand
  24. awdrifter
    Oct 17, 2015
    6
    Chapter 1 of this game is fantastic. While it's different from the previous MGS game in terms of mission structure, it's still has that MGS flare. The missions only got repetitive towards the end of Chapter 1. If this game ends at Chapter 1, this is easily an 8-9 game. However, Chapter 2 completely sours the experience for me. Chapter 2 is consists mostly of repeat missions, and theChapter 1 of this game is fantastic. While it's different from the previous MGS game in terms of mission structure, it's still has that MGS flare. The missions only got repetitive towards the end of Chapter 1. If this game ends at Chapter 1, this is easily an 8-9 game. However, Chapter 2 completely sours the experience for me. Chapter 2 is consists mostly of repeat missions, and the missions that are new are not well designed. The two true ending missions were truly disappointing. Chapter 2 is maybe a 4-5 experience, it felt like Kojima no longer had creative control at that point, Konami just hired any junior designer to finish the game up as quickly as possible. If you're a Metal Gear fan, I would say play this, but wait for a price drop. The story didn't add a lot to the Metal Gear overarching story.… Expand
  25. chrispDUCK
    Oct 19, 2015
    7
    Graphically great but ultimately shallow game. Large, open but very sparcely populated world, compared to games that do open worlds well like Witcher 3, Skyrim, Oblivion, etc there is really no comparison.
  26. NoMaDXT
    Dec 8, 2016
    6
    A good story Title. But the change to open world isnt my thing. Its interesting but ultimately detracts from why I play MGS games. A weird and fantastical Military drama told and directed amazingly. The open world starts making things repetative early on when I just want to concentrate on the game and not get roped into a multiplayer I really dont care about. The multiplayer I feel shouldA good story Title. But the change to open world isnt my thing. Its interesting but ultimately detracts from why I play MGS games. A weird and fantastical Military drama told and directed amazingly. The open world starts making things repetative early on when I just want to concentrate on the game and not get roped into a multiplayer I really dont care about. The multiplayer I feel should have been another game on its own. or perhaps a DLC. Neverthe less. Great story.… Expand
  27. ChosenOne
    Jan 25, 2016
    7
    Game felt like 10/10 until I finished it. After I realized that after 100 hours of gameplay completing tuttorial mission second time is an actual ending - I felt deluded, frustraited.
  28. MatDerKater
    Nov 18, 2015
    5
    Typical medicore AAA PC game with a whole bunch of paid for rave reviews bestowed upon it. After the excruciating 2 hour intro, the games presentation and introduction to the games mechanics does wow you a bit, for a while....and then you begin to notice that you are just doing the same thing over and over, and that you can't be arsed with any of it. Just another empty over-ratedTypical medicore AAA PC game with a whole bunch of paid for rave reviews bestowed upon it. After the excruciating 2 hour intro, the games presentation and introduction to the games mechanics does wow you a bit, for a while....and then you begin to notice that you are just doing the same thing over and over, and that you can't be arsed with any of it. Just another empty over-rated sand-boxer, which is vast, just because it can, not because it should.… Expand
  29. beyondtool
    Oct 20, 2015
    5
    The world, the gameplay and the sandbox nature of this game is excellent, unfortunately it is clearly a half finished vision. The second half of the game becomes repetitive rubbish, clearly padding the game for an ending that never comes. There is far too much busy work in the game that dampers the few and far between excellent level designs. The story is also rather nonsensical even forThe world, the gameplay and the sandbox nature of this game is excellent, unfortunately it is clearly a half finished vision. The second half of the game becomes repetitive rubbish, clearly padding the game for an ending that never comes. There is far too much busy work in the game that dampers the few and far between excellent level designs. The story is also rather nonsensical even for a metal gear game and it never actually reaches a conclusion. At least it runs well on most PCs, although the audio randomly drops out on my PC.

    It is bitterly disappointing that a game that starts with such a bang, ends with a whimper. Oh it's it's not really a metal gear game IMHO, far removed from the story heavy previous titles.    … Expand
  30. Aeryx
    Jul 7, 2019
    7
    Phantom Pain should be getting a 10, but the ridiculous mobile game mechanics and stupidly long timers (3 real world days for an assault rifle or 6 days for a battle dress) are truly shameful. This should never be allowed on a $60 game. The PC port's controls are also poorly implemented. I remember manning an AA gun instead of extracting it so many times because the contextual controlsPhantom Pain should be getting a 10, but the ridiculous mobile game mechanics and stupidly long timers (3 real world days for an assault rifle or 6 days for a battle dress) are truly shameful. This should never be allowed on a $60 game. The PC port's controls are also poorly implemented. I remember manning an AA gun instead of extracting it so many times because the contextual controls were so bad. Also add to this the Perfect Stealth and Subsistence missions, which are missions you already completed BUT HAVE TO REPEAT on these modes, is a big waste of time. I finished all the missions and side missions and I found these modes to be unnecessary at best and a big waste of time at worst. I like the idea of you capturing troops and putting them on your base but they were too generic and had no personality and character whatsoever. They just became names and stats on a spreadsheet.

    Now that's out of the way, the gameplay is great. The weapon customizations are very nice and the graphics are spot on. No crashes for me in Windows 7 and the game is very stable with very few bugs, apart from the annoying early level troops "Silent Basilisk" and others being low level and you cannot dismiss them. Which is very bad for leveling up your FOBs. The story could be better as there are many plot holes, but it is long and has plenty of substance. The plot is silly at times and the fake gun names are annoying. I can't imagine a bunch of kids outsmarting Miller, Ocelot and the Boss. Really? That's just plain dumb. Emmerich is also an annoying self-righteous cuck. It doesn't fit his character and was poorly executed. Additionally, why do I need to extract myself via helicopter when I have a fulton or a portal extraction device? Why can't big boss just fulton or portal himself back home? The tapes are good to listen to but still left many holes. I think Kojima did this game justice, but Konami ruined it with all of these mobile game mechanics. I don't like Hideo Kojima's decision to drop David Hayter. Overall, this is a great game, but it has many issues that may annoy you. I like Kojima and I want to give this a higher score but I think fanboyism ruins everything it touches. 7/10.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best PC Game of 2015
14
#14 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
24
#24 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Riot Pixels
    Oct 8, 2015
    77
    Metal Gear Solid V is amazing at times, and I enjoyed playing it, but there are so many embarrassing blunders and contradictions. Rich tactical gameplay vs an almost dead world. Fun HQ management and interesting characters vs an unfinished narrative and boring side quests. In some regards, this is a huge step back from previous Metal Gear games.
    Read full review
  2. PC Gamer
    Oct 6, 2015
    93
    A generous stealth sandbox masterpiece that will delight both new and existing fans of the long-running series. [Dec 2015, p.50]
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Sep 30, 2015
    90
    It might not be the best Metal Gear Solid game ever released, but it's certainly the bravest and most interesting. [Oct 2015, p.53]
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