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

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. Gohenko
    Sep 27, 2015
    8
    Before you read this review, I would like to point out that I'm a newcomer to the franchise, having only played Ground Zeroes before this. I only judge the game itself as a whole and not how well it fits within the Metal Gear franchise.

    MGSV is, for the most part, an excellent game and very unique in many ways. Gameplay mechanics are top notch, probably the best in any stealth action    Before you read this review, I would like to point out that I'm a newcomer to the franchise, having only played Ground Zeroes before this. I only judge the game itself as a whole and not how well it fits within the Metal Gear franchise.

    MGSV is, for the most part, an excellent game and very unique in many ways. Gameplay mechanics are top notch, probably the best in any stealth action game ever besides the sometimes clumsy cover system. I already fell in love with the gameplay in GZ, and TPP offers a more refined version of that. The game is stealth focused, but handles more than adequately in full-on combat as well. The story, while having a lot of silliness in it, tries to keep things mostly serious, while the gameplay often abandons the realism in favour of pure fun and over-the-top action. Hiding in cardboard boxes, launching sheep into air with a balloon, calling in a support helicopter to shoot down enemies while playing "Take On Me" on the loudspeakers...what's not to like?

    The controls are fine on kb+m, but it's clear they were designed with a controller in mind. Performance-wise, the game is well optimised for PC. My gtx 970 and i7-4790k can run it on max settings without even breaking a sweat. The graphics are quite good for the most part, but the lack of proper anti-aliasing and some low-res textures can get quite annoying. The options menu also lacks any proper audio sliders.

    The stealth and combat gameplay is mostly done in one of the two open worlds areas in the game, Afghanistan and Africa. Both are fairly big, but as they are warzones with no civilian life whatsoever, they don't really have much going on other than plants, wildlife and enemy outposts. There are 50 main missions and 157 side ops to do, and the objectives are usually quite simple and tend to repeat themselves after a while. However, even after 100 hours of gameplay I still haven't grown tired of doing them due to the unlimited freedom and the sheer amount of variables in play every time I do a mission or a side op. Other side activities include gathering resources, capturing outposts, finding secrets, collecting money and sending your mercenaries on assignments. I've found the online FOB mechanic quite unnecessary and often irritating as you can be dragged to defend your FOB just as you're trying to get an S rank in some mission. The FOB infiltration is also hilariously difficult when the player whose FOB you're invading decides to come and defend it.

    A big part of the game is managing your own private military force. It's very addicting and almost like a game in itself. Pretty much everything you can think of is customisable and there's a lot to construct and develop. You can recruit enemy soldiers to your mercenary group by extracting them from the field. Your field gear is highly customisable, letting you choose everything from your equipment to your buddy and/or vehicle going to the field with you.

    The story is interesting, but quite sparse. There were some interesting stuff explored in the game with themes like revenge, language and identity, and there were a few particular scenes in the game that will stay with me for years to come, but ultimately I was left wanting a bit more. Too much of the story is hidden away in cassette tapes, and to be honest, listening to them started to feel too much of a chore after some time. Chapter 2 is missing a real narrative drive to keep it going forward and it also ends really abruptly, leaving loose ends and a feeling that there was supposed to be more.

    Other than the story, the game does have its fair share of other problems. The open world doesn't really help the game as much as I think the developers wanted it to. Even with real-time weather and great freedom in gameplay, it does get annoying when you start to go through the same areas time and time again while never coming across totally unexpected things on the way. The online FOBs feel a bit unnecessary and tacked on, especially with their microtransactions. The enemy AI, while for the most part quite good, doesn't always act all that intelligently. When you're spotted and try to break the line of sight, enemies hardly ever actively chase you. Enemy soldiers' vision is also a bit weird, sometimes they have a hard time seeing you from 10 meters away when you're crouching and at other times they might see you and instantly alert the whole base even when you're hiding in tall grass over 50 meters away in pitch black darkness. It seems like the enemy's combat rating affects how well and far away they can see. It does allow for the game to have a really cool feeling of progressive difficulty where enemies get constantly better and harder to beat while you constantly get better equipment and also get better playing the game.

    Overall, the experience I've had with MGSV has been very memorable and unique and I have no problems recommending it to anyone who can imagine liking an action game with a stealth focus.    … Expand
  2. RaidXT
    Sep 12, 2015
    8
    a great game, allot of content gameplay wise.
    but pretty much half the story is missing/cut.
    the game feels incomplete and the missing scenes on the collectors disc proves that.
    still a good game if you want to do some infiltration gameplay and build/manage your motherbase.
  3. Eikast
    Sep 8, 2015
    8
    No spoilers here.

    TLDR: Pros: +Great gameplay +Good amount of content. Chapter 1, 2 will take around 38-40 hours depending on fast you rush content. +Graphics are stunning on the PC at 4K +Good optimization for PC +I love MGS so much that I'm playing it again on the PS4 +Cinematic render in real time. The blood you have on you will show in the cinematic. Cons: -Story was a    No spoilers here.

    TLDR:

    Pros:
    +Great gameplay
    +Good amount of content. Chapter 1, 2 will take around 38-40 hours depending on fast you rush content.
    +Graphics are stunning on the PC at 4K
    +Good optimization for PC
    +I love MGS so much that I'm playing it again on the PS4
    +Cinematic render in real time. The blood you have on you will show in the cinematic.

    Cons:
    -Story was a letdown compared to previous games
    -Dangerously very few cinematic scenes. Which is bad because MGS games are known for their story
    -Game was unfinished (missing important final boss fight)
    -Game can feel repetitive

    So just to clarify, I beat chapter 1 and 2. So I did beat the game so this is an honest review from a die hard MGS fan. I play MGS1, MGS2, MGS3, and MGS4 on their original platforms. I unfortunately did not beat Peace Walker. I didn't like how that game (Peace Walker) was based on missions instead of the linear flow of the previous games.

    Unfortunately, the downfall of this game for most die hard MGS fans is that this game was tailored to be mainstream. Instead of a linear fantastic story, you get an open world were the story is sacrificed, yet the gameplay is better than ever. Also, this game feels close to Assassins Creed, being that most missions have the same core (extract, destroy equipment, eliminate target) feel. Also a lot of the main story missions feel too much like a filler mission. Like the filler episodes you'll get on TV series that are there just to extend a season to 20-30 episodes.

    The biggest insult is that later in the game, "new" missions appear that are basically the exact same missions that you completed before except there will be a new twist. You'll have to do these new missions or do new side ops to advance the story. So my advice is to keep a good amount of side ops for towards the end of the game.

    Also as of this writing, do not use the female buddy during mission 29 and 42. As of this review there is a critical bug that will corrupt your save file. I used her on mission 29 and didn't encounter the bug, but I didn't bother with 42 because mission 42 if I remember correctly was the same mission with a twist.

    Also note that Konami did us dirty. There was suppose to be an epic ending but it wasn't finished and therefore is not in the game.    … Expand
  4. SarudeDankstorm
    Dec 3, 2015
    8
    Pros:

    + open world + lots of side quests that feel fresh every time you do them + 'play your way' style of game play so you can do missions however YOU want them to + doesn't punish you for playing lethally, unlike most other stealth games *cough* Hitman Absolution + base building mechanic which actually works well and kinda ties into a multiplayer aspect + extremely well optimized    Pros:

    + open world
    + lots of side quests that feel fresh every time you do them
    + 'play your way' style of game play so you can do missions however YOU want them to
    + doesn't punish you for playing lethally, unlike most other stealth games *cough* Hitman Absolution
    + base building mechanic which actually works well and kinda ties into a multiplayer aspect
    + extremely well optimized for PC and has good controls: Not a clunky port unlike most games this year
    + intelligent AI that analyzes your play style and adapts to it, making the game challenging (but fun)
    + weapon and vehicle upgrades and customization

    Cons:

    - there is in-app purchases with the FOB system, however I never felt obliged to use it at all
    - you do go back to the same locations a few times, albeit with different objectives
    - if you don't like cut scenes (I don't mind them) you will not enjoy the first 1 hour 30 minutes
    - very little in the way of character development
    - story lacks compared to other MGS games, including Revengeance    … Expand
  5. kdkade
    Sep 10, 2015
    10
    If there is a part of you that hates the fact that games nowadays are a little flat, Phantom Pain is going to scratch that itch, and I mean scratch it REALLY good.

    We got an incredibly deep game. And the game dares to do what today is almost dead in gaming - it does not introduce you to every mechanic right away. It lets you explore. It lets you figure out the possibilities by yourself.    If there is a part of you that hates the fact that games nowadays are a little flat, Phantom Pain is going to scratch that itch, and I mean scratch it REALLY good.

    We got an incredibly deep game. And the game dares to do what today is almost dead in gaming - it does not introduce you to every mechanic right away. It lets you explore. It lets you figure out the possibilities by yourself. It rewards you for good ideas, and punishes you for the lack of any.

    This is literally a game when you can restart the same damn mission ten times and do it all in a totally different way. And absolutely everything you do has some meaning. The game REACTS. Enemies are really aware of the threat both in short term and long term - from sending pairs of guards on patrols when a lot of lone ones are mysteriously disappearing to supplying bases with tools that can counter your overused tactics.

    This all makes the gameplay near perfect. It lets you fulfill objectives your own way. I don't remember any other game that let me chase tanks on the back on my horse while shooting RPG rockets at them, and making sure that their canon wont crosshair me at the same time. And that was absolutely unscripted. I could just lay out some C4 and wait in hiding while blowing up the tanks. I could clear the outpost out of guards and use the mortar to strike the tanks. I could make the tanks stop, for example with leaving any other vehicle or my horse in the middle of the road and steal them for myself while fultoning them into the air. I could do a lot of things. But the most fun thing about it all is the fact that game barely gives you any default way for dealing with objectives. Stop the tank, that's all. How? Well you're the boss. You figure it out. And you finish a mission in some creative way, and you actually feel like one.

    This PC port is amazing. I never dared to imagine that anyone can write an engine that looks so amazing and runs so smooth. And it was released the same day for PC and 4 consoles. I mean nowadays it's almost like a miracle.

    Story is good, but this time it's told in a very weird way - it's just very artistic and specific, meaning that it's a hit or miss. I understand people who don't like the story. Still, I just can't shake the feeling that the gameplay trumps it all.

    I think MGS V: Phantom Pain is in many ways a masterpiece that took gaming to the next level in many aspects. I really encourage everyone to try it, even if you're not MGS fan. This is just too good to miss. GTA V's world might feel more alive, Witcher's plot, characters and dialogs might be way better, but it's Phantom Pain that is the most fun to play and explore.    … Expand
  6. chrisvb
    Sep 10, 2015
    10
    I've never played a MSG before, but I am thoroughly enjoying this game. Runs great, missions are fun, graphics are beautiful. I have a couple minor gripes - it's clearly aimed at using a controller. With the mouse and keyboard, it often gives you instructions on which gamepad button to push. minor nit though, as about 20 minutes in i had all the controls down anyhow. I also wasn'tI've never played a MSG before, but I am thoroughly enjoying this game. Runs great, missions are fun, graphics are beautiful. I have a couple minor gripes - it's clearly aimed at using a controller. With the mouse and keyboard, it often gives you instructions on which gamepad button to push. minor nit though, as about 20 minutes in i had all the controls down anyhow. I also wasn't wild about the opening. I wanted to play, not watch a movie. The whole play for 20 seconds then watch a two minute cutscene thing got really old, really fast, and after about the 9th time, I thought "they are kidding right?" At any rate, the rest of the game is amazing so far, so 9.5/10 for me, which rounds up to 10.… Expand
  7. ProphecyBacon
    Sep 1, 2015
    9
    Really fun to play. Good performance optimization. You can play at a pretty good frame rate (30-60) with a 2G Graphic Card. And the graphics still look good (1080p, everything set in high or more). Konami did good on that one.
  8. DustinOrion
    Sep 2, 2015
    9
    +Great gameplay
    +Great graphics and performance
    +Huge world and campaign, lots of fun. -Feels like an unfinished port from xbox. The controls screen shows an xbox controller. -Menus aren't user friendly and don't utilize the mouse. -Starting game goes like this: "This game has autosave" >OK "Agree to EULA..." >OK "Login Successful" OK "Online updates"> Next, Next, Next, Next, Next    +Great gameplay
    +Great graphics and performance
    +Huge world and campaign, lots of fun.
    -Feels like an unfinished port from xbox. The controls screen shows an xbox controller.
    -Menus aren't user friendly and don't utilize the mouse.
    -Starting game goes like this:
    "This game has autosave" >OK
    "Agree to EULA..." >OK
    "Login Successful" OK
    "Online updates"> Next, Next, Next, Next, Next
    Konami logo> Enter
    Kojima logo> Enter
    Fox Engine logo> Enter
    Nvidia logo > Enter
    Startup screen> Enter
    Continue?> Enter
    Just let me play the damn game

    -As far as gameplay, getting around takes time because there are a small amount of extraction points, the heli takes a while to land and take off. Just end the mission when I get to the extraction point    … Expand
  9. Qrsna
    Sep 4, 2015
    10
    Great game. While playing it I can understand that Kojima is real father of the genre. He started it with MGS on psx and now is perfecting it in MGS V!
  10. SWERY_51
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    It takes it's time to really begins, but it's just freaking awesome. The gameplay is just the best you can find in that kind of game, the possibilities are incredible. The graphics are great, and the story is, if you reach the real final, just mind blowing. Whatever you are fan or not of the MGS franchise, it's a must buy. Certainly GOTY, it's gonna be one of the most memorable game ofIt takes it's time to really begins, but it's just freaking awesome. The gameplay is just the best you can find in that kind of game, the possibilities are incredible. The graphics are great, and the story is, if you reach the real final, just mind blowing. Whatever you are fan or not of the MGS franchise, it's a must buy. Certainly GOTY, it's gonna be one of the most memorable game of this new generation. Thank you Hideo Kojima !… Expand
  11. TRANDO101
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    This game is just amazing. The most well optimized game on pc, the most graphically enhanced, the best in gameplay, and the best in story telling. It stays at 60 (the maximum frame rate) at 4k, and almost everything cranked up to max (i have a r290x 4gb amd card and a 4.0gb eight core amd processor). The graphics look like there real. the story is by far the best i've seen in a video gameThis game is just amazing. The most well optimized game on pc, the most graphically enhanced, the best in gameplay, and the best in story telling. It stays at 60 (the maximum frame rate) at 4k, and almost everything cranked up to max (i have a r290x 4gb amd card and a 4.0gb eight core amd processor). The graphics look like there real. the story is by far the best i've seen in a video game and possibly the best ive seen in a movie. The gameplay is phenomenal, i thought that it would be the same as gz, but its far superior.… Expand
  12. GamingPolice
    Sep 10, 2015
    10
    Phenomenal Port. Near Perfect Stealth Mechanics. Satisfying Story. (Could Be Stronger). Most Polished Game of This Generation. Bravo! Its been m=nearly 5 year since a full MGS Game and i'm happy to say it didn't disappoint. One thing what must be said is that the AI is really good. The Graphics at 4K is Visually Pleasing
  13. bearbishop
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    I gotta commend the people who gave this game a mixed review. You guys actually thought about your experience with the game a little and managed to resist the urge to completely polarize your review to one side or the other. I usually wait til I've played a game through to review it, but I'm a big fan of MGS so I'll go out on a limb here and say I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I'mI gotta commend the people who gave this game a mixed review. You guys actually thought about your experience with the game a little and managed to resist the urge to completely polarize your review to one side or the other. I usually wait til I've played a game through to review it, but I'm a big fan of MGS so I'll go out on a limb here and say I think I'm going to enjoy it a lot. I'm just super excited to play a MGS game that is not sub 10 hours play time. I'm just hoping that the end game is not tied to some sort of stupid Mother Base development quota like Mass Effect 3, because I've played peace walker and I honestly don't give a rat's ass about that stuff. Tranq gun all the way baby!… Expand
  14. AldmeriDominion
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    Fantastic optimization. amazing gameplay. Gorgeous visuals. Kojima productions mangum opus. A must play for any gamer out there. Regardless if you have played a Metal Gear before. Don't deprive yourself of this masterpiece. 10/10

    A Hideo Kojima Game.
  15. bill-evans
    Sep 3, 2015
    10
    Absolutely brilliant.
    Best game ever. Thanks Konami and KijiPro for beautiful polished PC-release.
    Who sad, that witcher is a game of the year? whoaahahahaha
  16. Vindicator
    Sep 6, 2015
    10
    This game is huge. About 50-60 hours in I thought I completed the game but it just said I finished Chapter 1!!! The further you get the more game mechanics get opened up to you as well. The base you start building becomes a multiplayer arena which others try to infiltrate your customized defenses and vice versa. This alone is a very original and fun experience.
  17. GRekos712
    Sep 1, 2015
    9
    Metal Gear Solid V: Geralt with an eye cover. And that's a compliment. Its like witcher 3 set in a futuristic world. Story telling? Breathtaking. Graphics? Breathtaking. Cinematics? Breathtaking. Excelent missions, super well optimized ( 4K anyone?! ) and deep characters. I will give it a 9 though because the walking annimation is kinda funny.
  18. Narson
    Sep 7, 2015
    10
    The game is perfect. Top notch voice acting, great design and fantastic plot. PC version is very well optimized, but controls are a little bit annoying.
  19. DrStrange
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    GRAPHICS: 9.5
    MUSIC: 9
    STORY: 8.5 OFF THE CHART CRAZY: 10 GAMEPLAY: 10 Game starts with the impression your going to be handheld much like you would see in a call of duty game where you have to follow generic guy A cause he can only open doors. However that is not the case and soon you will find yourself in a very fun and brilliant sandbox gameplay. You're missions are a sandbox    GRAPHICS: 9.5
    MUSIC: 9
    STORY: 8.5
    OFF THE CHART CRAZY: 10
    GAMEPLAY: 10

    Game starts with the impression your going to be handheld much like you would see in a call of duty game where you have to follow generic guy A cause he can only open doors. However that is not the case and soon you will find yourself in a very fun and brilliant sandbox gameplay. You're missions are a sandbox style, but don't think it's a skyrim style free roam, where you deploy to do a mission is a huge section of area that you can freely do whatever kind of like FarCry.

    Lets see negative is hard to find, but I would say the constant reminder that its a hideo kojima game gets a bit rediculous as only extreme fans of the franchise would even know who he was a month ago. I suppose some of the odd characters you encounter leave you wondering wtf is the point of that. Overall amazing game.    … Expand
  20. hongkong97
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    well is awesome! it is wayyy better than last years disapotting mgs5 ground zeroes. mgs5 is a great game and it should be the goty this year. mgs4 was great but this is fantasic!
  21. shaoran2
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    I'm not here to give any spoilers obvious GOTY.
    Optimized can even run it in 1080 in a toaster is incredible 30-50 FPS.
    gameplay :10
    graphics : 10
    history :10
    controls :10
    fun 10

    game is perfect

    A Hideo Kojima game
  22. Homerlvsbeer
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    i was truly blown away with the scenes from the hospital every single part of the screen was alive with drop dead gorgeous graphics from the shadow and lighting effects to the dust particles and atmosphere and reflections and colours metal gear solid 5: phantom pain blows my mind with gtx980
  23. zaphod6502
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    Absolutely incredible. This is no mere console port. It runs smoothly on my computer at the highest detail settings. It is one of the finest 1st/3rd person open world shooter/stealth games I have played on my computer to date. Beautifully directed and designed by a master craftsman of interactive entertainment. Is this a positive recommendation? Hell yes.
  24. wutsthepoint
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    I have pried my hands from my controller to make a Metacritic account so I could rate this masterpiece. This game is a true welcome home to veteran gamers who have been sifting through the diluted garbage that Steam has left behind. Good games are few and far between and this one was long over due.
  25. Sovereignlol
    Sep 2, 2015
    10
    Well, it opens with 85 minutes of cutscenes. The cutscenes are pretty **** epic. After that, you finally get to start exploring the open world of Metal Gear Solid V, and all I can say is that it's pretty amazing. You can go back and forth between the field and the mother base. You can kidnap or hire members to your R&D teams and other teams (Just like previous MGS games) and there are soWell, it opens with 85 minutes of cutscenes. The cutscenes are pretty **** epic. After that, you finally get to start exploring the open world of Metal Gear Solid V, and all I can say is that it's pretty amazing. You can go back and forth between the field and the mother base. You can kidnap or hire members to your R&D teams and other teams (Just like previous MGS games) and there are so many things you can make and upgrade.

    The gameplay mechanics are some of the best I've seen in a third person action game. It's so amazingly fluid and the graphics look amazing. I am running it on high 1080p on my GTX 760, and it runs flawlessly. Constant 60fps without problems. I really don't know any cons in this game.    … Expand
  26. funkybudda
    Sep 3, 2015
    10
    From the epic intro, I expected this game go downhill after it, but boy was I wrong. This game has great production value, great graphic and optimized well for PC. What a way to close out the MGS saga from a great game designer. This game is a true masterpiece. I got this with Mad Max at the same time, played that first and then switched to MGS5 after. Haven't look back since. Mad Max isFrom the epic intro, I expected this game go downhill after it, but boy was I wrong. This game has great production value, great graphic and optimized well for PC. What a way to close out the MGS saga from a great game designer. This game is a true masterpiece. I got this with Mad Max at the same time, played that first and then switched to MGS5 after. Haven't look back since. Mad Max is pure trash compare to this game.

    A lot of these bad reviewers just need to go play something trash like Mad Max, clearly the cant handle a great game.    … Expand
  27. sscott0829tw
    Sep 1, 2015
    10
    I can say without a doubt that MGSV is the GOTY,maybe fallout4 can beat it.
    They missions are fun and well designed.Open world gameplay fit well with MGS style.
    The cutscenes are epic as **** the characters are deep and interesting.Troy baker done a damn voice job again,Mother base let you keep your own crew to develop weapon or go on missions.The enemy AI is pretty smart.They know how    I can say without a doubt that MGSV is the GOTY,maybe fallout4 can beat it.
    They missions are fun and well designed.Open world gameplay fit well with MGS style.
    The cutscenes are epic as **** the characters are deep and interesting.Troy baker done a damn voice job again,Mother base let you keep your own crew to develop weapon or go on missions.The enemy AI is pretty smart.They know how to find you and eliminate you.There is so much fun messing around in the battlefield and mother base.The whole game is just addictive that will makes you don't want to leave you computer for weeks.
    Still exploring the game,but in my scale this game is already the best game I played this year,even better than Witcher3(I cannot believe).    … Expand
  28. apoe
    Sep 13, 2015
    8
    Good:

    Amazing voice acting. Satisfying shooting mechanics that greatly rewards careful aiming and headshots. Enemies do not feel dumb, and will do things like check your last known position or try to smoke you out with mortar fire. Enemies do not feel like they can see you through walls. Stealth is reliable, but you can also viably play 'rambo mode' if you have good aim.    Good:

    Amazing voice acting.

    Satisfying shooting mechanics that greatly rewards careful aiming and headshots.

    Enemies do not feel dumb, and will do things like check your last known position or try to smoke you out with mortar fire. Enemies do not feel like they can see you through walls.

    Stealth is reliable, but you can also viably play 'rambo mode' if you have good aim.

    Probably has the best intro section to a game I've ever seen.

    Runs at solid 60 fps (never dips) on max settings at 1920x1080 with a GTX 970. No mouse acceleration or smoothing, so aiming with the mouse feels good.

    Bad:

    Finished the game, and the story feels weak compared to previous games. Some characters, like the main antagonist (who you'd think would be really important), have very little character development. The most interesting character in the game, Quiet, hardly gets any focus.

    A lot of the missions feel repetitive. Many of them are "kill this target at this outpost" or "rescue these prisoners at this outpost" with a few lines of story dialogue added in. Since it's an open world game, there's lots of filler content in between actual plot.

    Many things feel needlessly inconvenient. For example, your helicopter will take off right as you land on Motherbase, so you end up needing to call it back 20 seconds later when you want to leave Motherbase. Why doesn't the helicopter just stay landed until I want to leave?

    An option to manually save would have been nice, sometimes you forget when the last autosave happens so you are scared to exit the game and lose progress.

    Usage requirements are annoying and kind of ridiculous. For example, lvl 3 helicopter costs ~16 times more money to call down than the lvl1 helicopter, even though they do the same thing.

    No anti-cheat on FOB multiplayer and everything is client side, so there are godmode hacks and 1shot kill hacks. From what people have said, you are forced to build FOB if you are connected online after mission 22, so even if you want to play single player only, it will constantly get invaded. There is a 'disconnect' option in the game menu which puts you offline, but every time you start the game you are automatically logged in and synced with the server, so the FOB damages ends up affecting your single player game anyway. The solution to skip this part of the game is to block the game with your firewall.

    60 fps is great, but since it is capped at 60 fps, if you have a high refresh rate monitor you won't be able to utilize it fully. No mouse control in menus or iDroid. There's no audio options, so you can't mute the game music or make the dialog louder. And even with no controller plugged in, I still get controller prompts.    … Expand
  29. 21grams
    Sep 17, 2015
    8
    I'm giving it weak 8 and it seems like overrated game, I mean by critics - 9.5/10 or more, seriously? So:

    The good: - very good optimization, runs like hell even on toasters while having decent graphics, nothing amazing, but it's really okay for this kind of game. - mind blowing amount of weapons, tools and other stuff to play around. - fairly decent enemy AI - good and challenging    I'm giving it weak 8 and it seems like overrated game, I mean by critics - 9.5/10 or more, seriously? So:

    The good:
    - very good optimization, runs like hell even on toasters while having decent graphics, nothing amazing, but it's really okay for this kind of game.
    - mind blowing amount of weapons, tools and other stuff to play around.
    - fairly decent enemy AI
    - good and challenging stealth mechanics
    - some nice humor here and there, some seriously shocking moments as well

    The bad:
    - open world here is a joke, empty and absolutely not utilized - base, few outposts here ant there and nothing in between.
    - environment reuse - you do main mission in certain base/outpost, then you do like 5 side ops in the same base. This is dreadful design in open world game
    - starting points are ridiculous, you land like 1000+ meters away from your destination, just to run that distance in completely empty world. It's so pointless.
    - some serious cliches in the plot where you think "wtf snake..? (or I should say wtf Kojima?!?)
    - game goes downhill in its second half (first half is way more solid).
    - ridiculous mission rankings, where most important thing is mission time, which conflicts with your interest of expanding the base (grinding materials)
    - online FOB's suck because too much cheaters with unlimited resources (like 500k of each material) and wtf microtransactions..

    Conlusion: it's still a decent game and best stealth game in a long time, but at the same time it's far far away from a masterpiece (critics must have been drunk, or did the reviews based on like 5 missions). If this wins GOTY, that just proves how absurd gaming market has became. Also, F*** Konami    … Expand
  30. Newfr
    Sep 22, 2015
    8
    First of all i don't think this game is perfect (especially on PC) in any case like a lot of critics want you to believe. But there is one thing that you should keep in mind - publisher of this game is Konami. And **** Konami! It's last Kojima game in this series and looks like he part ways with Konami not on best terms. And that after that story with Keiichiro Toyama. It's the same KonamiFirst of all i don't think this game is perfect (especially on PC) in any case like a lot of critics want you to believe. But there is one thing that you should keep in mind - publisher of this game is Konami. And **** Konami! It's last Kojima game in this series and looks like he part ways with Konami not on best terms. And that after that story with Keiichiro Toyama. It's the same Konami that ported last gen version of PES 2016 on PC... So it makes me wonder what is really a Kojima's fault and what was just cut, scrapped and rushed by Konami. And **** Konami again. For example, according to latest news data miners discovered parts of act 3 that not in game and it should be it's real ending.
    Also be prepared that this game is nothing like any MGS before. No more long cinematic cutscenes, no more just plot missions...it's more like Assasin's Creed now than MGS of old.

    So graphics and optimization. It's looking good. Really good. Not like there are something incredible. Game take part in Afghanistan and Central Africa so most thing you will see are desert, rocks, savannah and that things are kind of barren. As they are IRL. But looks certainly nice. Plus view distance is incredible. Models are ok. Could be better, especially vehicles, but will do. And all that runs very smooth.

    As for gameplay. I see some people complain about controls. I agree that controls in menus done really poor for PC. Like pressing 1 or 3 to switch tabs. And absolutely no mouse support. WTF is that? But in-game i don't have much problems with controls. And i still prefer keyboard and mouse even with Xbox360 controller plugged into my PC. My biggest problem with this game is difficulty level. In previous MGS games i was dying a lot. In Phantom Pain it's such a rare thing. It's really easy. Get your trusty DD, card boxes and any enemy stronghold will fall before you. DD will spot every enemy, mine, hostage or other things from range of 100+ meters. Even behind walls, in buildings and so on. So if you pay attention enemy can't sneak upon you. And if you not fancy with all this sneaking around it's a valid option now. You can dress in battle dress (some kind of heavy protection gear), get you D-Walker with Gatling gun, some machine gun or rocket launcher and go in Rambo style with all guns blazing. In plot missions that could result in some score loss (for every hit you take and base alert) if you even care about it but in side ops there is absolutely no downside for that.
    Now to the Mother Base and everything about it. It's fun for some time. You run around looking for good soldiers, materials, specialists. Building it. But that quickly wears off. There is little point in it. Mostly it's about how fast you invent some weapon or gadget. And sooner or later you get there anyway. And that "sooner" require too much effort for a little reward. So this whole affair looks like a lot of wasted efforts in my opinion. As for FOBs - just avoid it.
    Open world. It's nonsense and have no value. Simple as that. As i said before it's fun in the beginning for some time. You run around, capture poor Russian soldiers and force em to work on your, rescue sheeps, gather some plants and resources... but after some time there little to no point in that activities. Well, if you are perfectionist and want to collect all animals for example you still can run around with cages. But for most people there are nothing to do in free roam mode at all. I can just get from one side ops point to another that's all.

    Story. I put 55 hour into this game (according to my Steam account) and right now somewhere in the middle (on mission 24). And so far everything makes sense for me. Yes, you have to listen to types to get all information, a lot of things said there. I hear that thing go worth further but so far so good. And again remember what i said in the beginning. There should be the whole act that must be a real ending. Will we see it? Was MGS5 rushed and final looks awful because of that? Who knows. I'll have to see it for myself yet. And as a customer you sure have a right to blame game if story is weak. Sad but true. And a lot of games suffered because of that.

    Quiet. So much was said about her. Objectifying, sexism, feminism, patriarchy and a lot of other stupid words. Welcome to MGS! What took you so long? I don't care if it's Kojima's thing or Japanese, but something like that is in every MGS game. And i really don't see why so much noise around it. There are mawing innocent people down with machineguns, child soldiers, Devil House and more. But of all thing Quiet gets attention! What's wrong with you, people?
    As a gamer I put it simple - most useless buddy in this game. She lucks in every single aspect. For raw firepower there is D-Walker, for scouting - D-Dog. D-Horse...well, D-Horse can poop on command! While Quiet is just for being there and looking pretty (and in that she fails too because i'll choose Laughing Octopus over her any time you ask anyway!).    … Expand
prev
Page:

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]
See all critic reviews »