With the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain just over a month a way, here’s a quick look at why it will be the best in the series.
It will Be Kojima’s Swansong
For nearly 28 years, the Metal Gear series has been the brainchild of one man – Hideo Kojima. Amidst a now legendary fallout (we assume) between Kojima and publishers Konami, it was revealed by Snake’s voice actor that The Phantom Pain will indeed be Kojima’s last Metal Gear Solid game. It stands to reason that Kojima will want Big Boss’s last outing to be memorable, as he sets sail from the shores of Konami. Renowned for it’s convoluted but intensely gripping storyline, Metal Gear has never let fans down when it comes to an absurd plot.
I mean, who doesn’t have a story about when they were the greatest soldier of all time, ran a private military and got cloned to birth the second greatest soldier of all time and his evil twin arch nemesis.
No one, right?
Ground Zeroes was awesome
Ground Zeroes was a harmless tech demo before Kojima broke the news that it was actually a prelude to The Phantom Pain. As such, it concentrated heavily on gameplay and graphical prowess as opposed to the aforementioned storyline madness and the infamously long MGS cutscenes. Focusing on tactics, Ground Zeroes offered replayablity in spades, as it attempted to show there’s more than one way to skin a cat (or a snake I suppose). It also acts as a perfect springboard into the Phantom Pain storyline. If you haven’t played it yet, it’s an absolute must.
The Phantom Pain will be influenced by cheesy 80’s action films
Speaking in an interview with IGN, Kojima explained how he plans to get around the fact that – as a game where technology is quite prominent – TPP will be set in 1984 when tech was at a premium.
…since The Phantom Pain takes place in 1984, the designs are influenced by popular sci-fi movies from the era. You’ll see a lot of technology that didn’t really exist back then; certain aspects are realistic, but when it comes to high-tech weapons and walking tanks, what you’re seeing are visions of the future through the lens of that era. We also drew inspiration from failed 80’s military r&d projects that never panned out.
Although the series as a whole has a strong hint of cheese, safe money would be on Kojima going whole hog to make this the most over-the-top experience yet.
Sadly there’s no news on whether Big Boss will cross paths with the real Snake Plisskin. We can dream.
That badass E3 trailer
Not too much to say that about this one, the trailer speaks for itself.
The massive open world and free approach to missions
Massive open worlds are nothing new, Rockstar have been doing them for years. But the thought of a Metal Gear game in a living sandbox that you can approach however you like? Yes please.
The in-game footage springing up everywhere is testament to a game that’s going to blow everything else out of the water when it releases on September 1st. Throw in base building and online elements on top of the huge maps, and The Phantom Pain could have enough content to keep us playing until whatever it is Kojima decides to do next. Or until Konami release endless remakes of Metal Gear Solid games, effectively killing all the joy we ever garnered from them.
One or the other.
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Mark is the Gaming Editor for UNILAD. Having grown up a gaming addict, he’s been deeply entrenched in culture and spends time away from work playing as much as possible. Mark studied music at University and found a love for journalism through going to local gigs and writing about them for local and national publications.