On Sept. 1, Konami Entertainment published “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” the latest entry in the third-person stealth-action series. Pitched as the missing link in the series, MGSV delivers a vast open world, a cornucopia of tactical gameplay options and a truly gripping story of revenge. With Kojima, the series director, leaving Konami in just a few weeks, MGSV feels like a worthy farewell to the fans.

Set in the 1980s, MGSV stars Big Boss and his army of mercenaries (Diamond Dogs) as they take on contracts in Afghanistan and Angola, all while attempting to extract revenge on the secret organization Cipher who are designing a weapon of mass destruction. Those who are just jumping into the series now shouldn’t be too lost in the story, as many of the themes, characters and events of the game are surprisingly self-contained. That being said, longtime fans of the series will be delighted to find a plethora of hints, plots, references and characters from throughout the series.

The story of MGSV is surprisingly tragic, if a bit brief. Kazuhira Miller, one of the cheerier characters from previous games, takes a decidedly darker turn in this entry. With several of his limbs lost to Cipher, Miller slowly becomes revengeful as he and the rest of the Diamond Dogs fall from grace.
In essence MGSV is a redemption story where all of its characters become more and more irredeemable. Themes of loss are expertly portrayed in the game in ways that make them feel personal through gameplay, but also through the phantom pain of comrades now missing that the player will mourn to once having at their disposal.

However, MGSV is unfortunately lacking in a full story that fans of the series were expecting. Many loose ends still go unexplained, some of the most enigmatic characters barely get more than two scenes with dialogue and, worst of all, there’s an entire chapter of the game which was cut due to budget constraints. Paired with supplementary filler missions in the game, this makes “The Phantom Pain” feel hollow and unfinished at times.

That’s not to say the existing written and voice-acted characters and scenes aren’t worthy of recognition. Skullface, the mysterious leader of Cipher, has some truly creepy moments, in particular a five-minute monologue. Quiet, a mute sniper in the allied cast, undergoes drastic growth without speaking a single line. However, it is unfortunate that she’s the only important female character in the entire game – a lack of diversity that not even the first Metal Gear published in 1987 achieved.

Gameplay is where MGSV shines most of all. There are many options and styles of gameplay for tackling situations that range from silent and non-lethal to guns-blazing. The game sports a wide array of weapons and vehicles and a smooth progression system for attaining all of them. The Fulton system – which allows players to balloon-capture everything from enemy mechanized walkers to sheep to the enemies themselves – along with the stealthy cardboard box both make a triumphant, if ridiculous, return.

Mission structure is better than it’s ever been. Those who attempt the non-lethal route in the game better have a plan. However, things like helicopter supply drops and bringing a dog as a companion to spot enemies enables the player to use significant creativity when strategizing. The player is empowered to use these options to take advantage of the game’s robust weather, maps and artificial intelligence. This can potentially result in unethically winning in sniper fights by means of supply-dropping a tank into combat. The 1980s Licensed Soundtrack including everything from “Take Me On” by A-ha to “Gloria” by Laura Branigan can make the situation rather comical.

The bosses are also phenomenally well-designed and enjoyable to battle, though there are only really three in total, which is disappointing. The game also can have random difficulty spikes, where it will force the player to play in a very specific way or corner them out of tactical options with little to no reasoning.

There’s so much to “The Phantom Pain,” but so little of it is of real substance. After playing through more than 60 hours of the game, the player will have seen most of what it has to offer, but only 30 of those hours will have been truly fulfilling and fun. MGSV is a fantastic masterpiece of open-world and stealth-action gameplay, but it often sacrifices polished content for more content.
All in all, MGSV is a solid game for longtime followers and newcomers alike, even though one can’t help but feel the phantom pain of missing content.

Alessandro Arena-DeRosa can be reached at [email protected].