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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain review
Exceptional
by Patrick Wadden

The gameplay is fantastic. The replayability of missions is something that I found enjoyable throughout while barely scratching the surface of the mechanics offered. The story I can't even elaborate on and so I took the Dark Souls route and decided to play as if it was completely optional. When I paid attention, it was sometimes rewarded albeit with other times feeling quite lacklustre or at worst, embarrassing and thus the SKIP button was employed. But when you're replaying a mission for the 5th time trying to get an S rank and all extra tasks, with music or a good podcast playing, that's when I find MGS V at its best. 

ALSO, this game looks and runs amazing. TRuly spectacular
«Just one more turn»
«Can’t stop playing»
«Time-tested»

Other reviews17

This plays like an absolute dream. I would love this if it didn't take a shit on a beautiful series
Hacelos concha Snake!
«Underrated»
Instead of playing stealth i just ripped ass on everyone and they all shit themselves 10/10 very sexy game
the titties of the female character... same so realistic
As stellar as the gameplay is I can't recommend 2/3rds of a game to someone
*Spoiler free*
Boy oh boy, where to start.
First off, the game is literally a scam. It deliberately decieves the player. Now, some of it is obviously completely intentional (take a certain menu at the very beginning with the doctor, you know what I mean), some of it the game tries to hide desperately, like numerous times where this "open-world, NON-LINEAR" game actively forces you to do certain things exactly the way the devs want.
Make no mistake, this is NOT an open world game - it only creates the illusion of the open world. The exploration value aside from gathering a few scattered resources here and there is literally non-existent. You just go from camp to camp and that's literally all the free-roaming freedom the game grants you.
The menus are cramped with infoboxes, buttons and numerical values to the point where it's literally "oh **** it's Eve Online all over again". The management part of the game thus is just pure hellish torture unless you're a big fan of your screen being full of numbers and letterboxes.
The controls are somewhat counterintuitive - I've struggled for a few hours getting used to the traversal system, and I'm no noob. Get ready for quite a few awkward moments where you dive head-first onto the ground in a prone position when trying to jump. Did I mention there is no jumping in this game? Oh yes, you will NOT be able to climb anywhere where the devs don't want you to be, even if it makes perfect tactical sense.
Now, the fans of MGS franchise will probably expect it, but to all the newcomers out there - beware, this game is effing WEIRD, and not always in a good way. You'll find that the game utterly disrespects you as a player on numerous occasions. It can't even decide what it is - is it a stealth game with serious themes and issues and maybe a few fun easter eggs here and there, or is it a straight comedy ****-show riddled with things calling for some cheap laughs, especially when it's extremely counterintuitive and to the narrative and just feels off. Remember Mass Effect where there were some good laughs when the situation was appropriate? Forget about it - this "masterpiece" just loves to sell itself as a cheap 90's sitcom.
Know why they called it "The Phantom Pain"? Because you'll be constantly getting phantom pains from the things that you expected to find in this game but they're not there.
All in all, I'd recommend to avoid this game if you're not a die-hard fan of the series.
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«Boooring»
«Reviewers bribed»
Wow. Just wow

MGSV is probably the best metal gear game ever. Let’s be honest here for a second. I have never seen a game that gives you as much freedom as metal gear solid game ever. Now I know your thinking of that dumb ranking system where the game wants you to finish it as a non lethal stealth walkthrough, but to hell with it. When I’m allowed to destroy the air radar with c4 bombs then bring in my own chopper to make a full on assault while I’m making my escape is an option, imma do it! Now I know metal gear kind of drifted off from their initial storyline, but the story honestly isn’t as bad as people say it is. And also with the buddy system that they implemented, now that’s something else. The buddy system is essentially a system where you could bring your comrade to the fight and help you plan your playstyle. You can either have quiet which is a female sniper with super natural abilities, or D Dog your friendly dog and start to command him to kill people.

Honestly, I think this game is a must play for everyone not just metal gear fans. There are just a ton of ways that you can infiltrate enemy bases, which means missions don’t lack any repetitiveness. And honestly, the story is worth paying attention to ngl.
«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
I think this was an exceptional game. Everything is so well thought out. 

The only complaint I have is that the ending was weak 
«Can’t stop playing»
«Beaten more than once»
This game alone I can play all year long and won't get bored. Played each mission multiple times, tried plenty of variations, tortured the game in every way possible, but it refused to show any weakness.
Outstanding gameplay, marvelous story, killer graphics, realistic effects and characters, balanced resources, exceptional attention to details, stunning music collection and heart touching ending. I can go on and on and still won't do any justice to how great this game is. Hats off, Hideo Kojima.
«Blew my mind»
«Just one more turn»
I’ve never played a Metal Gear game before this. So I didn’t know what was going on with the story to begin. I didn’t really know what was going on with the story after beating it either. And you know what? I didn’t fucking care because the gameplay was so so good. There were so many creative ways to accomplish your mission. There were so many guns and gadgets that you could unlock that allowed you to play so many different ways (some of which were ridiculous). The enemies would adapt in creative ways so you also had to adapt. The game looked and felt great. There was always a sense of, “what if I tried this”?

Final Score: A+