Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain E3 Preview

Konami has had a strange few months. The announcement that they will be taking a step back from videogame production and delisting themselves from various Western stock exchanges had a huge domino effect.

First PT was removed from the PSN, then Silent Hills, the highly anticipated series reboot helmed by Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro, was canned. This then led to reports and eventual confirmation that Kojima and Konami had parted ways.

The knee jerk reaction was that of panic, how would the latest Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain be affected? Will it come out? Will Kojima still be involved?

Well, after seeing 40 minutes of continuous gameplay of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain at this year’s E3 there’s no need to panic whatsoever. It’s everything you would want, expect and need in a Metal Gear Solid game and looks to be not just one of the contenders for game of the year, but even game of the generation. And for those questioning Kojima’s involvement, his name is plastered all over it!

The open world, sandbox is a first for this series, and while we had a taste of it in last year’s Ground Zeroes, you can multiply that world one hundred times over before you can even begin to fathom the scale of The Phantom Pain. The demo we saw was during the early stages of the campaign with Snake plunged into a vast Afghan desert landscape. Like open world icon Grand Theft Auto, the minimap displays a handful of missions that you can complete in any order, with more becoming available as they are completed.

How you complete them is entirely up to you though.

That doesn’t just mean stealth or guns-blazing though. Before each mission, you select your required items, ranging from weapons and companions to 80’s soundtrack and character (Yep, you don’t even have to play as Snake). Everything you choose comes from your fully customisable Mother Base, so if you’ve Fultoned a translator back to base, now you can understand other languages during interrogation, if you send back a vehicle, you can use it to upgrade yours. The possibilities are practically endless.

The demo we saw showed us two companions during the playthrough. While you can only have one at a time, they can be quickly swapped and replaced, again with the use of your Fulton launcher. D-Dog, a fully obedient canine who can sniff out enemies are distract and attack large groups looked ideal for slow meticulous stealth missions, while D-Walker, a bipedal mech (with wheels no less) was an alternative method of fast, silent traversal between missions who can scan the area for enemies. Other companions confirmed so far include Sniper Wolf, the obvious long-range method of attack and D-Horse, your poo on queue filly also, and who you choose is entirely up to your style of playing!

Of course, it wouldn’t be Metal Gear without moments of utter madness too. I’ve mentioned the bizarre nature of iconic 80’s soundtrack as your extraction arrives, or the horse that can drop a turd at the hit of a button, or the ‘Fulton everything’ mechanic but of course, it wouldn’t be Metal Gear without Snake’s trusty cardboard box, complete with naked lady interior and now usable as a sand dune sledge for when killing people gets too damn boring! There’s really everything you would imagine in this game and more.

If you’ve never played a Metal Gear game, don’t let the V put you off. The series boasts one of the most confusing, complex and bizarre stories, not just in gaming but when compared to literature and films too. Even the most diehard fan of the series will tell you they struggle to understand what the hell is going on. When 1st September comes around I implore whoever you are, whatever your genre of choice is to buy this game. It’s a must play and will no doubt be the talk of gaming for months to come.