METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN

Based on the 6,768 most recent Steam reviews · updated 2 Oct 2026

• English reviews: 5,000, 20 Jun 2025 – 2 Oct 2026
• Russian reviews: 1,768, 11 Mar 2025 – 1 Oct 2026

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  16 h at review16 h total

  1 Aug 2025

  "Why are we still here? Just to suffer?" That line from Kazuhira Miller doesn't just serve as a meme—it's a thesis. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is less a game and more a controlled fracture. A design marvel wrapped in themes of absence, identity, and the illusion of control. It throws you into vast, living environments—Afghanistan and Africa—that breathe with day-night cycles, dynamic weather, and AI that adapts to your tactics. Start using too many headshots? They'll wear helmets. Prefer night infiltration? They'll bring flashlights. The world watches and adjusts. Mechanically, it's one of the best stealth-action sandboxes ever created. Movement is fluid, aiming is responsive, and nearly every approach to a mission is valid—stealth, assault, distraction, manipulation. Even something as ridiculous as Fultoning a bear becomes part of the plan. Everything ties back to Mother Base—your expanding home, your personal army. Every soldier you extract, every resource you capture, isn't just flavor—they matter. There’s an odd satisfaction in watching your FOB grow, in listening to recruited enemies now call you “Boss.” And yet, for all its systems and mechanics, the soul of MGSV is quieter, more fractured. The narrative is disjointed by design. Kojima leans into what’s missing. Scenes unfold in cassette tapes. Conversations happen in shadows. You’re not just Big Boss—you’re a symbol. Or maybe an echo. The game never gives you full answers because it’s about loss, not closure. Chapter 2 is divisive: some call it unfinished; others see it as the point. You become a ghost haunted by the choices of others. You don’t get a real ending—because legends don’t. Graphically, the Fox Engine still holds up. The lighting, the facial expressions, the terrain—they all feel real. The soundtrack is perfectly curated: "Sins of the Father," "Nuclear," and a sprinkle of 80s classics like "The Final Countdown" and "Take On Me" don’t just fill space—they frame it. And then there’s Quiet’s theme—absolutely devastating once context settles in. Yes, it has flaws. Mission 51 is cut. Some missions in the second chapter are recycled. Microtransactions for FOBs feel like a publisher’s fingerprint on an otherwise deeply personal project. And Quiet’s design is… well, complicated. But none of it undoes the weight of the experience. “You’re going to have to choose. Whether to live as a man… or as a legend.” MGSV doesn’t guide you toward that choice—it traps you inside it. You play for 80, 100, 150 hours, building a legend. And in the end, it hands you a mirror. It’s not perfect. It’s better. It’s honest. And it stays with you long after you uninstall it.

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  Games owned: 541 · Reviews written: 14

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  45 h at review45 h total

  12 Aug 2026

  The Fixes & Enhancements This is a fun game, no doubt about it, but it has a lot of systems that waste time. I don’t have much time for gaming, and for me, gaming should be fun, not feel like a second job. That’s why I use these mods, to cut out the tedious stuff and spend more time actually playing. I understand that the timers add realism and make sense, especially for Base and Weapon Development. I respect the design choice, it’s just not for me. If I wanted that level of realism and waiting, I’d go outside. These mods simply let me enjoy the game without turning it into a chore. SnakeBite Mod Manager https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/106 Gameplay 1. Remove All Timers https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/300 2. Infinite Suppressor https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/693 3. Portable Toilet Now Partially Refreshes https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/442 4. Lore Accurate Apprearance of Above S Grade Soldiers https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/236 4. Maximum Quantity of All Resources https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/549 6. All Online Weapons Can Be Developed Offline https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1281 Graphics 1. Max Graphics Settings https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1011 2. More Animals In Africa https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/360 3. More Animals in Afganistan https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/356 4. Improved Vegetation https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1110 5. Enhanced Weather https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1029 Optional 1. Quiet In Millitary Uniform https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1211 I love looking at delicious-looking female mammary glands and their soft, supple buttocks, and I’ll ogle at them whenever I get the chance. But there is a time and place for everything. Just because Kojima got horny midway through development doesn’t mean I need them shoved in my face all the damn time. I’m perfectly capable of appreciating the eye candy, but when it becomes constant and intrusive, it starts getting annoying rather than appealing. 2. GUI Mod Menu + Essential Hook https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/45 https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/1226 3. Buddy Bond Menu https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/2312 New Game+ Quick Start (Skip Prologue Mission) https://www.nexusmods.com/metalgearsolidvtpp/mods/882 What I Think A magnificent game, truly, right up until the end of Chapter 1. Then the dogfeces emerges from the kitchen and we are expected to dine upon it as though it were a delicacy. Chapter 2 is a fecal remix of missions we already endured, reheated and made more brain damaged for sweaty bassturds with apparently neither employment nor a social life. My advice is simple: Play until the end of Chapter 1 and then fahking stop. Do the side ops and assorted shii, then watch the remaining story cutscenes on YouTube. Let some poor bassturd endure the fecal pageantry of Chapter 2 while you sit comfortably in your drawing room, sipping tea. Chapter 1 is the game. Chapter 2 is the punishment for having enjoyed it. I absolutely fahking love this game. It is beautiful not just in graphics, but in gameplay and controls. When I first played it on PS3 during my unfortunate console peasant days, I was enamored with the presentation, buttery smooth controls, incredible gameplay, and the whole damn package. I had previously played Peace Walker, my first MGS game, and could not understand how the fahh they made it work so well on that fahh of a handheld with its faahking missing right analog stick. Yet those magnificent bassturds pulled it off. Going from Peace Walker to this was mindblowing. The controls are so damn smooth that it is almost obscene, and I enjoyed it so much on PS3 that I eventually bought the whole damn package again on PC. Then there is the sense of heroism, which I absolutely fahking love. You don't feel like some random rando in the crowd. You feel important. You rise from Hero to fahking Legend, your reputation spreads, and eventually everyone fahking knows you. Your soldiers respect you, enemy soldiers respect you, and your staff thank you for everything from rescuing animals to getting the snot beaten out of them with CQC at Mother Base. They salute you, Staff Morale increases when they see you, and when you leave Mother Base they all stand at attention and salute, making you feel like the absolute fahking king you are. It is wonderfully ridiculous, but the game sells the fantasy so damn well that you buy into it completely. You aren't merely playing a soldier. You are their Boss. Their hero. Their legend. The Fulton system is so damn funny and fun that it is frankly fahking absurd. Watching some grown ahh soldier get attached to a balloon and peacefully whisked into the heavens like a military sponsored birthday decoration never gets old. Meanwhile, all these returded games with their feces riddled moral choices can shove their philosophical navel gazing up their collective ahh. The MGS team understood something many developers have forgotten: nobody gives a turd about your moral choice system if it isn't fun. Players are selfish little bassturds. We care about what benefits us, what is fun, and what gives us useful shii. I don't spare some poor bassturd because I've discovered my inner pacifist. Fahk no. I need the stupid fahk working at my base instead of the enemy's, so I spare the fahker and Fulton the bassturd straight back to Mother Base. Problem solved. Morality has been replaced by fahking logistics. The game doesn't need to tell me killing is wrong. It simply gives me a practical reason not to kill him: he's more useful alive. Who the fahk would have thought the selfishness of players in a fake video game world could be understood so accurately? I don't spare soldiers because I'm a saint. I spare them because I need their stupid ahh working for me. The characters are also fahking interesting, wonderfully quirky, and absolutely bonkers. I love every one of these lunatics. They're so memorable that I actually went and read the whole fahking MGS story because of them. That shii is crazy, with enough twists and bullshii to make a respectable aristocrat choke on his tea. Somehow, against all reason, it fahking works. Absolutely magnificent. Utterly deranged. Five fahking stars. Then comes Chapter 2. Absolute fahking dog feces. I quit at that Backup, Back Down remix because the whole thing is so damn poopy, and by then it becomes obvious that the game was gutted. Perhaps there is one silver lining. The MGS series is no more, and maybe that's ultimately a good thing because, gentlemen, this game can never be fahking topped. This is the only stealth game I find this much fun. Everything else feels like dogturds served on a silver fahking platter. Play this game and you'll realise just how insanely fun stealth can be when made by an actual team of game developers, rather than a committee of turd eating morons.

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  49 found helpful · 5 found funny

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  Games owned: 268 · Reviews written: 15

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  65 h at review65 h total

  6 Sept 2025

  An Unfinished Game, but so good you can't rate down Rating: 9/10 For a long time, I was looking for games similar to Wildlands. I love that one. Now, I regret why I didn't play this before. It's been in my library since years and always ignored, among 100s of other. For a open world game released in 2015, its graphics still hold up to my standards. Unlike modern slop games, this game runs fantastic even on old 1060. Game is capped @60 FPS, but you can easily overcome with LS Frame Generation or mods. They totally nailed the gameplay aspect of this game, reminds me of Wildlands but only more tactical. Like, your suppressors break after a limited use. You can silently interrogate enemies for information. You can blend in your environment with cartoons, camo dress, sandstorm, etc. If you approach in stealth, you can't rely on mindless shootings like we do in other games lol. You have to engage your mind. Now don't get the idea that this game is realistic, cuz it isn't. It's just fun. If you fail stealth? You can always resort to violence and it's legit fun. They nailed shooting mechanics too. In fact, its faster and more efficient lol. But enemies adapt to you. Use too much combat? You'll see more armors. Use too much sniper, you'll face more sniper. So on. It's open world and there are a number of ways you can deal with an enemy. It's up to you. Bombard them with heli, order your pet or buddy, maybe one man army?.. you can. Game is sci-fi. You can imagine the rest. BUT it's not all roses and sunshine. While the actual cutscenes and story in general is great, they completely broke the immersion after Mission 31 (Chapter 1). They mindlessly 1:1 copied many story missions with same cutscene but different difficulty or parameters and it truely hurts. It was like a joke. Like preparing a delicate art after spending several days and then just randomly throwing it in waters. I have never seen any game as badly rushed in other half. There are total 50 missions so you can imagine how many levels they make you play again just for sake of completion. Game is way better off without them, LITERALLY. Plus, to understand the part of story and its logic, you need to listen several audio logs. Now, that was a real torture too. I know it's optional, but I don't want to torture myself to understand them lol. Make less of these please. SEVERAL HOURS of my steam playtime with unncessary GPU load and torture is bcuz of those tapes! After every mission, you will see mini credits screen mentioning Kojima lmao. Yeah the guy is legend but don't overdo it. But the worst part of this game has to be the ending. IT IS AN UNFINISHED GAME. PLEASE DON'T BELIEVE OTHERWISE. EVEN KOJIMA RECOGNISE THIS. It is very unsatisfying ending. Plus these repetitive missions break the immersion so much that it only amplifies that. No, it did not feel like prep for new entry. It just felt unfinished to me and I guess most players out there too. But the core game is so good that EVERYONE COMMENDS THIS. Just make sure to play Ground Zero first as it's a 1 mission banger prologue.

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  Games owned: 828 · Reviews written: 150

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  97 h at review162 h total

  30 Jul 2025

  (LONG REVIEW UP AHEAD, IF U HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME AND NEED SOME CONVINCING. READ!) For years, Red Dead Redemption 2 was my favorite game of all time. Its graphics, atmosphere, story — unmatched. I used to spend days just fishing and hunting out in the wild without returning to camp, fully role playing in that world. But I think I finally found something better. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a masterpiece. I played it before Ground Zeroes, and to be honest, it was my first Metal Gear Solid game ever — and my first Kojima game too. I didn’t understand ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ at first. The game literally starts with you in a hospital, blurry vision for five minutes straight while “The Man Who Sold The World” plays. I was confused as hell. Then suddenly some psycho chick tries to kill you, a guy saves you, then a floating kid shows up out of nowhere, a dude made of fire tanks a shot from a tank and just shrugs it off. You escape, crash in an ambulance, and then a giant fire whale flies into the sky and slams into you. Then a guy on a horse picks you up and you shoot the fire dude with a shotgun and that somehow weakens him? 😂 It’s insane. It goes from super serious and badass to completely ridiculous, but that’s what makes it so brilliant. Kojima somehow bends tones in a way that shouldn’t work — but it totally does. The characters have soul, even beyond the plot. The story deals with revenge, loyalty, war — but then you can fulton a sheep into the sky and it’s like, yeah, that’s just normal now. The freedom is unmatched. You can go full stealth or full warlord. I’ve never played a game where you can develop a chopper that blares music while flying over enemies — psychological warfare at its finest 😂. The base building and army management is just as fun. You can assign people roles, send them on missions, or just beat the crap out of them on the brig and they literally thank you and salute you after. Its wild like are you dead the ♥♥♥♥ ass😂😂. After every mission the game gives you cassette tapes you can listen to if you want, and they actually explain what was going on — why you did that mission, what happened, etc. I’m guessing it’s Kojima’s way of shortening the amount of cut scenes because people were annoyed by the long ones in the older games. You might play this game and not understand a single thing at first, but by the time you finish it, everything slowly builds up bit by bit. I love that. And the gameplay… no game ever lets you seduce a Russian soldier in Afghanistan while you’re sitting in a cardboard box with an anime girl on it 😂. It’s simply hilarious. And the cutscenes… ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. They're long (which I love), and the camera work is unreal. It’s like an actual war cameraman is filming — zooms, pans, close-ups, shaky cam during tense moments — all of it. The lighting, the dust, the smoke, it all feels so alive. Like you’re right there. And of course, Kojima loves his women. He knew what he was doing with Quiet — she’s definitely sexualized, but her powers and the mystery behind her silence get explored in such a cool, satisfying way. She’s not just fanservice. She's a legit badass. I know this review’s been long, but this game is just special. To me it’ll always have a place in my heart. I could keep going about how amazing it is, but we’ll never see the end of it, so I’ll just cut it here. I hope you have as much fun and enjoyment as I did. Even if you've never touched a Metal Gear game before — like me — it’ll blow your mind.

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  37 found helpful · 1 found funny

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  Games owned: 113 · Reviews written: 2

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  7.1 h at review17 h total

  27 May 2025

  Игра вышла в 2015 году, но графика получше чем в играх вышедщих в этом (мое мнение). Я начала проходить метал гир с этой части, и вроде как все понятно хотя на начале все казалось каким-то бредом. Ну как по мне, игра супер :-)

  24 found helpful · 3 found funny

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  Reviews written: 7

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  74 h at review74 h total

  1 Apr 2026

  Fantastic to play. Horrible to finish. I can’t emphasize enough how spectacular and simultaneously disappointing the experience of Metal Gear V is. It’s been 10 years that I’ve been trying to finish this thing. I’ve had at least one copy on every platform the game was released on, played at least 20–30 hours on each of them, and after so much time and so many abandoned attempts, I finally managed to gather enough patience to push through this brick. And… well, I can’t say I was very surprised by the result. I knew exactly what I was getting into, and why I had quit so many times before, just as I knew why I kept trying to finish it. Technically, from top to bottom, the game is an extraordinary production. A state-of-the-art achievement for its time—what was possible to deliver with a huge budget and a near-psychotic obsession with polish. A landmark of quality in open-world gameplay and the still-unmatched peak of the stealth-action genre. Not to mention the cutting-edge presentation, with a level of attention to detail and clarity that gives the entire game a very compelling texture, making it feel like an interactive movie, yet without compromising gameplay to achieve this. It’s a game that still runs circles around most modern productions, even after all these years. The animations and controls are almost flawless. Mechanically, the game is so diverse and dynamic that just five minutes of casually roaming the maps will naturally generate hundreds of interactions between the player, the systems, and the enemies. The game features the most reactive and manipulable enemies in the genre—completely consistent to play against, capable of reacting in dozens of different ways depending on the player’s actions, and perfectly integrated into multiple dynamic difficulty systems that span the entire map. A lethal and non-lethal multitude of weapons, gadgets, advanced movements, and versatile stealth rules, all in perfect sync with level design, provide complete freedom for the player to improvise. The game gives you that liberating feeling that no matter the situation, there is always a universe of possibilities right in the palm of your hand—fully viable—and you never need to rely on the slow, tedious tactics typically associated with the genre. There’s a certain mastery in the level design in offering so many distinct areas, realistically crafted yet overflowing with possibilities and inviting to conquer, while somehow always providing a clear sense of layout and threats. At no point did I feel like I was going in blind on any mission, deprived of anticipation—being caught off guard always felt like my fault. The skill ceiling is in another galaxy, and the game’s ability to react accordingly—and even retroactively scale the difficulty of previously completed missions—ensures things never feel static or repetitive. They made sure that at least most of the main missions are highly replayable, whether through the vast range of ways to complete them or simply through the living dynamism that emerges during gameplay. The game retains that classic slapstick sense of humor from the series. The juxtaposition between the seriousness and realism of the setting and the inherent comedy of the gameplay is pure gold. It maintains a lightness that makes the experience very enjoyable, especially because the game goes a long way in encouraging a kind of almost “friendly” playstyle. Throughout the entire experience, you also have a highly addictive time-based progression system that is fueled by your actions in the field, where you unlock a constant flow of new tools that drastically extend the game's lifespan. But even with such a strong core design and countless hours of replayable content, it’s hard to ignore how unfinished the game feels—and to not miss something that should give your actions a compelling context, but instead leaves everything feeling a bit… hollow? Perhaps, in yet another of the many dumb allusions to the term “Phantom Pain,” the lack of a real story is what killed my enthusiasm every single time. I can’t describe how high my expectations were before release. The trailers promised an unforgettable, intense, cathartic journey worthy of a legendary blockbuster. Ground Zeroes had already given a taste of the technical quality we could expect and a glimpse of a more mature and efficient Kojima, shedding much of the sluggish, intrusive, indulgent exposition that defines his narrative “style,” while daring to push the franchise into more politically charged and complex territory (with questionable results). If Phantom Pain was going to be even better, it had everything to become the epic masterpiece that would conclude the saga once and for all. It had everything to be special. And well, the game came out amid stories of controversy, backstage tensions, and cut content. Then I played it. I was initially mesmerized by the gameplay’s potential. But after many hours, the story seemed like it hadn’t even begun… That exciting adventure never started—the essence that should drive everything just wasn’t there. Instead, I got background monologues and a plot thinner than tissue paper. My goodwill lasted about 20 hours, which is more than enough to finish any game in the franchise. Then I quit—and repeated the process several times over the years, always growing tired of gameplay not being enough to carry everything. And I didn't even know how much worse the whole thing was. Before, I had only glimpsed the emptiness—now I experienced the slog of Chapter 2, which is so poorly made that it makes Chapter 1 seem cohesive and substantial by comparison. The endgame is purposeless, incoherent, and frustrating, filled with the worst missions in the game, repeated content, mandatory side quests, and the most predictable and irrelevant twist imaginable. The thinness of the context behind almost everything that motivates you, and how unengaging every piece of the glacial-moving plot is, drains all enjoyment from the experience. It’s a complete emotional vacuum—no character development, no tension, no meaningful antagonism—filled with literal HOURS of audio tapes discussing topics you don’t care about, because the game does a terrible job of making you care about anything. Even well-known characters have completely lost their personality. When "Sins of the Father" starts playing as the credits roll at the end of the first act, the game seems to be trying to evoke a sense of dramatic conclusion that simply isn't there. It just feels awkward. Under the truckload of redundant exposition typical of Kojima’s games you at least used to have a genuine story, with memorable characters and scenes, and a healthy dose of drug-infused Japanese absurdist humor that managed to shine despite the author’s constant attempts to kill your engagement. This is just… nothing. A complete void. The Metal Gear game that pushes the mechanical boundaries the most, but fails to deliver on the aspect for which the franchise has always been best known. It's a bizarre and depressing contrast. You know what my favorite part of the entire "story" was? Miller talking about hamburgers. It was the only crumb of humanity in the whole thing. I'll probably continue for the next few weeks, replaying missions I enjoyed, experimenting, and taking on self-imposed challenges. I have no doubt it will be a lot of fun, now free from the burden of a narrative that never really existed. But I'll never want to start from scratch again.

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  70 h at review70 h total

  27 Mar 2026

  War Crimes, Cassette Tapes, and the Greatest Stealth Sandbox Ever Built for a Man Having the Worst Midlife Crisis on Earth 1984: Snake Wakes Up and Immediately Makes It Everyone Else’s Problem METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN kicks off with a hospital escape so deranged it feels like someone filmed a fever dream with military funding. Then it drops you into 1984 as Venom Snake, loose in Afghanistan and Central Africa, chasing revenge, rescuing Miller, rebuilding an army, and generally behaving like therapy has failed on an international scale. It’s officially sold as “tactical espionage operations,” which is accurate, but not quite accurate enough. This is tactical espionage operations if tactical espionage operations also included horse poop, child soldiers, cassette tapes, and a helicopter that arrives like it’s billing overtime. Fox Engine Still Looks Like Black Magic in Combat Boots This game still looks filthy in the best possible way. Not just “good for its age.” I mean properly, obnoxiously good. Sunlight bouncing off sand, floodlights cutting through dark outposts, rain slapping across metal, faces half-lit in the chopper, all of it still has that expensive, clinical shine that makes a lot of newer games look like they were assembled out of damp cereal. It’s not trying to be pretty in a fairytale sense. It wants to look like dust, steel, blood, and bad intentions. Mission accomplished, you magnificent bastard. Did I mention it's disgustingly well-optimized as well? The Soundtrack Has Taste, the Helicopter Has an Ego, and Both Are Right The audio in this thing is absurdly sharp. Every suppressed shot has that nasty little cough to it, every alarm feels like your luck just got audited, and the helicopter may as well be a supporting character by the end. Then there’s the music. The licensed tracks, the synthy unease, the mission intros that make you feel ten times cooler than your actual performance deserves, it all works. MGSV understands a crucial truth: if you’re going to sneak into a Soviet base at 3 a.m., you should at least have bangers. Otherwise it’s just unpaid trespassing. Every Outpost Is a Puzzle Box and You’re Allowed to Be a Complete Freak About It This is where The Phantom Pain goes from “excellent video game” to “frankly a bit rude to the competition.” The stealth is incredible. Every mission gives you room to improvise, sabotage, scout, ghost through, tranquilize half the map, or turn the whole operation into a flaming HR incident. The open mission structure, all the tools, the buddy system, the supply drops, the weird little emergent disasters, everything clicks effortlessly. It's one of the few games where messing up is often more entertaining than succeeding cleanly. And the controls? Sharp as hell. The game trusts you to experiment, then quietly smirks while you invent some deeply unhinged tactic involving decoys, sleeping gas, and a cardboard box. A Great Story Until It Starts Leaving Pages Stuck to the Printer The story is fascinating right up until it starts feeling like it lost a fight with a chainsaw in the edit room. Early on, it’s strong stuff: revenge, identity, manipulation, trauma, all wrapped in that wonderfully self-important Metal Gear tone where everyone talks like they’re delivering classified poetry. I like that about it. I really do. But the back half stumbles. Hard. Important threads feel underfed, emotional beats get stranded, and the whole thing eventually gives off the unmistakable vibe of a masterpiece with a missing wall. Also, Quiet is a ridiculous character design. Not subtle, not clever, not “symbolic,” just Kojima looking you dead in the eye and saying, “No, seriously, she breathes through her skin,” as if we all just fell off the idiot truck yesterday. An All-Time Great Game with a Hole Blown Straight Through the Middle of It That’s the maddening part. The Phantom Pain is simultaneously one of the best stealth games ever made and one of the most frustratingly incomplete-feeling blockbusters I’ve ever played. Its moment-to-moment design is so damn good that you can forgive almost anything for a while. Then the repetition creeps in, the narrative starts wobbling, and you realize this incredible machine is running with a few organs missing. Even so, the highs are ridiculous. Mother Base building is weirdly addictive, the freedom is intoxicating, and the game keeps producing those perfect little “♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, did I just pull that off?” moments that most open-world games would kill for. So yes, it’s flawed. Very flawed. It also absolutely wipes the floor with most games that are technically more “complete” but have the charisma of office carpeting. Verdict Graphics: 9.5/10 Still makes military dirt look expensive. Sound: 9/10 Rotor blades, tape hiss, and mission music doing criminally good work. Gameplay: 10/10 An elite stealth sandbox that lets you play like a genius, an idiot, or both at once. Story: 7/10 Brilliant in stretches, then suddenly held together with duct tape and denial. Overall: 8.9/10 METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN is the kind of game that annoys me by being phenomenal. If it were merely bad, fine, easy, throw it in the bin. But no, it has to be astonishing for forty hours, occasionally transcend the genre, and then leave a giant crater where a fully satisfying ending should be. Bastard. I still love it. Not because it’s tidy, and definitely not because it wraps up neatly, but because when you’re actually in the field, sneaking through a base while a sandstorm rolls in and your helicopter is blasting 80s nonsense on the horizon, it feels untouchable. Broken in places, yes. But untouchable. And honestly, that’s a very Metal Gear way to be.

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  17 found helpful · 2 found funny

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  Games owned: 387 · Reviews written: 37

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  25 h at review25 h total

  3 Mar 2026

  A Masterpiece of Mechanics, a "Phantom" of a Story Rating: 7.5/10 — A Series Veteran’s Perspective (Played on PS5 / Also tested on PC) As someone who has completed Metal Gear Solid 4 more than twenty times, The Phantom Pain feels like the ultimate paradox of the series. It is technically the most refined and mechanically sophisticated Metal Gear ever made — yet emotionally, it often feels deliberately distant, like something intentionally incomplete. The "Paper" World vs. the Cinematic Opera Coming from the tightly directed, handcrafted environments of earlier entries, the open world initially feels strangely artificial. Afghanistan and Africa function brilliantly as systemic playgrounds, but their repeated outposts and familiar structures can weaken the sense of place that once defined the series. However, this design increasingly feels intentional. The repetition mirrors the player’s role as a soldier trapped in endless operations — efficient, tactical, and emotionally detached. It creates freedom, but sacrifices the cinematic identity that made Shadow Moses or the battlefields of MGS4 feel unforgettable. The "Wow!" Factor vs. Operational Routine In MGS4, I looked forward to every Act, savoring every conversation, and at the end, I’d just say: "Wow, that was a blast!" In MGS V, that feeling fades. It often turns into a routine checklist: eliminate, rescue, destroy. Even with perfect mechanics, I find myself asking: "Is this story beat even relevant?" The emotional weight of MGS 1–4 is diluted into endless missions. The Pros — The Technical Zenith • God-Tier Optimization: The Fox Engine remains astonishing. On both PS5 and PC, the game runs flawlessly at 60 FPS with near-perfect stability — it is still a benchmark for optimization. • Mechanical Perfection: As a stealth sandbox, this is the genre’s peak. Movement and CQC reach a level of responsiveness few games have matched. • Quiet as a Lifeline: Quiet brings exactly the kind of bizarre and fascinating "Kojima feel" that the rest of the game sometimes lacks. She emotionally saves the experience and reminds us of the series' roots. • Adaptive Enemy AI: Enemies dynamically responding to player habits (helmets, decoys, night vision) remains one of the smartest systemic designs in gaming. The Cons — The "Phantom" Pain • Story in the Shadows: Moving major lore into cassette tapes fundamentally changes the storytelling rhythm. It feels less like participating in a grand saga and more like reconstructing one from fragments. • Friction and Waiting: Constantly calling the helicopter, waiting for extraction, and repeating opening credits for every mission becomes tedious over time and breaks the stealth atmosphere. • The Sound of Silence: While the 80s soundtrack fits, the absence of sweeping orchestral compositions leaves certain emotional moments feeling restrained rather than monumental. • A Deliberately Hollow Finale: The lack of a traditional narrative resolution leaves a lingering incompleteness — a literal "phantom pain" that something meaningful is missing. A Final Thought for the Veterans For fans of the original tetralogy (MGS 1–4), this game can ultimately serve as a refreshing departure. It’s a chance to experience a "different Metal Gear" — one that trades linear epic storytelling for base-building, resource management, and a vast array of tactical missions. It’s a unique escape that lets us see the franchise through a systemic lens before we inevitably return to the narrative style we love most. Verdict MGS V is a 10/10 stealth system and a 6/10 Metal Gear story. It prioritizes player agency over authorial spectacle. I’m finishing this journey out of respect for the series — but emotionally, I already feel myself returning to the cinematic masterpiece of MGS4. Postscript — 200+ Hours Later After more than 200 hours across PS and PC, one thing has become clear: no other stealth game keeps pulling me back quite like The Phantom Pain. Its gameplay loop is simply exceptional. The more I played, the more I appreciated its systems. MGSV is a game I respect more with every replay, even if it never created the same emotional connection that the previous Metal Gear titles did. My real journey continues with the Master Collection Vol. 2. I’m going home soon.

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  17 found helpful

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  Games owned: 1,212 · Reviews written: 57

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• ▲ Recommended

  16 h at review62 h total

  5 Nov 2025

  I could not understand the story, but gameplay is like butter. weapons are excellent and their use is so satisfying. enemy ai is the best i have ever seen. optimization is perfect too, i play it on intel i3 and intel uhd integrated graphics.

  17 found helpful · 2 found funny

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  Games owned: 51 · Reviews written: 2

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• ▲ Recommended

  132 h at review132 h total

  31 Aug 2025

  As Big Boss stands before the sea, ashes in hand, I sit here having finally 100%'ed one of my favorite games ever. There's a lot of contention in this entry that's steadily eased as time has gone on, as more and more information behind this game's development came out, it's hard to imagine that destiny did not favor this game's creation in spite of every reason it should have failed. In this, I feel Kojima's team realized how bittersweet this game truly was, given Boss's only recent revival in Delta. I could talk about the infinitely replayable gameplay made better by a dedicated community who have overhauled its limitations into a true sandbox. I could talk about the obviously unfinished story brought about by Konami's (and Kojima's) frequent managerial mishandling. I could mention that half this game's core feature was cut into an online base raiding mode akin to Shadow Of War's. But ultimately, none of that matters in the face of the final product presented which is a complete realization of MGS's gameplay loop in a setting that directly evokes the game's themes of independence and loss. Metal Gear Solid V is not a happy game. It asks a lot in its somewhat uneasy handling of various topics from child soldiers to nuclear deterrance as well as a lot of patience in listening to the supplementary lore that is provided as you progress. Behind those barriers, an expertly crafted story of revenge and war almost, almost reaches its mark. The elephant that stomps all over this game's cohesion left a sour taste in the community's mouth, almost insultingly so. Though, that was nine years ago and as we've come to grow into this pain, this loss, it's almost thematically appropriate to believe that Kojima knew what would come from the constant development issues. In that way, it's nothing new to say that the loss of Act 3 is appropriate to the game's themes but that disregards the finality that's present. In many ways, this is Snake's best and most polished showing. The gameplay, if you're unfamiliar, is "Tactical Espionage Stealth!" This rings true, mostly, in game. Many missions will task you with infiltration, exfiltration or elimination as you build up Mother Base into thousands of soldiers' home. This development, as expected, comes with a complete retinue of gadgets and abilities. You'll be allowed to take a curated set of allies into the field, their uses all varied and adjustable by the gear they carry. The magic of MGSV is the interlock of these two systems. Every soldier, weapon or resource you extract using your patented Fulton Recovery Device reinforces your abilities in the field, grants you intel, or enables new methods to interact with the base building. In spite of how developed it is, I (greedily) wish there was much, much more to get lost into but you can casually play this game and experience a good wealth of this development. The aesthetic quality of the game is held up remarkably well by Kojima Production's proprietary "FOX Engine." Everything is picture perfect and the complete package puts many, many modern devs to shame. I would say this is the best looking MGS ever, which is a heavy compliment given the fidelity of Delta's lighting/texture work. Kojima's art team absolutely came prepared for this project and it is a beauty to play. The short of this long winded rant is that this was my first MGS and I understood nothing. The gameplay alone compelled me forward and now that I've gone back with a greater understanding of the series, I think it is utterly remarkable. Don't play it first, play MGS3, play Peace Walker, then come back and you'll be prepared to see the end of Naked Snake's prime. Truly, unequivocally amazing. I could not say enough about this game.

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  14 found helpful

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  Reviews written: 6

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  53 h at review117 h total

  23 Aug 2025

  Probably one of the best stealth games of all time. Worth playing just for the stealth gameplay. Gives so much variety of weapons and equipment to choose from. The plot twist in the story was so unexpected. Story is also kinda incomplete,Like what happens to Eli and Sahelanthropus? Graphics are really good for a 2015 game.

  13 found helpful · 3 found funny

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  Games owned: 172 · Reviews written: 46

  On Steam
• ▼ Not recommended

  60 h at review60 h total

  29 Dec 2025

  First off, I do actually like the game. Why the negative review, you might ask? Pros: - Fantastic gameplay - Great stealth - Better recon and scouting than every Ghost Recon game - Decent gunplay - Brilliant optimization Cons: - Story is convoluted garbage - Audio is abysmal - It is so very tedious to load into missions - Development is tiresome - So much visual clutter Pros Explanation: Gameplay - The gameplay is great. Snake feels.. fine, in movement, but the variation in approach and open-ended-ness of missions is amazing. Feels like Dishonored if it was a military open-world third person shooter. Stealth - The stealth is great. It's punishing, enemies adapt to your style of play over the course of the missions. For instance, killing everything head on with an LMG will lead to enemies using riot shields and heavy armor, while stealthing everything at night will give them night vision goggles and make them do everything in pairs. Recon - You can actually scout out an area. Revolutionary, right? But seriously, the amount of satisfaction you get by marking everyone with binos is unmatched. A lot better than just getting a drone out and doing it like that. You actually have to find vantage points. Gunplay - Gunplay is.. fine. Every assault rifle feels more or less the same. There are three different kinds of shotguns - pump action, semi auto, and full auto. Two different kinds of rifles - bolt action and semi auto. Lock on missile launchers and manual. Full auto pistols, manual chamber tranquilisers, the like. You can't shoot anything when driving a vehicle, though, and vehicles were already too floaty for my liking. It's fine. It's no SCP: Secret Laboratory. /s Optimisation - I played this at 1080p 60FPS on all Medium settings with Volumetric Clouds, DoF, and motion blur turned off. AMD Radeon integrated 610M and a Ryzen 5 7520U. Potato. It's really well optimised, and even has mods that make it even better by removing physics of all kinds. Cons Explanation: Story - It's ♥♥♥♥. If you're looking for a good story, go play a game that's advertised as one. Story in this one is convoluted and typical Metal Gear stories, at least for me. The two starting missions are ♥♥♥♥ and give you zero control over your character. Sure, Big Boss is weak and slow. Ishmael is not. He kind of just let's you crawl along, following him, and never helps you up. (Oooh, story reason for this, seen from a mile away). Audio - There is so much audio clutter. Every time you scan an enemy with your binoculars, some female voice says some random thing about 'Scan complete'. This happens every time, and you will be scanning them every time. There is no option to change this, which is a theme with the audio. Additionally, running makes you hear the wind whistling past you, which gets old fast. The general audio quality is awful. There are no separate volume controls for dialogue, sound effects, or music. It's like it was designed to constantly deliver excessive information with no regard for the player. The sound of Sahelanthropus walking isn't synced with it actually walking. The iDroid (your phone, basically) overlaps with mission voiceovers and radio chatter, which makes it messy and illegible(?). Not sure if that's the right word. Speaking of which, 90% of the voice acting is garbage outside of story missions. If you couldn't tell, I hate the audio in this game. It's my biggest issue with it. That, and Quiet whistling. Just shut up. Tedium - After almost every major early-game story mission, there's an unavoidable section where some idiot speaks to you in a monotone about some cool new trinket you got. It's unskippable. It encourages real-life downtime. Then, if that wasn't bad enough, before each mission actually starts you get to equip your items. That's fine. After clicking 'commence mission', you have to sit through about two minutes of waiting for your helicopter to arrive at its destination before finally letting you start. Right after that, in the early game, you realise you have no car and are a kilometer from your destination. You then cannot find a car for the rest of that mission, and if you do, you cannot keep it with you because your funny extraction device isn't upgraded enough. When you try to upgrade it, you can't, because your R&D team isn't upgraded enough. You find some people to join it and extract them, but you run out of your extremely limited early game supply of them and have to wait until your current mission is completed before getting more. It's just unnecessary tedium that encourages real-world downtime just for the sake of you playing the game a bit longer. The iDroid menus stall, the helicopter rides stall (there's one at the end too, if you choose to extract that way), everything stalls. Why? To 'pace you' or something. It's just tedium. Even restarting the mission just restarts the helicopter ride, too. That covers the 'tiresome development' part, too. Visual clutter - there is so much. Every time you come across a dumpster, there's a marker telling you to pause and read a tooltip. It's not just dumpsters. It's also every placed object in the world. See a cassete tape? Tutorial. Take out a sniper rifle? Here's how to zoom in. Can't turn any of it off, and it all lasts for about ten seconds before it decays. Way too much. Even for the dumpsters and things like snipers spotting you, there's a tooltip. Even some ♥♥♥♥♥♥ on the radio comes and tells you about them every time. The game gives you an intel button, but shoves things in your face when you don't use it. That is not good game design. There is an overabundance of floating markers on every tiny little thing, and you can't turn it off (as far as I know). There's one over enemies' heads - that's fine. Over vehicles, yeah, okay. Over a mortar you're never going to use. Bit annoying. Over every single machine gun, every anti-air cannon, everything. That gets tiring fast. Environmental visual effects compete with the UI. Color saturation remains high. You want a full nohud playthrough? You still have stealth cues and objective markers that for some reason are under Gameplay, not Display. Still seeing button prompts? Deal with it. I would recommend playing this game with the following mods: Infinite Heaven and all of its subsidiaries Audio Redux If you want to question my amount of hours compared with my feelings about this game: - I use SnakeBite Mod Manager, which seems to not count my hours in Steam. I would estimate I have about 120 or so hours in the game. - Achievements don't seem to pop. Finally: - I do like this game's core gameplay, but it hurts my ears and doesn't respect my time, and therefore isn't worth full price in my opinion. - I'm not reviewing FOB missions because I don't know it well enough to give a fair judgement. Thank you for reading!

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  Reviews written: 6

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  73 h at review108 h total

  26 Nov 2025

  I originally played TPP on PS4 about 10 years ago, and this is the first time I’ve ever beaten an open-world game twice. I always thought open-world games lost their replayability because of their repetitive nature, but this playthrough proved something to me: if the gameplay is truly captivating, none of that matters. In terms of depth and variety, I honestly think nothing—except maybe Zelda BOTW/TOTK—comes close to what this game achieves. Gameplay is everything, and this game absolutely nails it. It’s easily in my top 10 of all time purely for its gameplay. Even with the 3-minute helicopter deployments, it still has the best flow in the entire Metal Gear series, in my opinion. You’ve all heard the usual complaints about this game: • “Main/Side Ops are repetitive.” Sure, but when the gameplay is this good, even your 20th armored-unit takedown feels fresh. • “The story doesn’t conclude properly.” I actually think it fills in Venom’s arc really well. Yes, the Liquid/Mantis storyline doesn’t fully wrap up, but honestly, the MG series has always had missing pieces in its timeline—even after Kojima went full lore-dump mode in MGS4. • “Konami’s greed stopped Kojima from making his dream game.” Maybe, maybe not—but Kojima was already losing passion for Metal Gear, and we’ve all seen how the Sony–Kojima partnership went. Spoiler: Death Stranding is a much more deeply flawed game compared to this masterpiece. The music is incredible, the graphics still hold up, it runs beautifully on the Steam Deck, and somehow the online servers are still alive after 10 years. 9.5/10

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  Reviews written: 101

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  133 h at review133 h total

  21 Sept 2025

  Кто же на самом деле Хидео? Гений невероятной величины, либо же просто хороший психолог, умеющий тянуть за правильные ниточки души? В MGS V это не объясняется, однако игра однозначно стоит внимания. После прохождения последней сюжетной миссии, первая мысль, которая появилась в голове "Сильная игра." Наверное именно так её и можно охарактеризовать в двух словах. Достоинства - Ошеломительная графика (игре 10 лет на текущий момент) - Живой, напряженный и интересный сюжет (эмоциональные американские горки) - Просто огромное количество интересных активностей и механик - Замечательный саунд-дизайн - Наличие онлайна - "Неклюквенные" русские - Реиграбельность - Отражения Недостатки - Микротранзакции, в некоторых моментах на уровне "pay to win" - Через чур раздутая игра (как по мне, из всего материала можно было бы сделать 2 части) - Игра, в первую очередь песочница, от этого экшн и прохождение, в некоторые моменты буксует Сюжет 10 из 10. На этом можно закончить). Ну а на самом деле, как и во всей франшизе сюжетная линия на высоте, дико интересная, держит в напряжении, и заставляет Вас понервничать, задуматься над многими вещами, некоторых персонажей возненавидеть, а потом вновь полюбить. Честно, очень хочется пересказать весь сюжет целиком, но так не хочется швыряться спойлерами. Однако же поверьте на слово, игру стоит пройти, хотя бы из-за сюжетной линии, её поворотов и эмоциональных качелей, которые она предлагает. 10 из 10 за сюжет, по которому можно ставить спектакли Графика Графика то же самое, что и сюжет. Моментами картинка просто поражает воображение. И это без доли сарказма. А игра, между прочим вышла 10 лет (!!!) назад, игра 2015 года, но играется и смотрится очень приятно и в 2025. И, к слову не каждая ААА студия в 25-м году может дать такую картинку. А ещё интересный факт, хотя это больше к движку: При всей своей ошеломительной графике, игра отлично пошла на ультра-настройках на моём ROG ALLY X. Было очень приятно "бесшовно" играть на ней на портативке, когда до ноута не дотянуться, а потом с того же места на ноуте. У игры очень здоровская пейзажная составляющая, и прорисовка мелких деталей, в том числе различного текста. Начав играть и попадая в первый раз в Афганистан, ты веришь, что это Афганистан. В общем тут без вопросов. 10 из 10 за утирание носов множеству тайтлов 25 года . Движок и физика Здесь мне понравилось абсолютно всё, кроме езды на технике. Движок езды, прям чувствуется, что закостылёванный. А в остальном бомба, стрельба, бег, подкрадывание, взаимодействие со стационарными орудями, скачки на лошади, всё просто бесподобно. Ни одного бага за всю игру я не встретил. По физике хедшотов, она проигрывает, разве что серии Sniper. А так Кодзима гений)) 10 из 10 за вылизанный до блеска движок Геймплей Геймплей здесь настолько хорош, что возникают вопросики. Конкретно с тем, что таким многообразием активностей и взаимодействий, ты со временем пресыщаешься, а сюжет иной раз просто стоит на месте. Конечно есть и репитативные второстепенные миссии, но нужно понимать, что игра в первую очередь в жанре "песочница", а для этого жанра репитативность, в порядке вещей. К слову она такая, не надоедающая. Что нам занёс дядюшка Хидео? У нас есть основная сюжетная линия, есть второстепенные миссии, есть внешние задачи, есть элемент коллекционирования различных вещей, есть микро и макро-менеджмент (спойлеров не дам, идите играйте), есть элементы крафта и кастомизации и даже есть мультиплеер, хоть и посредственный. И проблема в том, что всего этого ОЧЕНЬ много для одной игры. Моментами кажется, что ты проваливаешься во всё это и будешь играть в эту игру всю оставшуюся жизнь. Плохо ли это? Каждый должен решить сам. Но резать оценку за перенасыщение контентом я не стану, не поднимется рука. 10 из 10 за игру в игре, в которой можно сыграть в игру Звук и Вайб Бесподобно. Шикарно. Форсселл, конечно не Циммер, но вещи делает, нужно признать. А подборка именно музыки, кажется, будто Хидео поделился с нами, буквально своим плейлистом. Все треки, как на подбор. В части звуковых эффектов и саунд дизайна тоже ничего не проседает и не подводит, ни стрельба, ни транспорт, ни ходьба и взаимодействие с миром. Атмосфера игры тоже настолько плотная и обволакивающая, звук, вкупе с сюжетом настолько стягивает вокруг тебя путы, что закончив играть, приходится насильно стряхивать с себя этот вайб. Лично у меня было так. 10 из 10 за Невероятный саунд Итоговый вердикт На данном этапе это игра года, как для меня. Жаль, что я не сыграл в неё на релизе в 15 году, к сожалению было не на чем. Но я её тут расхвалил, не стал оценивать мультиплеер, а недостаточки то есть. Во-первых вспоминаем про микротранзакции. Да, если даже отец Хидео этим грешил, чего уж ругать какой-нибудь там убейсофт или "электроников". Но, такая тенденция была в те годы. Наверное все разрабы очень хотели обмазаться этим говнецом.)Во-вторых мультиплеер, откровенно лишний здесь. Ладно там проникновения на базы, но бои, как в батле, Хидео, ну это же не твой профиль, камон. Там никого нет, да и к тому же, когда катка находится, играется она, откровенно скучно. Не пристало шпиону участвовать в мясных штурмах. С натяжкой можно сказать, что Хидео парирует отсутствием повестки в игре. Вернее в ней только её зародыш и в рамках сеттинга он уместен. (Я про людей с ограниченными возможностями). Игре не хватает только локализованной озвучки и всё, был бы просто Перл в любой коллекции. Итоговая оценка 10+ из 10. Игра к покупке просто обязательна. Просто тонна отнятого у Вас времени, за которое Вы, пройдя сюжетную линию скажете "спасибо" и будете ещё часов 50 добивать сайд-активности.

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  87 h at review87 h total

  5 Jul 2026

  you know when you play a game and it makes you appreciate a different game in the series more or even a game in a completely different series altogether? i don't know if that's necessarily a good or a bad thing but mgsv made me appreciate both mgs3 more and just reminded me how much i love deus ex. i'm 99% certain mgs3 is my favourite mgs game now, and delta will likely cement that fact even further. it's probably not good to start a review talking about how much you like other games, lmao, but the last 20% of this game was very hard to sit through and i wanted it to be over already, so this is just fresh thoughts coming from the last impression that was left on me. in terms of gameplay, mgsv is without a doubt the best in the series. it's not something that can be debated. mechanically, the game simply just gives you dozens and dozens of more tools and dynamic situations that far exceed anything that was possible in other games. although in terms of rpg gameplay elements, mgs3 is still king and one could argue in favour of that one being better if only just because of the survival stuff. my core issue with this game that prevents it from being a 5/5 is that you can pinpoint the exact moment the game starts unraveling and falling apart, both narratively and in its mission design. this gradually became worse with every new batch of missions, and it became harder to enjoy as i felt and perceived the developers running out of steam in real time. i still wouldn't call these missions "bad" or say that the gameplay was unenjoyable, it's just a steep drop in quality when you compare this to the much stronger first half of the game. there has been a lot of talk and coping in the past about kojima vs. konami and the development of this game. this may be a controversial take but i think konami takes way too much blame for kojima's ego and actions that led to the development problems of this game. to put it simply, i believe kojima achieved exactly what he wanted in terms of gameplay design, performance and visuals. but, it basically ends there. every other facet of the game suffers immensely in one way or another, especially when compared to prior installments. as you may or may not know, the development of this game became troubled at some point, which led to the final product being rushed and padded. it's not a deus ex: mankind divided situation, but it's not that much better either. one of the things that irritated me most is the game trying to force me to play repeat missions just because there is literally nothing else to do and they wanted to pad out the playtime. thankfully you can sort of circumvent this if you play about a dozen or so side-op missions, which are repetitive themselves, but it's still better than literally repeating a story mission due to their bite-sized nature. another core issue i have with the game is the character of quiet and her misrepresentation and portrayal throughout the game. by the end of the game, i felt genuine sadness bordering on anger, and not in any way that the developers intended. here you have a character who had a ton of potential to be another tragic yet compelling figure in the series, who is entertaining to watch and sympathize with, in spite of her silence. this is, however, completely sabotaged by kojima's incessant perversion and voyeurism. anything that this character went through that could've had more weight is almost instantly compromised by gratuitous fan service time and time again. and this is not to say my issue with her strictly stems from her attire, though it doesn't help, because if you take a character like eva from mgs3, she is also scantily clad, and yet the actual purpose for that is an integral part of her character and role, and in my opinion actually serves commentary on how women are weaponized sexually even in times of war or espionage. with quiet, this is simply not the case. she is there to look good, to put it lightly, and do cool things, all the while living in complete servitude to the character venom and to you, the player. this also is not without its issues as it does not feel earned in any capacity. she just kind of decides to be your slave. there's something to be said about how the game forces you to grind until the last few missions of the game until you are finally able to unlock the only outfit available to her that isn't embarrassing. and even still, this outfit does not persist in cutscenes specifically where she is being brutalized. to have to watch this woman being abused and drowned while bits of her clothes come off and the camera zooms in on her chest is just typical kojima grossness in its worst form. i took issue with this same sort of thing in mgs4, with the only saving grace being that the b&b unit were not crucial or interesting characters that i was meant to empathize with and feel sorrow for (due to the terrible writing and forced sadness of it all. someone please inform kojima that he can't just write a 30 paragraph codec call that immediately follows a fight and expect you to feel anything but annoyance if not boredom.) to cap all of this off, i think the way her story ends is so lazy, disrespectful and even more indicative of her lack of autonomy. without going into too many spoilers, it just goes to show that her only purpose in this story is to be portrayed as your hot servant that will gladly sacrifice anything for your benefit, again, in a really contrived and disgusting unearned "romantic" way. what a waste. other characters that were just poorly written or downright annoying to listen to for 90 straight hours were skull face and huey emmerich. i won't go too much into it since it's spoiler-heavy, but the exact point in the game where things reach a climax and go downhill very fast is when the main antagonist is unveiling his plan and nonsensical motivations that seem to only cheapen the larger story and themes. it doesn't take long before he vanishes from the story entirely, leaving nothing but confusion and even retcons in his wake. prior to playing this, i felt that solidus snake was the most boring and forgettable villain so far but skull face managed to outdo him spectacularly. huey is just ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ annoying, and i understand that this is the point of his character but i could've gone without listening to hal's voice actor ♥♥♥♥♥ and moan endlessly. i'm truly over his squeamish crying at this point. in a similar vein, the voice actor change for snake, while at first was exciting and felt pretty good in the first quarter of the game, soon became monotonous and flat. at some point in the game the guy (who i will from this point forward refer to as kevin costner's voice doppelganger) just starts reading his lines instead of acting. maybe he was poorly directed, or maybe he just phoned it in, but either way i was left unimpressed and missing snake's original voice actor by the end of the game. kojima's obsession with inserting hollywood talent in his work is more destructive than it is entertaining. the music was unfortunately forgettable and almost invisible to the ear because of how generic it was. given kojima's obvious admiration of jj abrams and michael bay, you'd think he would've opted for a more suitable score or licensed music selection for that matter, but instead we get "the man who sold the world" by david bowie (as covered by midge ure) inserted in the game so haphazardly and unfittingly that it truly just makes you wonder if the only reason he chose the song was because he could finally afford to insert his favourite copyrighted music into his games. this all may sound too harsh in relation to my rating of a tentative 4/5, but i want to make it perfectly clear that i still thoroughly enjoyed about 80% of my time with this game, in relation to the gameplay. i feel it is a perfect example of what one may call a flawed gem. it is a great game that steps on its own toes frequently.

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  Games owned: 105 · Reviews written: 27

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  15 h at review15 h total

  10 May 2026

  Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 624: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ("MGS V") is one of the most interesting games I've ever played. I can summarize it in one sentence: some of the greatest gameplay and mechanics paired with some of the most confusing and repetitive open-world design and writing. Like, that's it. That's the review, all you need to know! I honestly don't know what to rate it. 7 or 8 stars, perhaps? Pros: ✅ Night/day cycle + weather. Man, I never realized how impactful these small systems are until I played games that featured them. Weather and time of day affect how you approach missions, rather than serving as empty visual flair. Sandstorms can conceal your movements and reduce enemy visibility, so I sure hope you tagged the enemy beforehand! Nighttime infiltrations make stealth dramatically easier, but day gives you better visibility. Even something as simple as waiting until sunset, as the patrol changes shifts, adds a surprising amount of immersion. I also like seeing how long it takes me for each mission! I hit the ground at sunset, infiltrate my objective, and when I emerge, it's sunrise. Really lovely. ✅ The customization is insane. The amount of various weapons, tools, items, and gear to research is the most I've ever encountered. Like, how can I list them all? Handguns can be fitted with a suppressor for quiet infiltrations, tranquilizer pistols allow for non-lethal stealth runs, assault rifles can be modified for medium-range combat or suppressive fire, and shotguns are always devastating. There are sniper rifles, which completely change the pacing of missions, allowing you to pick off enemies at the risk of revealing your location. Even grenades come in an absurd variety!!! You have smoke grenades, decoys, C-4, and so on. Different camouflage patterns for your uniform affect your visibility depending on the environment. Even your damn helicopter can be customized! ✅ The gameplay mechanics are absurdly advanced. Even over a decade later, MSG V still feels ahead of most modern stealth games mechanically. The enemy AI is shockingly reactive and dynamic. Guards patrol naturally, investigate suspicious noises, communicate with one another, and react differently depending on the situation, instead of mindlessly following preset paths. If you leave a body exposed, enemies can discover it, revive unconscious soldiers, call for reinforcements, or completely alter their patrol routes. During firefights, enemies will actively flank your position, spread out to avoid easy picks, suppress your movement, and reposition instead of blindly charging toward you. The stealth systems themselves are equally detailed. Sprinting nearby can alert guards, slamming doors creates noise, knocking objects over can expose your location, and poorly timed movements can completely ruin an infiltration. Tiny gameplay details constantly matter! ✅ Excellent Steam Deck performance. Man, the game was released 11 years ago, but for me, the game ran smoothly right out of the box with no tweaking required. I got a solid 60 FPS on the highest graphic settings, even during large firefights, helicopter assaults, and busy outposts, while the controls translate surprisingly well. Mixed: 🟨 The audio tapes are both immersive and awkward. I actually liked the cassette tape system more than I expected to. Listening to briefings, character conversations, or lore dumps while scouting an outpost or traveling across the map added a surprising amount of atmosphere, and it fit the game’s military espionage tone well. Some of the tapes contain interesting worldbuilding or character moments. At the same time, though, the system also feels like a clunky substitute for properly integrating the story into the actual gameplay. It felt like all the important exposition or emotional beats were often shoved into optional audio logs rather than naturally presented through missions or cinematics. Cons: 🟥 Open-world. I don't want to harp needlessly on this con—weren't open-world games all the rage in 2015?—but man, they're only good in small quantities. Somehow, the world is simultaneously empty and overcrowded with enemy outposts. The game reuses its levels, making the objectives all similar. There are only so many dusty roads, barren cliffs, and endless beige hillsides you can stare at before the entire map begins to blur together visually. A good open world makes traversal rewarding in and of itself; here, traveling feels like dead air between the actually interesting parts of the game. How can you make a desert setting beautiful? You really can't. I wish there were a proper jungle, a snowy environment, a forest, or a bustling town level. The open-world aspect does not add any value traversal-wise, either. 🟥 Story. Listen, I know Japanese writers can sometimes clash with American culture, but baby. Come on now. The story is an absolute mess for newcomers. I don’t know anything about MGS, so the opening hour was completely incomprehensible. The game throws the player into an hour-long cinematic hospital sequence filled with forced crawling sections, surreal imagery, cryptic dialogue, and characters that the game assumes you already know and care about. One moment, there are invisible psychic children and a man on fire (?) chasing you through collapsing hallways, the next, you are expected to emotionally react to plot events I assume are important? I don’t even know who Snake is, dog. Why does he suddenly have a horn growing out of his head? The writing can also feel unintentionally ridiculous at times. Entire squads of supposedly elite soldiers massacre hospital staff room by room, yet somehow fail to notice Snake hiding directly underneath a bed two feet away from them. If you enjoyed this review, please check out my curator page to find more: Verdict: Play or Pass. Also, please leave a like and visit IndieGems and our YouTube channel for more reviews like this one.

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  Games owned: 402 · Reviews written: 667

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• ▲ Recommended

  300 h at review300 h total

  15 Feb 2026

  Фантомная боль в п*пе или же Кепчуп вайтинг, хах? Или же Ю Претти Гуд, или же Босс ю килд а чайлд? НАЙС ВОРК БОСС!!! Или же Корзиныч иди на*уй, Где мой сюжет который Absolute Invisible? Спустя 9 лет после обзора на MGS:GZ я все таки решил написать обзор на Лучшую Незаконченную Игру в Мире! 1. Игра Сама же игра из себя представляет типичный в стиле MGS стелс-экшен с гениальной режиссурой корзиныча, с глубоким геймплеем и проработкой его деталей и сюжета сюжета нет, все расходимся менеджментом базы, развитием отношений с конем, псиной (который волк) и с женщиной у которой отобрали право голоса, целование в десна с Оцелотом и красивыми катсцены, от которых ваш Snake станет Solid. Но все по порядку, начнем пожалуй с того что можно рассказать быстрее всего... 2. Сюжет Сюжет в игре...НЕ ПРИСУТСТВУЕТ. Дааа... дело в том что Конами с Корзинычем че то там не полили... не долили... не перелили... В общем конфликт из разряда: Он мне пис*н показывал! Да не показывал... Показывал! И послали его на*уй и игру доделать с другими челами не дали, из за чего сюжет обрезанный и незаконченный, но не спасает и обрывки что есть в игре. Сюжет состоит из миссий: пойди убей того, поди спаси того, которые на сюжет никак не влияют, а да Снейкусик ты 9 лет спал, проснулся все пошли мстить Черепу, так мы идем ему мстить.... что добираемся до 30 с ним миссии и то которому основной дамаг наносит фурри робот которого мы в последствии п*здим и все мы крутые... А вторая глава вообще ужас... Сюжет начинающийся ни на чем и заканчивающийся ни на чем, так еще и состоит из прошлых миссий с небольшими усложнениями. И барабанная дробь ГЛАВНЫЙ СПОЙЛЕР! ВЫ ДВОЙНИК БИГ БОССА А НЕ САМ БИГБОСС ВААААУ АБСОЛЮТ СИНЕМА... нам же точно всю игру не намекали, НЕ ТЫКАЛИ В ОЧЕВИДНЫЕ ФАКТЫ и чуть ли не НАПРЯМУЮ ГОВОРИЛИ ОБ ЭТОМ... в целом соглашусь со многими сюжет в мгс 5 самый пососный, спасают его ток персонажи и красивые синематики (какой же веном крутой мама дорогая я не могу я теку с него....) Лично я из за единственных факторов спасающий фантомный сюжет отношусь к нему нейтрально, так что катсцены можете смотреть, наблюдать за персонажами, но прям вникать не надо, да и в не куда... Казалось бы игра по MGS с пососным сюжетом должна быть полным провалом... НО ТУТ ПРОТЫКАЯ ВСЕ ВНУТРИННОСТИ ПОЯВЛЯЕТСЯ КРАЕУГОЛЬНЫЙ КАМЕНЬ TPP... Геймплей 3. Геймплей Геймплей Absolute Solid Лучший вообще за всю серию мгс, если думали в какой мгс поиграть то очевидно мгс5 хороший кандитат (так еще и доступней из всех мгс особенно для ру челов) Такого разнообразия и методов прохождения миссий и не сыскать! Хочешь бери стелсом с перекатами, ползаниями траквилизатором, хочешь стань богом CQC или стать рембо разносящий всех с пулемета или принести в Афган/Африку американскую демократию с неба и с земли. Огромный арсенал пушек, наземной техники, напарники расходников и вспомогательного оружия не дадут заскучать, добывается это все очевидно с ресов с миссий и производятся на вашем огроменном Ашане, на котором вы нанимаете п*здите фултоном своих сотрудников, которые производят ваше добро, причем менеджмент базы опционален, фармить жестко ресы для развития базы и вооружения не прям необходимо, а по вашему усмотрению и желанию разнообразить геймплей (необходимые улучшения для прохождения вы и так с легкостью сделаете) Так что если вам хочется стелс-экшена с открытым миром с большим разнообразием пушек и другого добра и способов прохождения-берите игру не думая. 4. Прочее Музыка в игре просто что то с чем то... на ровне с The Man Who Sold The World который и не был написан для игры, НО идеально подходит для нее самой, идут саунды написанной для игры Quiet Theme, Sins of the Father, Invisible звучащие просто восхитительно и заставляющие уши оргазмировать, и куча другой музыки из нашей жизни добавленную игру идеально подходящие для эпохи, во время которой игра и происходит. А возможность поставить любую свою музыку, просто закинув файл с ней в папку игры и возможность любой музыки проигрываться от вертолета, когда тот летит к вам, дают дополнительный балл к карме игры. Тем не менее у игры есть минусы в виде мертвого онлайна ПБ миссий и еще более у мертвленного MGO где там и там присутствуют читеры, неоправданно дурацкой монетизации игры в виде покупки монет для ускорения онлайн разработок, неоправданно с завышенными ценами и временем ожидания и покупками баз и платными скинами. Чуть не забыл упомянуть красивую кинематографичную графику в игре 2015 года, в играх нашего времени не всегда присутствует такая графика, а чего уж говорить про оптимизацию, которая позволяет такую красоту запустить на любой картошке, когда куски современного мыла требуют RTX 90000кг веса матери разраба очередного AAAAAAA-шлака, выделяют игру на фоне остальных (и особенно на фоне MGS Delta где графика не ушла далеко от графики TPP НО УШЛА П*ЗДЕЦ ДАЛЕКО ОТ ОПТИМИЗАЦИИ В ПЛОХУЮ СТОРОНУ). 5. Итог итогов К заключению, игра хоть и не получилось прям идеальной... из за разногласий Конами и Гениалыча, производственного ада, раздутого бюджета, не позволявший довести игру до состоянии Diamond Dogs но тем не менее, игру назвать плохой не повернется язык, хоть и многие обзорщики и ютуберы хейтят ее (а есть за что, хоть иногда не по делу, и слишком гиперболизуют какую либо проблему игры) благодаря крышесносному геймплею, музыке, катсценам, персонажам (хоть и большая часть многие полюбившиеся старички) игра держит заслуженный статус Лучшей Незаконченной Игры и вполне себе заслуживает оценку в 1984 фантомных снейков из 12 заждавшихся веномов которые так и хотят сказать какой вы претти гуд и имеете солидного змея в штанах. Могу лишь поблагодарить Биг Босса за такую замечательную игру и 300 часовое приключение за платиной и за ж*пой Квает и советую всем, кто еще не поиграл в эту имбулину. Больше заставлять вас ждать не буду, всем хорошего вечера/дня/ночи/утра/нового года! БЛ*ТЬ МЕНЯ УЖЕ ЗАЕБАЛИ ЛЮДИ КОТОРЫЕ ГОВОРЯТ ЧТО INVISIBLE ЕСТЬ В МГС5, ЕГО НИКОГДА НЕ БЫЛО И НЕ БУ... when you can't even say... my name...

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  7 found helpful · 4 found funny

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  Games owned: 253 · Reviews written: 47

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• ▼ Not recommended

  135 h at review135 h total

  24 Nov 2025

  Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain just never clicked for me. The pacing felt all over the place: some cutscenes dragged on forever, others made it seem like the story was finally gaining momentum, only for the game to swerve into a tangent for several missions. Any mission involving the supernatural group known as "The Skulls" completely took me out of the experience. They are frustrating rather than tense or exciting, and they feel out of sync with the grounded stealth gameplay the series is known for. The deeper I got, the more repetitive it became. Most of Act 2 is made up of modified rehashes of Act 1 missions, and the side ops all blur together as copy-and-paste scenarios at different outposts. Even the main missions practically demand multiple playthroughs: your initial run, then replaying to clear side objectives that only unlock after finishing the mission (see note below), and then replaying yet again for an S-rank that usually requires zero kills. Multiply that by the repeated missions in Act 2 and suddenly you're doing the same tasks up to six times. And don't even get me started on the opening hospital sequence. It goes on forever, constantly swapping between cutscene and gameplay so you never know when the skip button will work. Yes, you may end up sitting through it multiple times too. I know the game's development was notoriously messy, with Konami and Kojima clashing behind the scenes and parts of the narrative reportedly left unfinished. That context explains a lot of the unevenness, but it doesn't make it any easier to play through. There are flashes of brilliance here, and I really appreciate the graphics and core stealth mechanics, but the overall experience just didn't land for me. Side objective note: Technically, you can complete them on your first run, but some require extracting a target in a completely different outpost off the intended path. When you go there, there are even voice lines telling you you're going the wrong way. There is no way to know about these objectives without looking them up.

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  Games owned: 382 · Reviews written: 101

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• ▲ Recommended

  51 h at review51 h total

  6 Jul 2025

  Metal gear solid V: The phantom pain, первая игра которая удостоилась познакомить меня с творчеством великого геймдизайнера Хидео Кодзимой. Ну что тут скажешь, отличный сюжет, огромное количество приспособлений для ведения боевых действий в открытом мире, оружие, транспорт, напарники, создание собственного ЧВК и ведение его к величию, огромное количество различных фишек, пасхалок и секретов как из предыдущих серий игр так и новых. Отдельное упоминание заслуживает уделение к деталям и прочим мелочам добавляющим неслабую долю реализма ! Графика даже по меркам 2025 года выглядит очень даже бодро и красиво ! В общем лично для меня игра является идеальным одиночным боевиком, с кучей фишек и возможностей! Всем любителям военной тематики и стелса игра однозначно должна понравиться

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  Reviews written: 29

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• ▲ Recommended

  268 h at review286 h total

  26 Jun 2025

  Probably the best stealth mechanics i ever seen, Dishonored is up there too but its different type of game. This game have typical from zero to hero gameplay, a little hard on the start and might be annoying but after some time is way more enjoyable, if u like grinding then this game is for you, just did all achievements after 270 hours while doing some "online" missions from time to time (FOB) so i know what im talking about :D MGS 5 is very specific, there are some horror elements but not too much, optimization is very good same as animations and graphics overall, was using .ini for uncaped fps and had 0 issues. Story is average at best, movement sometimes feels a little clunky, open world feels empty, head hitboxes are off when enemies are moving (or maybe im blind) and the game is unfortunately unfinished (story) cuz konami dismissed 1 of the main developers- Hideo Kojima. Gameplay wise this game is still top notch and have a lot of cool mechanics, it might be masterpiece if they finished it in 100%. And most important there is a booba character as our buddy xD

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  Games owned: 108 · Reviews written: 28

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