Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Afghanistan, 1984. A rider is racing along a dusty road – alone, with a prosthetic arm. Suddenly he pulls the reins, and the horse stops abruptly. At a short command, it slowly leaves a fresh “mine” on the road. Later, this seemingly insignificant moment will play its role: a Soviet jeep will skid on a pile. But that is later.

Right now, the hero is facing an enemy outpost. At the entrance, there are containers, shiny from a recent polish, brand new machine guns and armored vehicles, as if they came out of a warehouse. The soldiers are chatting serenely about the difficulties of translation, changing posts, and nothing foreshadows trouble.

But a shadow is already sliding from the thicket. A few quiet shots – and the garrison peacefully goes into the kingdom of dreams. And our hero, without wasting a second, launches everything he can carry into the sky: boxes, weapons, even food supplies. Balloons float overhead. Great job, Boss. We’ll still need all of this.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Free Steam Account

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is not just a stealth action game. It is a large-scale adventure with an open world, base management elements and even role-playing mechanics, where everything is tied to survival, hero development and the search for resources. Yes, it sounds complicated, but this complexity is the idea of ​​the authors: every element is important here, every detail is part of the mosaic that you assemble step by step. To truly understand MGSV, you need to play it – completely and completely.

If the story is important to you, start not with The Phantom Pain itself, but with MGSV: Ground Zeroes – a paid prologue, which is not for nothing considered mandatory to complete. Without it, the perception of the plot will be as if without one key chapter. Believe me, if you want to delve into the fate of the hero – a stern bearded veteran with a prosthesis instead of an arm and a splinter sticking out of his head – start with it.

The story begins in a hospital in Cyprus. The year is 1984. Nine years have passed since you miraculously survived the explosion. There are more than a hundred fragments in your body, including even fragments of bones and teeth of other people. You are barely alive, your body is weakened, but your mind still clings to life.

There will be no peaceful respite. Either an entire army or one silent killer – someone will definitely come to finish what was started. There is only one thing left – to run. And believe that friends from the past will have time to save you.

You are Big Boss, a legend for those who live for war. Once you led a powerful military organization, but now your goal is to gather a new army, find and punish those who destroyed everything you built. And the path to revenge will be long, cruel and inevitable.

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Gameplay

After a surreal introduction, the protagonist is sent to Afghanistan to rescue an old comrade-in-arms, Kazuhira Miller, from captivity. This is the first major mission in Metal Gear Solid V, and it perfectly demonstrates how the local gameplay is structured.

In most missions, you will have to act stealthily: sneak into protected areas, carrying out orders such as eliminating a target, blowing up equipment, rescuing hostages, or stealing secret information. The mechanics are simple – there is a target and there is you. Everything else depends only on your approach.

The mission begins at a neutral, relatively safe point. Mount your horse and head to the first enemy outpost. Having crossed the border of the protected area, you can encounter patrols. If you sneak up on them and interrogate them, they will reveal useful data – for example, where the target is hiding or where the equipment is moving. After interrogation, you can decide what to do with the enemy: eliminate, stun, or send him straight to your base to recruit. If the enemy does notice you, the game will give you a short slowdown in time – a chance to react quickly and prevent the alarm from being raised.

Of course, no one forbids you from starting a noisy brawl. However, action is not MGSV’s strong point here. The shooting feels primitive, the enemies quickly become predictable, and the controls in firefights do not shine with responsiveness.

As you move deeper, you constantly choose between risk and benefit: the less contact with the guards, the higher the chance of remaining unnoticed. But enemies left behind can raise the alarm, and at the same time you miss the opportunity to replenish your staff with valuable fighters. After about 5-6 hours, you realize that the game mechanics, although verified, are generally quite one-sided. Until then, newcomers will often run into an alarm.

It is interesting that the game conditions change at night. The guards partially doze in the barracks, the backlight and lanterns turn on. At first, it seems that night missions are easier. But then the adaptive AI comes into play: if you use sleeping gas or smoke grenades too often, soldiers will start wearing gas masks. Constant headshots will make them put on helmets. If you act aggressively, get ready for enemies in armor and exosuits. And fans of night operations will sooner or later have to face opponents equipped with night vision devices.

Get under the spotlight – and you will almost certainly be noticed. To help the player understand the moment of danger, the developers added a visual signal: a slight horizontal glare on the screen. If you see it, it means it’s time to look for cover. The end of each mission is evacuation. If you want, call a helicopter, or leave by transport. There is freedom of choice here, as in everything else.

The game makes a pleasant impression from the very beginning. It is generously gifted with tactical freedom: you can achieve your goal in many ways. The artificial intelligence behaves quite convincingly, it is interesting to watch, and collecting resources is even captivating at first. But over time, the magic begins to dissipate.

The game world quickly loses its colors: locations are monotonous, tasks are repeated, and unique game situations are rare. Gradually, the feeling of novelty disappears, and the player no longer chooses exciting or complex approaches, but the simplest ones – for example, crawling through the grass with a sleeping gun over and over again. Already by the middle of the game, everything begins to resemble a mechanical routine. Partners are called upon to diversify it, of which there are four in the game, but, alas, it was not possible to deeply reveal them – each rather simply performs his own function.

Here is who will accompany you:

1. Horse — a faithful transport, which can block the path of enemy vehicles if necessary.
2. Dog — helps in battle: distracts enemies, marks targets and can even attack.
3. Silent — a sniper, providing cover and conducting reconnaissance. Her appearance is so impressive that images with her are blocked by some search engines — so no pictures.
4. Walker robot — a lightly armed machine on which you can move around the battlefield.

True, all these assistants do not become available immediately. For now — we save Miller and return to the Main Base to catch our breath and prepare for the next mission.

Home Base and open world in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

The Main Base is your personal corner in the chaos of war. Here you can calmly walk, practice shooting or search for hidden objects. Over time, this area comes to life: plot twists, new characters and important decisions appear. This is where the player gets access to advanced equipment and new abilities – but all this directly depends on the development of the Base. Over time, the management part is introduced into the game: you need to keep an eye on people and resources.

There are six different departments at the Base. The more people you send to the research sector, the faster you get access to new “toys”. In the development department, resources are converted into useful items. Support, intelligence and medicine are responsible for logistics, information and the hero’s health on missions. And fighters from the assault unit can be sent on separate missions or placed in front lines – they will be discussed later. It is interesting that you do not just staff these departments for no reason – they include both rare volunteers and opponents whom you “lured” to your camp.

And so, after a couple of hours, you suddenly notice with surprise that you are evacuating not only recruits by balloons, but also mortars, machine guns, boxes of materials, enemy tanks and entire trucks. Later, an animal protection organization appears that generously pays for the rescued animals. Gradually, the plot does not come to the fore, but endless farming for improvements. But when access to serious weapon modifications, grenade launchers and guided missiles finally opens, it becomes clear that all this is no longer important. The combat system by this point has become so boring that you again want to simply put enemies to sleep with a pistol in your hand, hiding in the grass. The game does not reward you for an unconventional approach, so there is no point in experimenting.

Afghanistan and Africa are two large zones, but the only thing that can be called “large” here is the size. They are empty, monotonous, and you won’t meet anyone there except for enemies and animals. No traders, no random events. Of the 50 story missions and 157 side quests, the vast majority boil down to the same thing: a short scene in a helicopter, landing, completing one task, and then back into the sky. Or you just drive from point A to point B.

The question arises: why stretch the game so much? Why did the developers put so much effort into boring, monotonous quests instead of focusing on the story? Perhaps this was a requirement from the publisher. Or maybe this is a kind of protest from the authors, who decided to take the idea of ​​side quests to the point of absurdity. Who knows.

Metal Gear Solid V Plot Analysis

At first glance, it may seem that the story of MGSV is built around only three key figures: Big Boss and his loyal companions, Kazuhira Miller and Revolver Ocelot. Together, they solve problems that arise on the path to revenge, until the plot leads to an unexpected ending. It seems to be a classic plot. But if you dig a little deeper, it becomes clear: the Metal Gear series can easily compete with the best representatives of cinema in terms of plot development. These are not just games, they are scripted labyrinths with a bunch of semantic levels and turns.

However, MGSV has one big problem. In addition to the fact that the story literally breaks off in mid-sentence, the very way it is presented raises questions. The entire plot is hidden in cutscenes and audio cassettes, which makes its perception in an open world rather tedious. Especially considering that the game stretches for a good 60 hours. As you progress, missions with increased difficulty begin to repeat — and it becomes clear that we have a typical case of a “drawn-out” narrative with a bunch of fillers.

It is impossible not to talk about Kojima’s direction and his team. It is difficult to confuse this style: long, almost cinematic scenes without a single cut, where the camera hovers freely around the events. This presentation is not just spectacular — it is addictive, creating a feeling of complete presence. Each video cutscene leaves a strong aftertaste and is etched in memory. The work with sound deserves special attention. In particular, footsteps. This is a small thing that most developers forget about, but it is what makes the scene come alive. Footsteps help not only to designate the character in the frame, but also to create a sense of space through echo. In MGSV, this is implemented with unusual accuracy and atmosphere.

And now — a little imagination instead of a standard conclusion. Imagine that you are running a private military company. There is not enough money, you take on everything in a row: from working with underground groups to orders from large governments. What might such a game include?

• Investigating war crimes;
• Participating in peacekeeping operations;
• Trafficking in weapons and people;
• Politics, betrayal, double agents;
• Developing a base, recruiting fighters, logistics;
• And, of course, giant bipedal mechs for the most high-profile missions.

Add to this layered drama, moral dilemmas and RPG elements – and you get an incredibly powerful game with an episodic structure, in the spirit of the best TV series. There is room for retribution, and for difficult decisions, and for large-scale battle scenes.

Does donation make a difference in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain?

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has in-game purchases — and we’re not talking about the Metal Gear Online multiplayer, but about the so-called “Outer Missions” and the “Forward Base” system.

“Outer Missions” are special missions that you send your soldiers to. The most curious thing is that they continue even when you turn off the game. Such missions can last from several hours to a couple of days, and upon their completion, the player, as a rule, will receive a worthy reward.

Don’t want to wait? The game will offer to spend local currency, which can be purchased for real money. It allows you to return soldiers from a mission early and immediately receive all the promised loot. The obtained resources are most often used to improve the Forward Base — your own autonomous fortress. To speed up development, you can attack other players’ bases, but be prepared for a response — sooner or later, someone will attack your base too.

All improvements — from building new platforms to installing defense systems — take time. Sometimes it’s literally days. The developers have also provided a way to save money here: a little donation – and the construction is completed instantly. Each entry into the game is accompanied by joyful notifications about a new reward for loyalty. Your departments are growing, fighters receive medals, become stronger. And you gradually rise in the ranking. And along with this, new resources and new opportunities come.

And now the numbers are creeping up, the bases are becoming more powerful, and you are getting closer to the thought: “Maybe I should throw in some money?..” If not now, then in a couple of days, when the pumping stalls. The developers know very well how to make players addicted, and they skillfully use it. This whole system serves one purpose – to get more resources and elite fighters to open new mechanics and dominate other players. Yes, paying players, as a rule, win more often.

Metal Gear Solid V is a huge, deep game, but… unfinished. A project that barely survived the conflict between Hideo Kojima and Konami. And you can feel it in everything. It was supposed to be AAA, but the result is something that barely lives up to its promises. The plot breaks off into nowhere, and the open world, which was given so much attention, turned out to be surprisingly empty. Tactical gameplay? The idea was ambitious, but the implementation turned out to be too superficial to hold interest. The shooting is not felt, the equipment is controlled clumsily, the physics are like from another era. Repetitive tasks quickly turn the game into a routine.

I am still sad about how much potential MGSV had … and how ineptly it was buried. Sometimes I turn on trailers in the hope of bringing back old emotions. I watch – and think: “Why am I still here? Just to suffer?” Was it really impossible to just make a normal, story-driven, linear game – without an open world, without donations and without unnecessary garbage?

This is what the ideal MGSV would be like:

• with a complete, deep plot without gaps and cut chapters;
• with rich, varied missions without endless repetition;
• with adequate vehicle control and realistic physics;
• without intrusive donations and leveling accelerators;
• with a focus on the atmosphere, tension and style for which we fell in love with the series.

And if you chose such a complex concept, why didn’t you bring it to the end?

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain System Requirements

How to play Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain for free on Steam via VpeSports

Imagine waking up in a hospital ward after nine years in a coma, and the world is already completely different. You are no longer just a soldier – you are a ghost of war, a man without a past, with a thirst for revenge and a single goal – to gather his army and restore justice. This is how your journey in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain begins. And yes, you can play this cult game absolutely free, having access to a ready-made Steam account!

We have already prepared everything for you: no complicated installations, registration on third-party services or problems with launching. All you need is to go to our website, quickly create an account and log in to your personal account. There you will already find detailed instructions and a free Steam account with the game, ready for use. A few clicks – and you are already in Afghanistan, controlling a helicopter, developing a base and eliminating targets in the shadows.

We are really interested in what you will feel after such a story. Want to share your impressions? Feel free to leave a review! All comments are moderated, but if yours doesn’t appear, just rewrite it a little. After publication, you will receive all the necessary information directly to your email.

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