Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

[Bolivar]

The opening is the most brutal and surreal sequence in a game I've ever played, and that's in a year where we've gotten Hotline Miami 2. We've already seen the whole thing though, if you saw that extended Moby Dick trailer. Kojima just gives away way too much in the trailers. It was also a little overly scripted but it gets a pass because of how much freedom the rest of the game has.

You're right that Big Boss does not steal the show the way Solid Snake does but that's kind of par for the course in the prequels. The plot is more about Big Boss and Miller trying to hold on to a world that's radically changing around them, of which they're also somehow paradoxically at the center of. The storytelling and tone is a radical departure from the series, though, no question. It really feels like Kojima gave in to his detractors and showed them what a Metal Gear would look like, if it was made with Western sensibilities.

And the results are stunning. It nails the secret sauce of open world game design, the feedback loop of engaging with the world to unlock more unique and inventive ways to engage with the world, a never-ending incentive to go off the beaten path and find out what's that over there. Essentially you 1) extract soldiers and materials to 2) expand your base and unlock weapons, items and helicopter/horse equipment that you then 3) try out in the field to unlock more content and begin the cycle anew. It's a ridiculously addictive time sink and I've spent over an hour on each of the five missions I've played so far. And while Northern Kabul probably isn't the largest seamless game space I've played in, it feels like it is, with the endless options, approaches, and escapes available to complete any given mission and its hidden side objectives. There's been quite a few notable open world games in the last year and there's going to be more this Fall, but I already doubt any of them will play anywhere near as freely or dynamically as The Phantom Pain.

At its core, it's still Metal Gear, just without segmented zones or loading screens. You can still crawl on the ground, tranquing guys in the head, although the enemy inevitably adapts to your playstyle (wearing helmets in that case), further reinforcing the need and reward to experiment, explore, and genuinely think outside the cardboard box. The story side of things might not be the same but this is definitely the game the series has been converging towards, arguably Kojima's magnum opus and unquestionably 2015's GOTY frontrunner.