I'll do this from time to time. Chances are, a lot of you guys are playing the same games and feeling similar about them. But hey, it's something to write about. And you may get something out of it. Who knows?
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
I LOVE the Metal Gear series. Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 HOOKED me. This game was groundbreaking. I played the NES "version" of Metal Gear. Back in the day and just didn't understand... Haha
I didn't find out until much later that Metal Gear on the NES was not a lot like the orriginal on the MSX2 computer. Metal Gear is the brainchild of one Hideo Kojima. Kojima, to me, pioneered the idea of the stealth espionage game.
Anyway, today, Metal Gear is HUGE. The fan base of this series is epic. Most gamers are Metal Gear fans. It is a very popular series. Most of you reading this are playing the Phantom Pain, or are very excited TO play it. Those are just facts.
I'll have full impressions on the Phantom Pain later. Right now, let's just say it's pretty much all I can think about when I'm not playing it. And when I am playing it, I'm having the FUCKING TIME OF MY LIFE... This game is FANTASTIC...
The Phantom Pain goes almost in a complete different direction than the rest of the series has. In a lot of great ways. For the first time, Metal Gear is "open world". This is fun, because it gives you much more freedom to tackle the game the way you want.
To me, this is the only way to do stealth. You are able to take any route to your objective you want. As opposed to being on a set route from a-b in which you have to avoid being detected. You might just have to experience it yourself to understand, but the open world gameplay mechanics go a long way to making you feel like YOU ARE Snake, sneaking around, stunning, tranqing, choking out guards and so forth. It's awesome.
One of my favorite things about the game is a holdout from Peace Walker, which I also really liked, is the Mother Base system. You have a base of operations that you manage while playing Peace Walker, and now the Phantom Pain. All soldiers that you tranq, or stun can be lifted back to your base and assigned different functions based on their abilities. This system is one of my favorite parts of the game. It adds a bit of RPG flair to the action. It's a lot of fun.
Every Metal Gear game has touched on specific socio-political themes. It's one of the aspects of the series, that in my opinion, makes it so intriguing. MGS1 was all about cloning and genetic modification, to further war efficiency. MGS2 was all about war for profit and governmental misleading and corporate espionage. So on and so forth.
The Phantom Pain is all about the pain and anger that loss on the battlefield causes. There are also some really poignant sub-themes in the game'a story. Child soldiers. Sexism. Torture. It's a tough story to swallow. Def not for the faint of heart, but it makes for a thrilling ride.
I'm really enjoying the Phantom Pain. It was well worth the wait. I can't wait to jump into Big Boss some more again after work tonight. I will share more of my thoughts about the game, for sure.
