Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

A worthwhile send-off whose batshit-insane story, excellent gunplay, and remarkably tenacious enemy AI shine, alongside stunning next-generation lighting and deeply rewarding base-building. It is held back by a fairly empty open world, repetitive mission design that reuses the same camps, a horse-bound traversal grind, and a notable number of audio bugs and hard crashes. Worth buying despite the wonkiness.

A thumbs-down verdict dismissing the game as mediocre and overrated, propped up only by franchise hysteria. The open world is small and lifeless with mountains you cannot cross, missions endlessly rinse-and-repeat the same bases, and the AI is laughably predictable. Nice graphics and satisfying close-quarters firefights cannot justify the price tag, and the microtransactions are seen as disgusting.

The core stealth-and-base-management sandbox genuinely works, with the Fulton-recovery loop cleverly motivating non-lethal play and most missions offering open-ended approaches that feel organic. The problem is everything in between: clunky over-designed inputs, unbearable menu loading times, and grim, charmless lead characters delivering redundant dialogue. The in-between flappery ultimately wears the experience down.

Hailed as superb and easily one of the best games of the year, the finest stealth-action experience around thanks to its wildly flexible open-world gameplay, rewarding mother-base building, and polished Fox Engine presentation. Drawbacks include a disappointing villain, weak boss battles, chapter 2 repetition, the blatant objectification of Quiet, and clearly cut content. A strong recommendation despite falling just short of a perfect score.