Updated 22.03.17

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

To be totally honest the game scares me.  Not in a hide behind a cushion sort of way but just the scale of the thing, its daunting.  When I first bought the game, early last year, I played it for a couple of hours.  I was amazed and bewildered by the opening chapter but as it started to settle down and I arrived at the oil rig for the first time the amount of options and menus sorta put me off.

Between then and now many of my friends have raved about how good this game is. So, I took the advice of a bud and bought myself a guide.  I find myself now in the correct frame of mind to tackle this monster.  I think part of the problem was that I was trying to rush the game,  trying to understand everything and all the options from the outset.  My attitude has now been adjusted and I am enjoying slowly working my around the wonderful world that is Metal Gear Solid V.

18.01.17

Oh what a joy.  Much fun is being had fultoning soldiers, mortars and sheep.  Attaching a balloon to a thing and watching it fly into the air is so much more fun than it deserves to be.  I really am in the zone, surveying the area, choosing my attack route, slipping in like a sneaky bastish.  Do I have an idea of what is going on?  Nope.  Excellent.

21.01.17

The depth of Metal Gear is astonishing.  Not only is there the main game with missions and side missions but there is a whole meta game of base building, combat missions; where you send a team out similar to Assassins Creed and development of weapons and gear.  I am slowly getting to grips with these features but it is so easy to get lost in the game wandering around your ever expanding base, target training, visiting your animal pens or free roaming around  combat levels.

I’ve played the game almost every night this week and I had the jitters again when I looked up how many chapters are in the game. As I finished chapter nine I was thinking to myself I must be about a third of the way in. Faiboat! There are around fifty main chapters!  This game is a massive undertaking.

The beauty though is that is such a pleasure to play.  There is so much joy in the randomness of the story, the ability of having the weather or time of day completely change how you tackle a situation.  I now understand why some people have said that you will never need another tactical military shooter again if this game sunk its claws into you.

Playing this morning I have unlocked (or it has grew up) a new buddy.  D Dog is now my faithful companion.  My doggie can spot enemies, search out resources and be there for me when I just need a hug.

Not quite sure why he has a patch on one eye?

22.01.17

I feel a stirring in my loins.  I had heard that Quiet was a bit of alright but damn.  A face like the sweet girl next door and a body only a Japanese developer could imagine.  Looks aside she is one bad mother when it comes to a sniper rifle.

I’m around chapter 12 and the game has accelerated once again.  This is awesome.  It’s one of those fabulous games that you think about even when you’re not playing.  You’d be happy to send the rest of your family away on a luxury holiday if you could be left alone to play it.

27.01.17

They’re teasing me.  I get myself ready to go out on an mission and just before I jump onto my helicopter Quiet appears with some of my buddies beside the door.  For a brief moment I thought she was coming with me and then…….and then……..they decide that she’s not to be trusted and she slopes of back to her room.  You’d think that with all the money floating around this base they could afford to buy her a new set of stockings.

12.02.17

As I continue to be sucked in deeper and deeper into the inner workings of Kojima’s masterpiece I can see the reasons why this game took so long to complete and the reasons it was so far over budget.  There’s the main game and then a plethora of sub games, meta games.  From collecting wild animals to perfecting your master race of ultimate soldiers it has something for everyone.

The difficulty is ramping up in line with my style of gameplay.  Now the enemy soldiers are commonly wearing protective helmets to stop my sleep darts.  As a foil to this I can send out a combat group of my best men on a side mission to destroy the stores that hold the helmets.  Brilliant.

I’m doing my very best to avoid wearing the chicken hat when I fail miserably but I must admit to donning the dreaded noob cover on a few occasions.

12.03.17

Right, I’ve been plugging away at this insane game far too long.  I just don’t know where to start describing the ‘all kinds of crazy’ I have witnessed over the past few weeks.  The world is in danger because the bad guy has nuclear weapons for everyone? The world is in danger because the bad guy is going to wipe out the majority of languages in the world?  The world is in danger because…………

I have no clue.  The gameplay is still absolutely wonderful but I’ve almost had enough.  Today I finished a mammoth battle with a big robot thing and defeated one of the main bad guys.  We all gathered in celebration on Mother Base to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done.  The credits rolled, I started to get the camera on my phone ready for a #VictoryAchieved pic and then…………..Chapter 2.   CHAPTER BLOODY TWO!  I’m 61 hours into this frickkin game!

So, I’m not a quitter and I will see the end.  I am now on chapter 33 out of what I believe is 50.  Nothing simple about that either.  I read that the game is ‘sort of’ complete at chapter 45 but there are 5 other ‘hidden’ chapters.  Strewth!

22.03.17

I’m done. The main story is complete to my satisfaction and quite a few of the [EXTREME] chapters have been completed.  I’ve had enough. With just shy of 80 hours of gameplay under my belt I can confidently say that I’ve got my monies worth.

I thoroughly enjoyed the most of my time with MSGV but towards the end of my sessions it was really becoming a grind.

I’ve read that other people felt that the final third of the game was even more all over the place that the first to thirds, I totally agree.  It overstayed its welcome and missed the opportunity to end the game at a key moment.

My take on it is that Kojima had the framework for another game in mind and as things turned sour in the company he shoehorned in every idea or concept he had until they pulled him of it kicking and screaming.

Anyhow, its a fabulous game and I’m glad to have experienced it.

What an utter head the ball Kojima must be.

#VictoryAchieved Game complete.