If anyone hasn’t seen the recently released demo for Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain check it out below. Here are a few of my thoughts on the new features and gameplay that we were shown.
Fans rejoice, the cardboard box is making a comeback to the Metal Gear Solid series and this time it is receiving a few upgrades that make it a viable stealth option. You can know pop out the top of the box to surprise enemies and take them out. As well as that you can use the box as a decoy, when a guard notices the box moving you can dive out of it to some cover and while the guard is distracted you can take them out. It’s an interesting new feature for an old item that fans know and love but my only hope is that it doesn’t feel to much of an overpowered option.
Another returning feature is the Fulton Recovery System, which was seen in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. It’s a handy tool that will help Snake build up his Mother Base after losing it in Ground Zeroes. You can send knocked out guards to the base using this system, we were shown this feature a number of times throughout the demo. It seems that it can be used on Guards, Vehicles, Containers and Animals (Not sure what you can do with a Goat at your base but ah well) it seems like an interesting mechanic that adds some RPG elements to the gameplay my only problem was just how believable it would be sending off a truck or guard without anyone noticing. It also seemed like it might be a slightly easier way of getting rid of bodies quickly but it does cost money so it will have to be used conservatively. The Mother Base dynamic of the game is an addition that was fun in Peace Walker and it looks to be deep and rewarding in The Phantom Pain. These two features are clear throwbacks to the more quirky nature of previous entries, zipping a goat off to your Mother Base looks highly amusing. I’m glad that that the humour seems to be making a return as Ground Zeroes felt a little devoid of any quirky Metal Gear moments.
The open world mechanics of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain were briefly touched upon, but because of the 30 minute time constraint it is hard to get a solid understanding of how it’ll work in practice. It was however stated that Venom Snake will have a number of options to work with. It seems as though objectives can be accomplished in a number of different ways. The vastness of the map is startling, but luckily gamers have a number of skills at their disposal such as utilising soldiers from their Mother Base to partake in recon work. This can help players build an understanding of guards patrol routes and how to tackle objectives. The dynamic weather system was touched upon, in a certain section Snake was able to utilise a sandstorm as cover to sneak by enemy soldiers. The day/night mechanic also seemed useful as players can plan their attacks by monitoring guards patrol patterns.
Overall The Phantom Pain looks to expand upon a number of key mechanics featured in Ground Zeroes. The open world gameplay looks thoroughly entertaining and is in my eyes a welcome addition to the Metal Gear Solid series. All the new features seem to make the stealth mechanics far more streamlined but also seemed to sacrifice the difficult level. Of course the demo would have been played at a lower difficulty but I just hope the gameplay is a lot harder as the series has always been known for its’ tactical nature. All in all this demo was a treat and I can’t wait to see more, hopefully we’ll get a release date soon and maybe another demo if we’re lucky.
What do you think about this new footage? Let me know in the comments below.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggpBtOnq_AA&w=640&h=360]
