Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain is Kojima's last MGS with Big Boss in 1984 in Afghanistan and Africa. Revolutionary open world MGS, gigantic Mother Base, missions with infinite approaches. A major work.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player18+
Description
Fifth main Metal Gear Solid installment from Kojima Productions in massive open world following Big Boss across Afghanistan and Africa. Published by Konami, released in Europe in September 2015. Dual Afghanistan/Africa open world, free and inventive infiltration gameplay, Mother Base management, Metal Gear Online multiplayer mode, and controversial finale. Sandbox reference.
Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
An arid open world bathed in natural light, from the Afghan desert to the African savannas: the infiltration takes on an unprecedented breadth and beauty. The careful photography and the day-night cycles compose a striking realism. This visual direction, vast and controlled, marks the technical peak of the saga.
Blending cinematic orchestra and licensed 80s hits, the music weaves an espionage atmosphere at once grandiose and nostalgic. The harrowing "Sins of the Father" and the period radios underline the tragedy of the story. This sonic richness, broad and moving, elevates the saga's final chapter.
Woken after years in a coma, a broken soldier hunts those who annihilated his unit, haunted by a phantom pain. The tale takes on revenge, language as a weapon and the loss of self with a chilling ambiguity. Its final twist, which questions the hero's very identity, extends the series' boldest reflection.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Approaching each mission as a stealth sandbox, choosing your hour, your angle and your gadgets, offers tactical freedom of unprecedented flexibility. The responsive AI and the day-night system reward improvisation. The pinnacle of open-world stealth, it retains a fluidity of handling that still commands admiration.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
A vast playground where every infiltration mission is solved in an infinity of ways, between meticulous planning and total improvisation. The wealth of tools, base management and freedom of approach create a dizzying depth. Snappy, immersive and masterfully designed, a masterpiece of open-world stealth that rewards ingenuity at every moment.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Tackling each mission by a thousand routes, extracting recruits to develop your base, then refining your approach kicks off a free-form infiltration loop of rare richness. Improving weapons and gadgets and aiming for a flawless run endlessly renew the urge to start over. Its disjointed narrative disappoints, but the perfection of its gameplay makes every mission hard to drop.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Sprawling across Afghanistan and Africa, the open world teems with side missions, targets to extract and optional objectives that far outrun the main thread. Developing and managing Mother Base becomes an obsession in its own right. This freedom of infiltration and strategic grind found a longevity that is unanimously praised.
Hideo Kojima's last great Metal Gear, an open-world stealth game of unprecedented freedom, marked by the creator's tumultuous departure from Konami shortly after release. Widely distributed in the West, its collector interest stays measured and rests on this status as Kojima's farewell to the saga rather than scarcity, the Japanese edition being rarer. A history-laden piece for stealth fans.
Is Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain still worth playing in 2026?
Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain is Hideo Kojima's final MGS, and arguably the peak of infiltration gameplay the saga ever reached. Playing Big Boss in Afghanistan and Africa in an open world where every mission can be approached in countless ways delivers an exhilarating tactical freedom and a near-inexhaustible replayability. Managing Mother Base adds an addictive strategic layer. Its fragmented narrative and abrupt ending divide opinion, a consequence of a troubled development. But the sheer gameplay excellence of the whole makes it a major work, still fully recommendable today.
