Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

[evil_ash_xero]

There seems to be no discussion of this game here, so I thought I would start a thread.

I know Kojima has some issues, to put it mildly. But from playing Ground Zeroes, and watching the demos and whatnot..the game looks like it could be a masterpiece.

You got all the great stuff back from Peace Walker, but now it's real. Like, instead of just looking at your Mother Base, you can go there. That just blows my mind. Especially after all the time I spend messing around with MB in PW.

And after playing Ground Zeroes, and LOVING the gameplay(as long as you turn off Reflex Mode!), I'm genuinely drooling at the possibilities of an open world MGS.
On top of that, it's pretty obvious, the way the game is put together, that it's mainly going to be a GAME(which was the case with PW as well).
I'm sure that there will be massive cinemas, but they look like they'll be before an area or whatever. Not like all over the place.

I could be let down, as is often the case with modern gaming. But my expectations are really high for this one.

Some links:

E3 2014 Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG_8ZMtQ58Y

E3 2014 Gameplay Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSnvxVZ8-Xg

[ACSeraph]

I was holding out to buy a PS4 to play Ground Zeroes but I broke down tonight and went ahead and bought the $20 demo off of Xbox live. It was even shorter than I expected, but like you what I saw gives me really really good feelings about Phantom Pain. This same thing but 200 times bigger with the base building aspects of Peacewalker? Sign me up. Way darker than I expected too, guess we are finally going to get to see what pushes Big Boss over the edge to crazy town. I cannot get used to the voice change at all though, snake feels like a totally different character to me.

[shmuppyLove]

I'm so way behind on MGS ... haven't played anything past 2.

Is there a decent plot summary somewhere? I'm curious ...

[trap15]

Plot summary: NANOMACHINES PATRIOTS CONSPIRACY NUKES FIDDLES

[KAI]

It's COMMIES VS YANKS: THE MECHA SCI-FI GAME

[jepjepjep]

Best to just enjoy the gameplay and ignore the story. I shudder just thinking about the wedding cutscenes in 4.

[Necronopticous]

What is the deal with this crazy balloon mechanic? Why are afghan soldiers like pokemon that obediently do your dirty work after pistolwhipping them and capturing them?

[Blinge]

They're Russian soldiers and mercs, It's set in the 80's.
And lol yes it's a carry over from Peace Walker most of them are hostile upon being kidnapped by you, and for a while they're "reasoned with," before they join up, usually. So they're sat in some cell while Miller or whoever is like
U GONNA JOIN US YET? U GONNA JOIN US YET? U GONNA JOIN US YET?

Shmuppy if you remember anything about the story of 2 you should know that a plot summary really won't cut it. It's like any long overweight narrative (Lost springs to mind), you probably can't enjoy it unless already invested. Also summarising it just makes it look abysmal.

Personally I'd recommend MGS3..

It's COMMIES VS YANKS: THE MECHA SCI-FI GAME

^ This however is just plain wrong.

[ACSeraph]

What is the deal with this crazy balloon mechanic? Why are afghan soldiers like pokemon that obediently do your dirty work after pistolwhipping them and capturing them?

Don't think too hard about it because it's crazy fun. It's Pokemon if it were about violent kidnappings. Just tell yourself that everyone decides to join up after seeing Snakes glorious mullet and you'll enjoy the experience a lot more.

I'm so way behind on MGS ... haven't played anything past 2.

Is there a decent plot summary somewhere? I'm curious ...

I agree with Blinge it's a lot better if you are invested and playing it. If you just want a quick refresher check out the Metal Gear Wiki. My recommendation is to maybe read the plot summaries of MG MSX, MG2 MSX, MGS, and MGS2. Then just jump straight into 3. It's not for everyone but I thought it was an awesome game.

[Damocles]

I've never been a big fan of the series, so I guess it's not surprising I'm underwhelmed by the demo video.

[Skykid]

I'm so way behind on MGS ... haven't played anything past 2.

Is there a decent plot summary somewhere? I'm curious ...

A "decent" plot summary? Impossible, because MGS has no coherence whatsoever. You can always take a look at KCET's embarrassing attempt to outline the MGS history if you have a PS3 by downloading the MGS4 Database. Just have a gun handy as you'll be shooting yourself about a fifth of the way through.

[BIL]

It's Pokemon if it were about violent kidnappings.

[evil_ash_xero]

The Fulton System (the balloon kidnappings) is silly looking, but it adds a Pokemon like element to the game. Sounds weird, but it's actually very addictive.
You can get some guys who are good at various things, and kick out the trash.

And as you get more "tech" guys, you are able to buy better equipment, that they invent for you. You get tougher guys, and you can send them out to do battle, and they will get more cash for your crew, and more experience points, which will make them better assets to your team.

It adds a whole other dimension to the main game. And I think it's pretty awesome. In Peace Walker, it was addictive, but it only showed the guys in portraits, and it showed the battles in kind of 2D static images. This game seems all fleshed out, and that's very exciting.
In this game your base can actually be attacked, so buying or stealing anti-aircraft guns seems pretty crucial.

I think most people who played Peace Walker got into the whole Mother Base thing. It was a real highlight.

I'm so way behind on MGS ... haven't played anything past 2.

Is there a decent plot summary somewhere? I'm curious ...

Umm... Well, it is kind of nuts, as Skykid said.
However, there's kind of two stories that are going. The Big Boss games (MGS 3, Peace Walker, and MGSV), and the Solid Snake games (MG, MG2, MGS, MGS2(kind of), and MGS:IV).
Even though Solid got me into the series, Big Boss has a story that makes more sense, and the quality of his games is more consistent. Kojima seems to go bonkers when he does a Solid Snake game, and tones it down when he does a Big Boss game.
However, I still can't really sum it up, as I focus mainly on the characters, more than the plot. The plot in the Solid Snake series, has been kind of eye rolling since 2. 4 had some nice character stuff, but it was all too much of everything.
Peace Walker's story didn't have a lot of punch, but it was easy to follow.

That's more about the quality of the stories, rather than what they're about...so I didn't really answer your question.
This seems like a good run down: http://www.gamesradar.com/the-complete- ... etal-gear/

[shmuppyLove]

This seems like a good run down: http://www.gamesradar.com/the-complete- ... etal-gear/

Indeed! I was mainly wondering where Michael Biehn fit in.

[Blinge]

Do not question the.. K-K-

[KAI]

The head transplant conspiracy is getting out of control. Anyone here following it?
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1031440

Spoiler

[ACSeraph]

^it actually really does sound like some impressive viral marketing to me

[Ed Oscuro]

The Fulton system is from at least Peace Walker, and no doubt Kojima pulled some inspiration from real-world weapons developer General Dynamics' fanciful 1960 poster treatment of the same concept:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Nitsc ... s_1960.jpg

How it is that the underdog forces of SNUB SHAKE and team manage to get assets into any contested airspace is of course still unexplained. North Korean crop dusters?

[ACSeraph]

The fulton system actually first appears in MGS3, and was definitely inspired by real world stuff. But the kidnapping via fulton gameplay system came from peacewalker.

Back on the conspiracy theory, I noticed right away that the real life surgeon's paper was posted to a medical journal website called "PMC"

[Pretas]

Guillermo del Toro's production assistant, Matt Hackney, says that Silent Hills has been cancelled.

The P.T. demo is also being removed from PSN soon.

[Strikers1945guy]

I love the Metal Gear series but I don't even bother trying to understand the "story". I just love me some stealth action. One of the reasons I made the recent upgrade to a current generation console is MGSV.

[Skykid]

I love the Metal Gear series but I don't even bother trying to understand the "story". I just love me some stealth action.

So do I, just not when the stealth action is interrupted every 5 minutes by 30 minutes of absolute drivel.

For some reason I was holding out hope that V would somehow redress this, but watching the recent Youtube teasers... well, they all seem to be more dragging cutscenes with dire scripting and dull cliché combat people. The closer CG gets to realism the more Kojima seems to near Paul W.S Anderson levels of skill. Perhaps Snatcher's limitations were really a blessing in disguise.

Fingers crossed!

[Ji-L87]

Must say I really did like Ground Zeroes though, so I'm unusually looking forward to the real game.

The game felt much more modern than I dared hope, XB360 controller worked great and it ran reasonably well on my now aging PC. Not to mention, the sound design was really good, very immersive when played with headphones.

[Pretas]

Silent Hills has been officially cancelled, and Konami is no longer listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Looks like they're preparing to pull out of the video game industry, at least in the West. They'll no doubt maintain their presence in the much more financially resilient US gambling market, likely with a dose of smartphone whoring on the side. Not a good day for Metal Gear/Gradius/Castlevania/etc. fans.

No doubt Capcom will come slamming head-on into a similar fate within the next few years, assuming they don't find someone to buy the company outright first.

[trap15]

The Konami that pulled out of the NYSE is one of their gambling arms. Konami proper has never been on NYSE.

[iconoclast]

It's really not surprising to see Silent Hills canceled. A Kojipro collaboration with Guillermo del Toro starring Norman Reedus as the protagonist means it was going to cost a shit ton of money to make. The only problem is that Silent Hill has never been a mega franchise - I believe that only the first and second game cracked 1 million sales worldwide. Konami's willing to spend that kind of money on Metal Gear because they always make bank, but it's a risk with Silent Hill, even with Kojima at the helm. Now that he's gone (and most of his staff probably is too), they sure as hell weren't going to have somebody else take the reins.

I think Konami's only looking to make safe bets & take small risks. Metal Gear Rising 2 is probably going to be fine. Silent Hill and Castlevania will probably get some more outsourced games made on the cheap. Gradius and such will continue to be a distant memory. They'll make another huge Metal Gear game in a few years once they staff up. etc etc.

[ACSeraph]

^Yeah that sounds about right

I'm really sad about the SH announcement though. I'm a huge fan of the series, but it's been nothing but disappointment after 4 and I had real hope that we were finally going to get the game we deserved with this one. I assume we may still see a different SH game eventually, but it'll probly be more Western developed bullshit. I felt like downpour came pretty close to being a good game, but it shit it's own pants right at the end. Also needed better enemy design and a scarier atmosphere. However, if we are doomed to have more C-List SH, I'd be willing to give that team a second chance.

[Specineff]

Dude. Homecoming was way better than Downpour. What makes you list it along tripe like The Room?

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't know much about Silent Hill, but The Room was a brilliant idea executed well enough to make an impression against hordes of unenthusiastic competition from around the world - the sort of thing Konami seemingly can't do anymore.

Eric Kain weighed in on this and I think he's almost got the point - I think it's quite likely that Konami realizes their sales probably are nowhere near where they need to be, and their staffing / talent might be temporarily gone (as it seems to have been for the last decade). It might be that they're pulling back to review the situation, maybe for a "fresh start."

I've always found it interesting to compare Capcom and Konami - seemingly two very different companies - and it's interesting to note their production of games and exodus of old staff have followed similar trajectories of late.

[SuperSoaker360]