Phantom Pain’s day/night cycle and dynamic weather played a big role in my decision to pull the trigger on that C4. Let’s take another look at my daring prisoner rescue for instance. But what initially appeared to be an overly dense tangle of features to fiddle with instead unraveled into a well integrated set of meaningful gameplay systems that provided me with a wealth of interesting decisions to make. It’s almost too much, especially given the relative linearity of previous Metal Gears.

Right from the moment you’re told to get on your horse and explore the Afghan countryside, Phantom Pain feels intimidating, almost overwhelming in terms of the freedom its open world affords and the number of concepts it expects you to grasp. It is, unquestionably, my favorite Metal Gear to play, though I do wish its story delivered as many memorable moments as its sandbox empowered me to create for myself.The number of different factors to consider makes every bad situation you find yourself in a fun puzzle to solve.

The rest of it, from the time of day I chose to approach to crippling the base’s ability to deal with an aerial assault was a testament to how perfectly all the pieces of Phantom Pain’s gameplay fit together. My mission was simply to get that prisoner out alive.

That’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain almost all the time, and what’s truly incredible is that none of this escape was scripted or directed.

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