I was so disappointed the first time I saw the credits roll in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. I'd heard it was short before I booted it up, but I don't think I knew how short. Where were my oddly-timed codec conversations about how Jack met Rose? Why didn't I have to climb a giant ladder while an acapella version of the theme faintly played in the background? Why didn't a man that was clearly in disguise reveal his true identity by taking off his sunglasses?
Then I saw a load of side missions unlocked and I started over again. And then again. And again. And again.
]]>Messy spinoff Metal Gear Survive might not have landed with much grace, but Konami know better than to kill their golden goose; Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. Even if its exiled director is busy hanging out with Norman Reedus and Mads Mikkelsen, they've still got a few people working on MGS5, and their latest annual update finally gives players the chance to play as underdressed and overpowered mutant sniper lady Quiet. Right now she's restricted to the semi-online FOB invasion missions, although given MGS5's mod scene, that may change soon.
Update: That changed. See the mods below.
]]>After two-and-a-half-years, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on PC has finally unlocked a hidden cutscene celebrating complete nuclear disarmament. This has been a semi-secret community challenge, waiting for players to destroy all nukes built by players in the game's 'Forward Operating Base' multiplayer invasion mode. However! In a very Metal Gear-y conspiracy theory twist, it seems that celebrations are premature, because Konami say that the event was triggered when the nuke counter was not at zero. We're celebrating peace while thousands of nukes are still unaccounted for. If you load MGS V now you can see the cutscene, or watch it here:
]]>If you're one of those "I'll wait for the Game of the Year Edition" types, good news: a new stealth game called Metal Gear Solid V [official site] has just become available to you, and I think you really might like it. Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience has arrived on PC, packing both the small, directed MGS V: Ground Zeroes and the sprawling open-world MGS V: The Phantom Pain along with the multiplayer Metal Gear Online and all their DLC. That's a respectable slab of sneaking for £25! For all its flaws, I still really like MGS V - and you might too, you ol' GotYhead you.
]]>I’ve playing MGSV obsessively at the moment. You might have noticed. This is a statement which would make 2005 me punch 2015 me in the nose. A decade ago I was so much more forceful and intolerant in my opinions about videogames, and one of the recipients of that unyielding ire was Metal Gear Solid. I played some of 2, felt as though it was simply wasting my time, and that was it, the entire series was irredeemable. Everything I read now suggests I’d still feel that way about MGS2 particularly, but in the wake of Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, I do realise that in decrying the entire series, I did myself out of some particularly excellent stealth gaming, and a playful streak a mile wide. Which leaves me thinking – what else did I dismiss - or praise - out of hand and now regret?
]]>Below you will find the 25 best stealth games ever released on PC. There are sneaking missions, grand thefts, assassinations, escapes and infiltrations. Stay low, keep quiet and we'll make it to the end.
]]>I expected MGSV: The Phantom Pain [official site] to be punishing - the kind of stealth game that stuck you with insurmountable challenges the second you stepped out of the shadows or were spotted. These expectations were born of what I assumed previous Metal Gear Solid games were, based on struggling through the first on PSone as a teenager, and based on the slavish praise they received from what I assumed were more skillful players than me.
I was initially relieved, then, when The Phantom Pain turned out to be accommodating. But after twenty hours of play, I'm much more surprised to find myself feeling so far towards the other direction. The Phantom Pain is too easy.
]]>Oh God suddenly my private desert adventure is a PvP game in which other players can invade my base and steal my stuff and my men at any time. THIS WASN'T WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR HELP HELP
]]>While most of us continue to be starry-eyed about MGSV: The Phantom Pain [official site], there has been no shortage of Internet Grumbles about its ending, and concerns that it wasn't finished-finished (possibly related to Kojima and Konami's latest round of spats?). I'm not going to get into OPINIONS on that stuff myself, primarily because I'm not personally invested in MGS lore, but yeah, there really was an original, longer ending sequence with MORE RIDICULOUS DRAMA and arguably a greater sense of closure, both for Big Boss/Venom Snake himself and in terms of closing the loop between the two main Metal Gear Solid timelines.
This other finale, set on a jungly island, was partially completed before whatever happened happened, and is included on the MGSV bonus disc from the PS4 collector's edition. You can watch the whole, 18 minute sequence below. Spoilers, inevitably.
]]>Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site] may be the best stealth-action game ever made, but it's not flawless. The game's massive scope, and the surprising amount of detail in each interaction within that massive playpen, is impressive - however, that scope is precisely why certain aspects feel like they have something missing. Consider the following, then, as an exploration of The Phantom Pain's own phantom pains - without plot spoilers.
]]>I haven't got anything like as many cassette tapes as I'd like in The Phantom Pain [official site]. A combination of a determination to be non-lethal, to knock out or capture everyone and my inherent ineptitude means most base raids go South pretty quickly, and I end up in a desperate sprint to a checkpoint in order that I don't lose all my progress. No time to clear out all the buildings: just run, run until that magical yellow save circle appears in the top right of my screen, and I know my prisoners are safe and my diamonds are in hand. I've left tapes behind that way, and it breaks my heart. Rebel Yell and Love Will Tear Us Apart are definite casualties, the latter of which I can barely cope with the loss of. If it turns out I've abandoned Bowie's Cat People somewhere, I'll almost certainly lose my mind.
When I heard the distant strains of Take On Me while trying to rescue a prisoner from a particularly well-guarded base, I knew my priorities had to change. Physician heal thyself. The trouble is, I didn't hear those strains until everything had already gone to hell.
]]>Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site] is our Game of the Month for September, but why has this traditionally non-PC series infiltrated our chests and Fulton'd our hearts? Alice, Adam, Alec and a Graham gathered to discuss stealth, balloons, dogs in eye-patches, making enemy grunts feel alive and accidental kill-sprees.
No plot spoilers here, but if you still hope to go into the game entirely blind, be warned that we do discuss some of the game's systems and mechanics in some detail.
]]>Game Of The Month returns, haunting the first Monday of the month with the answer to life's eternal question: "I do not have time to play all of these games so which one should I pick?" There are so many worthy games that it's hard to pick just one but in this month of September 2015, one game has dominated our waking hours with its extraordinary take on open world stealth. It's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site].
]]>Like Snake with the open expanse of Soviet-occupied Afghanistan stretching out before him, we've got a lot of ground to cover. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site] is a massive game, both in terms of the systems that drive it and the number of plot threads it feels obligated to weave together. This breadth is the game's triumph, as well as its downfall. The Phantom Pain is the best stealth-action game ever made, and one of the worst Metal Gear stories ever told.
]]>Global illumination. Volumetric clouds. Sub-surface scattering.
These are words that make me hot.
But I know this feeling is forbidden. I should care about games, not the empty pursuit of photorealism. But oh my, it’s so exciting, and not empty. In fact, I think that right now photorealism is becoming crucial to games, and that we should celebrate it.
]]>I woke up this morning in a bright new world, a world in which what may be Hideo Kojima's final Metal Gear game [official site] is available on PC. It still seems like an impossible dream, that a series that has only sporadically stealthed its way onto our machines should be here day one, the same time as the console launch, so I was expecting something to go wrong. Performance issues due to the port from console to PC? A sudden stepback in visual quality as compared to 'prologue' mission Ground Zeroes?
Remarkably, The Phantom Pain hasn't gotten its cape into a tangle and seems to be running smoothly while looking devilishly handsome. There are some caveats and snags though, as always.
]]>When I was asked to write 1000 words about why Metal Gear Solid matters, and what you need to know about it, I knew there was only one way to do it.
By feel alone.
]]>If you want to go in cold when Metal Gear Solid V [official site] lands next week, you probably shouldn't watch this brand new 'launch' trailer. In fact, you probably shouldn't even go anywhere near the discussion around it because as soon as I clicked through to Konami's YouTube page, I saw speculation and rumours that have now wormed into my brain. Of course, the whole thing might be a bait and switch, designed to provoke certain trains of thought so that the game can happily derail them as it twists and turns like a weird combination of M. Night Shyamalan and an Olympic high-diver.
Is it possible to go in cold at this stage though? We're all red hot, if we're interested in the slightest. It's below of you want it - a spectacular five minute burst of memories, melancholy and military murderbots.
]]>If you pay any attention to the internet, you may have noticed some rather glowing write-ups of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site]. You may also have noticed some quibbling and equivocating about the appearance of microtransactions in the Forward Operating Base competitive multiplayer mode. Yes, that's a PvP mode called F.O.B. that may be fobbing people off with in-game purchases to speed things along. Below, I've gathered what information I can about those pesky microtransactions and explained why we haven't been able to pass judgement on the game yet.
]]>A (hopefully) weekly series, in which the RPS hivemind gathers to discuss/bicker about/mock the most pressing (or at least noisiest) issues in PCgamingland right now. Hot Takes are go.
Alec: OMG THIS IS GOING TO BE THE MOST AMAZING HOT TAKE EVER. By which I mean, today we are discussing hype and videogames and if that helps or hurts them and helps or hurts us. The prompt for this is Hello Games’ chat with Pip last week, in which they mourned the crushing weight of expectation placed upon them as a result of having made some pretty good trailers for their space exploration game. I guess we’re going to struggle to avoid a touch of physician heal thyself here, but anyway. How do we feel about how the world feels about No Man’s Sky?
]]>We've seen some of the Kojimaisms awaiting us in this Autumn's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site], but what about the bits where you actually do stuff instead of endure/enjoy sustained psychic assault by cutscene? Seems like there's plenty of sneaky Snaking to be had too, building on the excellent stealth of prequel Ground Zeroes.
And, well, there are a great many in-game Kojimaisms too. Not all good ones unfortunately, but some of the good ones are really good ones.
]]>You know those rumours going around that Metal Gear mastermind Hideo Kojima and publisher Konami have fallen out, and he'll be leaving the company after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, throwing the series into turmoil just as it starts settling down on PC? Well!
Following statements to press saying everything was hunky-dory, Konami and Kojima have issued a public statement which carefully avoids confirming or denying the juicy bits of the rumours. It mostly says what we know: Kojima will finish MGS V, then Konami will keep on making Metal Gear games with or without him.
]]>Sometimes I'd swear that Ian Video Games is deliberately trying to ruin everyone's fun. Just as we're getting used to Metal Gear games settling on PC (not just Solid - we mustn't forget Platinum's Rising), Big Mouth strikes again and starts spreading rumours of strife.
Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear creator and director, and other senior members of Metal Gear Solid devs Kojima Productions are at odds with owners and publishers Konami, Ian says, and will leave once MGS V: The Phantom Pain is done. So Ian says, anyway. Konami say all's hunky-dory.
]]>You and I, dear reader, we're not Big Boss. We can't sneak into heavily-fortified areas unseen, we can't carefully put hundreds of guards to sleep then vanish into the night, we can't foil pursuers by hiding inside cardboard boxes, and, as much as we might like doing it, we can't quite growl "Metal Gearrrr" in the right way. No, we puny humans don't have his legendary senses, situational awareness, and skills, so when we play Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes we have a magical third-person with indicators and information galore to fake it. But if you want to try actually being Big Boss and peeping through his eyes, an FPS Mod is now out.
]]>I bailed on the Metal Gear Solid series fairly early on in MGS2, as I found its frenzy of cutscenes both patience-testing and risible. Safe in my PC ivory tower of sneering youth, I was happy to dismiss anything that followed as bunkum, swaddled in unfiltered narrative excess that seemed to be its own fanservice. Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong, who knows? Part of me wouldn't mind seeing how I felt about it all now these old eyes are less snobby than they used to be, but time, oh time. One thing I certainly lost sight of is that, somewhere underneath all the melodrama, MGS is supposed to be a stealth series. I've been hankering for a bit of 'pure' stealth lately, so when I heard the phrase 'open world stealth game' applied to last month's Metal Gear Solid V prequel Ground Zeroes, I paid unexpected attention. Those are four extremely appealing words.
Deep breath. Embrace that which you believe you hate, Meer. So I did. And I'm very glad I did.
]]>Hideo Kojima is one of console-land's greatest champions. Over the past two decades Konami's Kojima-led team, eventually formed into Kojima Productions, has produced classic game after classic game – almost all of which are Metal Gear titles. Though not without critics, each MGS feels like a reinvention rather than a sequel, consistently innovative, stylish, and changeable. And with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, the prologue act to next year's full release of MGSV: the Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions reinvents itself as a PC developer.
]]>I could not tell you exactly how this toy dog plushie works, how exactly people are distracted by it and end up gazing adoringly into its plastic eyes, but I am keen to find out. Konami have announced that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will have a multiplayer side, bringing back Metal Gear Online. That there dog is one of the class-based sneak-o-shoot's gadgets, which also include the likes of minimechs, cloaking systems, and sentry turrets firing Fulton balloons. I want to play the wacky teamplay mode this first trailer shows.
]]>While we've been getting all excited about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as publishers Konami fling videos all over the place like so many guard-distracting nudie magazines, let's not forget that its short standalone prologue Ground Zeroes hasn't come out on PC yet. We still have a while to wait, but we do now have a Steam release date: December 18th. Konami also confirmed today that the PC version will look a little fancier than its its console counterparts.
]]>I'm excited enough at this point for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that I'm willing to watch videos that are entirely in Japanese. Heck, in some ways I prefer it this way. These latest videos - a three minute trailer and a twenty-one minute playthrough - both come from the Tokyo Game Show, and not being in English means I don't have to listen to the feverish conspiratorial jibber-jabber and can instead just imagine the wonders of an open-world stealth game.
]]>If you came to me and said that there was an open world stealth game in development about dynamic infiltration of forts, with horses, and a multiplayer meta-game, I'd be giddy. That's what Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is. That it's also part of a series I haven't played since 1998's Metal Gear Solid, and that it's burdened - or strengthened - by Hideo Kojima's batshit lore, only serves to make it more interesting.
At this year's Gamescom, a new 22 minute demonstration was shown to attendant press, designed to depict how the same missions and multiplayer shown at E3 could be radically different based on the dynamic systems at work. A video of that demo is below, and it contains stealth-enabling horseshit.
]]>As daft and self-obsessed as it became, Metal Gear Solid is a wonderful thing. The series has only been spotted on PC a few times over the years, but delightfully we will get to interrogate its two shiny new games. Open-world sneak 'em up Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and its short standalone prologue Ground Zeroes are both coming to PC via Steam. Maybe PC folks are lucky, knowing less about the knots the backstory tied then bloody-mindedly untangled at agonising length in MGS 4. For many of us, it might simply be a pleasant and silly open-world sneaky game.
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