Is MGS5 any good?

[Econs]

Hi. I haven't posted on MGF in literal years. Since 2011. I got bored.

I have a PS4 now. Is Metal Gear Solid 5 any good? Should I buy it?

Cheers.

[fgdj2000]

Well, people are a bit divided on it here.^^ I guess, since it has dropped in price after 1 and 1/2 years, if you are curious, check it out. There are a few things you should be aware of though:

- THis is a direct sequel to MGS Peace Walker (formerly PSP, also in the HD collection) and there are many references to it and many characters of that game are mentioned or even appear.

- This has a very different structure than previous games. Much of the story is now told in audio-only cassette tapes and while voice acting is as good as ever, it's not really an ideal solution. There are still cutscenes and they look great, but they are far and few between after the opening. In addition to that, the main game is now mission based and set in an open-world environment, meaning you play through 30-something missions that are each a mini-MGS game. In between those you can free-roam the world (which is pretty empty, no NPCs, not much to do) and side-missions (easy little challenges). However, several main missions aren't really relevant to the story and depending on how much you let yourself be distracted by side-missions and free-roaming around the world, you can go for several hours without any significant story progression. Dispite the amazing gameplay, some of the missions might even feel tedious once the novelty has worn off. Overall, you uncover the story more in little snippets that gradually come together to form a larger picture. You basically play a number of seemingly pointless missions and one of them ends all of a sudden with major set-pieces, plot revelations and cutscenes. The main missions took about 20-40 minutes for me each. Side Missions usually only a couple of minutes. Also, officially its 50 main missions, but 13 (or so) of them are replays of earlier missions with higher difficulty, which you also don't need to complete in order to finish the story. Overall I put about 40-50 hours into my first playthrough. Still haven't finished my second.

- Gameplay is pretty great. Definitely the best since Snake Eater, in some ways even better. You are given a lot of freedom and everything is highly dynamic. Getting spotted isn't practically game over (though it can be), you just readjust your strategy and go on. You can decide to go stealthy, be loud for a while and go back to stealthy again, all within the same mission. You can also gradually get rid of all the guards in the area with little hit and run attacks or do crazy things like attaching a bomb to a container which you extract via balloon and detonate mid-air to destroy a gunship. It's pretty satisfying, especially if you like to experiment and improvise. Factors like weather and day-and-night-cicles also play a role and get help you or make things even harder, when suddenly daylight shines from the horizon. Overall you have to be very aware of what is going on around you and some of the larger bases can be really satisfying to sneak into without causing an alarm. Replay value is also great, since you can take different many different routes and approach a mission in multiple ways. Guards also change their gear depending on your strategies (many headshots = guards wear helmets, many nighttime-infiltrations => guards wear night vision goggles). Boss battles have taken a hit though. Nothing as memorable as any of the previous games really, however, most of them are optional and you can try to either sneak by or outrun them, but it's still not on the level of, say, The End. But I can't stress enough how good and deep the core infiltration gameplay is.

- Story is a difficult topic. Some characters are clearly underused. Personally, I liked the story, though it's more in the MGS2 subverted expectations category. There's also a big twist at the end that may come as a huge punch in the gut (many fans didn't like it at all. Hate it actually). Don't watch the trailers, if you decide to play it. They spoil and create wrong expectations. I liked the story a lot, but it isn't what was advertised and it isn't always told well. Also, prepare for continuity glitches and questionmarks.

- Some of the planned content is clearly missing. There is at least one more main mission that was cut and early material for it can be watched on youtube. This means, a couple of subplots go unresolved.

I liked the game dispite its flaws, but A.G. didn't . I guess, if you used to be a fan and are curious, there's not much harm in picking it up. Make sure to get "The Definitive Experience" that also includes the Prologue Ground Zeroes (originally sold seperately...). It's dropped in price quite a bit (over here in Europe you get it for like 20-30€ on amazon).

[A.G.]

Hey Econs! How are you?! Long time no see!


I'm on the other side of the fence with MGS5. Basically, if you liked Peace Walker and feel it helped the series then MGS5 is your game. If you are like me and felt things were done after MGS4 this game will just piss you off. Though I should clarify, I'm talking about story. The gameplay is fun but gets repetitive. Again, that comes down to a personal preference. Overall the game was very clearly unfinished, though even the finished pieces end up dividing the fan base.

In a way I compare this game to Twin Snakes (which I booted up recently as well). It's shiny and polished at a glance and you want it to be good, and in theory it has all the elements to be great... but just isn't. It starts out great and really hooks you. But then starts to unravel until in Chapter 2 everything just becomes a chore.

If you got 50 hours to burn, then sure... why not. Ground Zeroes is a damn fun sandbox to mess around in at least.

[fgdj2000]

Seems, he got hooked...

[Cerberus_0408]

lmfao...