Metal Gear Solid V - The Phantom Pain

[Ruki]

Thought I got Ground Zeroes as part of PS+. I ain't paying £7.99 for a glorified demo :/

Still worth it. Plus, I think it unlocks things in the main game.

[Benji]

A game I'm not even sure I want to get yet though

[TheWho87]

I'm sure I saw something about them bundling GZ with Phantom Pain.

[JasonM]

For whoever feels like ''wasting'' 4 and a half hours, here is a Youtube vid of someone that edited all the cutscenes into one epic length movie.

The same guy also made a ''movie'' for Peace Walker, and all the other MGS games. So if you feel like catching up, and don't want to play yourself, and don't like Let's Plays. This is your best bet.

Edited August 26, 2015 by Jasonmufc

[TKz]

People should probably be realistic about what they're going to understand of the story. I haven't played V, but it's a follow up to the PSP game Peace Walker more than anything else. And to put the obscurity into perspective, V assumes that you beat Peace Walker 100% and defeated the secret boss for the secret ending that's both canon and pretty much the entire set up for Ground Zeroes.

I fucking adore Metal Gear and can't wait, but I'd hate for people to buy the game expecting to be able to follow the characters and then have no clue what's going on. 

A TL;DR of what you need to know...

 

Big Boss is the original villain in the first two Metal Gear games. He's the star of MGS3: Snake Eater, set years before the original games. In Snake Eater, his mentor "The Boss" fakes joining a KGB splinter faction, bringing with her a nuke (that the splinter faction uses to attack a Russian research facility, making it seem like a US attack on Russia - during the cold war, to put it into perspective). The real reason The Boss joins is to try and gain control of The Philosphers Legacy, which is billions of dollars collected by a group of World Leaders in WW2 called The Philosphers. They're trying to get this back in the hands of the US, before Russia or China can get their hands on it. Because of the nuclear attack on Russia, Big Boss/Naked Snake is sent in to kill The Boss - with The Boss' mission becoming to let Snake kill him and get the Philosphers Legacy back to the US. (It ends up in the hands of Ocelot).

From there, Big Boss becomes disillusioned with the US government when he finds out about The Boss' mission and that he was used by the CIA to kill his mentor. A very integral other part of this story that's not really brought to light in the main game is that Big Boss' commander for Operation Snake Eater - Zero - was also on the side of Big Boss and The Boss' vision. They all join up and create a new group - The Patriots. (made up of the members of Operation Snake Eater, Sigint, Para-Medic, Eva and so on - that's not great important for this game though) The ideology behind The Patriots was to create a unified world, with no nations, which is a way of interpreting what The Boss' vision was for the world. But Zero starts to become corrupt (we don't really know why - that's one of the things that MGSV should hopefully explain) and Big Boss leaves The Patriots, to start his own organization - Militaires Sans Frontières - which he believed would better serve The Boss' vision of a world where soldiers aren't treated as tools (which is how Big Boss interprets The Boss' will).

Through out this, Zero becomes increasingly corrupt and had set up Big Boss as this legendary hero and the face of his organization. Pushing Big Boss away even further, this is when Zero begins "Les Enfants Terribles" - the cloning project which leads to the creation of Solid, Liquid and Solidus Snake. (also, key fact - Liquid and Solid are actually twins and Solid originally had Blonde hair, he dyes it for the Shadow Moses mission so he's not confused with Liquid)

He leaves and joins up with a friend Kaz Miller in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker to try and create The Boss' dream - Outer Heaven, a land where soldiers aren't treated as tool. They become a mercenary organization that takes any job, regardless of nation or ideology. He meets a few integral characters in Peace Walker - Paz, a young girl who it turns out is a spy for Zero - who now goes by the name Cipher, which is also the name of his organization (what's left of The Patriots) - who at the secret end of Peace Walker ends up trying to steal a Metal Gear from Big Boss. Other characters you probably need to know - Chico, a child soldier who's in love with Paz - and Huey Emmerich, the father of Otacon/Hal from the first Metal Gear games and Kaz Miller, who's Big Boss' old friend who helps create their mercenary organization.

I won't explain Ground Zeroes because it comes with MGSV and you should definitely play that first.

And I won't explain Ocelots motivations, because you kind of need to go into the later games, but the easiest way to understand his motivations is that after MGS3, he's obsessed and respects Big Boss and is loyal to him till the end and every action he takes is to try and bring about the will of The Boss/Big Boss' dream, hence the creation of Outer Haven in MGS4.

So yeah, in summary, that's where we are by the start of MGSV. The excitement comes from the fact that Big Boss is a villain in the original games and a hero in MGS3 and Peace Walker, so this game will in theory be the story of his "fall" to being a villain. 

*though really he's never a villain technically solid snake is because he's under the control of the patriots without knowing it throughout the entire first few games and technically big boss has always been the hero trying to stop zero/cipher but went about it the wrong way and regrets the part he plays in putting zero in a position of power in the first place but yeah let's not get into all that*

Edited August 27, 2015 by TKzo Amore

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

MGS4 is brilliant. I was an emotional wreck for most of it.

 

My main issue with this one is the lack of David Hayter. So sad.

[Bobfoc]

All I can say is that I'm glad I already got on the Metal Gear train after Metal Gear Solid was released on the Playstation because I'm sure I wouldn't bother trying to get into it for the first time now. It's one of those things I've enjoyed experiencing as each game came around and slowly digesting the information over the years, but trying to cram it all in before next week would be a task I wouldn't be up to. It's a fantastically bombastic and often profoundly stupid franchise, but I can only imagine how impenetrable it must seem for newcomers at this point. 

[apsham]

I thought I would have that issue too, but Sutherland did great in GZ.

[Lint]

MGS4 is brilliant. I was an emotional wreck for most of it.

 

My main issue with this one is the lack of David Hayter. So sad.

I actually have no issue with this at all.  Liquid and Solidus didn't sound the same and

When Big Boss popped up at the end of MGS4, he wasn't voiced by Hayer either

I do think its rather shitty the way they treated Hayter and wouldn't even return his calls, but the fact that he's not voicing Big Boss in this doesn't bug me one bit

[Bobfoc]

I miss David Hayter, but I don't really mind the idea that Big Boss might sound different as he gets older. I've said before that I'd really like to see remakes of the first two Metal Gear games from the MSX days, and having Hayter and Sutherland voice Solid Snake and Big Boss respectively would be a nice touch. Sadly, Hideo Kojima has said for a long time that he isn't interested in going down the remake route, although even that's a moot point now with Kojima's departure from Konami looming.

[Benji]

Out of interest, what happens to the MGS series with Kojima gone? Do Konami retain the rights?

[TheWho87]

Out of interest, what happens to the MGS series with Kojima gone? Do Konami retain the rights?

Yep, expect the pachinko machine very soon #FucKonami

Edited August 27, 2015 by TheWho87

[Bobfoc]

Out of interest, what happens to the MGS series with Kojima gone? Do Konami retain the rights?

They do, and they've stated that they're planning to keep the series going. It's not an issue for everyone, and I respect that, but I'm much less interested in a Metal Gear entry without Kojima. To me, Kojima IS Metal Gear in all its balls-to-the-wall, overwritten glory, and even if a future Kojima-less Metal Gear plays really well, I'd find it hard to see it as anything other than a "cover" version, if that makes sense.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, for example, was a well-made hack-and-slash action game, but the writing and characterisation came across as though Platinum were trying to emulate Kojima's eccentricity without having the chops to pull it off in a way that felt like anything other than poor Metal Gear fanfiction.

Would I like to see a new IP with some gameplay elements borrowed from Metal Gear? Absolutely, but even though I know the video game business (key word there) doesn't work this way, I'd rather see Metal Gear itself laid to rest without Kojima.

[Benji]

Yeah that was sort of why I asked. As much as I'm not a huge MGS guy, Kojima seems so intrinsically linked to the series that him not being involved just doesn't sit right. I'm also still pissed off that his exit caused the end of Silent Hills, that looked amazing.

[Ruki]

People should probably be realistic about what they're going to understand of the story. I haven't played V, but it's a follow up to the PSP game Peace Walker more than anything else. And to put the obscurity into perspective, V assumes that you beat Peace Walker 100% and defeated the secret boss for the secret ending that's both canon and pretty much the entire set up for Ground Zeroes.

I fucking adore Metal Gear and can't wait, but I'd hate for people to buy the game expecting to be able to follow the characters and then have no clue what's going on. 

A TL;DR of what you need to know...

 

Hidden Content

Thank you for this! Much better summary than the video. Although I'm sure I'll still be lost next week...but it'll be fun

[Benji]

Really MGS isn't as complex as it seems/we like to joke. I tend to think it's just people sharing similar names and code names that confuses people.

[TheWho87]

Yeah that was sort of why I asked. As much as I'm not a huge MGS guy, Kojima seems so intrinsically linked to the series that him not being involved just doesn't sit right. I'm also still pissed off that his exit caused the end of Silent Hills, that looked amazing.

You might find this an interesting look into how Konami treat their staff get some idea why Kojima may have left.

[Kaney]

Can someone quickly summarise MGRising for me? It's the only entry I've never played.

I love the whole series and think Hayter was amazing but I know Sutherland will do a great job too.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Metal Gear Acid was brilliant by the way. Played like a board game somewhat. Loved it, even more ridiculous plot though with marionettes hijacking an aeroplane or something.

[TKz]

Was Portable Ops fun to play? Always wanted to check it out.