The game feels A-grade, although I genuinely shudder to think of its budget. The visuals are brutal and truly breathtaking the day/night cycle that organically flows during your days exploring the Afghanistan desert being the pick of the bunch.

Kiefer Sutherland heads a cast of wonderful voice actors who bring serious brevity and depth to numerous characters who, in the past, have sounded as if they were awkwardly adapted from a Japanese script. Everything from the narrative, to the cinematic ‘all-in-one-shot’ style cut scenes, to the open-world gameplay feels right at home in Metal Gear Solid’s skin. The first thing to note about The Phantom Pain is just how contemporary it feels. Expect twists and turns of the usual caliber along the way. It’s up to the player to pick up the pieces, rebuild Mother Base and end the battle with the terrifying antagonist Skull Face once and for all. The Phantom Pain kicks off (almost) exactly where Ground Zeroes left us – with Snake awaking from a nine-year-long coma after being blown to smithereens as a result of an ambitious attack from the shady XOF faction. The mirroring of Orwell’s protagonist Winston Smith and Kojima’s front-man Punished “Venom” Snake couldn’t be more appropriate – both are two lost souls searching for purity and freedom, ready to take on the unstoppable forces that dictate the evil in the world. The game is set in 1984, the year in which George Orwell predicted that the fictional Big Brother regime would strip humans of their freedom in a dystopian future. The genius of Hideo Kojima strikes in emphatic style, making Metal Gear Solid V the standout title of the year. The song isn’t just bog-standard contextualising filler either it is one of many cleverly constructed layers that develop throughout the course of the 50-hour campaign.

A game which begins with David Bowie’s ‘ The Man Who Sold the World’ clearly exudes a certain amount of confidence – and as the song’s powerful lyrics begin to raise early themes of existentialism and humanity, players will get their long-awaited first glimpse of Kiefer Sutherland’s Snake in action (upon second reading, I realise that sounds a bit like a euphemism). Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain isn’t just another entry to Hideo Kojima’s world-class canon it’s an ambitious statement of a video game. Publisher(s): Konami Digital Entertainment Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC Game Name: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Metal gear solid v review ps4