The 30 minute E3 Demo of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain that was previously exclusive to about 600-800 members of the gaming media has been released via Kojima Productions’ YouTube series Koji Station. In the demo, The Phantom Pain’s open-world, roughly 200 times the size of the environment found in Ground Zeroes, is alive with people and wildlife. Sheep and horses roam the countryside while enemy guards change shifts and sleep depending on the time of day.
The demo showcases a mission in the game’s Afghanistan map where Big Boss has to infiltrate a Soviet base to gain intel on the whereabouts of Kazuhira Miller, who has been tortured for the past ten days. The demo begins with Revolver Ocelot and Big Boss riding into the area on horseback. Ocelot explains the situation while Big Boss listens and struggles to grab a canteen with his new prosthetic hand.
The Phantom Pain Will Be the First Truly Open-World Metal Gear Game
Previously shown gameplay mechanics, such as Big Boss leaning over to one side of his horse while riding in order to avoid being spotted, the slowed-down “reflex mode” upon being spotted by an enemy and marking enemies in the environment are shown again. Dynamic weather effects also appear, with a sandstorm in the Afghanistan map and rain showers after Big Boss returns to Mother Base.
Many new gameplay mechanics seen for the first time in The Phantom Pain were also shown in the demo. Cardboard boxes now allow the player to pop-up through the top of the box and fire at enemies at any time. If the moving box grabs the attention of an enemy guard, Big Boss can also dive out of the box, leaving it behind as a decoy to distract the enemy. While inside the box, Big Boss can also use the Fulton Recovery System.
In the demo, new uses are shown for the game’s Fulton Recovery System. In addition to soldiers and supplies, players can use the system to extract vehicles, armaments and even wild animals from the battlefield to be sent back to Mother Base. Players have to be careful though. If Big Boss is standing on an item, such as a steel crate, after the Fulton Recovery System is applied to it then he will also be taken back to Mother Base and the mission will automatically be aborted.
A Lot of Emphasis Will Be Put On the Relationships You Build In-Game
This ability to choose which resources you send back to your base, along with the ability to customize the size and structure of your base, allow players to build a version of Mother Base completely unique to their game experience.
Soldiers that the player extracted from the battlefield will be found on Mother Base between missions, where Big Boss can spar with them to improve their skills, have them practice at a firing range, have them go on their own missions or apply them to different units within Mother Base. Players will also occasionally have to defend their base from attackers.
Players Can Customize the Resources and Structure of Their Mother Base
Overall, The Phantom Pain seems to be shaping up nicely. It looks like an expansion or evolution of the more open segments of Metal Gear Solid 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4 that fans really enjoyed. A lot of the little details, such as using a supply crate air-dropped from Mother Base in order to knock out a guard and the way the Fulton Recovery System’s balloon pops if you try to use it indoors, show that Kojima and his team are putting a lot of time into this title.
