Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Big Boss builds a private mercenary army in the eighties and infiltrates huge open military areas in Afghanistan and Africa. Free stealth systems, base building and emergent mission approaches make every task individually solvable.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is Stealth / Action, set in a historical period. Visually it is going for realism, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It runs on 3 platforms. It sits in the mid price bracket.
What stands out
- Free stealth system
- Base building
- Emergent gameplay
This fits you if
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you enjoy being made to think
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
Look elsewhere if
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want something light and easy going
- you want to play it side by side with someone
What it costs you in time
About 50 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 8 weeks, or 25 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 96 out of 100, which puts it above 99 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 10 overall. That is top tier. Only a handful of games here score higher.
For comparison, Stealth averages 85 points across the database, so this one sits 11 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 1175 collected ratings.
Released in 2015, which makes it 11 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 2015
- Genres
- Stealth, Action, Sandbox
- Playtime
- approx. 50 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Historical
- Visual style
- Realistic
- Price bracket
- Mid price
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox
- Critic rating
- 96 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain | 2015 | approx. 50 hrs. | 96 | Mid price |
| Assassin's Creed Shadows | 2025 | approx. 55 hrs. | 85 | Full price |
| Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | 2002 | approx. 20 hrs. | 94 | Budget |
| Ghost of Tsushima | 2020 | approx. 45 hrs. | 92 | Mid price |
If you liked this, try these
- Assassin's Creed Shadows Shared: Stealth, Action, Historical
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Shared: Action, Sandbox, Historical, shorter
- Ghost of Tsushima Shared: Stealth, Action, Historical
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Shared: Stealth, Action, Historical, shorter
- Hitman: Blood Money Shared: Stealth, Action, shorter
- Grand Theft Auto IV Shared: Action, Sandbox, shorter