The Phantom Pain takes everything the Solid entries of the Metal Gear series have done right so far - from 1998's debutant Metal Gear Solid, to last year's analogous Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes - and somehow improves on every last measure. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is not like most games. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain checks them all.
Peace Walker's base building systems, Metal Gear Solid 4's war-torn environments, Snake Eater's camouflage ensembles, the entire series' self-indulgent cutscenes and its fictitious-cum-pseudo-realistic narrative: it's all there in spades, refined yet beautifully nuanced. Some games will check two or three of the above list, making most players happy as a result. Most games will check one or two of the above list, making some players happy in return. To some, a killer tracklist is more appealing than gritty realistic audio in essence your idiosyncrasies, your quirks, your habits and characteristics all determine how you arrive at a personalised definition of a 'good' game.
