
The mercenary leader's body is severely damaged from XOF's attack, as depicted in Ground Zeroes' closing moments, and the villainous organization is on his trail to make sure that the legend doesn't come back to life.Ī Metal Gear Solid game is always good for twists and turns, so we won't spoil what happens during The Phantom Pain's opening moments. In terms of story, The Phantom Pain begins nearly a decade after the series began in the standalone Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes ($19.99 at Humble Bundle) (Opens in a new window), with a hospitalized Big Boss waking from a coma as the David Bowie song "The Man Who Sold the World" blares. Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.

This review focuses on PC-exclusive features, gameplay changes, and our evolving opinions on the game's surprising story, nearly one year after we first played through it. We've already taken an in-depth look at The Phantom Pain ($17.99 at Amazon) (Opens in a new window) on Xbox One. You can also play Metal Gear Solid V on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and last-generation consoles. Still, from a pure gameplay perspective, The Phantom Pain is an huge achievement, and one of the best PC games when it comes to stealth. But while The Phantom Pain has all the surface trappings of a Metal Gear game-a hulking mech, super-soldier battles, and ramblings about the nature of armed conflict-its tale of loss and revenge actually raises more questions than it answers. Prior to its release, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain ($39.99), the final Hideo Kojima-helmed entry in the long-running stealth-action series, was touted as the prequel game that would close the loop on the nearly 30-year-old series.


