You’re reunited with some old friends, mourn the loss of a limb, and you set off again to attempt to rebuild your army and get revenge. Left for dead after a chopper crash, Boss awakes nine years later to find his private army completely gone, the remnants of which are scattered into the wind across the world. You play Venom Snake, aka Big Boss, and we join him in a crucial moment of loss and disgrace. Metal Gear Solid V is a vast game, and untangling all the many little strands of detail and complexity that make up each moment of the game makes it hard for me to know where to even begin describing it. In a genre that has been stagnating for years under the weight of huge worlds littered with shallow side quests, minor distractions and pathetic mini-games, Kojima sweeps this cluttered table clean with The Phantom Pain and keeps on going right into the sunset. This is one of the greatest open world video games ever made. I’m going to get straight to the point here. Kojima is going out with an impossibly loud bang with quite possibly the greatest open world game ever made.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the last final hurrah for Hideo Kojima, and the last breath in the (Kojima made) Metal Gear games, but rather than a final gasp, it’s an almighty roar.

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