

Given these restrictions, I'd like to give you a taste of my experience in Afghanistan, the first of The Phantom Pain's massive, open world maps. There's a lot I'd like to talk about, but for obvious reasons, I can't get into the specifics about the story, characters, or missions, lest I ruin any surprises. I had two days to play The Phantom Pain at Konami's Los Angeles studio, and though that sounds like a lot of time, I was shocked to see that I had only scratched the surface of the game by the end of day two. I've waited patiently to continue where I left Big Boss at the end of Ground Zeroes, careening into the ocean in a helicopter.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes' much bigger brother, has long loomed overhead. Of course, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Ground Zeroes left me hungry for more. Even though I wasn't seeing new locations or learning more about Big Boss's downfall, I was learning how to be a better super soldier every time I booted up the game. I could test my stealth abilities or wreak havoc on Camp Omega with explosives, or a mix of the two if I was in the mood. The open format of Ground Zeroes allowed me to approach missions from numerous angles, leading to new and unexpected challenges.

Despite only having one location to explore and a small handful of missions to undertake, I played the game for nearly 20 hours. I loved Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.
