Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

A new update was released for the singleplayer and FOB multiplayer, and it's more juicy than usual. Link Here.

In addition to several new weapon upgrades, there's also a brand new weapon (the Tornado-6 Revolver, AKA Ocelot's new gun of choice in MGSV). The other stuff is worthwhile looking at too: check it out below.

Yes, you read that right... the Fulton Rocket Launcher is coming back. A Quiet Exit is gonna be a friggin breeze to beat now, especially in conjunction with the Parasite Suit and the Armor mode.

Also, some new options for how to deal with the more higher-level FOB platforms have been added. You can now order your combat team members to infiltrate ahead of you and disable certain parts of the FOB's security system, such as the cameras, UAV drones, motion sensors, or even reduce the amount of guards posted. Some new character traits have been shown too, though the specifics behind those isn't known.

edited 10th May '16 5:58:34 PM by SgtRicko

Hmmm, this looks very interesting.

I might just have to hop back on for these.

I had to Google the Fulton Launcher to find out what this is. It's the weapon I never knew I desperately wanted.

I'll take it you never played Peace Walker?

Still waiting for glorious return of slingshot and cardboard tank.

Bad news: it's not in this update yet. The latest patch did nerf the price of certain items, but not by a huge amount.

Odd... why the heck would they mention it then? And even more bizarre, they made the Mirzah cluster grenade launcher super-cheap and affordable to research and deploy now (cause previously that thing had some INSANE R&D requirements - I'm talking a deployment cost alone of 75,000 GMP, not including the resources used!)

Oh, and in all likelihood it's gonna be all the way at the top of the tech tree, so I hope you're ready to start grinding the FOB PvE events and the Security Challenge FO Bs, cause none of those suckers are cheap to develop!

...Well, save Ocelot's revolver. It's a bit pricey, assuming you haven't beaten Act 1 yet, but doesn't have the insane GMP or resource requirements, and the development time is on par with the singleplayer stuff. It's a decent gun too, since it ricochets shots off walls and corners, just like his Metal Gear Online character does.

No, I haven't. I also sat out Ground Zeroes. The franchise had a fantastic ending at MGS 4 and then didn't stop for some reason, so my stance on the prequels and Rising has been, "Series? You're over. Go home." I did play Metal Gear Rising and it was serviceable, but also reinforced my position that the team behind the franchise had no idea where to go from here because the series was definitively over.

I picked up Phantom Pain because of the Quiet quontroversy; I like to make my own opinions before I start talking about things. While I do agree wholeheartedly with her detractors, I also got hooked by Kojima's writing and the fun gameplay. I came for Quiet and stayed for the plot.

edited 11th May '16 9:37:47 AM by TobiasDrake

I always find it a bit amusing that the game has child soldiers in it, and what people find most offensive is Quiet's sate of dress. In this year, that's what people choose to be offended by? Especially considering that she turned out to be such a good character?

And that's leaving aside the theory that Kojima pulled a trick on us all with the way she's designed, and that such reactions play into the point he was trying to make. I'd not fall into that trap, to be honest.

Considering the child soldiers are in there to show how bad the idea of child soldiers is and Quiet is dressed like that for no fucking reason and they expect us to just buy that I'd say it'd definitely something to complain about.

But don't you know? She dresses like that because she breathes through her skin. You will regret your words and deeds!

In all seriousness, her outfit was ridiculous but what I found the most hilariously innapropriate about her character was the senseless posing and stretching she did in the helicopter.

Also, I think you might be overestimating Kojima. Don't get me wrong, I think he is a great game director and I absolutely love the MGS series.

But the reason Quiet is dressed like that is because he likes boobs.

And there's nothing wrong with that, by the way. It's just weird to make a soldier character dress like that.

edited 11th May '16 12:07:51 PM by GutstheBerserker

&

Look, I get you, just hear me out.

In the kind of world that Phantom Pain takes place in, where there is a quite strong pretense of military realism and a very grim, serious tone, her design does definitely stand out as an anomaly. Indeed, if it were any other game, it'd be something that would annoy me too. But, you're missing the subtle genius of Kojima's masterful manipulation.

There was a tweet he put out before the game's release addressed to the early critics of Quiet's design, saying something along the lines of, "You will be ashamed of your words and deeds." Then the game releases and everyone comes to discover the in-universe justification for why Quiet looks the way she does, and everyone goes, "What the fuck was he talking about?! This doesn't change anything!" But the ingame reason for her character design was never Kojima's point.

The substance of this kind of accusation is that the character is depicted in a way that encourages people to view her primarily as a sexual object rather than a character with agency. That's why people were up in arms about her design before the game came out, because that's what they thought she would be in the game. Then, the game came out and people actually got to play it, and what's the result? Everyone loves her. As they should, because she's a great character.

She's not just a great character either. Quiet has a certain relationship to the player that undercuts the role her character design supposedly relegates her to. The role she plays in the game cannot be described as her being any kind of object. Instead, she's Snake's war buddy, and behaves quite intelligently in that role. All the superficial sexualization in the world means absolutely nothing if the actual way in which the player is encouraged to see and relate to her as a character is as a powerful ally and comrade-in-arms.

In other words, Hideo Kojima, knowing full well the type of kneejerk reaction Quiet's character design would engender, deliberately baited the response he got as a subtle way of pointing out the failings of this manner of critique. At first, Phantom Pain gives you exactly what you expect- at least on a superficial level- and then, over the course of actually playing the game, negates it so completely that it becomes impossible to view Quiet in the way the critics of her character design suggest said design may cause you to view her.

if you think I'm going a little tinfoil-hat on you, in any other case I'd probably agree with you. But you have to remember, this is Hideo Kojima we're talking about here. The man is legendary for being fully aware of- and subsequently toying with- the expectations of his audience. That tweet I mentioned earlier is pretty clear evidence he knew exactly the response he was going to get. Furthermore, if you'll recall, he was so pissed off at his own fanbase for missing the point of Metal Gear Solid that he made MGS 2: Sons of Liberty basically one giant, mind-bending Fuck You to those same fans.

Doing something like this is not beyond him.

edited 11th May '16 12:15:06 PM by Gault

I can see your point.

From what I understand, you position is that there is a deliberate disparity between Quiet's appearance and her actual in-game characterisation. I tend to agree with you.

Her appearance is intentionally crafted to be sexually suggestive and objectifying whereas her role in the game is that of a competent, interesting character. I get all that.

But you have to also remember that her in-game depiction also shows signs of objectification.

- The fact that you can shamelessly stare at her in her cage.

- The aformentionned stretching and preening she does in the helicopter

- The numerous showering scenes and close-ups on her breasts and ass.

If what you said was true and Kojima wanted to get that kneejerk reaction from us and have us regret our words when we realize that she is a fully-formed character, then why all of this deliberate sexualization?

Wouldn't it have been more effective to limit yourself to just making her appearance suggestive to trick people into thinking she was just some sexual object? Then when they actually played the game they would feel silly for dismissing her.

Why did Kojima take that extra step and actually present her as a sexual object? That's where the argument falls apart for me.

The character definetly has some depth and it would be absolutely wrong to just dismiss her as fanservice, of course. If that's your point then I completely agree. What I'm saying is that if he really wanted to troll us, Kojima didn't have to go the extra step and actually present her as fanservice in-game.

edited 11th May '16 12:24:31 PM by GutstheBerserker

Maybe this is just me, but I viewed all the scenes with her in a cage as being incredibly uncomfortable. At that point it's early on in the game and Quiet has just appeared in Mother Base, and all the other Diamond Dog mercs hate her for being an enemy agent that tried to kill Boss. She's not even an option to select as a Buddy.

And Kojima does definitely like his fanservice, so you're not really wrong at all, but I just think it's worth noting in this case that it doesn't come at the expense of the character.

I mean, is it really a contradiction if a character is depicted as sexual in addition to a real character? From what I understand, the problem comes in when that's all a character is, since it's a common pigeonhole for female characters.

edited 11th May '16 12:30:23 PM by Gault

Here are some thoughts on the subject of Quiet.

Yeah, I agree. Despite all that, I really liked her character and I was incredibly saddened to see her go. She was cool.

As to wether or not a character can be depicted as both sexy and competent: yes, absolutely.

Heck, the MGS series itself is usually good about providing equal amounts of fanservice for both male and female characters. To this day, I will insist that Old Snake has the nicest ass in the history of videogames.

But I also think that the criticisms leveled towards Quiet are totally justified. She is put on display way too much for it to feel natural and there is a real disconnect between the sexualization and the rest of her character.

For me, her torn clothing and suggestive girations always felt like a show for the player. Not something that was part of her character.

Wow! That's a lot of really great analytical content regarding Quiet. Thanks a lot for linking all that.

Seeing her in the helicopter on high Bond Level did generate a fair amount of cognitive dissonance for me, I remember this fairly vividly.

edited 11th May '16 12:49:53 PM by Gault

She's really not, though. She's a tool. Her particular circumstances leaves her with very few opportunities to develop herself as a character the way Huey, Ocelot, Miller, etc. do, and most of those opportunities are used to sexualize her. She has so little bearing on the plot that she could be excised from it entirely and nothing would be lost.

In gameplay, she's only as much a "war buddy" as D-Horse or D-Dog is: she's a selectable weapon that Snake can carry into battle with him.

In every aspect of her role in MGSV, she is an object. A sniper rifle with tits who unquestionably remains in her Assigned Gender Role of silent submission to her male superior and who occasionally gives Snake an opportunity to feel some feelings while she's erotically rolling around in the rain.

Nothing about Quiet's attire or demeanor feels like something a person like her would do, unlike say, EVA, that would play up her sex appeal because she was trying to seduce Snake.

And let's not even talk about the way the camera treats her, like there's a magnet that keeps the focus on her ass and boobs.

There was nothing particularly deep about the MGS 4 Beauties, they were straight up the way they were because of fanservice.

Or Naomi in MGS 4 for that matter, she had her cleavage on display for no real reason.

Or Pacifica Ocean in Peace Walker, that had to be in her underwear to pilot the Metal Gear for no good reason as well.

I'll be honest, I think the rain scene is one of the most embarassing scenes I have ever seen in a game.

edited 11th May '16 1:10:50 PM by RunoEddie

I have no idea how you can say any of that in good conscience considering she's the only character in the Phantom Pain that has any sort of arc or character development whatsoever. Miller starts the game a bitter, vengeful asshole and ends it that way too. Huey starts the game a coward and a liar and ends it that way too. Ocelot starts the game a pragmatic chessmaster and ends it that way too. You get the picture.

Furthermore, are you saying you don't build a relationship with D-Dog?

edited 11th May '16 1:13:16 PM by Gault

Five seconds after he wins the sniper duel with her, Quiet is 100% devoutly loyal to Snake and remains so through the end of the game. Her loyalties are only ever questioned by other characters; from the moment she shoots down the fighter tailing Snake's chopper, there is no reason to ever believe she is on any side but his, and that assumption is never betrayed. That's not an arc.

The player's invited to build a relationship with D-Dog but, like Quiet, he's really just in the game to be a useful weapon in gameplay. Ocelot has a stronger implied relationship with D-Dog than Snake because he's actually shown raising and training him.

You could argue that Miller, Ocelot and Huey not changing is kind of the point. I know that with Miller, he was so literally and figuratively blinded by his revenge that he couldn't see the future in front of him.

edited 12th May '16 11:42:46 PM by GAP

Bad news in regards to the Fulton launcher that's going to be added in a later patch: it's pale shadow of it's former self. Essentially, it can only capture infantry, and even then it's a bit glitchy at times; sometimes it'll just stun the target, sometimes it'll grab two guys if they're super-close to each other. In short, D-Walker's Fulton Ballista is still by far the better choice.

edited 15th May '16 1:35:23 AM by SgtRicko

"Punished" Venom Guts - I shit you not!◊

...Well, OK, this was actually the early concept art for Gut's character back in 1988. It just happens to be a very lucky coincidence that they're both scarred, missing the same eye, and have a prosthetic left hand. Still gets the creative imaginary juices flowing though, in regards to the possibilities...

MGSV A story of a crazy man who sneaks through a base, Kidnaps a dozen soldiers, throws several more in dumpsters, Fultons a random sheep, hides in a cardboard box to smoke weed for 12 hours, blows up a random truck, Fultons a gun emplacement, Drops a supply crate on a snipers head, steals diamonds that some jackoff left lying around and then proceeds to hide in a sewer and tranq everyone in the knees.

Here's an article about Code Talker giving everyday advice to people... from the Onion.

Ask a Wise Old Navajo Man who could really go for a Hamburger Right Now

And the crazier part? It was written in 2009.

On the topic of hamburgers in Metal Gear. What colour is the "Chemical Burger" Kaz invented in the fourth hamburger conversation? Because Code-Talker remarks, "that colour!" implying it looks quite different from a normal burger. I think I read somewhere that it's a reference to green hamburgers in the early Metal Gear games that you could find lying around in various places but I haven't been able to find any info on that.

Also this.

edited 3rd Jun '16 7:12:05 PM by WillKeaton