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The two main locations, Afghanistan and Zaire, can be explored end-to-end, and one of The Phantom Pain's great pleasures is riding around taking care of side ops as you go. Metal Gear Online, the multiplayer companion, launches in October.
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The idea is not a completely new one to Metal Gear Solid. Metal Gear Solid 5 transplants the stealth core of the series from linear environments into large open worlds, banking everything on great enemy AI and numerous moving parts that allow players freedom of approach in any given situation. It's the kind of game where every hand-polished element slots together into a head-spinningly ambitious structure and they combine into something you can only call visionary. It's the kind of game that players like me dream of: an enormous and deep and seemingly endless experience that's worth the investment and then some. It's the kind of game that, in 1987, the young designer of the 8-bit Metal Gear may have dreamed would one day be possible.
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Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is a dream game. Hideo Kojima's farewell to Metal Gear Solid is a dream: the best ever stealth game, and the high point of a remarkable series.
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