I don’t know that any franchise balances comic relief with utterly serious plot and thematic content quite like Metal Gear. Today’s E3 demo, for better or worse, was a prime example of this, and though your mileage will certainly vary when it comes to how high cardboard box jokes will raise your personal chortle-meter, Konami’s presentation showed off some excellent gameplay and a dose of new features to boot. As far as non-hands-on demos go, thus far it’s my best of show.
The E3 demo for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain began with the same cutscene as its 2013 E3 trailer, but once released from scripted dialog the game takes off in some genuinely unpredictable ways. The most notable recurring feature actually returns from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker in the form of the Fulton Recovery System, and though its uses were limited in that game, here it’s been fully and assiduously fleshed out.
Near anything in the environment can be Fulton’d — be it dispatched enemies, crates, vehicles, or even cattle — and upon doing so the attached item or organism is shipped off via propeller-balloon to “Mother Base,” a floating sea-fortress in a remote location. Fulton’d enemy soldiers are recruited and can be repurposed, while items are stored for later convenience or even amusement. An unfortunate sheep sent to Mother Base by the Konami rep (that’s a literal sheep, mind you) was seen roaming its deck minutes later when Snake finally made his visit, while an in-game avatar of the aforementioned rep jolted into a thankful salute upon seeing his savior walk by. These quirks garnered ample laughter from the crowd, and though there are certainly folks frustrated by Metal Gear’s increased silliness, I personally take no issue as long as gameplay remains king.
Snake’s first mission was of the rescue variety, and Konami was able to show off a number of fun stealth techniques between its bouts of Fulton-ing everything that breathes, moves, or even exists. First up was Snake’s ability to tilt along the side of his horse’s frame, creating the illusion of a wild animal running past sans a rider. Though only demonstrated once, it works well and proves effective as long as a reasonable distance is kept. Even if you are spotted, a quick headshot and Fulton follow-up should take care of most mishaps, assuming an entire crowd of enemies wasn’t alerted in the process.
Next was the classic cardboard box — a tool you might expect to have lost its luster by the series’ fifth mainline entry, but is instead proving more useful and effective than its ever been. Not only can you crawl under the safety of protective cardboard and tape, but you can actually use the box itself as a decoy. In one instance, the Konami rep shot from the box’s left side just as an enemy wandered too close. Upon hearing the disturbance, the soldier sauntered over to investigate, only to be quickly taken out by Snake, who had snuck around a half-destroyed barricade just nearby. The cardboard box can also be burst from to quickly fire a weapon, and conveniently stored when it’s no longer needed. You’ll have to call for a supply drop to get the box in the first place (don’t ask me how Snake’s people agree to waste fuel and resources to deliver a cardboard box by itself), but once its successfully acquired, I suspect it’s something players will begin to utilize a lot more frequently.
Perhaps the most exciting element to the entire demo was the fact that everything shown throughout its duration could have been handled in an entirely different fashion, with stealth and brute force falling on opposite ends of Phantom Pain’s decidedly nonlinear spectrum. I think most Metal Gear fans feel that stealth is more fun in general, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t feel a slight rush when Snake was forced to make a run for it guns blazing during the mission’s latter third. If applying my own approach to the game eventually allows me to render Snake more of a Nathan Drake than stealth-action extraordinaire, then by golly I’d at least be willing to try it. As long as the game’s oft-touted flexibility remains intact, that is.
I should touch again on the concept of the Mother Base, mainly because Konami made a point to express that the mechanic has been greatly enhanced since its debut in Peace Walker. I was initially concerned by the Fulton system, because it seemed so convenient and perfect that I couldn’t imagine why I wouldn’t just Fulton everything in sight. As it turns out, the more you spam the mechanic the more enemies you’ll make, and as a result your Mother Base will be more vulnerable to incoming attacks from forces who’d rather you not be alive. This adds an interesting, almost macro layer to MGS stealth; not only will I have to hide in the shadows mission-to-mission, but I’ll want to utilize the tools available to me while simultaneously keeping my Mother Base’s location relatively hidden and out of harm’s way. If cutting the theatrics on a rescue or reconnaissance mission means protecting what I’ve worked hard to build over most of the game’s duration, it’s a sacrifice I’ll likely be quite willing to make. It’s a great idea for balancing Snake’s near-ridiculous resources and connectedness, and I’m excited to see how well it works in actual use while playing.
Konami’s demo wrapped up shortly after the Mother Base visit, and there’s not a whole lot else to say other than to reiterate just how pretty Phantom Pain is. Even when riding horseback through the desert, Snake’s steed lurches and strains in an unsettlingly realistic fashion, extracting the realism right out of an otherwise standard or mundane activity. The live weather system is looking great, and though nothing super-new was shown, both sandstorms and rainstorms made for nice diversions from the stock desert sun, and elegant ones at that.
I still wish I could have played Phantom Pain instead of just viewing a demo, but once I accepted the situation I was quite pleased with how promising Kojima’s open-world ambitions are starting to look. For all its promise and realistic grit, this is still a game playful enough to make you laugh, use cardboard boxes as high-level military equipment, and zero in on a horse’s behind conveniently before it’s about to poop. If Kojima had been sitting in the back of the room giggling, I wouldn’t have been the slightest bit surprised.
