Metal Gear Solid V is the sixth game in the Metal Gear Solid franchise (excluding Portable Ops) and the eighth game in the Metal Gear saga. You play as Big Boss, known now as Punished "Venom" Snake in 1984, nine years after XOF destroyed the Mother Base for the mercenary group Militaires Sans Frontières. Your mission is to rebuild Mother Base, rebuild your mercenary group now known as Diamond Dogs, and take revenge. With you on your journey is Kaz Miller and Revolver Ocelot. Together, you will rebuild and take your revenge... if the story was totally completed and comprehensable. The Metal Gear saga has had an interesting story line which MGS1 and MGS3 had the best story to MGS2 where you have very little clue as to what is going on. It has been known to be a cinematic experience with hours of cutscense and interactive gameplay. Metal Gear Solid V changed this. Much like Peace Walker, missions are set up much like episodes. The 45 minute cinematics are gone and are replaced with short scenes. In my opinion, the cinematics helped drive the story along. It gave you information about the world and what is going on (MGS2 and MGS4 probably had too much information). In this game, the short episodes didn't make it feel connected. It felt disjointed and unnecessary. The later scenes tended to be better connected, but by then it was too late. One scene upon returning to Mother Base had Ocelot training soldiers to shoot. Be goes off on some dialogue on how to forget Hollywood and become real soldiers. That's great but it felt unnecessary and had no connection to anything. Most of the story elements take place in tape recordings which unlock as you go along. These recordings are essential to listen to in order to understand the story, who the main players are, and the affect you are having. It can be hard to want to listen to them when all you want to do is blow up a Soviet outpost. The story also felt like it relied on the other games to fill in the gaps. This is NOT a game for a first time Metal Gear player. You desperately need to understand the world this game is set it. Elements of the game make sense only when you recall experiences from the other games. For example, EVA or Big Mama mentioned in MGS4 that Big Boss's legend was mixed with truths, exaggerations, and lies. The ending of the game seems to support this idea, especially since Big Boss was in a coma for nine years. Things like that can make it hard to understand the story. The biggest sin of all is that it is not complete. News has circulated of the split between series creator Hideo Kojima and Konami. I do not know if Kojima decided to cut out sections or if Konami forced the game out too early (though it was believed that Kojima missed deadlines and was over budget), but a whole chapter of the game is missing. The ending of the game did not tie up any loose ends. It created more. Events happened in the game that had no resolution. The collector's edition has a bonus disc which has rendered cutscense, voice acted, and concepts for an episode 51, which while probably not the full idea behind the chapter would at least help resolve some plotholes. Despite its short comings, the gameplay is amazing. The best of any previous Metal Gear game. It is an open world set in Northern Afghanistan and Central Africa. You are given main story missions and side missions to complete. It is easy to get side tracked in finding more soldiers, materials, and destruction. It can feel repetitive at times, but to be honest, I really liked it. The game also has no true difficulty changes (some later missions are the same as earlier missions in extreme difficulty or added limitations). The enemies change their equipment based on your playing style though. This makes you adapt your play style. I would body shot a guy with darts so they started to wear body armor. So I shot them in the leg so soldiers got leg protection. Then I aimed at the head. Steel helmets came next along with face guards. Also, guards are smarter. Their not great but will call in for support and be in constant contact with CP if there is an issue. You have to play smart or be ready to see a Game Over screen. Finally, the graphics are fine. Current gen would be better than last gen, but the game is functional on a PS3. Just be ready for a lower frame rate. Overall, I enjoyed the game. I have played every Metal Gear Solid game. Their are some major story concerns along with an undeveloped section of game out there. I would recommend this game to Metal Gear fans or at least people familiar with the world. If you haven't played any Metal Gear game, go get Metal Gear Solid 1, play that, then pick up the other ones before looking at this game. I hope this review is helpful to those people who are interested. Overall ranking of Metal Gear Solid games from best to worst. My opinion. MGS1, MGS3, MGS:PW, MGSV, MGS4, MGS2