Konami has stated that the microtransactions in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain are not there as “pay to win” options, but they are there for people who don’t have time to win rewards and earn loot the proper way. So yeah… it’s paying to win.

Gamespot picked up the news from the 40 minute long gameplay demo that Konami let loose upon the world during this year’s E3.

The defense of the microtransactions are rolled out in the first minute of the video below.

https://youtu.be/IE0y6bGAjZ0

For the hearing impaired, the statement from Konami simply reads…

“While it is true that a few microtransactions options do exist, the entire game has been carefully balanced to be fair and enjoyable with or without using these options. “Rest assured that every single item, weapon and mission is available to all players without paying a single cent. However, the sheer scale of the game and the time required to explore it all – microtransactions have been added as a completely optional feature for players who might not be able to spend as much time in the game. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Just to make this as cut and dry as possible: if you have to pay to earn things that you would otherwise have to spend some time playing the game to unlock then you’re paying to win, period.

Additionally, this seems to further the culture of paying not to play the game. You buy a $60 game just so you can pay for cheats that unlock the ability to not have to play to earn rewards, abilities, missions and weapons. That’s the very definition of paying to win.

Anyway, the video itself contains a lot of great information and content about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. We learn about the weapon customization – although no word on whether or not you can pay for the best customizable parts – and we get to see that players can alter the barrel, the stock, the grip, the scope, the clip and even under-barrel accessories. Very detailed stuff.

You can even alter the colors, change the livery and modify the laser sight on the weapon.

They also show off how mission selecting works and how players can select a mission or just doodle around in the new free roam mode. Yes, you can free roam just like in GTA V.

When you select the mission, you can select your loadout before actually embarking on a mission. You can choose a buddy, including a horse, a dog, a small mech or Quiet, amongst others.

You even get to select what vehicle you want to take with you in a mission or even who you get to play in some segments. That’s right, you don’t have to play Snake at all times. The short list of characters included people like Sadistic Kitten, Vile Crab and Scowling Dhole.

When you drop down into the free roam mode you can select missions that are available in the region. Side quests called “Side ops” are also available if you don’t want to do a main mission but you still want to mess around and explore the large open world and get stuff done.

The whole concept of sneaking around in order to steal enemy equipment and build up your own base and army is a pretty cool feature. We get to see that there’s a real, tangible advantage to being stealthy as opposed to just a choice play-style. You actually reap the benefits of recruiting enemies who don’t die by adding them to your own personal army.

Blueprints can be acquired from missions and used to unlock new parts, weapons and gear. Presumably to earn the same stuff that players can use the cash shop for.

One of the really neat things that they showcase in the video is that for more difficult missions enemies will employ more advanced techniques to deal with players. One of things we see is that enemies will deploy decoys to trick players, sometimes using them as a way to trick or trap players. Cool stuff.

So long as the online mode isn’t compromised with pervasive microtransactions – and unfortunately that’s always going to be an issue so long as they’re present – I can easily see this newest Metal Gear going down as one of the greatest action stealth games ever made.

You can look for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain to launch on September 1st, 2015 for the PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.