From the very beginning, information about Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has been hard to come by, with game creator Hideo Kojima constantly teasing and hinting at things to come but never outright revealing them.
Now, a new 22-minute demo, via IGN, finally gives players their first extended look at the game by showing a different path from the E3 demo, and in true Kojima fashion, it still leaves fans wondering.
The demo finds Big Boss and Ocelot in the deserts of Afghanistan, with Big Boss (voiced by Keifer Sutherland) still adjusting to his new prosthetic arm from which the game takes its name. After a cutscene, the demo transitions seamlessly into gameplay. A huge, desert environment is open for players to explore on horseback, but Big Boss is tasked with rescuing his comrade Miller from a Soviet camp. Players making their way through the desert have to be cautious of hostile wildlife.
Players have numerous options when infiltrating hostile areas. Guard numbers and patrol routes differ between night and day, giving players more strategic options on how to accomplish their goals. A new feature, the fulton delivery system, allows players to retrieve vehicles and other objects from the battlefield via helicopter pick up. Once in position on the outside of the camp, the demo humorously points out the vantage point from which the E3 demo for the game took place, in order to give players a better understanding of the size of the world.
At 4 a.m. there are far fewer guards patrolling the base. This gives players the perfect time to sneak in and execute their mission. Classic stealth features from previous Metal Gear Solid games return, like the iconic cardboard box, but with some new capabilities.
The big surprise to come from the demo is the reveal of multiplayer, though details on what it exactly entails are still under wraps. Players each have their own forward operating base in the game. You'll want to customize and upgrade these bases with cameras, weapons and guards too, in order to better prevent enemy players from sneaking in. If they do manage to sneak in, players can steal your equipment and resources using the fulton delivery system. At the very end of the demo another player appears on scene to defend their base before cutting to black.
From the looks of things, Metal Gear Solid V won't have a traditional team vs. team multiplayer component, instead allowing players to customize a personal base and challenge others to infiltrate it. No doubt Kojima has plenty of other surprises in store for fans before Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain arrives sometime in the future.
