The latest Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain trailer debuted at Gamescom 2015, and it feels a little different than what we're used to.
Okay, a "little" different is an understatement. This is most definitely one of the weakest Metal Gear trailers out there.
It's not bad in terms of content, as it's nearly three minutes of utterly fantastic-looking scenes from the upcoming fifth main entry in the Metal Gear Solid saga. From the bloody Diamond Dogs emblem early on to Snake's grizzled, painted face and memorable quotes ("When the time comes, I'll pull the trigger") it's everything a Metal Gear fan wants to see. It's just that the presentation is all wrong.
Clearly Hideo Kojima's influence is missing with this video, as scenes are cobbled together without the finesse of the talented game maker, featuring far too many fades to black, random bits of action, and awful-looking text teases throughout the video. "This is not about justice," the text proclaims, before cutting to seemingly unrelated and out of context scenes. "This is about revenge." The content is there, but the organization is definitely off-putting compared to the previous, deftly orchestrated Metal Gear Solid trailers of the past. Come September 1 we'll finally get our hands on the game, so we'll get a chance to see what it's really like for ourselves.
What the trailer does accomplish is a decent showing of the game's open world, as it's the first Metal Gear title to completely implement an open world structure that looks like it's going to work well. It's set in 1984, nine years after the events that transpire in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (make sure you get started with that game if you haven't played it before grabbing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain) and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain itself will act as a prequel to Metal Gear, which takes place in 1995.
The Phantom Pain opens in 1975, and it follows Big Boss after he's fallen into a coma, waking up to realize his left arm has been replaced with a prosthetic hook. This is where the subtitle "The Phantom Pain" came from, after a phenomenon that details a bizarre feeling stemming from amputations. Individuals report still feeling pain, tingling, or otherwise feeling in limbs that aren't really there.
It's definitely sad to have witnessed Hideo Kojima's departure from the project and Konami as a whole, as his presence is sorely missed in this trailer and who knows what else. Hopefully any future trailers have a better flow to them and feel less schlocky Hollywood and more Hollywood proper. As for the game, we've got under a month left, and then it's on.
