

There are no 20 minute cut-scenes about the role of The Patriots in 20th century history like in MGS4, but MGS5's events offer astute, sometimes profound, commentary on race, religion, societal systems, the nature of communication, legacy and the dangers of obsession.

(Mild spoiler) MGS5 takes this game-system-as-theme metaphorical context a step further, with devastating impact (Spoiler ends). However, if you hadn't seen MGS2's ending, you'd be forgiven for criticizing hero Raiden as unrealistically naive – without realizing the character's importance to MGS2's deliberately formulaic, and highly meta, structure. If anything, hardcore fans might be a touch disappointed with the brevity of cut-scenes, and the core plot is slightly vanilla for those weaned on the meta-concepts of the La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo. At least, that's Kojima 'simple' but… hey, that's for another article. From the intro's opening seconds, you're funneled to learn the controls, and your motivations are clear: it's a revenge tale, pure and simple. You don't even need to know the plot of Ground Zeroes, and the game recaps it for you anyway. MGS5 is full of nods to the series' lore, but all the hardcore, fan-prodding, plot nuances are hidden in the optional cassette tapes to be listened to as you roam the battlefield.

If you've struggled with previous MGS games, this is the most intuitive, self-contained entry yet.
