When comparing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain vs Firewatch, the Slant community recommends Firewatch for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Firewatch is ranked 14th while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is ranked 69th. The most important reason people chose Firewatch is:
Unlike many walking simulator game the player is allowed to interact more with the environment than expected. User can repel down ropes, collect caches of items and even adopt a pet.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Freedom in approaching a mission
Metal Gear Solid V gives players multiple choices on how to approach a mission.
You can choose to use stealth, taking out enemies only when it's absolutely necessary. You can run in guns blazing, killing everyone on sight. You can get on a high vantage point and take out everyone with a sniper rifle. Or you can call in air support to do all the work for you.
The choice is up to you and the game doesn't penalize you for sticking to a single way. This helps keep the gameplay fresh for a long time.
Pro Allows players to create their private military company
Throughout the game, you will be trying to rebuild your private military company.
Your base of operations is the "Mother Base", which is a giant structure similar to an oil rig. You can expand it and add new facilities such as Research and Development.
You'll also be managing your personnel, allowing you to recruit (capture) enemy soldiers and assign them work in their area of expertise. This can be research, development, various upkeep tasks around the base or earning resources out in the field.
All of these things truly make you feel like you're running a PMC.
Pro Reflex system helps you stay unnoticed
Time will slow down for a short time if you're spotted by an enemy. This allows you to take them out before they can sound the alarm or alert other soldiers. This is quite refreshing compared to other stealth games, where messing up means an immediate end to being stealthy.
Pro Enemy AI adapts to your playstyle
The enemy will pick up on your habits and react accordingly. For example, if you use tranq darts to knock enemies out, they will try to wake up their comrades at first. Do this for a couple of missions and they'll immediately run to sound the alarm when they spot someone knocked out. This way the game expertly keeps you out of the comfort zone, having the later missions feel as tense as the first.
Pro Large assortment of weapons and tools
MGS V has a lot of weapons, including pistols, shotguns, machine guns, and sniper rifles. There are both lethal and non-lethal variants, allowing you to find something suitable for any playstyle.
There are also many tools such as the Fulton device, which allows you to capture enemy soldiers and animals, sending them to your base. It's a ton of fun experimenting with new gadgets.
Pro Adds interaction to the "walking simulator" genre
Unlike many walking simulator game the player is allowed to interact more with the environment than expected. User can repel down ropes, collect caches of items and even adopt a pet.
Pro Beautiful graphics
The game impresses with stunning graphics and a beautifully crafted world, overlaid with a neat canvas effect.
Pro Fantastic voice acting
There are two leads with each being voice acted in a believable way in how they interact. The relationship presented in the story is given credence due to how well it is acted.
Pro Great atmosphere
You get lost in the world playing as Henry, it even ends up getting a little spooky. It never shows how it's spooky but there's always that creepy vibe in the background.
Pro Based on exploration and storytelling
Firewatch is basically a exploration game with a very strong focus on the main story. No need to kill enemies or compete with other games online.
Pro Excellent story
Firewatch is an exploration game with a strong focus on its main story which makes you ask "what comes next?" like a good book or enthralling movie.
Cons
Con High learning curve
MGS V can feel really overwhelming at the start. First the controls have various nuances such as different ways of crawling. Then you get a bunch of mechanics thrown at you, such as stealth, base managment, etc. It will take quite a while until you can fully enjoy the game.
Con Micro transactions make multiplayer pay-to-win
You can buy bundles of in-game currency, which can be used to gain an advantage in multiplayer. This makes multiplayer not fun for the players who don't intend on spending extra money. It also makes it boring for the ones who spend the money. Both of these things negatively impact the longevity of the multiplayer.
Some of the bundles go for $79.99, which is more than the game's price. It's sad seeing Konami milk their fans with microtransactions like this.
Con Tremendous build up in story, only to have a lackluster finale
Once the player progresses far enough into the game there are plot thread wrap-ups that seem a bit too convenient and overly rushed.
Con Short game
It maxes out at 5 hours of play, which is a bit short, though it is priced fairly for the time one gets.
Con In some parts the game locks you from entering areas
It might sound obvious but sometimes the invisible walls don't feel right, they are put in places you should be able to walk.
Con Heavy swearing
Extremely frequent use of swear words.