When comparing Mad Max vs Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, the Slant community recommends Mad Max for most people. In the question“What are the best singleplayer games on Steam?” Mad Max is ranked 54th while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is ranked 69th. The most important reason people chose Mad Max is:
While there are fighting sections of the game where Max is on foot, the most exciting and fun to play sections are where Max is driving. Having a grappling hook to hook onto enemies while driving is a very fun thing to do as well as using it to pull down buildings and structures and this is just one of the elements of driving that makes all the driving parts stand out.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Vehicle combat is the best part of the game
While there are fighting sections of the game where Max is on foot, the most exciting and fun to play sections are where Max is driving. Having a grappling hook to hook onto enemies while driving is a very fun thing to do as well as using it to pull down buildings and structures and this is just one of the elements of driving that makes all the driving parts stand out.
Pro Fun sandbox
The game is based around being an open world sandbox where the player is free to do anything they like.
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.
Cons
Con No sense of urgency
While all of the gameplay takes place in a wasteland, there is no real sense of immediacy as the player is not ever going to starve or run out of water. This can pull the player out of the game due to not being very realistic and is pretty much geared towards keeping the game easy for casual players. Surviving in a wasteland should be tough, sadly it is not that difficult to do here.
Con Simplistic combat
Just as in other WB games the combat is simple and easy where in the player hits buttons timed with what button ques are flashing above an enemies head. Realistically one could just bash two buttons and make it through the games fights pretty easily.
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.