Things I Expect to See in Phantom Pain (I’ve Been Playing Too Much Ground Zeroes)

So, after playing Ground Zeroes every day for two weeks and writing a an article about my impressions about it, I still can’t get enough of the game. It offers us a tantalizing peek into how good – and big – Phantom Pain is going to be. It’s a concrete proof of at least the potential of the main game, instead of making us wait forever.

I made a list of stuff I saw in the game that I am expecting to see full-blown in the main game when it hits the stores next year. Most of them are already in the game so it’s pretty much a no-brainer.

1. Freedom on Mission Execution

Remember the heist planning bit in GTA V? Promising, but still restrictive since you are stuck with that particular plan once you made your choice. How about the intelligence gathering in the AC series? Exciting, but very linear and in the case of ACIII, very annoying. Planning and intelligence gathering are two very important things special forces do when it comes to missions and most video games merely gloss over this aspect. Ground Zeroes offers just one mission, but it gives you the freedom to choose how you are going to complete it.

You have a choice between tagging every possible enemy soldier and other objects of interest, and jumping into the fray without so much as a survey of the location. Knowing where enemies are located can help you avoid them, but tagging them would take up precious time. Jumping into the fray is a lot more exciting, but unless you’re as heavily equipped as MGS4’s Old Snake, it will get you killed.

As Phantom Pain will be set in Afghanistan (supposedly, at least), planning ahead on missions will be crucial. Intelligence gathering must play a part in a game that gives you multiple ways to infiltrate. Consider this: if it takes you about an hour to finish one mission (based on Ground Zeroes) in one location, how much more would you need in an obviously bigger map.

A favorite strategy of mine in infiltrating Camp Omega is to shoot out the lights to dim the area. With my night vision goggles, I have a significant advantage. However, I only have one suppressor on my rifle (and sub-machine gun, once you unlock it), and it won’t be enough to knock out all the lights in the camp. There were several difficulties I encountered when going to the admin building: If I go in from the back, I have the chance to turn off the generator, putting the whole building in darkness and all the surveillance cameras will be shut down. However, going that way will make me miss the powerful rocket launcher in one of the rooms on the other side of the building, near the helipad. While I do not have to get the launcher anyway, it sure is handy when I would have to face an armored personnel carrier.

These multiple possibilities not only give the game more replay value: in a bigger setting, it will be the difference between mission success or failure.

2. Larger Weapon Inventory

– The one thing I didn’t like in Ground Zeroes is the limited weaponry. Granted, there’s only so much weapons you can take in a military base guarded by US Marines whose rifles are more than enough to kill one man. But in Phantom Pain, I expect a variety of weapons. The M16, AK47s, hand guns, anti-tank weaponry, anti-air weaponry, top secret weaponry (Big Boss is sporting a Darth Vader-like hand. I’m expecting his special weapons to at least be as advanced).

One of the fun parts in Ground Zeroes is using the weapons you have to turn the situation to your advantage. A weapon with a suppressor can either be used lethally on a guard or used to knock out the lights to give you more cover. But when the suppressor’s worn out, your cover might be blown anyway. In the same way, a sniper rifle (found in one of the towers) can be really loud. But its long-range accuracy and stopping power is unparalleled. A C4 explosive allows you to rig enemy installations which you can use to lure guards away to make it easier for you to infiltrate an area. In one of the side-ops, you get to fight an APC. While I got the kick out of beating it using grenades ala-Solid Snake, I do hope that Phantom Pain gives us enough firepower to fight back. Let’s face it, Snake will be in Afghanistan at around the same time the Soviets invaded the country. There will be plenty of armor, trust me.

3. Day and Night Cycle

One of the things promised by KojimaPro was the realistic day and night cycle which is absent in Ground Zeroes. Since the main mission happened at night, and the side-ops were supposed to happen by day (with the exception of one), that’s understandable. But the open-world setting will be for naught if there is no day and night cycle. Based on the demos of Phantom Pain as well as my experience playing Ground Zeroes, I would hate to rescue Kaz Miller during the day. In fact, I hate infiltrating any place during the day. That gave me all sorts of trouble during the side-ops: I had to do stuff at day that any sane spec-ops soldier would only do at night.

The inclusion of day and night cycles will also have an effect on the gameplay. Aside from making sneaking missions that much easier, it can also give you many operational possibilities.You will have the option to scout the area by day, allowing you to mark enemies and installations while the light makes it easier for you to see them.

4. The Mother Base

Another one of KojimaPro’s promises that didn’t make it to Ground Zeroes, the Mother Base mechanic is a carry-over from Peace Walker and started in Portable Ops. It allows you to build your own army, complete with soldiers, medics, cooks, and an R&D Department for weapons and technology. If I am not mistaken, in Peace Walker, you don’t steal weapons off from the enemy, your R&D does that for you.

Most Metal Gear games have been quite ok without this, but considering how big the world supposedly is, it wouldn’t be bad to have your own “base” of operations. A place where you can build the army you lost in Ground Zeroes. A place where, if you run out of options or decide a new approach, you can just abort a mission, regroup, and then redeploy. Of course, the last part is just wishful thinking, but much as I love being a one man army, having some help from time to time would be even better.

Phantom Pain is still one year away from being released, but I’m already salivating at the prospect of playing one really good game. How about you guys? What do you think?

Images from: MGS.com