Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Tips and Tricks

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain released a week ago. We first got a preview of the game during Gamescom 2015, and thought the game created a great first impression. We weren't let down during our review of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as we found the game enjoyable, despite some niggles. If you're new to the series though, then the game can be a little daunting, and not just because of the long and complex history the story spans over various instalments. If you're having some trouble getting ahead in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, then here are some things that you should keep in mind to get ahead in this open-world stealth action adventure.

(Also see: Metal Gear Solid Noob? Here's Everything That Came Before The Phantom Pain)

1. Capture everything
   Aside from sneaking through army bases, you'll be tasked with building up a formidable army. In order to do so, you'll need to stun or use a tranquilliser gun to incapacitate soldiers so you can capture and turn them to your side by whisking them away via the game's Fulton Recovery System. As the game progresses you'll be able to even capture enemy tanks. Given the scope of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, you'll need every tool at your disposal and capturing whatever you can is a start.

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2. Plan your attack
   Prior to skulking around encampments teeming with enemies, use your binoculars to tag them. Doing so gives you the edge before proceeding to fumble sneak outposts, as you'll know where your foes are. Considering that the game rewards stealth and speed over out and out violence, you'd do well to tag all the soldiers you can find and quickly get through your objective. Which brings us to our next point.

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3. Always aim for an S-rank
   This is the highest rank you can achieve in a mission. Considering that everything from creating new items to going on missions costs GMP, the in-game currency, you'd do well to acquire as much of it as possible. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain rewards you more GMP for being absolutely stealthy, and quick with objectives. This gives you a rather tangible reason to aspire for the highest possible mission ranking. Not using the game's reflex feature, which lets you react to enemies who have spotted you before they can alert their allies, as well as not using violent means of taking down your opponents, yield more GMP when you're done with a mission.

4. Don't upgrade on an impulse
   A couple of hours into the game you'll notice that you're given a lot of weapons and items you can get your research team at Mother Base to work on. While it's tempting to spend resources making a brand new rocket launcher, you'd be better served upgrading the Fulton to carry more items and your binoculars to scope out enemies better. Both go a long way in making the game easier as it wears on.

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5. Play offline
   While the online multiplayer mode of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has you constructing a Forward Operating Base (FOB) to which you can allocate soldiers and resources, it also leaves you open to attack from other players even if you're offline. What this means is, you can lose your top Mother Base staff that you spent time and energy capturing, even when you're not playing the game or in online mode. Simply pause the game and disconnect from it as soon as you start and ensure you do so before the end of mission 22 to prevent being forced to build an FOB and take part in a game mode that's more detrimental than it should be. Hopefully Konami patches this mode to make invasions from other players optional.

These are just some ways to get the better of this quirky open-world stealth game. What are your favourite ways to get through it? Let us know via the comments.