I recently had the privilege of playing several hours of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, experiencing many different facets of the title. You've been kind enough to send me your questions about the game, and here I endeavor to answer them the best I can.
I must reiterate that I cannot talk about anything related to the game's story, cutscenes, and other sensitive matters. That being said, I will talk about elements such as gameplay, the game world, and missions – which you may or may not consider SPOILERS. So, consider yourself warned.
In general, I can say that I've played through the infamous hospital scene shown in the game's initial trailer and that at the end of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Mother Base was destroyed. Snake and Kazuhira Miller are trying to figure out what happened, the identity of Skull Face and his XOF unit, and who led Cipher to the door of Snake's Militaires Sans Frontières organization.
So, without further ado: Your questions (in no particular order) and my answers, to the best of my ability...
How big does the game world seem? – masterassassin51
The areas you are in – in this case Afghanistan – are open and you can go wherever you like, but I wouldn't say MGS V is an open-world game, per se. It just doesn't have the scale of a Witcher 3 or a GTA, for instance. Afghanistan in the game didn't strike me as particularly large or small, but there was plenty to do there. You will also travel to Africa, but I didn't get that far in my time with the game.
Co-op? – @MetalGearArabic
No. There is multiplayer, but not co-op in the single-player campaign.
Does the game run well in the last-generation? – @HassaneManson
I only played the game on PS4, so I'm not sure about the other versions, including the last-gen ones.
Is there a lot of varied side content in the open world, or is the open world just meant to give you more options on how to approach story missions? – jimmy2tymez
There are plenty of optional side missions that pop up on your map that you can ignore or fulfill while you are on other missions. The world itself gives you different ways to approach a situation. You can do so at different times of the day, come at a base from another direction, or use varied methods of infiltration like sneaking in on a truck. My favorite is to wait for a sandstorm to kick up and then run through the front door!
How are the loading times from what you've played? – carcosam
There is no loading once you are in the world, but if you choose to go back to Mother Base there is a load. I'm not going to characterize that loading time because I simply don't know how that may change when the game comes out.
Can you bring buddy A.I. along for any mission or only select ones? – Frosty
From what I played, you could bring a buddy with you (your horse, Quiet, the dog DD) via the loadout screen when you leave Mother Base. If it's restricted in other missions, I wouldn't know.
Hideo Kojima has apparently stated that some missions in MGS V will take a whole six hours to complete. With the short amount of time you have had with the game, have you encountered any missions with a noticeable time length? If so, were there enough checkpoints littered throughout to not make such long missions frustrating after a few deaths? – Tommy2crunchy
I did not experience anything that long, but there were a couple of base-infiltration missions coupled with hostage objectives that took me a while to complete because they were big and I kept dying! Afterwards I would respawn back at the outside of the base.
Already a hot discussion among our friends, but can we steal each other's sheep or plant sheep in each other's bases? – Duelit
Unfortunately, I cannot talk about the game's online component, but more info is coming the morning of Tuesday, June 16, so please come back then. If you're not referring to the game's online play, then that's between you, your friends, and any sheep involved. Just be nice to the sheep.
When some lonely guard spots you, does everybody almost instantly magically know about you, or does he have to use a radio or raise an alarm to contact others? – Fors
When you're spotted the game goes into slow-motion for a few seconds, allowing you to get a shot off like in Ground Zeroes. You won't be unrealistically converged upon, but they will call for backup. If you encounter a small patrol or even a single soldier out in the wild (not on a base, for instance) they will also get on the radio for backup, but it's also easier to just take care of the situation and disappear into the hills. In a larger sense, I think the game does a good job requiring you to be aware of your surroundings in the world without having to worry too much about being spotted every five seconds when you're just trying to ride your horse around and explore.
Read on for Fulton Balloons and more!