Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will introduce a new open-world game design featuring realtime weather, realistic passage of time and a variety of ways to navigate the vast new environments within the game.

In addition to the franchise's returning characters, such as Snake, Kazuhira Miller, Ocelot, and Emmerich, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will introduce all new characters to the Metal Gear universe. The storyline will focus on dark themes that portray the ugliness and tragedy of war, as a legendary hero falls from grace.