Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
To say that a lot has happened by the end of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain would be an understatement. Skull Face is dead; Eli and the Third Child have made off with Sahelanthropus; Quiet disappears; Huey Emmerich has been exiled; and a large number of Mother Base’s personnel are killed by Venom Snake to contain a parasite outbreak. In the end though, it’s revealed that this “Snake” isn’t even really Big Boss – he’s actually the medic from the end of Ground Zeroes, who was turned into the latter through plastic surgery and hypnosis. Big Boss, meanwhile, is in the background dealing with Cipher. As a result, Venom Snake goes on to form Outer Heaven, eventually being taken down by Solid Snake, while Big Boss returns during the whole commotion with Zanzibar. Make no mistake – this ending, along with how it impacts Miller to eventually bring down the real Big Boss, does a lot to tie together the core Metal Gear saga. However, it also felt convoluted and completely out of left field for fans who expected a more satisfying conclusion to that game’s events as opposed to a bridge to the first two Metal Gear titles.
