Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is the sequel to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and a prequel to the original Metal Gear. The game has a complex story with long cut-scene sequences, but there are fewer and they are shorter compared to earlier Metal Gear Solid titles. Most of the gameplay mechanics introduced in Ground Zeroes are carried over: it is still an action game and stealth oriented but replaces the linear corridor design from most earlier titles with large open world environments that offer the player unrestricted freedom for the approach. The world has now a real-time day and night cycle and various weather effects that influence enemy behaviour, visibility and sound. Sabotaging or destroying certain structures can also influence other parts of the map.
Set in 1984, nine years after the events of Ground Zeroes, the story follows mercenary leader Venom Snake as he ventures into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan and the Angola–Zaire border region to exact revenge on those who destroyed his forces and came close to killing him during the climax of Ground Zeroes.
