In “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” the latest installment of this long-running franchise, Big Boss sets out to create a new mercenary group, the Diamond Dogs, and exact revenge against those who destroyed his previous military group (Militaires Sans Frontières) and put him in a coma for nine years.

This game excels in many areas: the compelling voice acting, classic soundtrack, detailed environments, and engaging gameplay.  

Because there is nearly always dialogue of some form taking place in this game, it is important to have lively, emotion-filled voice acting. The main character, Big Boss (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), doesn’t speak often, but when he does, his words carry a lot of meaning and impact because of the way he delivered his lines.

The most compelling performance, however, came from Robin Atkin Downes, who voiced Kazuhira Miller. With Miller’s many monologues throughout the game, Downes use those opportunities to put in compelling emotion.

“Metal Gear Solid V” also has some incredible songs in its soundtrack, spanning many genres. Because the game is set in the mid-’80s, the soundtrack consists of some of the most popular songs from the decade, such as “The Final Countdown,” “Take On Me,” and “Africa.” The use of music during certain cut scenes adds greatly to the cinematic quality of the game, and the many intense moments just wouldn’t be the same without it.

To immerse you in the game world, it is important the setting is believable. Not only are the environments of “Metal Gear Solid V” constructed interestingly, they are incredibly detailed and fun to explore.

The game takes place primarily in the Angola-Zaire border region of Africa and northern Kabul, Afghanistan. For an open world game as large as this, the amount of detail put into every area on each map is astounding.

Of course, a game wouldn’t be complete without — you guessed it — gameplay. “Metal Gear Solid V” has a surplus of enjoyable gameplay that can easily keep you entertained. Deviating from typical gameplay found in previous games of the series, players are provided with a plethora of options to complete tasks and are not forced down as linear a path as before. This helps to make each situation unique, keeping the game from becoming stale.

As the near-definitive final game in this prolific series, it certainly deserves to be the game to finish it out. Although some hardcore fans of the series were disappointed with the direction developers decided to go with this game, it was a refreshing change that certainly paid off in the end.