Comments on: The Killing Decision In Metal Gear Solid V

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 23:12:11 +0000

Besides extracted troops, volunteers join your army after each mission.

I’m not certain, but I think this allows you to acquire skilled personnel even after murdering every enemy soldier during a mission, though maybe if your heroism is too low you don’t get volunteers?

Anyway, it’s important to note that MGSV allows you to repeat story missions, and at least some of the side ops.

There’s no need to stress about your approach to any mission, because you’re free to try it over as many times as you like, without reloading to an earlier save.

By: Solid Ganesh

Solid Ganesh — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 17:02:13 +0000

I always liked the approach of choice between lethal or non lethal gameplay in the MGS series. Playing as a “good guy” in the former games made me try non-lethal take outs or avoiding contact as often as possible. Still, you are a soldier in the game fighting against other soldiers so you know you could die in a mission…so do you expect the others too, which made it morally okey for me to use lethal force. At the same time it intensifies difficult situations: you start of being sneaky and non lethal but when the shit hits the van you can swich to lethal methods which is an emotional climax. What is new for me in MGS 5 is that I imagine playing as a man who has been betrayed so often and lost so much that using lethal force just gets easier for him. So I decide to go lethal or non-lethal just according to the situation and what suits best for accomplishing the greater good. Never had that feeling in a MG game before.

By: Neoviper

Neoviper — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 09:18:21 +0000

Undertale has about the best lethal/non-lethal dichotomy I’ve ever seen in a game. Arguably the pacifist route is the actually intended one, but mixed or full lethal are both entirely valid and narratively interesting options. If you haven’t yet played it Tom, everyone who says it’s great is absolutely correct.

By: never3nder

never3nder — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 19:13:11 +0000

There is a better solution for non-lethal infiltration’s.

*gameplay spoilers, maybe*

If you hold up a guard then they will not get up unless you trigger a combat alert. It also seems to spook guards who spot them, giving you time to run around them and CQC them / head shot them / whatever.

Also gives excellent lols / shock when you forget you’ve held someone up instead of knocking them out and then fulton them and they scream to their mates to get them down!

By: Johnny Go-Time

Johnny Go-Time — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 03:12:32 +0000

Hi there, 1st time visitor who loves MGS & Snake but has always been terrible at the actual games.

Your bit about the Fulton, culminating with, “I’ll be honest, this was not my next guess for how games would ultimately fix this problem” caused me to snort Southern & Coke all over my keyboard.

How will I S-Rank with Southern & Coke all over my keyboard??

By: Stennets

Stennets — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 18:16:49 +0000

Unfortunately, I don’t really roleplay with CRPG’s, I only really get into it when playing pen and paper (since the GM is much better at having the world change based on your decisions than a computer). I play computer games to crunch the number and find the most efficient solutions, so with MGS5 that typically meant going 100% lethal during main missions since enemies won’t get up and your rating doesn’t take a hit.

You can capture a lot more soldiers a lot faster by just running around in free-roam or side ops with a non-lethal kit. Run into a guard post, reflex time and headshot everyone, fulton them up, rinse and repeat. You don’t have to worry about losing rank for combat alerts or worry as much about reinforcements this way either.

All in all, MGS5 seemed pretty lackluster to me. It felt like they really had to pad out the game’s length and the multiplayer component is not very engaging or well-balanced in my opinion. Superbunnyhop’s youtube review sums up most of my thoughts on the game.

By: Apropos

Apropos — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 15:05:27 +0000

There are more reasons to go the non-lethal route in MGS:V though.

Specifically, if a guard is found sleeping he will not raise an alarm when discovered, where as a dead body left in the open will cause alarm bells.

By: Springfoot

Springfoot — Sat, 19 Sep 2015 21:53:07 +0000

@lajawl It’s not really presented as slavery in the game though. I wish they had made it a mandatory radio call instead of an option recording, but there’s a cassette tape that explains how the soldiers are simply unaware who this stealthy intruder is invading their bases. However, after you capture them non-lethally, they realize that you are the legendary Big Boss who they *all* look up to and are happy to have the opportunity to join your ranks.

It’s not a perfect explanation and is really there simply to give reason for the game’s mechanic to exist in the first place, but it’s never presented as subjugation. After all, the vast majority of your base staff is armed and composed of these abducted soldiers, so an uprising would be pretty easy for them as they outnumber you and your close pals by 500:1. There are even recruits who you don’t have to abduct and simply join your ranks because they heard that you’re still alive and want to join you.

By: Iajawl

Iajawl — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 07:29:49 +0000

Got to be honest and say that I dont like the sound of this MGS5’s fix to the problem. Slavery is more morally questionable than killing people.

By: The Cheshire Cat

The Cheshire Cat — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 23:51:02 +0000

The main problem with the balanced approach in Dishonored is that the game only needed you to kill a couple of people to switch over to pure “you are a murderous monster psychopath” mode in terms of how it rated your performance and what ending you got.

It’s actually really interesting how MGSV and Peace Walker before it made the choice between lethal and non-lethal meaningful because historically it has been one of the WORST offenders when it came to forcing you to either go one way or the other. Kill even one person in the entire game (including bosses)? You’re now locked out of the best rating at the end. And the non-lethal options weren’t nearly as varied either – you know the tranq pistol you start MGSV with? That’s all you had most of the time. Even grabbing people and choking them wasn’t any good in previous games because they got up much more quickly.

MGSV meanwhile not only gives you the recovery/conversion option to incentivize you to use non-lethal weapons, it ALSO removes the arbitrary punishment for using lethal ones – you can still S rank any mission no matter how many enemies you kill. Being stealthy and quick matters more than lethal vs. non-lethal (technically you’re locked out of the Fox-Hound codename for killing enemies during a mission, but that’s it).

By: Jabberwok

Jabberwok — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 12:35:57 +0000

I kind of had this problem in Dishonored, and my choice was option 3. However, in the first Deus Ex, the choice was much different because non-lethal was almost always quieter. Even late game, with a silenced sniper rifle, I believe a headshot would still cause them to yell when they died, alerting others nearby. So going lethal usually meant going loud as well. The first kill would be easy, but make things more complicated after that.