6. Open World
Much has been made about Kojima's decision to move Metal Gear into the open world of gaming. At first glance, it sounds great and seems to open up a wealth of possibilities for MGS V. However, there are reasons to be concerned about the effect this could have. When I hear "open world", my mind immediately goes to Grand Theft Auto. To me, these games are the epitome of the sandbox style of gaming. Kojima himself has also invited comparisons to GTA when he commented that he was "depressed" upon seeing gameplay of GTA V, as he feels that his V cannot measure up to it. This screams to me that the open world we have been promised may not actually be as "open" as we are hoping. It seems like MGS V will instead be comprised of very large levels, where the openness really comes into play only in how you approach that particular level, instead of getting a Grand Theft Metal Gear experience. The other thing the open world setting could have a negative effect on is the story, which is the most important part of any Metal Gear game in my mind. I will get into that further a little bit later.