Ranking 2015’s Summer Video Games From Worst To Best

2. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Problems with top brass appeared to plague the development and PR rollout of Hideo Kojima's final Metal Gear Solid, but in the end it doesn't appear to have mattered. Short of rumblings there were certain story beats cut for budgetary reasons, Phantom Pain is an absolutely staggering achievement in game design. Honestly, even if you've seen all the trailers and read any number of articles detailing its inner-workings, you're not prepared for the bewildering sensation that settles in when grappling with them all in unison. Playing as Big Boss, fresh from his missions in both Snake Eater and Peace Walker, he's attempting to re-establish a place soldiers can call home away from their particular nation's whims or desires. That means going all Pokémon on their derrières, scouring some of the biggest landmasses ever committed to code and amassing your own private army in the process. You'll put extracted warriors and their respective stats into various select struts of your Mother Base, where they can be assigned to various departments. You'll develop new weapons, items, and loadout options. You'll befriend and rank up a number of 'Buddy' characters to take in the field, all with separate skills to unlock, bask in the glow of this generation's finest graphics yet, try out literally hundreds of ways to play by combining everything together - and witness one of the barmiest stories that's more 'Metal Gear' than the inside of a chromed clocktower in the process. As a military-themed stealth title it's remarkably impressive, but as the culmination of 28 years of game design it's both a love letter to fans and the finest body of work Hideo Kojima's put his name to yet.