Joaby has emerged from the long grass, snake scales stuck between his teeth, to give us his final word on a game that has likely strained his marriage more than any ominous late night phone call and immediate hangup ever could. So what's his verdict?

Here's a bite:

Allow me to begin the obligatory trick by saying that the story is bananas. It's more bananas than you could imagine. The opening is crazy long and not remotely indicative of the contents of the game, the cutscenes following are shorter but still complete lunacy. In essence, you play as Big Boss and your job is to build up a private army so grand that nobody can ever screw with you again. You and your friends Ocelot and Miller kidnap soldiers and convince them to join your cause, the whole time seeking revenge on the man who destroyed your last attempt to do exactly what you're currently doing. It's adolescent power fantasy at its grandest, a militant reaction to bullying so epic it involves torture, giant robots and a dog with the ability to parachute people away to an oil rig in the Indian Ocean.

Along the way there are invisible people, rock people, people who can rust vehicles, tanks, helicopters, more robots and more. You can, if you like, skip every single cutscene just to move on to the game itself -- and if you hate whacky stories about all of the above, you should do exactly that. Because if you avoid this game just because you can't invest in a mad man's story, you are doing yourself a huge disservice. Because the gameplay is beyond reproach.

Click here for Joaby's in-depth Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain review.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is out and available, but like so many other games we received it too late and it's simply too big to definitively review just yet, but Joaby is having some serious fun with it and produced a "review in progress" feature for y'all to digest if you're not sure on *seemingly* Kojima's last Konami-published outing.

From Joab's review in progress:

The game is gorgeous. It runs at a solid, flawless 60 frames per second on PS4, the loading times are disgustingly short and it looks beautiful. Hair is probably the only area it falls short in, a problem many games have. The lighting is fantastic, using HDR Bloom to create pockets of mystery out of any indoors environment -- during the day anyway. During the night darkness is your ally -- as it should be in a stealth game -- but even then the way torches and spotlights create a blinding flare is used to fantastic effect.

More important though -- it plays brilliantly. As Snake, or Big Boss, or whatever you want to call yourself, you always feel like you're in control -- once you know how the game works and the systems work, you always feel like you possess the tools you need to complete a mission. If you like, you can sit outside an area of operation for minutes at a time marking out guards on patrol before heading in to complete your mission. Some Metal Gear purists might feel like this removes the challenge, but I see it as a logical evolution of the Soliton Radar (which is absent in TPP). On top of that, the guards operate on shifts, so if you take too long to scout things out time will catch up with you and your hard work will be for naught.

Click here for Joaby's complete MGSV: TPP review in progress.

Konami has released a 30-minute gameplay walkthrough of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain replaying missions to showcase the varying ways in which the player can approach infiltration and the like.

Each mission is roughly seven minutes long, giving you a quick overview of the differences in the open-world approach to Snake's next major outing. And for anyone who can't spare the 30-minutes, Konami has supplied a breakdown in text you can have a look at after the video embedded below.

FREEDOM OF INFILTRATION - Gameplay Demo

1. Partnering with Quiet:
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN introduces a unique ‘Buddy’ system, wherein the player can select a recruited ally for use in missions. Quiet is a selectable ‘Buddy’ in the game, who possesses incredible sniping abilities. The first video showcases footage which demonstrates a mission where the player approaches a remote outpost using Quiet to orchestrate coordinated attacks to quickly incapacitate enemies and provide cover for Snake as he completes his mission.

2. Surgical Air Raid:
Missions can also be tackled in a more overt manner, and the second video shows METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN’s more action-orientated elements. Having equipped series hero Snake with heavy riot gear, the player uses the artillery equipped on their helicopter to take out key installations within a night mission. Using automatic weapons, Snake then storms the outpost in a huge firefight, before locating and retrieving his target.

3. Remote Assassination:
Patience is a virtue in METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN and the final video is used to show how missions can be completed from afar and also shows Snake’s Blast Arm in use for the first time. Having entered the area with a heavily-armoured D-Horse as his Buddy, Snake waits until night time before taking out a guard using a blast from his prosthetic arm. The arm’s projectile weapon capabilities are then showed as the player uses ‘Missile Cam’ to take out a central target akin to the Nikita System introduced in past METAL GEAR SOLID titles.

4. Thinking "Outside the Box”:
The METAL GEAR SOLID series is famed for its stealth gameplay, and the third video is used to demonstrate how old favourites and new skills combine to create even more sneaking options for the player. The footage begins with Snake intercepting troops en route to an outpost having used the famed cardboard box in clever new ways. Via careful planting of explosives and an unwitting sentry, the mission is completed without even entering the base.

Adding to the end of the year's already heft videogame payload, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is set to release September 1st on next-gen and PC.

The Game Awards 2014 was a good night for Metal Gear Solid fans, with the announcement of a multiplayer addition to the upcoming open-world Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain title, though it seems creator Hideo Kojima may have revealed a bit more than Metal Gear Online.

According to a post on Reddit, fans watching the show spotted some strange text on Kojima's shirt, with the text in question - “tjugoandra den sjätte” – Swedish for “twenty second the sixth”.

VG247 points out that Swedish folk don't typically describe dates like that, but allowing for translation errors fans have theorised Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will release on June 22nd, 2015. Whether that date is accurate is still up in the air, but going by previous ways Kojima has revealed information about Metal Gear Solid V it could be a possibility.

Currently the official word from Konami is that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is heading to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 come 2015.

Miss the reveal? Check out the gameplay below.

Last weekend we saw a quite large dump of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain footage thanks to Tokyo Game Show, however fans of English-speaking tongue were left a bit in the dark due to the Japanese language. Luckily, Konami has offered up three of the bigger reveals in plain English for an insight into the game's open-world universe.

In a series of videos, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima showed how Snake will work alongside a pair of AI-controlled partners: Quiet the supernatural sniper and DD the eyepatch-wearing dog. These can be seen below, along with more than 20 minutes of direct-feed gameplay, all narrated by Konami commentary for your viewing pleasure.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be launching in 2015 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360.

Be careful, this article has a whole lot of cute in it. Over the weekend Konami revealed some additional details about upcoming open-world title Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, showcasing the newest companion to walk alongside Snake (Big Boss for those wanting to be accurate): a wolf companion named Diamond Dog.

The furry friend was given a snippet of gameplay during the Tokyo Game Show livestream, showcasing his role as support for the grizzled Snake. He also has an adorable eye patch matching Snake, which is just too cute for a Monday morning.

Like Quiet, DD will be available on some missions as a companion to Snake, though it wasn't said what exactly DD has to offer in regards to combat. Check his origin story below, and also catch a glimpse of the hilarious use of Kojima's P.T. demo antagonist Lisa in-game.

Tokyo Game Show is well underway in Japan, and Konami is headlining the event with a number of their big hitters including the spectacular-looking open-world take Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Today we have the joy of watching 20 minutes of gameplay footage courtesy of a livestream late yesterday, showing off protagonist and iconic character Solid Snake - or in this case Big Boss - roaming the jungle setting. During the video you'll see Snake show off a number of moves, including 3D fake snakes, attaching a balloon to an enemy to see them float away (that one won't ever get old) and the iconic snake-in-a-box trick that we've come to love from the series.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be launching in 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. The pre-sequel, Ground Zeroes, will be heading to Steam for PC sometime soon.

Tokyo Game Show 2014 is upon us, and to begin the annual event in Japan is Konami, who are currently streaming a live playthrough of upcoming title Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.

Catch the action live below, and we'll have a summary of events once the stream is complete.

Update: After showing off a teaser glimpse at female sidekick Quiet last week, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima offered up the full trailer during the stream. You can check that out below.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be available for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360 come sometime in 2015.

Industry veteran Hideo Kojima has offered a glimpse into what will be shown of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain during next week's Tokyo Game Show, giving us a very brief look at one of the possible bosses, Quiet.

The video footage, which first aired during a webcast of Kojima Station on Konami's Twitch channel, features a short preview of female sniper Quiet as she adopt an invisible form and jumps from a helicopter to Mother Base.

It wasn't just Quiet that got a tease during the early stream, with Kojima-san taking to Twitter to showcase a yet unannounced Metal Gear Solid Collection 2014. You can check that out below alongside the Quiet teaser and the Gamescom 2014 footage if you happen to miss that.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be heading to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. Kojima's prologue, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, will also be heading to PC.

Hideo Kojima and Konami have lifted the curtains on what to expect in the multiplayer side of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain thanks to a new batch of gameplay footage.

The reveal was streamed on IGN and clocks in at just over the 22 minute marker. The gameplay showcases new uses for Snake's infamous cardboard box, further exploration of the vast open-world players will get to experience and how the day-night cycle will impact missions. Actual multiplayer doesn't appear until around the 17 minute mark of the video, and seems to focus on stealing resources from each other.

You can check it out in action below, alongside another gameplay video from the single-player perspective that was showcased at last week's Gamescom 2014 Konami event.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360. The Ground Zeroes pre-sequel is also heading to Steam for PC, which was announced at Gamescom last week.

After being on consoles for its entirety, it seems Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid series is finally coming to PC with the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes on Steam, according to the man himself at Gamescom 2014.

Originally leaked a bit early through Konami Europe's website, Kojima revealed the news during a Metal Gear Solid-themed livestream earlier this morning. The news was revealed in the only way Kojima felt it could: a box labelled 'Steam' that protagonist Solid Snake was conveniently hiding under. You can check out the box action over at NeoGAF where users have captured the specific livestream moment.

According to Kojima, Ground Zeroes will be released first, with the open-world Phantom Pain following "soon" after. You can find Steam pages for both Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes for all the juicy game info.

Konami has published a new version of the full 30 minute E3 demo of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain on the official Metal Gear Solid Youtube channel, serving up the section of the game previously shown behind closed doors and during event live streams in its highest quality yet.

The video description "Live Demo in 60 FPS" also suggests it's also supposed to be taking advantage of Youtube's recently implemented high frame rate support, but as far as we can tell, playback doesn't appear to push above the usual old 30FPS. Perhaps there's just something wrong with my browser?

Regardless, if you have previously watched this gameplay clip on a patchy live-stream, then it's well worth revisiting to get a better idea of the game's next gen visuals.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is said to be in the works for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but a release date has yet to be committed to.

While we are still waiting a few hours before Microsoft kicks off the E3 2014 conferences at 2:30AM AEST, Konami's upcoming open-world take on the Metal Gear Solid series has accidentally leaked to the Internet, offering up a five-minute trailer with a very rad soundtrack to boot.

The trailer showcases what looks to be all in-game cutscenes, showing of Konami's FOX Engine which was first scene in-action with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, a more pre-sequel to Phantom Pain. Featuring a rather gruff looking Snake voiced by Hollywood star Keith Sutherland, the trailer gives us some brief glimpses of events unfolding after Ground Zeroes so be warned of spoilers.

Check out the trailer below and we'll hopefully see more at either Microsoft or Sony's E3 2014 conference in due time.

After initially being revealed late last year, the opening cinematic to konami's upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zero has finally been given an English voice cast, this time offering up Kiefer Sutherland as the new voice of Snake.

The cinematic offers up nine minutes of in-engine footage, provided by the very impressive Fox Engine. A number of graphical highlights including the lighting effects are shown off, giving you an idea of just what to expect come next-gen.

While the initial trailer has been shown off in various forms throughout the year since its reveal, this will be the first time that the public will hear a partial list of the English cast for the game. New gameplay footage was also shown off at TGS 2013, however you can now check out the captured gameplay below without the commentary input.

Metal Gear Solid 5 is aiming for a release on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. According to Polygon video footage is being showcased on a PC build sharing similarities with the current generation of console.

The first gameplay footage for the Xbox One version of Metal Gear Solid 5 was revealed at the Tokyo Game Show over the weekend, with series creator Hideo Kojima offering up running commentary while he showed off some of Snake's new moves.

The video, which you can check out below, is the first footage we have seen of Kojima-san's Metal Gear Solid 5 running on the Xbox One and so far it isn't look too shabby. A few new changes have been made to the series including a slow-mo style effect when caught and some UI reductions. Check out the video below alongside the PlayStation 4 daylight footage which was also shown during TGS 2013.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. No release date has yet been given.

One of the first games to be shown at Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference, the open-world title Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain has received an extended trailer showcasing a more in-depth look at just what Solid Snake's story is, but also confirming that the title will be coming to the PlayStation 4.

Featuring an overlook at some of the people you'll meet throughout your playthrough, this new trailer does feature some quite graphic content in the form of an open surgery to remove what looks to be a bomb. What it also features though is some extra footage of the open-world gameplay, the first for the series and hopefully not the last.

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will be available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. No release date has yet been given.

The first game to roll out from the Microsoft Conference is Konami's Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain. Featuring Solid Snake in a new open world environment complete with new gameplay mechanics, The Phantom Pain looks to take Snake back into a younger past.

Check out the gameplay demo below showing off the expansive new world.