I've been playing through the series repeatedly over the last 17 years. It's what kept me coming back to gaming. During those strange periods of my life where my interest in games would wane, a new MGS would release to reinvigorate my passion for the hobby. I begged my mom for a PSX after hearing all my friends talk about MGS at school. That was followed by years of great gaming. Then, she surprised me with a PS2 after I showed her MGS2 in a Walmart ad paper. More great gaming ensued. Later, I hit that misguided age where I cared little about gaming and a lot about partying. But before I had the chance to turn my PS2 into a bong, I spent my dope money on MGS3 and didn't leave my house for weeks. I ate venomous snakes and ramen noodles while I detoxed in my boxer shorts. I played that shit over and over and over again. Nothing else would ever compare, or so I believed.
Eventually, I sold my PS2 (still not a bong), got an awesome offshore job, and spent my home time singing Weezer songs at my favorite bar. I met a little fox, got married, bought a house, had a couple of kids. Life was good, man, but other than buying a PSP to play through Portable Ops a single time, I hadn't gamed in years. I had no home console, no PC, and at some point, no PSP - nothing but an extant Nokia that could barely play Snake (Snaaaake!). I was no longer a gamer.
But then... oh my god, dude... then, I was at Bestbuy one night in late 2008, walking straight past the gaming isles - probably headed for some shitty CD - when, in my peripheral, I spotted a strange face under a familiar headband. It was my dude Solid Snake. He was Old now, but it was definitely him. And he was hunkered down next to a giant PS4 on a white box that was suddenly tucked under my arm as I moved towards the front of the store. I had no idea either even existed until that moment, but without giving it a second (or first) thought, I charged 500 smackers to the wife's Bestbuy card and headed home with a new MGS4/PS4 bundle in tow. I never even got my shitty CD!
I got home, narrowly avoided a finances fight, set up the kids' (my) new Playstation, paced around during some odious updates and installs, and then, after several satisfying hours spent staring at an old dude's shiny ass, it was over. The culmination of 10 years of tactical espionage action, the single greatest joy I've experienced with a controller in my hand, the height of best damn gaming series known to me, and the perfect conclusion to ant intriguing, touching, confusing, and astounding story about a family of snakes. I was shocked. I was stunned. I was choked up. I was left wanting more....
But I didn't want more Metal Gear; that part of my life was fulfilled beyond my wildest dreams. I just wanted more awesome experiences. Kojima's masterwork had once again reawakened the gamer in me, and I've been gaming religiously ever since. For 7 years now, I've been downloading adventure after adventure after adventure, hoping to find something with a similar balance of wide eyes and mouth breathing and heart palpitations once inflicted upon me when punching clones and climbing long ass ladders. A few games have come close, sure, but I remained convinced that MGS4 was the apex of my virtual journeys. Imagine my surprise, though, when I see motherfuckin' Big Boss crawl up on some wet rocks, pull off his Sam Fischer goggles, and say "Kept you waiting, huh?"... Dude! You know what two years of constant hype is like? I can't believe I survived. But thank Boss I did, because it's finally about to happen: I'm about to experience a game greater than my all-time greatest gaming experience.
You want to know what it'll be like to play MGSV after more than a decade of unfaltering fanaticism? It will be like reading a 4th volume of Lord of the Rings, or watching a 2nd season of Firefly, or having the Star Wars prequel trilogies erased from your mind, or standing center stage while a never-dead John Lennon sings "Let it be" in your face during the Beatles reunion tour (without Yoko, obviously). It will be, for a fan like me, the best fucking thing ever.