Everything We Learned About Metal Gear Solid V’s Mother Base at Gamescom 2015

Expansion is Key

Expanding Mother Base and collecting weapons and resources for it will help to develop the base even further. In turn, the soldiers you’ve recruited into Diamond Dogs will also level up along with the expansion of Mother Base and they’ll be better able to assist Snake on the field. Just like in Peace Walker and Portable Ops, your various units in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will learn new skills and be able to develop better gear for you as their levels increase.

Similarly to previous games, Metal Gear Solid V will also allow you to personally handpick your soldiers and assign them to various departments. Alternatively, you can allow Ocelot and Kaz to do the assignments for you. The soldiers you recruit into Diamond Dogs will be automatically assigned to whichever department best suits their stats, but you’ll be able to change up the roster as you see fit.

As the units level up, they’ll be able to assist Snake by providing intel, supply drops and even backup on the field.

Familiarize Yourself With Different Platforms

Each platform on Mother Base is assigned to a different department in Diamond Dogs. For instance, you’ll have your Research & Development team, your Support team, and your Combat Unit.

As the name suggests, the R&D team assists you by developing better gear and equipment for Snake. They’ll be able to produce different types of firearms, heavy weapons like missiles, and even improve Snake’s stealth camouflage to allow for easier infiltration tactics while you’re on the field.

The Support team, on the other hand, makes itself useful by providing Snake with supply drops during missions. These drops can come in the form of different weapons you have back at Mother Base, or even ammo if you’ve run out of it while on a mission. They can also send in vehicles as forms of support. If you run into trouble on the field, the Support team can also call in air strikes, create diversions, or even send in a chopper to provide backup.

Konami also showed off Metal Gear Solid V’s Combat Unit, which comprises of various fireteams that you can send out to complete tasks for you. Depending on where you send them and what kind of task you assign to them, the Combat Unit can also make certain missions easier for Snake to complete on his own. Players will also be able to choose a soldier from the Combat Unit and use them during missions in place of Snake. This is vital as each soldier comes with certain special perks. For example, the botanist can identify and gather useful herbs – something Snake may not be able to do. Picking and choosing your soldiers wisely will help you fulfill special objectives during missions.

Explore Mother Base

Konami has mentioned that events and encounters will unfold at Mother Base, and there are a ton of things for you to do in-between missions. Going up to your soldiers and saluting them, for instance, will help boost that soldier’s morale, as well as the overall morale of your entire base. Exploration of Mother Base will also allow you to find random raw diamonds scattered around the area.

Snake’s actions will influence the development of Mother Base and the Diamond Dogs, so players have to step in occasionally, and resolve any possible conflicts that may arise. This will help to maintain order on Mother Base, and keep your operations running smoothly.

In addition to that, you can also eavesdrop on your soldiers’ conversations. The nature of their conversations seems to be random and you might even glean some useful information from them sometimes.

Take a Shower and Pet the Dog

A very important aspect of Metal Gear Solid V is making sure to take care of Snake’s hygiene. There will be portable shower areas scattered around Mother Base so Snake will be able to take a shower to wash off all the blood and grime from the previous mission. This is important, as neglecting to take a shower will have negative effects on Snake’s performance in future missions.

And more importantly, this will result in your soldiers telling Snake that he stinks. We simply can’t have that. So yeah, take regular showers.

After you’ve taken a refreshing shower, you can also visit your adorable little puppy, named D-Dog, wandering around Mother Base. While D-Dog won’t be of much use to you as a puppy, he will eventually grow into an adult and Snake will be able to take him on missions where he’ll become a valuable ally.

Online Multiplayer

After Mother Base has gone through significant expansions, you’ll also be able to build Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) to take part in Metal Gear Solid V’s new online multiplayer mode. FOBs act as your online bases in the game, and teams assigned to your FOBs can autonomously mine for resources, further aiding Diamond Dogs and Mother Base in their development. However, FOBs can also be invaded by other players.

Therefore, it’s crucial to invest in security measures for your FOBs. Players will be able to install surveillance cameras, other forms of artillery, and Snake can also remotely issue orders to Mother Base via the iDroid device. Should you so choose, you can also try to take down intruders yourself. By heading back to Mother Base, you can assist your troops in locating the intruder and stopping him from stealing your staff and resources.

As the intruder, you can also lay traps for defenders by planting mines and sleeping gas to incapacitate them as you try to make your way to the central core of the enemy’s Mother Base. Player rewards will depend on how heavily fortified the Mother Base is.

Of course, for players who wish to experience Metal Gear Solid V as a solo stealth experience, Konami has also mentioned that you don’t have to build FOBs if you don’t want to. The online multiplayer mode is entirely optional and it won’t be required to beat the main campaign of the game.

Kidnap Those Animals

Perhaps the most important thing we learned about Mother Base at Gamescom is that you can also have a platform dedicated to animal conservation. This platform will be solely reserved for all the sheep, horses, and whatever other animals you choose to kidnap while you’re on the field.

Konami didn’t really specify exactly what purpose there is to maintaining your animal conservation platform but hey, if it’s in the game, it’s gotta be really important, right? Maybe you’ll be able to build your very own Diamond Dog zoo or something.