This is How Metal Gear Solid V Should Have Ended

[Warning: this article contains spoilers for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain]

I can appreciate the meaning behind Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’s ending. Really, I can. But Senior Editor Ishmael Romero and I thought of an ending that would’ve been perfect for the game, and would’ve rounded the series out so nicely. You ready?

First off, here’s how the game actually ends. Right after we hear Big Boss’s speech about how we are all Big Boss, and the camera pans to the cassette tape that has the words “Operation Intrude N313” on it, Venom smiles. He then smashes the mirror on the wall, and the credits roll.

But you know what would’ve made this ending even better? A beautiful shot right after this scene, rendered with the FOX Engine of course, of the Outer Heaven built by the real Big Boss. Everything seems normal, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. And then, we see a silhouette parachuting down to Outer Heaven. He’s wearing a sneaking suit, but we can’t really make out his features. The mysterious man lands, he removes his night vision goggles, he looks up, and he stares straight at the camera into our eyes.

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

In David Hayter’s sexy, scruffy voice, no less. And then the screen cuts to black and the credits roll.

I would forgive the clumsiness of Metal Gear Solid V’s ending if this scene was in. Just bring David Hayter back for those four words and I would forgive anything. Heck, just use an audio clip from Metal Gear Solid for this one scene and I’d take that too. 5 out of 5. Give it all the GOTY awards. In fact, that scene alone would make it THE game of the century because of how perfectly it completes the Metal Gear cycle.

Plot holes and retcons? Who really cares about those when you have Hayter reprising his role as Solid Snake? It sure as hell would appease all the fans that felt cheated by the seemingly random nature of mission 46 too.

So that’s how we thought Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain should have ended. What about you? Were you satisfied with the game’s ending, or do you think it needed just a little bit more, like the aforementioned fan’s fantasy of Hayter’s return? Let us know in the comments.

More Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

• Everyone’s Playing MGSV: TPP and Hideo Kojima Is Watching Mad Max
• How to Beat Quiet in the Easiest and Most Embarrassing Way
• MGSV: The Phantom Pain – How to Get the Silly Chicken Hat
• Clothes MGS V’s Quiet Could’ve Worn and Been Just Fine In
• Quiet Gives Snake a Crazy Birthday Surprise in Metal Gear Solid V: TPP