Game Of The Month: September - Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Game Of The Month returns, haunting the first Monday of the month with the answer to life's eternal question: "I do not have time to play all of these games so which one should I pick?" There are so many worthy games that it's hard to pick just one but in this month of September 2015, one game has dominated our waking hours with its extraordinary take on open world stealth. It's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain [official site].

We all knew that Metal Gear's return to PC would cause something of a stir. The apparent discord between Konami and series director Hideo Kojima seemed to confirm that this would be the final Metal Gear Solid created by the original creator, and standalone prologue Ground Zeroes proved to be a meticulous sandbox that encouraged and rewarded experimentation. The Phantom Pain is even more impressive. Stealth expert Daniel Hindes, of the website Sneaky Bastards, reviewed the game for us and reckons it's "the best stealth-action game ever made". You can read that review right now, along with Alec's diaries and Rab's pre-release cry of joy. You can also go back in time to our Ground Zeroes review.

Why is September's game a game that was released in August?

It isn't! Normally we pick a game from the previous month but a combination of factors mean that September's game was actually released in September. We often pick an older game because we want to be able to play the games we choose as Game of the Month, not speculatively guess at what might be worth your time. That means that the games we choose will already be out, and in some cases may have been released years ago if they have suddenly become relevant again. It also means you can start playing the game we pick immediately if you so choose. Because we publish our pick on the first Monday of the month, we've had time to play plenty of The Phantom Pain.

Have you guys done this before?

Yes. We've so far included Cities: Skylines, Grand Theft Auto V, Invisible, Inc, Her Story and Rocket League. What an eclectic collection. All of their respective features and GOTM coverage can be read here.

Expect further thoughts on Metal Gear from the whole crew, since we've all been playing with our Snakes, face-down in the dust and dirt of an eternal war. Discuss your own balloon animal adventures in the comments.