ActionAdventure
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN
Give it 3 hours
Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3
Fully opens up by 7h rated like by long-time players
Reach the ending 20% of players who started
Started playing 89% of owners
Steam reviews 92% positive of 108,777
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 3 reviews are negative (39%); after 20h it's 1 in 15 (7%).
- Fully opens up by hour 7.
- 20% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “Phantom Limb” and “Beekeeper” (Complete "WHERE DO THE BEES SLEEP?" mission): from 88% to 67% of starters.
- 89% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 109,018 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 52.6h for positive, 33.7h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (89.3% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- Awakening Complete "PROLOGUE: AWAKENING" mission. 100%
- Phantom Limb Complete "PHANTOM LIMB" mission. 88% −12
- Beekeeper Complete "WHERE DO THE BEES SLEEP?" mission. Most players quit here 67% −21
- Gears Turn Complete "HELLBOUND" mission. 54% −13
- Caravan Complete "TRAITORS' CARAVAN" mission. 46% −7
- Voices Complete "VOICES" mission. 42% −4
- Immortal Complete "METALLIC ARCHAEA" mission. 37% −5
- Skull Complete "SAHELANTHROPUS" mission. 35% −2
- Disappearance Complete "CLOAKED IN SILENCE" mission. 19% −16
- Truth Complete "TRUTH: THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD" mission. 20% +1
story milestone ending biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (42)
story milestone ending side
- Awakening Complete "PROLOGUE: AWAKENING" mission. 100%
- Captured Capture an outpost or guard post. 95%
- Phantom Limb Complete "PHANTOM LIMB" mission. 88%
- Extraction Fulton extract an enemy soldier. 81%
- Undertaken Complete a SIDE OP. 75%
- Platoon Increase Mother Base staff to 50 or more personnel. 73%
- Interrogation Interrogate an enemy soldier. 69%
- Beekeeper Complete "WHERE DO THE BEES SLEEP?" mission. 67%
- Enhancement Develop 50 or more development items. 61%
- To The Rescue Extract a female prisoner. 57%
- Battalion Increase Mother Base staff to 250 or more personnel. 55%
- Gears Turn Complete "HELLBOUND" mission. 54%
- Cry Havoc Make D-Dog available for deployment. 53%
- Speechless Make Quiet available for deployment. 49%
- Caravan Complete "TRAITORS' CARAVAN" mission. 46%
- Prosperity Earn a total of 10,000,000 GMP or more. 45%
- Reinforcement Develop 100 or more development items. 44%
- Voices Complete "VOICES" mission. 42%
- Immortal Complete "METALLIC ARCHAEA" mission. 37%
- Skull Complete "SAHELANTHROPUS" mission. 35%
- War Buddy Raise bond with Quiet to the maximum. 34%
- Man's Best Friend Raise bond with D-Dog to the maximum. 30%
- Intruder Play an "Infiltration" FOB mission. 24%
- Trusty Steed Raise bond with D-Horse to the maximum. 20%
- Truth Complete "TRUTH: THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD" mission. 20%
- Disappearance Complete "CLOAKED IN SILENCE" mission. 19%
- Hero Obtain the codename "Hero." 18%
- Apprentice Complete a mission using a Combat Unit staff member. 18%
- Architect Construct all available platforms for Mother Base. 15%
- Army Raise all Teams/Units to level 50. 15%
- Locked and Loaded Develop 300 or more development items. 14%
- Accomplished Complete all missions. 8.6%
- Deployment Complete all key Dispatch Missions. 8.0%
- Cleared Complete all "Mine Clearing" SIDE OPS. 7.6%
- Reminiscence Obtain all memento photos. 7.4%
- Achieved Complete all SIDE OPS. 5.7%
- Elite Complete all missions with an S rank. 4.7%
- Deterrence Develop a nuclear weapon. 4.7%
- Disarmament Dispose of a nuclear weapon. 4.1%
- Executed Complete all mission tasks. 3.6%
- Conservation Extract all wild animal species. 3.4%
- Collector Obtain all blueprints and key items. 2.7%
Steam page Updated: 2026-10-22.