A game in which Metal Gear's signature isometric stealth puzzle boxes are abandoned in favor of total player freedom and synchronous control; a game in which Kojima's explicit condemnation of America's foreign policy leads you to shoot your way through colonial encampments in not-Guantanamo; a game in which military fetishism, high-fidelity 3D models, and handheld documentary-style compositions allow for comically exploitative levels of violence against women in ways this series had never and will never attempt again; a game in which you can rescue Hideo Kojima himself from captivity (accompanied by a title card for his specific prescription of Ray-Bans); a game that is not entirely a game, but a fraction of a game meant to elicit shock-jock coverage and feigned surprise from news outlets as both its content and pricing were designed to coax people into outrage. Maybe the most fascinating title released in the ninth generation, and certainly a title I have spent too much time playing given its prideful, vainglorious repugnance.

Making all of Paz's audio logs from Peace Walker available to listen to in addition to new cassette tapes recorded for this game that detail and elucidate her mindset, tensions, and ultimate conflict of self going into Ground Zeroes, only for her to be treated like a slab of meat other characters get to carve and slice and sling around is the cruelest, uncharacteristic swing that Kojima has ever taken.