Just like Ground Zeroes before it, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is one of the best-optimised titles on PC, and a superb way to experience Kojima's swansong to the series. It suits a wide range of setups - with even a Core i3 budget PC with a GTX 750 Ti capable of matching and even exceeding the PS4 experience in certain areas. It's a scalable game too - at its highest presets at ultra HD, it can even give the GTX 980 Ti and Titan X a run for their money - but ultimately, a 1080p target is very achievable on just about any enthusiast gaming hardware setup.
And crucially, Kojima Productions gives PC users plenty of options to tinker with its Fox Engine. The lack of support for frame-rates above 60fps is a shame, but everything else is present; from toggles to scale lighting quality and geometry LODs, to adjusting the quality of post-effects. Ultimately, the gains over PS4 and Xbox One are welcome; shadows are cleaned up, texture filtering is much improved, and the draw distance is broadened. However, the core elements are the same up close, and all three versions are highly recommended.
All in all, the Fox Engine once again rises to the challenge on PC, showing us its adaptability in the face of multiple hardware configurations. It's a shame that the only upcoming title to use this technology is Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 - and with Kojima Productions disbanded, we're unlikely to see the speculated open-world remake of the Metal Gear Solid using the engine. Even so, let's hope Metal Gear Solid 5's success here spurs Konami to return to more AAA projects in this vein - and that this engine forms the basis of its efforts.
