During the Spike Video Game Awards last night, a mysterious new IP debuted by an unknown developer called “Moby Dick Studios”. The game is called “The Phantom Pain” and the internet has been buzzing all night with theories to support and suggest that this new video game is infact “Metal Gear Solid V”. I have provided a trailer summary down below that contains speculations that may or may not explain different events that happen throughout it. Feel free to read it or jump straight down below to watch the trailer yourself.

The trailer revolves around an amputee (speculated to be Big Boss) who has just awoken from a coma. A doctor (speculated to be Dr. Kio Marv from Metal Gear 2: Snakes Revenge on the original MSX2) appears with a nurse and tells the patient what has happened . We then see the amputee discover his arm is missing and has been replaced with a hook (a reference to Moby Dick Studios). While this scene happens, you can notice white flower petals fall from the sky, just like the flowers from the end of Metal Gear Solid 3 – Big Boss and the Bosses battle. This adds further to the MGS5 hype-train! The amputee is then dragged from his bed by a man who has sustained major facial injuries. Many people have been suggesting that this is infact Frank Jagger (known as Gray Fox to most), no-one knows much about this person but he sounds alot like Kiefer Sutherland. Then the trailer transitions from cut-scenes to actual gameplay which looks exactly like Ground Zero.

Graphically this looks nothing like current gen consoles, I have a strong feeling this game will be released on the next generation of consoles. Keeping with gameplay for the next few seconds we eventually break back into cut-scenes. The next features a figure of a young male that is speculated to be Psycho Mantis (at this time Mantis would have been roughly in his teens if the timeline is correct). If this is the case, maybe Mantis is making the amputee have these illusions that we see next. Moving away from the young male, the corridor glows a bright dull reddish-yellow while being engulfed in smoke. As the trailer moves on, the two main characters spot a helicopter outside of the building. The facially injured man notices flashlights in the distance down the corridor. He quickly moves to a nearby room where the next part of the trailer happens. In this room, the two hide and witness a patient being executed by a heavily armed solider brutally.

We are then shown an explosion in a corridor that knocks the two main characters away. Afterwards we see a large group of patients being executed by a squad of trained soldiers with the two main characters in the middle with no where to go! Back to the corridor where the explosion happened, a man engulfed in flames which heavily resembles Volgin from MGS3, stares on and watches as the amputee and his friend get up and run away. This cues to a close up of just the amputee running down a flame ridden corridor. We then get a close up of the soldiers (who look awfully like the Beauty and the Beast PMC Haven troopers from MGS4) for the first time as well as an extended close up of the man engulfed in flames. A horse appears from an elevator on fire (again speculation wise this could be the Boss as she is the only character in MGS to ride or have a horse) with what looks like wings and a horn (just like a unicorn or even Pegasus). A close up of the helicopter from earlier appears and then we see the amputee eventual reach the outside of the building which looks completely destroyed. The next scene is of the helicopter being “eaten” by what looks like a huge whale on fire (another Moby Dick Studios reference) or maybe a prototype of Metal Gear Ray. Then the title appears. Once the title fades, we see the amputee being identified by a solider who is standing next to what appears to be the young male from earlier on. If you keep your eyes on the young males feet you can see him levitate up into the air which strongly indicates that it is indeed Psycho Mantis. Then the trailer is over.

With all of what I have spoke about, The Phantom Pain is 100% an MGS related title. The main character (amputee) has to be Big Boss because of the mullet, scaring right under the eye and of course the eye itself. Hopefully we get to see plenty more information on this title very soon, very fast! A few more quick points to suggest that this is infact MGS5 will be shown below.

In the image at the top of the page you can notice line marks for what appears to be for text. The following image has been released by ST0567 from r/MetalGearSolid which show that the lines spell out Metal Gear Solid V perfectly. This could be complete rubbish but its interesting to say the least.

Again thanks to ST0567 from r/MetalGearSolid, we can see that the amputee indeed has the same scar that Big Boss in MGS:GZ has right under his eye. This meaning that the amputee is defiantly Big Boss.

Another image by a different user on r/MetalGearSolid by the name of DerptyDumpts has discovered a map on the back wall in the very first scene with the doctor. This could indicate that the facility the amputee is in, is located in Cyprus.

On the topic of this new and mysterious developer Moby Dick Studios, if you take a look at there website which can be located here – it looks rushed and features very little information regarding the studio itself. Their CEO is named “Joakim Morgen”, which is an anagram for “Kojima” and contains the word “Ogre” (Kojima was developing a project called “Ogre”).

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