In The Phantom Pain, players will be taking the role of super-soldier Big Boss or 'Venom Snake' in a massive collection of open-world environments. The gameplay elements are largely unchanged from Ground Zeroes with Snake's arsenal of binoculars, maps, pistols, assault rifles and explosives. up for use. Players may traverse the game world with vehicles such as cars and tanks, in addition to travelling on foot or by horse as seen in the gameplay demos. They may also call for friendly helicopter support against enemy soldiers in a combat alert plus send commandos to scout the target area.
As in Peace Walker and Ground Zeroes, The Phantom Pain will offer a base-building feature that allows players to develop weapons and items from their home base. Recruitment of enemy soldiers and prisoners has also returned for this purpose, allowing the base to grow through organization. Unlike in Peace Walker where players can only see Mother Base from the air, they can control Snake as he explores the complex on foot. Players can transport captured soldiers and other objects such as animals and vehicles back to Mother Base, using the Fulton Recovery System. Money for upgrading Mother Base can be collected from diamonds and shipping containers found all over the map and you can fully explore Mother Base, seeing how your troops are getting along and even being attacked by an enemy player.