Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

=== Setting ===
In the aftermath of the events of Ground Zeroes and the destruction of Militaires Sans Frontières (MSF), Big Boss (Kiefer Sutherland/Akio Ōtsuka) falls into a coma. Nine years later, he awakens and helps lead a new mercenary group, Diamond Dogs. Adopting the codename "Venom Snake", he ventures into Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War and the Angola—Zaire border region during the Angolan Civil War to track down the people responsible for MSF's destruction. Along the way, he becomes reacquainted with his former rival Ocelot (Troy Baker/Satoshi Mikami) and encounters Quiet (Stefanie Joosten), an assassin and sniper with supernatural abilities. While he and Kazuhira Miller (Robin Atkin Downes/Tomokazu Sugita) are initially driven to exact revenge, Snake unearths a plot by the Cipher organization to develop a new model of the Metal Gear system known as the ST-84 "Sahelanthropus".



Characters

In contrast to previous Metal Gear installments, Kojima Productions conducted the voice acting and motion capture with English-speaking actors and stuntmen first. While facial motion capture was used before for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, it was done separately from the actual voice acting. The Japanese voice acting was dubbed over the English cast's performance afterward, in contrast to previous releases in the series since Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, which had the characters' vocal and facial expressions lip-synched specifically to both Japanese and English voice acting.
At E3 2013, Konami confirmed that actor Kiefer Sutherland would provide Snake's voice and motion capture work for the game, taking a role over voice actor David Hayter. Kojima's reason for replacing Hayter was to "have a more subdued performance expressed through subtle facial movements and tone of voice rather than words", and that he "needed someone who could genuinely convey both the facial and vocal qualities of a man in his late 40s". Hollywood producer and director Avi Arad suggested to Kojima that Sutherland could fulfill his requirements. Akio Ōtsuka was unaffected by this casting change and continued to voice Snake in the Japanese version. On March 4, 2015, Kojima revealed that Snake would have less dialogue in The Phantom Pain than previous installments. The reasoning behind it was to make Snake come across as an extension to the player and that he "will act based on [player's actions] rather than doing things like making spontaneous comments or flirting with women."
Other members of the voice cast include Troy Baker as Ocelot, Jay Tavare as Code Talker, James Horan as Skull Face, Robin Atkin Downes as Kazuhira Miller, Christopher Randolph as Dr. Emmerich, and Piers Stubbs as Eli. The Japanese dub features Tomokazu Sugita as Miller, Hideyuki Tanaka as Emmerich, Takaya Hashi as Skull Face, Satoshi Mikami as Ocelot, Osamu Saka (whose previous roles include Sergei Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater) as Code Talker, and Yūtarō Honjō as Eli. Dutch model Stefanie Joosten provides the likeness, voice and motion capture for the new character Quiet, a mute sniper with supernatural abilities who may assist Snake on missions depending on the player's actions during a certain mission. She provides the vocals for "Quiet's Theme".



Plot

In 1984, nine years after the destruction of MSF, Big Boss awakens from a coma in a hospital on a British military base in Cyprus. Quiet, a Cipher assassin, attempts to kill him, but he is rescued by a heavily bandaged man called "Ishmael". The pair escape the hospital while evading pursuit from Cipher soldiers and two superhumans, the "Third Child" and the "Man on Fire". Big Boss loses Ishmael, but is recovered by Revolver Ocelot and brought aboard Diamond Dogs, a new mercenary group founded by Kazuhira Miller on an offshore platform near Seychelles.
Big Boss adopts the code name "Venom Snake" and begins searching for Cipher. Snake becomes involved in the Soviet–Afghan War and the Angolan Civil War. He recruits the superhuman mute sniper Quiet; scientist and MSF associate Dr. "Huey" Emmerich; and Code Talker, a Navajo expert on parasites forced to work for Cipher. Snake captures Eli, a British child believed to be a clone of Snake and the leader of several child soldiers; a DNA test confirms that Venom Snake and Eli are not genetically related.
Snake learns that Cipher's leader Zero was usurped and XOF, a rogue faction of Cipher, was responsible for destroying MSF. XOF's leader Skull Face considers Cipher's plan for world peace akin to making it culturally American, and intends to release a parasite that kills anyone who speaks English; a modified parasite gave Quiet and XOF's elite soldiers their unusual abilities. After releasing the English strain, Skull Face plans to use the threat of the latest Metal Gear "Sahelanthropus" to make nuclear weapons desirable, believing that nuclear deterrence will attain world peace while protecting other cultures; in secret, he will retain control of the weapons. Skull Face refuses to use an AI for Sahelanthropus, so is dependent on the Third Child's psychic abilities.
During a test, the Third Child betrays Skull Face, having Sahelanthropus seriously wound him and crush the Man on Fire. Snake defeats Sahelanthropus and recovers two of Skull Face's three parasite vials to destroy them; the third is missing, while one of those recovered is taken by the Third Child and given to Eli. Skull Face is left to die by Snake and Miller, but Huey executes him. Sahelanthropus is brought to Mother Base. Eli, the Third Child, and the child soldiers later steal Sahelanthropus and flee. It is revealed that the Third Child's powers enthralled him to the will of the most vengeful person nearby, meaning that Sahelanthropus' attack was instigated by Eli.
A parasite epidemic occurs on base, forcing Snake to kill many of his men to contain it. To honor them, he has their cremated remains turned into diamonds to carry into battle. Huey is accused of causing the epidemic while attempting to mutate the parasites to sell as weapons. Alongside suspicion of his role in MSF's destruction and evidence that he murdered his wife Dr. Strangelove for preventing him from using their son Hal in experiments, Snake exiles him from Diamond Dogs.
Quiet disappears in Afghanistan. Code Talker reveals that Quiet was infected with the English parasite to spread it within Diamond Dogs, but her allegiances shifted and she remained silent to prevent an outbreak. Huey's mutation of the parasites convinced Quiet that she could not guarantee the group's safety. Snake finds her and helps fight off Soviet forces before they hide. Quiet is forced to speak to summon a Diamond Dogs helicopter when Snake is bitten by a venomous snake, and flees into the desert to prevent another epidemic.
It is revealed that Venom Snake is not Big Boss, but a medic injured alongside Big Boss (Ishmael) during the destruction of MSF. During his coma, the medic was transformed via plastic surgery and hypnotherapy to serve as a body decoy while Big Boss wages a covert war. Miller and Ocelot discuss Big Boss' plans to create Outer Heaven. Ocelot remains supportive, while Miller is disgusted at the deception and vows to assist Big Boss's son David in hopes of contributing to the downfall. Venom Snake would go on to set the events of the Outer Heaven uprising in motion, resulting in his death. Big Boss would then resurface during the Zanzibar Land disturbance.