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It's been more than three years since fans got their first glimpse of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and with a matter of months left to go before its release, anticipation is reaching a fever pitch. Now, Konami has released a lengthy gameplay video to whet appetites even further.

The footage offers an alternate approach to the section of the game that was exhibited at E3. The series' transition to an open world worried some fans when it was first announced, but seeing how it works in practice demonstrates just how much that structure broadens the possibilities for its trademark stealth gameplay.

Changes to your loadout, your chosen buddy, and your route can dramatically affect the way missions play out in Metal Gear Solid 5. It seems like a logical advance from the freedom players had to choose their path in Peace Walker, but with a far broader scope and a far greater potential for replayability as a result.

However, as with any Metal Gear game, part of the fun is discovering the smaller details that are littered throughout the experience. From references to past titles to novel gameplay additions, Hideo Kojima loves to cram his games full of memorable moments and mechanics.

There's plenty of evidence of that sort of content in this gameplay footage, which will no doubt please tenured fans of the series. However, those players who looks forward to discovering these things by themselves should consider that a spoiler warning.

From bionic arms being fired like Nikita missiles to a costume that looks very similar to the one Snake wore in the original Metal Gear Solid, there's seemingly no end to the amount of content that Kojima Productions has packed into The Phantom Pain. If this is truly the end of the series, it seems to be everything fans could hope for.

The very public spat between Kojima and Konami caused concerns of how development would be affected, but thankfully it seems that the finished product won't be diminished as a result. Metal Gear has become one of the biggest franchises in gaming, and it would be a shame to see it go out on a bum note.

Everything that we've seen so far — including the game's prologue, Ground Zeroes — seems to suggest that The Phantom Pain will be one of the best games of 2015. Now, the biggest challenge for fans is waiting out the two months until it releases.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is set to launch on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on September 1, with a PC release following two weeks later.