Having purchased this game a day before release, and having played it till post-game with some really fun people, I can say this about it:

It had a decent, if not Kojima-quality story, and some actually very good improvements to the gameplay, as well as graphical improvements in the FOX Engine, such as better depth of field effects and slightly improved hair rendering. The game was fun and engaging despite slowing down a bit midway through the campaign, but the beginning and end were a blast.
The survival takes a bit to start running on its own, and I feel like it was actually very well done, because you had to balance exploration and progression with resource-finding, which became less and less of a chore as you progressed, which actually felt really good.
The melee system was expanded and given more weapons than just the combat knife, and a proper flow was introduced. The animations and different perks of using different types of weapon were amazing and using a small, fast machete was just as satisfying in its own way as smashing a small group with a sledgehammer. Dodging was introduced and it was a good and necessary mechanic.
Proper netcode was made and multiplayer, unlike in MGO3, is actually tolerable and not a complete joke. Granted, there is still no anti-cheat, so of course some bad apples just break the game for everyone else.
This all being said, as many improvements and effort as you can tell the team *did* put into it, the largest flaw with this game is that post-game content is so limited to the same three things that there is zero point in playing after completing the end. Just defeat the Lord of Dust, smile, and move on. All of the post-game content includes: co-op drill digs, singleplayer base digs, and co-op hostage rescues. That's it. And all the rewards are... more stuff to keep doing it? And this would be an okay TD if it weren't that everything progresses in realtime, not in-game time. So at this point, having not played the game in close to a year, if I were to reinstall it and continue my save, my entire base would be dead, meaning Konami expects all its players to be on at all times.

Overall, I'd give it an honest 6/10. It has some great points, but what flaws it has, run deep.

Having purchased this game a day before release, and having played it till post-game with some really fun people, I can say this about it: It had a decent, if not Kojima-quality story, and some actually very good improvements to the gameplay, as well as graphical improvements in the FOX Engine, such as better depth of field effects and slightly improved hair rendering. The game was fun and engaging despite slowing down a bit midway through the campaign, but the beginning and end were a blast. The survival takes a bit to start running on its own, and I feel like it was actually very well done, because you had to balance exploration and progression with resource-finding, which became less and less of a chore as you progressed, which actually felt really good. The melee system was expanded and given more weapons than just the combat knife, and a proper flow was introduced. The animations and different perks of using different types of weapon were amazing and using a small, fast machete was just as satisfying in its own way as smashing a small group with a sledgehammer. Dodging was introduced and it was a good and necessary mechanic. Proper netcode was made and multiplayer, unlike in MGO3, is actually tolerable and not a complete joke. Granted, there is still no anti-cheat, so of course some bad apples just break the game for everyone else. This all being said, as many improvements and effort as you can tell the team *did* put into it, the largest flaw with this game is that post-game content is so limited to the same three things that there is zero point in playing after completing the end. Just defeat the Lord of Dust, smile, and move on. All of the post-game content includes: co-op drill digs, singleplayer base digs, and co-op hostage rescues. That's it. And all the rewards are... more stuff to keep doing it? And this would be an okay TD if it weren't that everything progresses in realtime, not in-game time. So at this point, having not played the game in close to a year, if I were to reinstall it and continue my save, my entire base would be dead, meaning Konami expects all its players to be on at all times. Overall, I'd give it an honest 6/10. It has some great points, but what flaws it has, run deep.