Prepping to release on September 1st, 2015, Kojima Productions’ Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will launch for home consoles and PC. The game will apparently be Hideo Kojima’s swan song for Konami, as he leaves the series and company behind. The game itself is shaping up to be one of the biggest releases of 2015.

While we’re usually expecting AAA blockbusters to come chock full of explosions from top to bottom, the reality is that Metal Gear Solid V is more tension and thrills than bombs and explosions. Oh, there are explosions and gunfire aplenty, but the core of the game is about stealth, tactics and espionage-oriented gameplay.

The story for The Phantom Pain picks up a little after Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Venom Snake – also known to most fans as Big Boss – has lost his left arm after an explosion in a helicopter occurred at the end of Ground Zeroes. He awakes from a coma and eventually has his missing appendage replaced with the iconic red prosthetic we see in the promotional material.

Many aspects of the plot are still under wraps, but one of the core focuses of the game is on building up and recruiting for Snake’s private army, the Diamond Dogs. He’s using the resources as a means to seek revenge against the people who tried to kill him and his comrades. This isn’t just a vapid plot point, either.

During missions players will be able to recruit enemy soldiers if they’re knocked unconscious; it’s also possible to as acquire weapons, vehicles and artillery, so long as they aren’t heavily damaged. Acquisitions are made using the portable surface-to-air device known as the Fulton. This all plays into rewarding players who focus on stealth as opposed to killing and blowing everything up.

Some of the missions will take place across various regions, including Afghanistan and Africa. Each region will have a day and night cycle, as well as real-time weather conditions that will affect the types of missions available and the visibility that can work for or against a player during a specific task. Some of these weather conditions includes dust storms, rain and fog. Players will also be able to speed up time if they need to wait for a specific time of day or a certain kind of weather condition before completing a mission.

When deploying on a mission players will have the ability to bring companions along with them, some of the companions include a dog that can help spot objectives or highlight certain points of interest, a mini-mech that Snake can ride in, a horse that snake can ride on, and Quiet… the silent sniper. Different companions will be more or less useful depending on the mission, so for missions where you’ll need to travel a long ways a horse might be useful if you don’t have a jeep or truck at your disposal. In a mission where a firefight is imminent, you might want to bring Quiet along to take out foes from a distance or provide tandem take-downs on enemies.

For players who enjoy weapon customization, it’s possible to customize weapons with the same level of depth as Army of Two. Stocks, barrels, liveries, colors and accessories can be attached to the weapon.

Additional weapons and vehicles can be unlocked via progressing through the game or they can be acquired via microtransactions. Items acquired through the cash shop cannot carry over into the game’s online multiplayer mode.

Some of Snake’s gadgets will also return, including the cardboard box; but this time he can shoot while inside or use it to distract enemies with painted images on it. Wall-hugging is still present, along with CQC take-downs. Players can also use items or objects to attract the attention of enemies to lure them into a trap. However, the AI can also use items and decoys to lure Snake into a trap, so be careful.

Different vehicles will be available for use in the game, including tanks, jeeps, trucks, horses and motorcycles.

For players who enjoy getting a bit of replay out of their game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain will allow for missions to be replayed or to take on side-quests apart from the main story missions using the new “Free Roam” mode. For the non-story missions players have the option of playing as different characters other than snake; it’s possible to select from soldiers recruited into your army.

Speaking of the army… as the Diamond Dogs are built up in strength and resources, this opens up the player’s game to an asymmetrical multiplayer versus mode. Players from around the world can dip into another player’s game to steal resources from their base, kill soldiers or knock them out and recruit them

A separate multiplayer mode will also be present known as Metal Gear Online 3. This was showcased in a video showing some of the classes and abilities that will be employed in the mode. Players will have the option to customize their characters in the multiplayer mode, including changing the color of their clothing and being able to equip different accessories and articles of clothing to different body parts.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is due for release on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC on September 1st. For more information feel free to visit the game’s official website.