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Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain reveals open world gameplay

Snake now has a ponytail... and a pony, for that matter.

Kojima productions revealed its first look at Metal Gear Solid 5's gameplay to kick off Microsoft's E3 press conference today.

The big change this time around is that the game is open world. At least partially set in Afghanistan, we get a glimpse of Snake riding a horse while hanging on to its side to avoid detection. That's right, it combines horse riding and hiding behind cover in one fluid action. That's what we call innovation!

Alternatively, you can hop onto a truck and hide behind its cargo.

MGS5: The Phantom Pain will also have a fully fledged day/night cycle.

A host of new characters were shown off too, including an old wise-looking man named Code Talker; a teenage boy named Eli; Emmerich, a tech geek who looks like a nefarious take on Otacon; Quiet, a mute sniper; Skullface, a man with a burned face (think Batman villain Black Mask); and fan-favourite Russian cowboy Ocelot returns, which we couldn't be happier about.

Plot-wise it's all a bit of a mystery, but we see the newly dubbed "Punished Snake" rescue long-time war buddy Kaz, who's had his eyes gouged out and arm cut off. Poor guy!

Check out the new footage in the reveal trailer below.

Cover image for YouTube video