- Primary Subject: Ghost Recon Wildlands update “Last Rites” and its renewed comparison to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Key Idea: Why Wildlands still recreates a simplified version of MGSV’s tactical infiltration fantasy, and how its systems deliver similar “planning an outpost assault” satisfaction despite lacking MGSV’s mechanical depth and systemic complexity
- Status: Opinion
- Last Verified: August 13, 2026
- Quick Summary: Wildlands: Last Rites brings the game back into relevance, and the update rekindles comparisons to Metal Gear Solid V by offering a simplified version of its infiltration fantasy. While MGSV remains far more systemic and reactive, Wildlands still delivers the core loop of scouting, planning, and executing outpost assaults in a more accessible form.
Ghost Recon Wildlands has suddenly become relevant again after Ubisoft returned to the 2017 open-world shooter with the free Last Rites update as part of Ghost Recon's 25th anniversary celebrations.
The update adds six new missions built around a cult led by La Llorona, alongside 4K/60fps support on PS5 and Xbox Series X, new customization options, and the return of previously limited content.
It's a strange choice considering Breakpoint is technically the newer game, but after going back to Bolivia myself, I can see why Ubisoft chose Wildlands. What surprised me most is how quickly it reminded me of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain.
I'm not saying Wildlands is secretly as mechanically sophisticated as Kojima's game, because it isn't.
Its AI is rougher, its stealth systems are simpler, and plenty of its open-world design is unmistakably from Ubisoft's 2017 era.
But it scratches the same particular itch for me - being handed a hostile compound, enough information to make a plan, and plenty of room to botch it creatively.
Why Does Wildlands Still Scratch That Metal Gear Solid 5 Itch?
The similarity becomes obvious whenever I force myself not to immediately start shooting.
I'll find somewhere overlooking a base, send up the drone, mark enemies, identify snipers and alarms, and slowly work out a route before I move.
Sometimes I'll line up sync shots with the squad. Other times I'll notice a ridge, a back road, or some ridiculous patch of mountain that gives me a much better angle than the obvious entrance.
That planning is what I still love about Metal Gear Solid 5. The mission isn't just whatever objective is written on the screen. A huge part of the pleasure comes from looking at an outpost and figuring out what you can get away with.
Do I wait until night? Crawl around the perimeter? Snipe everyone from a hill? Steal a vehicle and drive straight through the front gate because patience has finally abandoned me?
The best moments happen when the game throws a wrench into whatever clever approach I had in mind. Wildlands gives me a simpler version of that same feeling. Bolivia is full of bases that look straightforward until you start paying attention to the terrain around them.
One of the things Last Rites reminded me of is how often geography becomes part of the solution. I can abandon the road, take a motorcycle over a hillside, approach from above, and turn what looked like a frontal assault into a long-range infiltration instead.
That freedom is more compelling to me than a pile of carefully scripted possibilities, and Wildlands gets even better once you pare back its defaults and lean into the tactical side.
The game gives you a lot of information out of the box, especially with detection clouds and enemy markers, and I think that can undermine some of its own tension.
Turning down the HUD makes every compound a little more nerve-racking - I have to track patrols myself instead of letting the interface do the reconnaissance for me.
Sync shot makes me feel brilliantly coordinated for a while, but eventually I notice that I'm solving increasingly different problems with exactly the same answer.
There comes a point where drone, mark, sync shot is so dependable that I stop feeling clever and start feeling like I'm processing paperwork with a suppressor.
That's where the comparison starts to fray - The Phantom Pain is simply more reactive, intricate, and willing to let its mechanics collide in unexpected ways.
I've seen people clear the same MGSV outpost in ways I would never have considered. In Wildlands, I usually understand the boundaries of the system much faster. I don't always want the full machinery of Metal Gear Solid 5 around me.
Mother Base, recruitment, research, resources, elaborate systems and Kojima storytelling are all part of that game's identity, but sometimes I just want a rifle, a drone, an enemy compound and enough freedom to make my own mess.
Wildlands gets me there quickly. Metal Gear Solid 5 is still the better stealth game for me. It's deeper, smarter and far more mechanically expressive.
I miss the feeling of looking at a hostile place from a distance and knowing the game is about to let me figure it out myself.
Wildlands delivers that feeling in a rougher, simpler package, and after going back to Bolivia for Last Rites, I'm finding that more than enough.
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