Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is already an almost insanely detailed game. For example, I discovered just recently that if you hide in a toilet and play a cassette tape full of… toilet sounds, guards will run off in disgust, rather than dragging you out and filling you full of AK-47 rounds. You can use a water pistol to hold people up. You can kidnap gerbils. Who else but Hideo Kojima would put this amount of pointless, beautiful detail into a game?
Even better, for PC owners of the game, is the fact that you can supplement Kojima’s wild creativity with the best community-created content available. We’ve scoured the internet for the very best Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain mods, so without further ado, here are our favourites.
Last Updated: 12/09/2016
MGS1 Genome Soldier - Solid Snake / Created by RLC
Now this is a mod for the straight-up old school. With this mod, you can retexture Snake with the standard genome soldier skin from the original Metal Gear Solid. The texture is even pixelated and somewhat blocky, true to its original form on the PS1. An amusing little throwback to say the least. Be the best clone you can be for grand old Mother Base!
MGS1 Psycho Mantis on Solid Snake / Created by RLC
Another mod ripped straight out of the Metal Gear history books. He can read your brain. He knows what you’ll do before you even do it. He knows you like Castlevania. It’s Psycho Mantis’s original PS1 skin! This pixelated nightmare stands as one of the most iconic Metal Gear villains of all time. Why not journey through Africa and Afghanistan with a face that would give Skull Face a run for his money?
Audio Redux - Less Noisy and Annoying / Created by Morbidslinky
What’s that? I can’t hear you over the sound of… well, everything. Metal Gear Solid V sure is a noisy game. Maybe too much so when things get hectic and bullets are flying, people are yelling, and bad things are going on in every direction. This mod takes aim at reducing the noise pollution of MGSV. Not quite meant to make it comfy cozy, but certainly reduce certain sound effects while leaving others intact to make the whole experience a bit more gentle on your ears.
More Animals - Africa & Afghanistan / Created by Morbidslinky
Get ready for a full-on safari. If you’re tired of trying to find animals wherever they roam or are just not getting enough of them, this is a great mod to have. It increases how many animals will spawn in each group of them. There are two versions of this mod: one for Africa and one for Afghanistan, ensuring that no matter where you roam, there will be plenty of wildlife to greet you.
Female Sneaking Suit Fix / Created by Morbidslinky
Need more proper sneaking suit in your life and less cheap knockoff? Here’s the answer for all your Metal Gear Solid V ladies utilizing the suit. It fixes up quite a few subtle imperfections that exist on the female sneaking suit to make it look more professional. Just because you’re in the female sneaking suit doesn’t mean you can’t look as good as the Big Boss himself.
Hospital Snake Head Swap / Created by RLC
Snake is most certainly a rugged dude, but there might not be another time he looks more badass than in his fixed up hospital scene. In this look, Snake loses the eyepatch in favor of the hospital dressing that leaves him exposed to the world. With his rough look and bloodied demeanor, Snake looks like an animal ever backed into the corner, which might not ever be too far from the truth.
Unlock Avatar / Created by Shadowvalor
You put all this effort into creating an avatar at the beginning of the game, only for that avatar to be locked away until you’ve finally completed the game. What a waste of time, right? Nope, not with this mod. With it, you’ll be able to unlock that avatar from character selection immediately, ensuring that you get to take all your meticulous character crafting for a drive right off the bat.
Metal Gear V Saved Game Unlocked / Created by PeeTee
Cool! You’ve beaten the game! Now where’s that New Game Plus to take all the hard work you did back to the beginning of it all. Oh wait, that’s right. Metal Gear Solid V doesn’t have New Game Plus. Boo, we say. This mod will give you what you crave. It offers you a number of save files, most notably of which is the one that will start you off in the game with most everything unlocked. Finish the game and then start over and have some fun with all your new toys!
Turn Off Intel Team’s Search for Enemies / Created by Premorbid
Looking to get a little more challenging with your playthrough of Metal Gear Solid V without tweeking enemies or conditions to be unnaturally unfair? With this mod, regardless of how high your Intel Team’s level is, they will no longer display possible enemy positions on your map, nor will they give you notification of detected enemies. That means it will be up to you to be more aware than ever of your surroundings. Challenge your memory, adaptability, and survival skills on new levels with this mod.
Mother Base Blessed Facilities Mod and Build-Timer Removal / Created by dark_viper
Mother Base is a big place and you can certainly staff it with a lot of people, but if you want to push the boundary and truly make Mother Base into the small sovereign military nation it’s supposed to be, you might check out this mod. It boosts the capacities of each of your facilities in Mother Base, allowing for a grand total of 1,280 units across all facilities with the exception of Security, which is capped at 400.
E3 2013 3.0 / Created by Shagwan
This mod is a beefy one. It aims at bringing the graphics of Metal Gear Solid 5 up to the qualities that were displayed in the E3 trailer in 2013. It’s safe to say that you’ll need a pretty powerful rig to run this mod. That said, if you’ve got the machine to handle it, the mod will bring near photorealism to the world of Metal Gear Solid 5, allowing for some amazing screens and details.
More Resources and better harvest and Diamonds mod / Created by Blejky
If you’re tired of the skimpy pickings you get out of containers and pick-ups in Metal Gear Solid 5, you’re not alone. This mod is aimed entirely at resource collection across the board. It ups the values collected in most resource pick-ups and containers to help give players a little boost, especially early in the game when upgrading and expansion is a heavy priority.
Faster dispatch missions / Created by Verz
Do you find dispatch missions a little too tedious and time consuming for the pay off in the end? Then this mod is an answer to your problem. It will reduce dispatch mission time by about 80% at the tradeoff of increasing mission refresh rate to 15 minutes instead of 12. No more waiting around for hours for dispatch missions to deliver a few extra resources to your cause.
Get Quiet BACK / Created by WASDREF
At the risk of spoilers, if you’re here, then you should know that at some point in Metal Gear Solid 5, Quiet goes away and you can no longer utilize her as a companion. While there is an obscure in-game way to bring her back, you can also just use this mod. It’s meant to be installed ONLY after she’s gone, but it will bring Quiet back for use and deployment on your missions.
Playable Quiet / Created by deadcause13
This mod seemed inevitable and is much appreciated. It’s a model swap that allows you to play as Quiet in the main campaign. Only default look is available right now, but you’ll be able to use Quiet in place of Snake’s normal and scarf outfits. Additionally, the mod also features first-person view support, making for the closest you’ll get to stepping into Quiet’s boots outside of Konami releasing DLC for her themselves.
SnakeBite Mod Manager / Created by Topher
When you’ve got a few mods in your Metal Gear Solid 5 folders, it can probably be a bit tedious to keep track of them and keep them organized. This mod is here to help. It’s a launch tool and manager program that is aimed specifically at making mod organization, installation, and deletion in Metal Gear Solid 5 a breeze.
MGS3 Ocelot for MGO / Created by HeartlessSeph
Fans of Metal Gear Solid 3 will love this mod. It’s a retexture for Metal Gear Online that allows players to use Ocelot in his MGS3 look. If you loved the pistol juggling buzzcut Ocelot that was running around with Volgin, then you’ll definitely want to pick up this reskin.
Vehicle camo / Created by angelolujan1
Metal Gear Solid 5 has all the camo in the world for Snake and only a handful of customization for the vehicles. Not with this mod, though. Vehicle Camo will allow you to customize your vehicles with several new camo paintjobs. Slap some of the camo you’d use for Snake on a tank or helicopter or have fun with a few little out-of-the-ordinary options.
Real Big Boss’ head / Created by Solidcal
Do you ever get tired of looking at Snake’s mangled face and wish there was a way to bring back his rugged good looks? Then this is a good mod to have. It retextures Snake’s head to remove the ordinance, scars, and eyepatch from his head and give him two working eyes. Now you can finally play Metal Gear Solid 5 with Snake as the handsome devil he used to be.
Camera Framework (Infinite Heaven support) / Created by Shigu
The camera in Metal Gear Solid 5 isn’t bad, but if you find yourself longing to go camera styles that could be found in previous games such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Ground Zeroes, or Peace Walker, then this mod is your solution. It provides new camera options that can be accessed via a few simple button presses in game. As a bonus, there is an optional file that also disables camera cuts and slow-motions during CQC.
Wild Weather / Created by me
No need to waste your hard earned GMP on the Weather Modification strike anymore. With this mod, fog, rainstorms, and sandstorms will happen naturally in the Motherbase, Middle Africa, and Afghanistan areas as time goes on. What’s more if you’re not fond of running the gauntlet with all three weather effects, there are standalone downloads of each individual weather effect to suit your fancy.
Quiet Wolf - SBWM / Created by MrCharlesCasey
Quiet is a nifty character as far as Metal Gear ladies go, but maybe you’re looking to rekindle a spark with the iconic femme fatale and expert FOXHOUND sniper of the original Metal Gear Solid, Sniper Wolf. Then check this mod out. It reskins Quiet with the blonde hair and uniform of Sniper Wolf, effectively giving your buddy the iconic looks of one of the most memorable antagonists of the Metal Gear Solid Series
The Ultimate Phantom Pain / Created by NasaNhak
Are you looking for a mod that will make MGS5 a challenge designed to push your limits at every turn? Then look no further. This mod will make the game punishingly difficult. Enemies will be on max revenge status at all times and be armed with random gear, reinforcements have been strengthened and can be called more often, and fulton lifts and helicopter ride availability has been severely limited just to name a few. Can you overcome this challenge?
S plus plus Soldier Mod / Created by Jarhad
Maybe you want some more S++ soldiers in your Metal Gear Solid 5 experience, but you don’t want to break the natural progression of the game by altering the stats on existing units in the game or forcing these soldiers to show up from the get go. With this mod, you’ll get all new S+ and S++ soldiers once you cross a certain boundary in the game, which makes achieving these soldiers feel like a normal progression in the game rather than an exploit.
Weapon Customize Extension / Created by futoshisan
Are you a compulsive gunsmith? Then this might be a little something to suit your fancy. It offers new levels of customization on all weapons in single player mode. Load up your weapons with every attachment your heart desires and load attachments on that would otherwise not be possible. Keep in mind, this is for single player only. Be sure not to use it in MGS5’s FOB multiplayer mode.
Console Pre-Order Fatigues / Created by Paul-Scott
Maybe you weren’t on board with some of the day one bonuses you could have gotten if you pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid 5. Well, you might not have the real deal, but with this mod you can retexture some of your old regular camos with the fatigues that came as pre-order bonuses. Get your hands on four new camos and sneak around in some new styles.
Sleep Rocket Launcher / Created by blejky
Sure, you could blow your enemies up with your rocket launcher. That’s a perfectly suitably use for it, but what if you wanted an area of effect weapon that would put a nice big group of enemies in lullaby land at once? This mod gives the level 3 Grom Rocket Launcher a sleep effect. You’ll be sending rocket propelled dreams at your enemies in no time.
More Effective CQC / Created by Blejky
CQC just isn’t quite as versatile as it ought to be is it? Well that’s where this mod comes in handy, so to speak. More Effective CQC will allow sneak to put enemies to sleep on a successful attempt instead of knocking them down. Once they’re out, they’ll be out for an hour or until another enemy soldier awakens them. Bring a whole new dimension of versatility to missions where you need the job done quietly.
Less Yellow and More Blue - ReShade Preset / Created by Calibrated Mishap
What to make your game just a bit more vibrant without risking too much a drop in frame rate? This is a simple ReShade that lowers the yellows and deepens the blues in Metal Gear Solid 5. With it, all light sources will be more white than yellow and there will be better contrast to shadows and light sources at night.
Fatigue Overhaul - Male and Female / Created by Calibrated Mishap
Your Diamond Dog buddies look a little bit broken in don’t they? Do you long to have a respectable and clean looking bunch of professionals at your command? This mod will take the Diamond Dogs fatigues and clean them up a bit. It removes dirt and discoloration and makes the entire uniform a bit darker to give each soldier a sharp look that will be ready for inspection. Your mercenaries would probably appreciate a laundry day too.
No Research Time / Created by Lorion2k11
Don’t you wish there was a way to get rid of pesky research times so you could spend less time working on a new toy and more time in field wrecking enemies with it? Then look no further. This mod has what you’ll need to make instantaneous goodies. Start and finish research in seconds, get back to the action, and leave all that patience behind. Players need to be on v1.07 of MGSV for this mod to work properly.
Skulls Mist Unit Model / Created by your mom
The Skulls are a pesky bunch, leaping about, materialising weapons out of thin air, and zombifying unsuspecting troops wherever they go. Well, with this mod, you can take one against their own people. It’s just a model swap right now, but hey at least if you die, it’s one less Skull in the world either way.
New Game Plus Mod / Created by Snaksolid
Much like The Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid 5 is so huge and there’s so much you can accidentally miss that it suits a New Game Plus mode down to a tee. Unlike CD Projekt’s game, however, Konami didn’t see fit to include one. This mod aims to get as close to the concept as possible; it’s essentially a save file with plenty of tech items researched and a nice stock of GMP and Heroism. It’s recommended that you back up your original saves, just in case.
XOF Uniform Diamond Dogs Mod Created by Xeno
Kit out your Mother Base staff in the uniform of opposing faction XOF with this mod, which replaces the sneaking suit outfit on any soldier other than Big Boss and your avatar character. As with several of these model swap mods, there are a few issues with first-person mode, but nothing substantial.
Skull Face Head Replacer / Created by Tao Lung Shamon
Actually, come to think of it Venom Snake isn’t exactly a good guy, what with setting up his own international mercenary unit and all, but I think we can agree antagonist Skull Face is worse. When he’s not busy laughing manically and developing deadly bio weapons, why not take him out into the field with this simple skin swap mod?
Bear as DD / Created by Ryuuji-Takasu-
Possibly needs some work this one, as its face is locked into a kind of eternal Edvard Munch-style scream, but if there’s anything more useful than a trusty hound when you’re infiltrating a hostile enemy camp, it’s a great big angry bear. This replaces loyal buddy DD with just that.
Meat Sniper / Created by Unknown
Umm. So while she’s zooming and teleporting from one place to the other, sniper Quiet’s skin occasionally turns translucent so that you can see even more of her than normal. It’s a little unsettling. What is more unsettling is the way in which this mod allows you to play as the aforementioned skinless bag of meat. You’ll get blood all over the helicopter.
Fire Truck Swap Mod / Created by Xray_Doc
You can already create a water pistol weapon for Snake to wield in MGS5, so why not go the whole hog and add this mod to your game, netting yourself a trusty fire engine to travel around in too. Forget international mercenary operations for a while and play Fireman Sam instead.
Vehicle Swap Mod / Created by Xray_Doc
This one lets you swap any vehicle in the game with any other vehicle, whether that’s a battle tank or… a wheelchair. The author points out that some of the vehicles don’t work properly, or sometimes at all, so be aware that you may end up doing the splits on a motorcycle by mistake.
Give Quiet Clothes / Created by LieutenantShwa
Let’s just admit it, MGS5’s attitude towards your sniper buddy Quiet is embarrassingly juvenile. Her almost non-existent costume is bad enough, but it’s the way the camera leers at her in every scene she’s in like it’s being operated by a horny fourteen year-old cameraman that’s really awkward. This mod mitigates some of that voyeuristic creepiness by allowing her to wear a regular special forces outfit.
Play as Kojima / Created by Xray_Doc
Just in case you thought that MGS5 needed even more Hideo Kojima – and let’s face it, his name is already plastered all over the game – this skin-swap mod lets you play as the man himself. Kojima’s actually in the game, of course, as a recruitable agent, but really you want him to be out in the desert firing rocket launchers at sheep. This lets that happen.
Sahelanthropus Bird Mod / Created by Xray_Doc
What’s more terrifying than one Salehanthropus bipedal mech charging at you? Dozens of the damned things, all hopping around in the background while you explore the wilds of Afghanistan and Africa. This mod swaps the raven in the game with the Sahelanthropus. Simple, stupid, but pretty funny.
KojimaContrast / Created by Strelokgunslinger
A common theme with visual tweaks for MGS5 is the attempt to add some colour depth to the game, which by default is brightly lit and lacks constrast. If you prefer things a little darker and more cinematic, this fix may be right for you. It’s especially notable at night, where it’s now a lot harder to pick out enemies objects out in the distance.
Metal Gear Solid V Remix Sweet FX / Created by Max
Something of an acquired taste, this one. Original footage of MGS5 shown off at E3 2014 featured a much different visual filter than the one in the final game, with greater colour depth and heavy use of dynamic lighting. Personally I quite like the clean, crisp look of the game as it is, but if you’re looking for something a bit more cinematic, this visual FX remix is worth checking out.
TPP HARDCORE Mod / Created by JRavens
Though it does have its trickier moments, MGS5 tends to be a pretty generous game. Unless you moonwalk past them at high noon, enemies aren’t particularly hard to avoid or outwit. This mod changes things up, increasing their field of vision and hearing by 50%, and upping their weapon damage, making them a far more serious threat to any wannabe infiltrators.
DualShock 3 and 4 Button Icons / Created by Holdfing
Because PlayStation controllers aren’t officially supported on the PC like their Xbox counterparts, PC versions of games like MGS5 tend not to have the correct icons for Dualshock pads. This simple mod adds button icons for Dualshock 3 and 4 pads, making things a bit more intuitive for those using one.
Skull Sniper Player Model Swap / Created by Various Authors
You’ll meet the undead special forces unit known as the Skulls fairly early on in the game, and soon learn to despise them with every fibre of your being. This skin-swap allows you to equip the Skulls Sniper outfit on any one of your female Mother Base soldiers, making them look incredibly creepy in the process.
Kazuhira Miller Mod v1.0 / Created by Shigu
For reasons that will become immediately apparent an hour or so into MGS5, Snake’s long-time buddy Kazuhira Miller isn’t in the best shape to be exploring the wilds of Afghanistan or Africa. This mod compromises by letting you run around in his Ground Zero costume, with both legs attached and a very snazzy neckerchief. There’s also a version with his Diamond Dogs beret.
Playable Ocelot / Created by Catloaf
Another model swap mod, this time allowing you to play as everyone’s favourite untrustworthy gunslinger, Revolver Ocelot, wearing his MGS5 clothes. There are a couple of issues with this one; there’s no facial animation, and like a few of the model swaps, FPS mode is a little obstructed by clipping. Still, you don’t see Snake wearing dual revolvers like he’s Clint Eastwood or something, do you?
Play as Ishmael / Created by Solidcal
I think it’s fair to say that MGS5’s introductory sequence, which is dramatically unlike everything else in the game, has divided opinion. Its slower pace and prominent horror elements weren’t for everybody. Still, if you did enjoy crawling around in the dark while bandaged badass Ishmael basically takes care of everything for you, you might be interested in this mod, which lets you play as him when you get to the game proper. The only issue is that his face wrappings can obscure the FPS view a bit.
Remove Time Limits from Research and MB Platforms / Created by JRavens
There’s an absolute tonne of items to develop in Metal Gear Solid 5, from guns to grenades, rocket launchers to… cardboard boxes. Early on you can research new goodies instantly, but in the late-game it starts taking around 20 minutes for your research and development team to get their backsides in gear. This simple mod removes the waiting period for all research items and Mother Base expansions, allowing you to get your robot hand on the good stuff as soon as possible.
Extra Extra High Settings / Created By Angelo
This simple but effective mod from Angelo modifies the graphics settings and boosts the quality even further than the original release. Mind you, it is worth mentioning that you’ll need a very powerful PC to run at the game at 60fps.
Snake S Plus Plus / Created by Dennis
Punished “Venom” Snake is the most badass soldier in the world. He’s so tough that he can carry out a complex extraction operation while sporting a massive chunk of his metal in his head. Yet somehow, Metal Gear Solid 5 restricts this avatar of destruction to an A++ rating for his combat skills. This simple fix bumps that up to S++, the highest rank in the game, and gives Snake the ‘Tough Guy’ skill, bumping up his health a bit.
Big Boss Ground Zeroes Skin with Mullet / Created by Teknoglyph
Take a nostalgic trip back to a better time in Snake’s life, when all he had to worry about was infiltrating a remote death camp, with this Ground Zeroes model swap. It removes the lump of metal from our hero’s head, and lets his glorious mullet flow freely, as God intended. Be aware that you won’t be able to use Snake’s satisfying robotic arm moves with this skin, so there is a drawback.
Quiet Player Pack / Created by Shigu
If you want to change the look of Quiet, then this mod is for you. It gives you five different options to change the look of Quiet. These options include breast and hair physics and “perfect” (subjective, of course) proportions. Give it a download if you want something a little different.
Hideo Kojima model Swap for Quiet / created by Ryuuji-Takasu-
Sure to make you ashamed of your words and deeds, this mod replaces everyone’s favorite “strong female character”/”sex kitten” with Mr. Kojima himself. I can’t wait to see those animations on board the helicopter once you get his bond with Snake all the way up.
Infinity Suppressor (Plus Optional Infinite Ammo and Support Weapons) / created by DefectiveLife
Sometimes, y’gotta take it easy. You need a little boost. Look, I’m not judging. I understand. You don’t want to worry about your suppressors exploding after a few shots. I got something for you. Just what you need. Maybe you’re interested in some infinite ammo options, too? I gotcha covered.
No Credits while Ingame / created by ItachiTheDarkenedOne
Hey, did you know that Metal Gear Solid V is a Hideo Kojima game? If you didn’t, the credits before every single mission will sure let you know! This mod drops you in without the normal pre-mission roll call. It’s an oft-requested feature, since the vanilla cast list often spoils the appearance of bosses and villainous characters prior to their missions.
Tranquilizer Submachinegun / created by blejky
Non-lethal is just a better way to play MGS5. Not only do you get those sweet ranking bonuses, you get a whole bunch of sleepy soldiers to fulton back to Mother Base. But sometimes, you just need a little something extra. Like a way to rapid-fire your enemies full of tranquilizer darts! Don’t worry, your enemies can’t OD on the tranq meds. I don’t think so, anyway.
MGS3 Camoflauge SUPERPACK / created by Poidikonjunz
Feeling… nostalgic? This mod will add a collection of camo originally from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Relive the glory days of Snake’s mission in the Soviet jungles, before he took the moniker of Big Boss. Ah, happier days.
So there you go Big Boss, that should keep you busy for a good, long while. As always, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for the latest and greatest mods, updating this article as and when we find them. If you’ve played any of the Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain mods listed on this page please tell us about your experiences with them in the comments section below.
