Metal Gear Solid 5 modder spends two years and nearly $500 overhauling in-game guns

Jim Lafleur via NexusMods
(Image credit: Jim Lafleur via NexusMods)

A Metal Gear Solid 5 player has spent two years modding real-life guns into the game.

That player would be Jim Lafleur, who recently uploaded his mod, called Uncle Jimbo's Gunpack, to NexusMods last month in December. Lafleur began work on the ambitious mod for Metal Gear Solid 5 over two years ago, and has spent a grand total of $442.24 USD on the mod to date.

That's because the modder has purchased "the highest quality gun models" online to put in Metal Gear Solid 5 via the mod. Lafleur even received donations from over 20 people around the world to work on the mod, and ended up using 11 software programs to get the mod up and running.

If you install Uncle Jimbo's Gunpack mod for Metal Gear Solid 5, you'll immediately get your weapons traded out for real-world counterparts. There's 2K and 1K visual options for all the weapons themselves, as well as UI overhauls and working descriptions for every new gun.

The weapons themselves include an accurate AK-47, which you'd be forgiven for forgetting Metal Gear Solid 5 didn't actually feature in the first place, as well as new pistols, sniper rifles, machineguns, and even a rocket launcher. Well, the mod did aim to trade out every gun in Metal Gear Solid 5's extensive arsenal, after all.

So far, Uncle Jimbo's Gunpack is easily one of the more popular recent Metal Gear Solid 5 mods, raking in over 4,500 downloads to date, with over 100 upvotes on NexusMods.

Last year, a fake Metal Gear Solid 5 alpha started doing the rounds online, and it had preservationists and conspiracy theorists alike utterly hooked. 

Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.