Metal Slug 5 is set after a paramilitary syndicate known as the "Ptolemaic Army" attacks a research installation that was developing the next-gen of Metal Slugs and successfully stole a disc containing top-secret data. The soldiers Marco, Tarma, Eri, and Fio received orders to recover the disk and put an end to this syndicate.
The latest installment brings many changes: you will face a new group of enemies instead of Morden's army from previous games. To add more content, 3 guns (Big Rocket, Big Laser, and Big Shotgun) and 2 vehicles (Slug Sub and Slug Plane) from past games were reincorporated, along with all-new stuff like 3 vehicles: Spider Slug, Slug Gunner, and Slug Car.
The gameplay in Metal Slug 5 features a sliding move. Pressing the B Button when ducking will make your character slide for a short time on the ground, which can help avoid enemy attacks. However, you won't be able to throw grenades during the slide, but your gun can be fired normally.
Metal Slug 5 was released on the Xbox console on 2006-03-10 .