Tactical Espionage is a phrase that instantly comes to mind when accompanied with Metal Gear Solid. Beginning in the late 1990’s with the original Metal Gear Solid, this series has been renowned for its innovative stealth-action gameplay and compelling, albeit convoluted, narrative. Throughout each entry in the series, the games’ creator, Hideo Kojima, has developed new characters and gameplay elements to keep things fresh and exciting. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, adopting the subtitle from Peace Walker, Tactical Espionage Operations, is the next entry in the extensive series. Being a prologue to The Phantom Pain, it has already been put under a lot of scrutiny as to whether or not it should even exist apart from the, apparently, much larger portion. Cash grabs are not new to the gaming industry in the slightest, but would a beloved series such as Metal Gear Solid really stoop to that level greediness? Let’s find out.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes takes place directly after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, a title made exclusively for the Playstation Portable and later brought in high definition to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Big Boss is tasked to infiltrate a Black Site -- a prison in which POW’s are interrogated using unethical means such as torture -- known as Camp Omega to extract two targets. The first target is Chico, a young Sandinista who joined Kazuhira Miller and Snake’s private military company, MSF. The second target is Paz, a young girl who was suspected to not only be a double agent, but also to be dead. The events that happen at Camp Omega are crucial to making any sort of inferences as to where the plot will go next. With a few twists here and there, the plot is definitely enjoyable, although it doesn’t give many answers to questions asked at the end of Peace Walker.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is definitely the biggest change to the series I’ve seen thus far. In the early days of Metal Gear Solid, levels were segmented into rooms or areas that had guards patrolling in a set path, the camera was at a top-down angle, and Snake had infinite sized pockets to carry all of his goodies. Obviously, from the original Metal Gear Solid a lot has changed with each iteration, but nothing has been as drastic as Ground Zeroes. The player takes control of Big Boss, or Snake, or Naked Snake, or Jack, or Vic Boss, or Punished Snake… whichever the player prefers, basically. This time around, Snake feels much heavier, but also much more nimble. Moving with a third person perspective, the player can go just about anywhere within Camp Omega. In previous Metal Gear Solid games, the controls had a pretty steep learning curve. In Ground Zeroes, however, the controls are simple, fluid, and intuitive. For example, in Metal Gear Solid 4, to equip a weapon, the player would have to hold down R2 -- which would essentially pause the game --, select a weapon with either the D-Pad or Joystick, then let go of R2. In Ground Zeroes, because Snake no longer has infinite pockets, which ever gun he picks up replaces the gun of the same type he’s already carrying, the same goes for items. To equip the lethal gun being carried, the player need only press Up on the D-Pad, and Down for non-lethal. The simplified controls don’t stop there; every input in the game has been completely overhauled to feel more natural and visceral. I’d be willing to say that it’s the best controlling Metal Gear Solid game to date.
In Ground Zeroes, there’s only one area with one load time, that being when the level loads up. Camp Omega isn’t big enough to be considered open-world, but it is definitely big enough to be considered open-ended. Every operation in Ground Zeroes takes place on this island, and how these operations are completed, for the most part, is up to the player. The main mission, Ground Zeroes, has the most content within it, and finding everything that this mission has to offer can take quite awhile. Upon completion of the mission, the player is awarded a letter rank based on different variables. This rank is then uploaded to the leaderboards to be scored against other players. Trying to get the best score is pretty addicting, but it’s a shame that they abandoned the emblem ranking system for a letter based one. I mean, who doesn’t like to be an Eagle or a Doberman, rather than a B or an A? There are four other missions called Side Ops. Three of these Side Ops are extremely fun and differ widely from the main mission and each other. One Side Op, however, feels completely thrown in and is essentially an on-rails shooter. It’s disappointing that this mission was included in the final game because it’s the only mission within the game that isn’t thoroughly unrestricted. Besides the main mission and the Side Ops, there’s one mission known as an Extra Op. This mission is either the Deja Vu mission (PS3/PS4) or the Jamais Vu mission (Xbox 360/Xbox One). Having played the only the Deja Vu mission, I cannot speak for Xbox owners when it comes to the Extra Op. The Deja Vu mission has players searching Camp Omega to recreate scenes from the original Metal Gear Solid. It’s a fun, nostalgia filled mission that requires some work to unlock and is worth doing so. Playing Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is extremely fun and has loads of replay value, even if it does rely on this fact quite heavily. Completionists will love this game, but playing in the same area over and over again can get tiresome. The open-ended nature of the missions gives me hope for the future of Metal Gear Solid, which is to say that The Phantom Pain, if it has all of the content that it’s rumored to have, has the potential to be a truly phenomenal experience.
Ground Zeroes, thanks to the new Fox Engine, sports some of the most impressive and realistic graphics I’ve seen on the new generation of consoles. Camp Omega is marvelously realized with accurate textures, impressive lighting, and a buttery smooth framerate. Cages holding prisoners are rusty and bleak. Cloth gently blows in the breeze on the many tents in the facility. Shadows grow and shrink as Snake slowly walks past lamps, spotlights, and headlights. Character models and animations, especially Snake’s, are also superbly executed. Transitioning seamlessly from gameplay to cutscenes, expressions are carved into every withered wrinkle on Snake’s bearded face. Crawling, crouch walking, and sprinting look absolutely phenomenal, with little touches like rolling while aiming taken straight from the likes of Max Payne 3 to add that extra layer of realism. It’s a shame that the map for Ground Zeroes isn’t very large, because I’d love to see the Fox Engine in a proper open-world game. The Phantom Pain is guaranteed to show off just what this engine can do, and going by what I’ve seen in Ground Zeroes, I cannot wait to see it.
Metal Gear Solid has always had some of the best sound design, and Ground Zeroes holds onto this reputation firmly. Kiefer Sutherland does a wonderful job of adopting the role of Big Boss; however, players that are used to Hayter’s voice will have a hard time adjusting. The other voice actors, especially Miller (whose voice is heard the most throughout the game), also perform their roles exceptionally well. The guard lines in Ground Zeroes are the typical guard banter that will sometimes give the player a clue as to where to go or what to do. Interrogating guards is remarkably bland; while the subtitles for the interrogations provide the actual information, the guard just grumbles, which is pretty disappointing. The song heard in the opening cutscene, Here’s To You, reflects multiple themes within the game while not being intrusive, and if I do say so, is quite catchy. The rest of the soundtrack is largely ambient music that changes based on the situation. While sneaking about, soft scores can be heard that rise upon detection. The iconic “!” sound, along with other menu sounds are back from previous titles, giving this the signature Metal Gear Solid feel. Multiple cassette tapes are available to listen to in the main menu or on the field, via the iDroid. These cassette tapes range from giving the player information on the mission, vital plot elements, to music tracks that can be played in the helicopter. These cassette tapes are a nice touch, and listening to them is always worthwhile.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is most certainly not a cash grab. Yes, the main mission can be completed in under two hours. But the main mission isn’t the only thing to be done within this terrifically crafted game. Hours upon hours can be spent finding and perfecting strategies, uncovering secrets and extras, and competing with friends on the leaderboards. Ground Zeroes is the biggest change to the Metal Gear Solid series in a very long time, and every fan of the series should pick it up. I paid $30 for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and if I had all of the information I had now before the purchase, I would most certainly make it again.
300,000 Metal Gear games were sold during the first quarter of 2023, Konami has announced, bringing the total number to 59.8 million.
Do not worry they will give use those pichincko remakes for top dollar soon.
Metal gear solid 3 in the fox engine looked/ran amazing but was sealed away :(
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
I know re-makes and stuff have been played to death this generation.
But damn I wouldn't mind an MGS4 remake
I thought the series would have sold more over all these years and different releases.
Metal Gear isn't that big, and there hasn't been a new release in years. Also MGS2 and 3 are still missing from digital storefronts.
5 mgs games in total if I'm not mistaken. 59 60 million seems about right. Mgs is dope to some of us but it would be hard for a lot of regulars to understand
Although there are notable exceptions (GTA, certain first-party Nintendo games, Gran Turismo), as a rule games didn't sell as much in earlier generations as they have in the past few generations. So a lot of PS1-PS2 era titles that are viewed as seminal games didn't actually sell all that much by today's standards (yes, despite the large install bases of those systems lol). I remember a similar surprised reaction happening a few months ago when Square announced the total overall sales of Final Fantasy VII.
Some of the best fun you can have online was the first metal gear online and to a lesser, but still fun to an extent, MGO2. The magazine, CQC, stealth, and tactical play Vs real players is just a blast. Not to mention playing Snake vs everyone? Amazing. The game will never be the same without Hideo, but Konami can definitely update what’s already there and take my money.
You wouldn't be talking about the OG MGO that was included with MGS3:S would you? It's rare running into another former player. Those were some of the best memories of any online game I had.
Yes my man!! That seems like the BEST game that nobody played! Tranquilizer pistol, drag the body to a corner and lay a girly mag right by their head so they wake up and instantly get caught by the mag. You could get real toxic if you wanted at that point, but man that game was incredible! The only thing annoying was that damn Konami ID
Hideo Kojima: "After the launch, many people seemed to expect GZ to be a full game."
People would have gotten “your intention” if you stated it from the beginning but people didn’t want smaller episode like MGS games.
He should have just focused on MGSV and work Ground Zeroes into that game instead
I don't remember there being confusion over Ground Zeroes being a full game. But then again I was just starting to catch up on the MGS series as a whole at that point so I might've not paid enough attention or simply have forgotten that there was confusion about it. I bet the whole Moby Dick Studios thing didn't help the casual observer understand what the hell was going on though.
I only got both MGSV games when Phantom Pain was already out and I kinda agree that it probably would've sucked if I had to wait one and a half years to pay The Phantom Pain after Ground Zeroes.
I'm sorry what now?
Who expected that?
If it was meant to be episodic or an experiment for that, the price should / would have reflected that
To be fair, there really wasn't enough content to actually justify even the smaller price tag. It was still half the cost of a full game, yet a 20th of the content.
I can't stand these paid glorified demos.
Honestly, it was basically similar to the FF15 Duscae demo. My theory is he was taking too damn long to make a game and Konami was like, “Sell what you got!” It just has kind of a scummy corporate “let’s sell this demo for half the price of a full game,” feel to it.
That’s just my take on it. I love Kojima and I love the MGS series, but this and 5 were the biggest let downs, ever. Clearly unfinished work forced out because, in Konami’s defense, Kojima was going over budget and taking forever on the project.
Lol, I loved Ground Zeroes, but releasing that level at $40 during a dryspell for games at the onset of the new gen was an obvious cash grab.
I handed over my money happily, but plenty of non-diehard fans were understandably letdown by the scale of what $40 bought them.
The price was originally $40 for the physical PS4 and XBO versions, but due to controversy it dropped down to $30 before launch. And as much as I love GZ, and even bought it twice, I do agree that $30 was too much. It should have launched at $20.
https://kotaku.com/konami-c...
I don't know how about anyone else. But i've bought it for $20 1 week after release (or $15, don't remember the exact exchange rate) and spent 24 hours beating every mission and getting all the steam achievements. I was 100% aware what the game was about beforehand though and i did enjoy every second of it. I knew it was a work in progress and it was probably the best and less restrictive game i've played in a long time (and controls were just perfect).
Even previous MGS games didn't gave me that much freedom as Ground Zeroes did.
Love stealth? Got you covered.
Want to speedrun? Here's the timer.
Wanna kill everyone? No problem, grab that AK then and let's party.
Wanna cause chaos? Just tell Pequod where to land.
Love to drive? Then go ahead.
Miss Raiden? Then play as him.
I wish they would continue MGSV, finish remaining chapters and add more missions as DLCs, there was SO many options... A poor man still can dream...
A stealth game is only ever as good as its toolkit is versatile, and this is why games not specifically designed around stealth mechanics will always fall flat when they try to implement stealth sequences. Stealth isn't fun on its own. Stealth when accompanied by gadgets and creative-style gameplay is an absolute blast.
Its nice to read a review of someone who is clearly a fan of the serie and can still review it with no bias.
Thanks for the review.
Better than the constant ...
buuu buu buuu its teh demo ..
buuuu buuu its $20 too expensive ...
Gamer these day bitch about everything.
I am gonna get so much hate for this but I agree with this review.
I got tired about complaints for the price and the game itself is just great. Yeah it does depend on replay value but I don't mind since replaying those missions are incredibly fun (surprisingly enough).
There are few issues on graphics though in my experience like textures and models loading or disappear when you look away from it but other than that, the graphics are the just brilliant.
In my personal opinion, it was worth the money. YES, this could bring a bad practice for games but can't I say that I enjoyed Ground Zeroes?
Also, I have seen couple of reviews that mention non-MGS fans (or at least new players) should not buy this game and I agree with them. If you aren't a MGS fan or just starting out to be, this game won't be for you and I would suggest waiting for price-drop. BUT if you are a good MGS fan, you are missing out.
EDIT: Also, why do I have such a weird feeling that some of the reviewers didn't complete more than 50% of the content?....
See you guys in MGO!
Agree with everyone above 100%. Very good review for a great game. I got my $30 worth and I'm even more hyped for Phantom Pain.
Phantom Pain will include Ground Zeroes that im sure of it after all this is just the prologue for MGSV.
Yes it is a demo for MGS5 but with great replay value plus this is Metal Gear Solid a big name series so quality is expected and fans can always wait for the phantom pain if that´s what they want.
This will eventually get a price drop.