Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes — PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One — Kojima Productions/Konami — 03.21.2014 — $29.99
8 out of 10 — Directed by Hideo Kojima; written by Hideo Kojima, Shuyo Murata and Hidenari Inamura; presented by Konami; featuring the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Tara Strong, Antony Del Rio and James Horan; Rated Mature for blood and gore, intense violence, sexual violence and strong language.
“Ground Zeroes” is an intriguing game that had me a bit stumped on how I really feel about it. Being able to jump in to a new “Metal Gear” that is both visually stunning and contains some of the best stealth and open-world gameplay I’ve come across in a long time left me hugely satisfied and wanting to dive in again to do it all over. That said, the fact that it plays out like a demo for the upcoming “The Phantom Pain” (which arguably, it is) instead of a fully fleshed out game itself makes me wonder why Konami went to such lengths to release it as a stand-alone title.
Ground Zeroes is visually stunning and contains some of the best stealth and open-world gameplay I’ve come across in a long time.
The game picks up some years after “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker” with Snake/Big Boss (Kiefer Sutherland) infiltrating a secret American base in Cuba to rescue Paz and Chico (two important protagonists from the previous game) from the XOF Commander, Skull Face. After a brief cut scene setting up your mission parameters, you’re set free to sneak into the base (or go in guns-blazing, your choice) and do what is necessary to save them from their certain deaths.
You only see him for a few moments, but this guy is a complete bastard.
To go into more detail into the plot wouldn’t be fair, not just because it is fun to discover on your own, but also, there’s just not that much of it. As an introduction to the new world of MGS and the “Fox Engine”, Hideo Kojima has wisely decided to focus on what is new and important in the game, which is the control scheme, stealth and CQC that has been the same for the series pretty much ever since the first “Metal Gear”. Gone are your life bar, radar and pretty much every other telltale sign that you’re playing a video game with the exception of a small icon on the right of the screen showing your current weapon and ammo. By removing these distractions, “Ground Zeroes” feels much more cinematic and allows players to focus on what’s actually taking place on the screen instead of trying to absorb a ton of information that’s being thrown at them. Life is now represented by a darkening and blood-spattered screen and regenerates slowly over time. Radar has been completely eliminated and replaced by your binoculars that let you tag enemy soldiers and then conveniently track and see them even through obstacles. It was a little bit jarring at first to get used to this new mechanic, having been so reliant on radar in the past, but it definitely made for a more realistic mission by not being able to immediately notice where enemies were and in which direction they were facing/walking.
The game plays out more like a demo for “Phantom Pain” then a fully fleshed out game.
Enemies are also much smarter this time around, and they will easily spot a careless player who accidently pops up into their vision, even when at a distance. The game does give you a sporting chance when this happens, slowing down time and allowing you a shot or two to silence the guard before raising the alarm, but fortune favors the stealthy, and you would be better off taking extra precautions just not to be seen at all. Once the alert has been raised, your best bet is to neutralize the offending guard, hide the body (if he’s by himself), and high tail it to a remote location until the base has stopped looking for you. Again, there is no countdown timer here; you have only the chatter of the guards and the music to give you an idea of how much longer until they give up the search.
Searchlights are a bitch.
Of course, sneaking up on an unsuspecting guard, putting them in a head lock and either killing, interrogating or knocking them out is just as fun and satisfying as ever, but even on normal difficulty, it’s going to take you a few tries to become proficient at this, especially towards the end of the level.
This didn’t happen as often as I wanted it to in my first playthrough.
Which brings me to the huge issue with this game – the length. Although I knew full well a run-through would probably only take an hour or two to complete (and apparently, a gamer has finished it in ten minutes!), it was still unsatisfying when the end credits rolled. I simply wanted more, and while it’s a testament to the excellence of the game that I wanted to keep going, it was disheartening to know that there really was nowhere to go after this. Sure, I dallied with some of the side missions, and I’m sure I’ll collect all the XOF patches to play the hidden mission, but that doesn’t seem like enough to justify dropping $30 on it. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast and will definitely play through the main mission again to try it in new ways, but I still couldn’t shake the fact that something was missing. Short games don’t always bug me; “South Park The Stick of Truth” only took me about twelve hours to fully complete, but I felt like I got my money’s worth when I was done – something lacking from “Ground Zeroes”. Androidika summed it up perfectly when he said that it almost seems like the beginning scene of a James Bond movie before the opening credits roll, except they didn’t deliver the rest of the movie.
This truly is a remarkable and wonderful game that shows off not only the potential of gaming to come but also for the MGS series as a whole. Incredible visuals combined with its intense cinematic gameplay and depth of combat do make “Ground Zeroes” a must-play game for fans of the series or stealth genre, and while its lack of content makes it difficult to recommend at its current price point, I’m going to anyway. Even though I am not thrilled with the length of the adventure, it is an experience gamers need to enjoy, and one that is truly extraordinary. It’s an extremely tasty (and rather expensive) appetizer before the main course, and while I really wanted more than just one bite, it will have to tide me over until “The Phantom Pain.”
Image credits: metalgear.wikia.com, edge-online.com, venturebeat.com and gaming-age.com