Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Reviews
Ground Zeroes is a short, but perfectly formed, experience. With outstanding graphics, a fully immersive playground and new features, Ground Zeroes still very much feels like classic Metal Gear Solid, but the new Fox Engine, particularly accompanied with next-gen technologies, brings it off the rails and gives the classic franchise the scope and settings for an even more incredible experience. Snake is back!
As a testament to what can be done for the Metal Gear Solid series, Ground Zeroes is mouthwatering. The new Fox Engine holds up well, looking staggeringly good at times even on the Xbox 360 version. We know that The Phantom Pain is going to be many times bigger than this, so in a way it feels like a shame that this is such as slender portion of what is sure to be a fantastic fifth outing for the series. Ultimately though, it plays great and it's a fantastic game, marred by a lack of content that will leave some players understandably feeling short-changed. Some people will be quick to blurt out to them that they're playing it wrong, but I think that misses the point. We all approach games in different ways and for different reasons, and for some this will be an offensively abrupt experience, while others will burrow deep and try to uncover all of Camp Omega's secrets.
It is just a polished spy game that has something to say, but not too much and not for too long. It speaks well. But for those of us who spent years tuning ours ear to Metal Gear's strange language, this is the first small sign that it might soon be time to throw all that work away.
In many ways, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is the biggest and most confident game Kojima has ever made, but you can't escape the fact that while it's certainly an immaculate world that has been created, it's just a small fragment of something much larger we've yet to explore. After the conclusion of the anticlimactic denouement, one that leaves plot threads dangling limply with no immediate resolution in sight, Ground Zeroes comes off like a particularly generous and expensive demo. While we're first in line for the final product, as it definitely impresses, this shouldn't be considered as anything less than a substantial and mouthwatering tease of a game that promises to be something very special.
[I]t's a demo, boxed up and sold as a stand-alone game. You'll have to decide what that's worth to you.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a nice bite-sized piece of content that will help players get a good grasp on what to expect when The Phantom Pain is released sometime next year. It retains the stealth features hardcore fans have come to enjoy, while at the same time implementing various modern mechanics that will appeal to an even greater audience.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes may be short, but it sure is sweet. There is a technical achievement in Ground Zeroes that some mainstream games could only wish they could accomplish such freedom in their design. The cost of entry might be high, but what you get to witness is a game by Kojima that is tailored towards a pure gameplay experience, rather than a mash of movie meets video game.
At full disclosure, my score fully reflects my willingness to dive deeper into the game, and also the fact that I'm genuinely into the Metal Gear franchise. For me, the short mission time wasn't completely awful. If anything, Ground Zeroes helped me build excitement for what's to come.
This is just a streamlined version of what fans have encountered in the past, and it's hard to say whether these features will continue in the upcoming Phantom Pain or not.
So here we have a glorified prologue which showcases the new generation with aplomb and makes the mouth water at what Kojima Productions can do over the course of a full game. You'll revel in the backstory provided and audio logs littered throughout if you're a Metal Gear aficionado and you'll just about get what's happening in this mission at least if you're not. Either way when playing it all out you'll find a wonderful bag of tricks that doesn't bore a great many hours after first reaching the closing cutscene and its unsurprising lack of closure (it is a prologue/prequel after all). After all of this you'll still be salivating. If this truly is a sign of things to come, then we might just get that perfect score.
If you're a Metal Gear Solid fan looking for your next hit, or someone who loves soaking up everything a title has to offer, then absolutely. It's a wonderfully crafted experience that looks and sounds fantastic. There's been a lot of love given to this "demo" in ensuring it feels right at home next to the others in the franchise.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is developed purely for the fans. It won't bring in any new audiences but it wasn't meant to in the first place. It features a decent amount of content which will make the wait less taxing for The Phantom Pain.
If you're after a new next-gen experience but can't see yourself moving past the main campaign, I'd say this is probably not for you, at least not unless you have money to burn. It's a terrific little package brimming with options to replay, but it's not a large play-space by any measure, and there's not a huge amount of variation on scenery or tone. This one boils down to preference.
So, I guess you have to ask yourself one question--How big of a Metal Gear fan are you? If you can wait, the price of this game will almost certainly go down quickly. But if you can't wait and you have the extra money, you will love Ground Zeroes no matter how short it is. It gives us a glimpse of the greatness that is sure to come in The Phantom Pain, let's us get our Metal Gear fix, and shows us the future of stealth games on next-gen consoles. While I don't agree with the price, I can most definitely say it is the most fun I've had in a MGS game in a long time and is easily worth your time. But will fans pay for it? Only time will tell on that one. Hopefully, this little experiment won't start a flood of partially completed games touting themselves as "prologues" hitting the market. If so, we may see the end of demos, and none of us want that.
Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes is a good game and it's great to see this franchise on both the next-gen consoles. Given the lack of substance in the main campaign, this may deter quite a few players but thankfully the price is a lot lower than most other games on this system. Given that, I'm a little mixed about this game because on one hand, it's Metal Gear Solid but on the other, it's a little clunky and very short, even if you complete all the side quests.
Greatest. Demo. Ever.
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a small appetizer for what could be one of the greatest meals on this generation of consoles. It's true the initial mission in the game is short, but the extra content, missions, items and a first-look at the visuals more than makes the $29.99 price tag worth it. Definitely don't miss this.
On paper, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes sounds like an elaborate demo. In reality, it's a bigger game than it initially seems. Spend five hours with the game, and you'll be lucky if your completion is even nearing 25%. Play for eight or more, and you'll still be wringing juice out of Camp Omega. Be warned, at face value, this game is small, but there's much more to Ground Zeroes than meets Big Boss' one eye.
On the one hand, it may not seem fair to judge a game based upon its price. Prices can change, price drops and sales can occur, so a final score shouldn't be affected but what the retail value is. On the other, the value obtained by the purchaser is important, and if a game isn't delivering enough value for the player, they have a right to know. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a piece of something great but it always felt short of something whole. Kojima released this to tease and whet the appetites of the Metal Gear fans that were begging for more. If you fall into that camp, then you have probably already have your mind made up. For anyone who has never played a Metal Gear game however, I can't recommend that this be your first foray down the nanomachine-filled rabbit hole.
Demos are free to try. Even if you consider this a short prequel, DLC is usually between $10 and $15. I'm against the business practice that "Ground Zeroes" has introduced. Therefore, I can't recommend this game, demo, prequel, or whatever you want to call it. Wait for it drop significantly in price, or to become free on PlayStation +. I'm sure that will happen as we get closer to the real game, "The Phantom Pain." "Ground Zeroes" has the stench of a cash-grab, which is an unfortunate thing to happen to a series that is as artistic as "Metal Gear Solid."