Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Review

"No HD horse Shit here, plenty of rain though"

Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes, the game that has given gamers a glimpse of what the franchise will be like on new gen consoles. The announcement of Ground Zeroes came out around 2012 with the release of a trailer that turned out to be the intro cinematic for the game. The game itself however is not a complete game and is instead an intro to The Phantom Pain being released early 2015. This means that people buying this game can expect a handful of hours of entertainment, this being said I have had 12 hours of gameplay from it which is more than most complete games.

The story of Ground Zeroes consists of one mission that sets up everything for The Phantom Pain. Snake who is now known as Big Boss receives word that Paz is still alive and that Chico is also in the camp. You find out that he went to save Paz without telling anyone. A nuclear inspection is also taking place on Mother Base while this mission is going on.

While the game was still in development Hideo Kojima did say that the themes of the story would be a little more riskier than previous games. I won't go into the plot but I can safely say that even in this small mission the tone can get pretty dark the further you investigate. If this will get worse in The Phantom Pain is unclear but it's safe to say yes I think, after all this is only a glimpse of what is to come.

Side Ops also returns from Peace Walker and for those who skipped Peace Walker I shall explain what they are. Side Ops are small missions that can be undertaken to collect bonus items like tape recordings or materials for research etc. In Ground Zeroes however what you get from them is greatly reduced, they are mostly included to show off the new FOX engine. It's no coincidence that each level is set during a different time of day.

FOX engine at work

The main game mission is set at night during a storm, one Side Op is set during a sunny day and another is set in the late evening. At the very least The Phantom Pain will be a beautiful looking game. 

There is only one environment for the game that is called Camp Omega, a blacksite on the coast of Cuba. Although The Phantom Pain is promised to be 200 times bigger than this games environment Ground Zeroes still offers a decent playground to test yourself in. 

The prison compound during the main mission is full of guards, search lights and the odd vehicle here and there paroling the base. If you want to get through the game with a high ranking then your best hope is to take things slowly. The stealth aspect of the game has been elevated somewhat as the map in the HUD has been taken away so you get no cones of vision. Instead you will need to use you binoculars to map out points of interest, enemies etc. Tagging an enemy means that Snake can keep track of him and seen him through walls for example making it easier to sneak around and not get caught unaware.

Search lights in this game act as they should and look almost realistic. This coupled with the sound that played when the light hits Snake is a truly frightening experience. 

"Please don't see me, Please don't see me"

The controls in this game are different from previous installments, the picture above for example shows Snake take cover by a wall. Now when snakes goes near a surface with the rock formation in the picture he will automatically cling to the surface. This makes it harder for Snake to be noticed by things like search lights that are also in the picture.

Another new feature is the slow motion moments that occur when Snake has been spotted by the enemy. Time will slow down giving the player a chance to deal with the enemy before things get out of hand, this could be a single guard or a search light. Failing to do so however sets off an alarm altering all the guards to your position. In this event the player can run full out across the base to safety losing his pursuers.

Because the maps are going to be so big the developers have decided to let the player drive vehicles. These could be Jeeps to Tanks and trucks, each bring their own advantages and disadvantages to the current situation. Driving a jeep in Ground Zeroes for example is good for a quick escape but it does attention of trigger happy guards.

No respect for personal space

CQC is also improved allowing the player to take down multiple enemies at once. When in a run like the one mentioned above the player can seamlessly take down an enemy when in the run, throwing him through the air and continuing to run. Holding the CQC button forces Snakes to grapple with the enemy allowing for either interrogation or a stealth kill with the knife.

There's also a limit this time on what can be carried so gone are the days when the player could use three assault rifles, two pistols and a PSG-1. Now there are places for the weapon like the Hip that would contain an assault rifle, sidearm that would contain a pistol and a place for grenades and explosives. This means that the player will need to consider wisely what course of action that they want to take, do they choose smoke grenades or C4 ?

Not included in Ground Zeroes but The Phantom Pain will have a working Day to Night cycle. This cycle will become more visible when traveling around in a helicopter which is in Ground Zeroes. Leaving one area for another will see a change in the time of day which also has an affect in how you play. Certain times of day will see shift changes in the guards on duty. Daytime might have less guards, night time may have more making it purely a player choice as to how to proceed. 

The helicopter will be Snakes main mode of transport, simply throw a flare and boom the helicopter is inbound. It can't land anywhere however which means that some forethought is necessary. There are small waypoints scattered around the map with some being safe and others being in the center of the enemy base. Calling in the Helicopter in a dangerous location means that it can be shot down so you will need to protect it as it comes for you.

But what does that matter when Flight of the Valkyries is playing ?

PS4 and XBONE users would be pleased to know that the frame rate for both consoles stays at 60fps so there is no concern about quality issues.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game however aren't as impressive as both are around 20fps - 30fps. During the game is seems that the 360 seems to hold the 30fps whereas the PS3 seems to jump around a lot between the 25fps and 30fps range. This however doesn't make it a bad version of the game as it is working on last gen consoles and still looks pretty impressive. 

So yes that is Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes in all its splendor, despite it not be a full game and more of a glorified demo of The Phantom Pain it's still pretty good. Probably best to play this game a week before The Phantom Pain is released 

8.8/10