A return to the MGS series, just not to form
By Jake Doolin
The Metal
Gear franchise has always featured over-the-top stories and ridiculous
characters. Hideo Kojima has used Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes to usher in
a new generation of Metal Gear games. Sadly, Ground Zeroes is a proof of concept
and nothing more.
Ground Zeroes is essentially an
opening tutorial mission for the full Metal Gear Solid V game. Though I was originally
excited for Ground Zeros and Metal Gear Solid V, it's hard not to leave feeling lukewarm and unexcited for the eventual full game.
The idea of more content is always enticing,
especially when it’s more of something you love. The fact that the game would
be split in two with Ground Zeroes this year and The Phantom Pain sometime later meant more Metal Gear...at least, I thought.
Set sometime after the events of
the Peace Walker PSP game, Ground Zeros follows series hero Snake (Big Boss) as
he infiltrates Camp Omega, that carries a heavy resemblance to Guantanamo Bay.
Snakes main objective is to rescue Chico and Paz, two characters that factor
heavily into the Peace Walker games.
What’s most frustrating is how seriously
the game takes itself. Where past games in the series have taken a lighthearted
approach to the narrative, Ground Zeroes is firmly stuck in a darker tone. Not
even a villain named “Skull Face” can lighten the mood.
With only two cut scenes that
bookend the game, the story is pretty barebones. Once it really starts to get
interesting the game ends in a climax that comes out of nowhere. The Metal Gear
series is defined by it’s story, and Ground Zeroes seems to push it aside in
favor of gameplay.
Meanwhile, the controls and
mechanics are some of the best of the series. Snake has never controlled this
smoothly before. Where past Metal Gear games have felt stunted by the controls,
Snake's ability to move and climb anything freely offers up more options when it
comes to sneaking around Camp Omega.
Staple features of the series, like the radar, have been
replaced by binoculars, and give the game a more immersive feeling, tasking the
player to rely on their own senses.
Gunplay has taken a page from the MGS: 4 playbook by once again
utilizing a more fluid third-person shooting control, allowing for players to
run and gun if they choose.
Even with enhanced lightning and
A.I., stealth is still the name of the game in Ground Zeroes, and improves upon
MGS4. I felt the pressure of staying hidden and planning my routes out more so than I did in previous games. Also, with the addition of daylight side missions,
players are forced to think of new ways of getting around.
Graphically Ground Zeroes looks great. Playing
on the PS3, the rain and shadow effects stand out as some of the console's best.
It must be said though that the grimness of the story translates over to the
art style, with much of Camp Omega having that brownish-green look that has
populated many games lately. This isn’t to say that it’s bad, but compared to
other MGS games, Ground Zeroes lacks originality in its design.
The biggest fault to Ground Zeroes
though is it’s lack of replayability, and shortness of main campaign. On my
first run through I managed to beat it in 22 minutes with a rank of “A”, and
after completing everything you could do in the game I found I had only put in
six hours of my time.
From a series that prides itself on
length, this is unacceptable. Especially when it’s asking customers to pay $30 for it. The side missions are a
mixed bag; some are quite good, like the assassination and intel gathering
ones, but others where Snake is flying around shooting down enemies or
blowing up enemy weaponry are more generic.
It’s that lack of effort that
really puts me in an odd place when looking at Ground Zeroes. There is no reason
for it to exist. At best, Ground Zeroes is
the opening tutorial mission for a game that won’t be out for quite some time. The side missions that pad out the game are
good, but don’t come close to justifying the price tag. It’s all very
confusing. Why couldn’t Kojima just take everything here and put it into the Phantom
Pain?
Ground Zeroes is absolutely
mind-boggling to me, and not in the fun way that Kojima usually strives
for. What’s here is not worth a $30
price tag, and is almost insulting to fans of the series. Of course the average
Metal Gear fan will buy it because it’s more of their favorite series. I just
wish the game makers had the same level of care as the fans.
+Looks great
+Gameplay is smoother then ever
-Storyline doesn’t go anywhere
-Side missions are a mixed bag
-Too little content for the price
-Unoriginal design
5/10
Images: GamesRadar, Cinemablend
