Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes

Peace comes at a price

Story

The opening scene has Miller and Snake (who is now played by Kiefer Sutherland, not David Hayter) talking about Paz, a character from the previous Metal Gear game, Peace Walker, who had survived her fall from Mother Base and was being held captive in attempts to locate Cipher. Snake fears that she will become a liability, as she was a Cipher Agent with knowledge of Mother Base, but with some coercing from Miller, the two agreed her rescue would prove to be more beneficial. Miller also learned that Chico, a young boy who also helped Snake, was captured trying to rescue Paz, resulting in his imprisonment.


Graphics

The graphics, at least on the Xbox One/PS4, are amazing. These are the best graphics I've seen in a game. The facial expressions, physics, environment all look so real.

Still makes me weep in awe

Snake's skin in the rain

Stills don't do the game ANY justice, they never do, seeing it in action is preferred. I'm amazed with them, seeing how the game is on both current and last gen, which means that they STILL aren't as good as they could be. The ground and textures look, again, amazing. Everything in this game is that, amazing.

Amazing.

The game also uses motion capture for the characters, so if their movements seem fluid and almost eerily human, that is why.


Controls

Any MGS player can tell you that at time, Snake is tough to control (especially when crawling). Most of these have been ironed out and controls are very responsive, which is good for people like me who like to run in shooting people. Snake handles like a BMW, tight and accurate, no more wonky controls when you are running for your life.

The game doesn't offer an in-game run down of the buttons, you can look them up in the menu, but it's more fun to just press random buttons and see what happens.


Voice/Music/Sound

We'll, I still don't know how to feel about Kiefer replacing David, yes I'm a fanboy, if you want to say that. There was nothing wrong with his voice, so Kiefer takes some getting used to. Personal feelings aside though, Snake, Miller, 'Huey' and everyone else sound great. Metal Gear does occasionally have wonky VO, usually intentionally, didn't hear any of that this time. The actors are great, so I have high hopes for them in Phantom Pain.

Sound and Music are both used perfectly, the right music plays at the right times and the sound effects are varied and realistic (granted I've never actually DONE any of the things Snake does, so I may not be the greatest judge).

The game brings back the directional mic as well, so you can eavesdrop on enemy conversations. Where's Johnny?


Other

As you've undoubtedly heard, the game is short. At first, you only get one mission, rescue Chico and Paz. That's it. After beating the game though, you unlock 5 side-missions that require various skills to complete, as well as harder difficulties and unlockables. If you are playing this SOLELY for the story, you will be lucky to pull an hour out of this game, if you are aiming for everything, you'll be busy, what with the collectibles and all.

If you are interested in the game, but don't want to buy it, you can watch my pre-recorded session, I beat the game in about an hour, this includes all the cutscenes for you to enjoy. Metal Gear Ground Zeroes Completion

When spotted by an enemy, the game slows down, allowing Snake to quickly (and preferably, quietly) take out the enemy that spotted him before back-up is called. This can be crucial if you are going for perfect runs, although you shouldn't get spotted at all. It DOES help avoid mass fire fights.

The inventory is hotwheeled now, meaning you use the D-pad to select items instead of going through a massive cacoffiny of menus.

Enemies can also be marked if you are close enough, or have binoculars. When marker, you will always see the enemy, even though walls. This will help you plan your next move when extracting prisoners.

When CQC'ing an enemy, you are given the option of killing, knocking them out or interrogating them for information. This is not a new feature, but is done much better than before.

CQC from behind

Much easier to remember now, if fact, you don't have to

Overall

A fun game for Metal Gear fans, or fans of stealth based gameplay, others may want to wait for a price drop, or for Phantom Pain, which I'm sure will have a Collector's Edition with this included.

8.5/10.0