Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

I am so confused with this game I am so lost when I play this game I have no clue what to do

I've had this for ages and not played it because I feared the experience would be what it actually turned out to be. My only other involvement with the series is playing the original games on the NES and then Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation, I did enjoy that - but this, not so much.

Snake (Kiefer Sutherland) infiltrates an island black site to rescue two prisoners and bring them home. The prisoners, Paz (Tara Strong) and Chico (Antony Del Rio) have information related to Cipher, a person or group that are of interest to Snake's MSF but also the villainous XOF and their leader Skull Face (James Horan).

It's a tough one to review as it's not like I can't appreciate that this game is well made. It's essentially a demo, which is fine if the price reflects that, and the island has several different missions that can be undertaken, each with different targets or goals to be completed. The story is typical Kojima nonsense, but the game makes it clear enough what your next goal is - and is generally free about how you undertake it. Graphically it's good (I was playing the PS4) version and the vocal performances are OK.

I don't like stealth though, when it's imposed into a 3D world. I think it works much better in a 2D game, as it's much clearer when someone can see you and when they can't. My playthroughs generally broke down into me shooting my way out of a scenario more often than not, and in that case the gunplay doesn't approach some of the other 3rd person shooters. The controls were very fiddly for me to get a handle on too, with me often turning on my infrared glasses and being unable to turn them off, in the height of combat.

With time I could probably have got more used to the controls and maybe even settled into the routines of the island a bit more, but as it was, one playthrough of the main story and a couple of the side missions was enough for me. You can see from the reviews that generally it's well thought of, but it just wasn't for me.

Positives:

• Gameplay
• Voice acting
• Graphics
• Music
• Voice acting

Negatives:

• Too short
• Too expensive

Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes is the prologue to Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain, the last Metal Gear game to be directed by Hideo Kojima, the founder of the franchise. Unfortunately, though, Ground Zeroes is an overpriced demo masquerading as a game worthy of it's 40$ price point. It's not. The main mission can be beaten in 6 minutes, or even quicker if tried hard enough. The side missions are laughable at best, providing no substance to the lore, only there to pad out the runtime, and rationalize paying money for this thing. Each platform version of Ground Zeroes provides a console exclusive mission. If you buy Ground Zeroes on the Xbox One, or Xbox 360, you will receive a mission where you play as cyborg ninja Raiden, as he kills Body Snatchers. If you buy Ground Zeroes on the PS3 or PS4, you'll receive the Deja Vu mission, where you play as PS1 era Solid Snake recreating events from MGS1. But even though the content of Ground Zeroes is laughable, the gameplay, graphics, and voice acting are excellent. The Fox Engine is really impressive, Snake controls really well, and everything runs at a buttery smooth 60FPS. Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain has the potential to be GOTY material, if it's more of what we're seeing in Ground Zeroes. Overall, Ground Zeroes is an overpriced demo, but with with great gameplay, graphics, and cutscenes. Don't buy this, wait for a price drop, or save your money for The Phantom Pain.

This is my first time playing a Metal Gear game and there are so many of them. They may be more familiar with Japanese gamers as that is where it grew because of it being successful.

This game is a lot like Splinter Cell, think Splinter Cell Conviction or Splinter Cell Blacklist. However, they may be similar but Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes has extra features built in.

Each achievement is about 50G but there are a couple of others which are more and should do wonders for your rank (Xbox Live).

However, unlocking achievements are not easy even given the freedom to roam over the map as you do. One achievement apparently is glitched, another says clear the mission while riding in the truck. Clear the mission? Well what does that mean?

The people who developed this game are mostly Japanese. A fine instalment in to Japanese gaming history.

Just go for it.