by Jin Lovelace; HSM team writer & filmmaker

I might receive some flak for this review, let alone my thoughts on this fifth entry to the Metal Gear Solid series, Ground Zeroes. It’s something I thought I would play later in its release so that I could isolate myself from others and try to convey my own untainted thoughts about this masterpiece.

Yes, a masterpiece. 

I’ll go further: this is a wet dream for any fan of the series, and for those that are looking to further their knowledge of the upcoming game.

By now you’re thinking, “What in the blazes is Jin talking about? I spent $30 on this game upon release and I beat this blasphemy of a joke in three minutes!”

Well yes, you’ve actually went to purchase the game that said “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes”, knew what the game was meant to be and spent $29.99 to just play the main story that was meant to be a first act in the intended full game, which would transition over to the second act, “Phantom Pain”.

Yes, that’s what you paid for. Here, I’ll go a bit deeper here for those who felt giving this game an average score is due to its lack of length and duration of Ground Zeroes.

It was announced that the Camp Omega map in MGSV was going to be the only playable stage, so it was rather obvious what you were plunking your money into. The map is huge; more than the average map you saw in the last installment, Metal Gear Solid 4. The path was rather linear in that game, where you had a few options on how you can approach the game, though never too dynamic in scope. In GZ, however, everything is much much much different.

You’ll notice right away the game has taken a drastic turn and features something far beyond anything this series has ever mustered: surrealism. And I mean as far as the story goes, everything hits the fan…hard! I don’t even wish to explain to you what happened after the events of Peace Walker because this is something you’ll want to see for yourself. I will suggest a hint to you: make it a personal goal to collect every single tape in the game. Do it and watch the events unfold in this game. Trust me, it’s far beyond any Metal Gear game imaginable.

Along with the story comes the game’s system direction. Everything is dang near tossed out the window to implement a refreshing take on the game mechanics. Overhauled are the signature MGS HUD display, such as the stamina/psyche gauge, camo index, a Radar, and even a life bar. Everything is through natural instincts and you’ll have to utilize every move in your arsenal to get around the enemies on this map; the AI are much smarter this time around, with their field of vision far beyond what you’ve played in past titles. Even the settings around you are not as dumb as you think. A minute change to anything around and the guards will fully take notice, even from such small tasks as shooting the camera off the wall to shooting the lights.

The graphics in this game are also the hallmark of the FOX Engine the Koji-Pro team have been developing, and it’s definitely one great looking game; a drastic overhaul from the past titles, with every character in the game having a breath of fresh air. Yoji Shinkawa’s artistic vision truly shows in the character designs crafted in this iteration.

Much to delight in this is the voice acting. I’m a big fan of David Hayter’s work, from his acting to scriptwriting. But the addition of Kiefer Sutherland as Big Boss was not only a “left fielder”, but absolutely the best casting to grace any video game. His voice is superb and fits Big Boss beautifully, especially the facial capturing for the character alone. Kojima-san’s work is truly elevated with this level of Hollywood talent contributing to it.

With all of this being said, would I spend $29.99 on a game that you can beat in just three minutes? I wouldn’t know, since I paid only $19.99 for my copy. I can understand how Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes was ridiculed a bit for its length, but I wouldn’t dare give it a low score based on that, especially when you’re fully aware of the game’s direction in the first place. Everyone desired this game to come out, so Kojima-san took the extra mile to give what the fans wanted until Phantom Pain releases. Think of this game as a prologue to what’s to come, as you’re becoming familiar with the gameplay, physics, and mechanics overall. You also have a bevy of Side Ops and unlockables that’ll tide you over in the meantime, especially the Deja Vu mission and it’s other featuring Raiden facing off against a very long-awaited Easter egg that I won’t spoil in this article. All I can say is that it made me squeal!

Overall, MGSV:GZ receives a perfect score (10/10) in my book. The length is what was expected to me but I made it an option whether I desired to play the game for what it was or not. And if this three-minute game has a lot to offer, I can’t imagine what awaits for Phantom Pain. I advise that if you’ve been curious on playing this title, then wait no longer; trust me, it’s worth the investment. And if you own a PlayStation 4 console, you can enjoy the game in full 1080p, 30fps resolution. Nothing downplayed, all native. It definitely makes a difference.

You can check out RadBrad’s playthrough here:

And check out CrimsonRex’s run on the Deja Vu Side Ops mission.

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