The Metal Gear franchise didn’t just revolutionize gaming, it is part of gaming history itself, with games in each generation of consoles starting from Metal Gear up to Metal Gear Solid V. As such, it holds a special place in the hearts of gamers especially those who had the chance to play Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation and have bought every single game ever since. In fact, it is one of those titles you expect to both be good and sell a lot.
I guess that’s what you get from being a damned good video game series. It knows how to hold the balance between fan-service and being faithful to its story. It knows how to make the most out of the hardware and making the A.I. seem more intelligent than artificial. And more importantly, it has memorable characters, regardless if you love them or hate them, you’d surely remember them.
So people were surprised when it was announced that the prologue for Metal Gear Solid V will be relased as a separate game. For those who didn’t follow this game’s development history, Ground Zeroes was announced first and then, Phantom Pain was shown later before they were merged into one game called Metal Gear Solid V. Ground Zeroes covers the time before Big Boss fell into a coma (and had his cells taken for the Les Enfants Terribles project), and Phantom Pain was set after he reawakens. Then last year, KojimaPro suddenly decided to split the two again and released Ground Zeroes two weeks ago. The reason for the surprise? Well, Ground Zeroes is really just a prologue, whose main story mission is roughly two hours long, and without some of the things the series became famous for (more on that later).
This game has already been reviewed to death by both professional and amateur reviewers and much of the criticism is focused on the short story, and the fact that people have called this game an over-priced demo. Many people were worried that this might be a precedent for future games where the prologue can be released as a separate game to milk to maximize profits. Others decided that this mission will be included in the Phantom Pain anyway and would rather wait for its release (which, if the Konami Code registration is any indication, will be early next year).
I understand people have different opinions, and those are valid observations, but I feel that no one even emphasized that despite the length, Ground Zeroes is one polished, and well made game.
First, the story. Ground Zeroes is set after the events of Peace Walker. Big Boss and Kazuhira Miller got word that Paz survived and is being held in a black site called Camp Omega. Chico is also held there and it’s up to Big Boss to get them out. The whole game centers on their rescue: infiltrate Camp Omega and get them out, that’s it. No boss battles, no “breaking the third wall” moments, no humor even. Just get those two kids out. How you do that is up to you.
The first thing that caught my attention is the graphics. For a PS3 game, the graphics in the cut-scenes and even in the game itself is simply jaw-dropping. Easily the best in the series, and possibly one of the best in the PS3 so far. You can see rain drops splattering Snake during the main mission, guards sneezing and coughing in the cold, heck, you can even see their rain-drenched faces. The animation is fluid. I once got on top of a building, did a full-spring towards the roof of another, and on that split-second that the icon for the jump flashed, I pressed triangle, and Snake executed an Assassin’s Creed style jump to the other roof. Granted, I got spotted (you would too if you free-run on a military base), but the grin on my face tells it all. Doing it the first time gives you same awkward moments (like not being able to press the action button in time and landing in front of a soldier), but once you mastered the controls, heck, you’d be having a great time.
Speaking of controls, you might wonder how responsive are the controls? I would say, they are fairly responsive. I did not detect any delay when I wanted to, for example, go on a crouch quickly after a full-sprint. Snake also jumps for cover as quickly as when I press the square button. What I did notice though, is that there are lots of contextual actions for the action button that it sometimes can lead you to make Snake jump over the guard tower when what you actually wanted to do is to turn on the search-light. It’s not a problem in the control scheme, more like my slow reflexes at work, but for casual gamers, it’s going to be an issue.
Such high level of control is also needed especially when you get into gun-fights. Let me tell you, this game has better gunfights than it’s predecessors, and features smarter soldiers with basic knowledge of how to flank an enemy. When I got spotted (for doing that AC thing I said earlier), all the guards in the area responded with a shower of bullets on my location. When I opened fire on them, they ducked for cover, provided covering fire for their buddies who tried to flank me, and called for back-up when I took down three soldiers with a frag grenade. To get out of this sticky situation, all you need to do is to find a place to hide. They will open fire on your last known location and will investigate when you don’t fire back. However, should you wish to continue fighting, you will find that the base will continually send teams to you until they get you or until they lose available men. That’s not really a problem in normal difficulty, but in hard, they seem to send whole squads instead of two-man teams.
The only drawback is there’s a limited selection of weapons. You can finish this game even on hard mode without firing a shot, but with the improved AI, you almost want to wage war with Camp Omega. But I guess that’s better left for Phantom Pain.
The AI also has improved awareness for when you get spotted. In past games, they will see you, wonder, investigate somewhat, and then move on. Now they will see you, pause, radio their command post, and then investigate. And when I say investigate, they really go into the area and try to look for you. They can see shadows, movement, even hear footsteps. I can still kill them with relative ease, but I am delighted to discover that this time, they actuall fight back. I already mentioned how they use tactics to try and flank you. Should I also mention that they react well when fired upon? If I fire at their legs while they are running, they sometimes trip. No kidding! I have no idea if their buddies try to help someone who fell (my guess is no), but hey, that’s nitpicking at this point. What’s important is that the AI is loads better this time around.
Another issue is the decision to change Snake’s voice actor from David Hayter to Kiefer Sutherland. If I remember it correctly, people hated this change when it was announced. David Hayter was the voice of Snake (Naked Snake and Solid Snake) ever since Metal Gear Solid and it seemed sacrilegous to change it. Personally, I had difficulty distinguishing Sutherland’s Snake to Kazuhira Miller sometimes, but the change, at least to me, made some sense. Big Boss in Metal Gear Solid 4 had a different voice from that of his genetic offspring. This game is a good place to introduce that change, especially since this is also the time that Big Boss makes the shift from hero to villain. I do miss David Hayter, but since Sold Snake’s tale is now over (unless Kojima makes a new game showing a young Snake during his Army days), it’s probably time to move on.
Kiefer’s performance for me justifies the choice. I always liked the man as an actor, most especially in 24. To his credit, he did try to keep Big Boss’ old mannerisms in place. It just feels kind of different. But you know, I guess that’s what Hideo Kojima wants us to feel, that this is a different Big Boss.
The mood is also darker this time around. During the main story mode, the sounds of thunder in the distance seemed foreboding. As if nature knew that something is happening that will change Big Boss forever. If you have good sound systems at home, you owe it to yourself to use it on this game for at least one playthrough. You won’t regret it.
So we talked about the gameplay, we talked about the AI, we talked a bit about the controls and the sound. What about the biggest issue in this game which is the length?
Many people have called this game an “overpriced demo” which, given the nature of the content is a bit unfair. I would prefer to use Bossmac’s description that this is a DLC for Phantom Pain that they released as a stand-alone. Many people would seem reluctant to buy a game priced at PhP 1,400 when the actual story content can be completed in about 2 hours, 3 if you were doing it the first time.
While the main purpose of the game was to provide an introduction to the events of Phantom Pain as well as acclimate gamers with the new control scheme, the Fox Engine, as well as the nature of the missions they will have to do (those Side-Ops have a reason why they are there, believe me), it is far from a demo. A demo is just a part of the game which is used to show how the end result will look like. The gameplay still has lots of bugs on a demo. The events on this game – barring any trolling on the part of KojimaPro – will not appear on Phantom Pain, and I dare say that the gameplay in Ground Zeroes is as polished as they come. At the end of the day, buying this game will be all about how much you want it. Holding off does not make you less of a fan, just as buying it does not make you a certified true Metal Gear fan.
As a gamer, the story has always been important to me, far more than any form of fan-service. Normally, I would have been troubled with the short story. I remember Way of the Samurai 3 also had a very short main story, albeit one with multiple endings and the ability to carry-over your equipment from one playthrough to the next. At first the short story irked me, but then, I got the kick out of playing around the game map and becoming a different kind of samurai with each playthrough. Provided, that experience was a very personal one and is not indicative of the quality of the game as a whole. But the point is, if one level is good enough, big enough, gives enough opportunities for you to “play around”, then the story line wouldn’t really matter.
Ground Zeroes offers that kind of “playing”. There are multiple ways of doing the mission that one playthrough simply isn’t enough. Those speed runs you see in gaming sites? Those were made by people who played the game multiple times. They know which ammo is placed where, which enemy is posted at what location, and the different entrances to the base. Even then, you can still find new ways to get in. I haven’t tried this yet, but I have the strangest feeling that I can get inside the base by just hopping on a truck and hinding inside as it goes in the base. But to do that, I must be able to get on it in time. See? Multiple possibilities.
this game will not sell as much as the others because of the length
However good this game turned out to be, I also share in the worry that gamers will imitate this model and release games in chapters. However, I doubt that it will be the norm. For starters, Hideo Kojima himself acknowledges that this game will not sell as much as the others because of the length. It’s just something he wants to do to be able to do things his way. While it would have been more profitable for them to release this game digitally, a physical copy would have reached a lot more people. To release a game in episodic format would eventually kill any franchise.
Imagine,if Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed in episode format. We will then see separate releases of sequences instead of the whole game in the disk. Wouldn’t that suck? Wouldn’t that just kill the franchise? So no, unless companies can justify giving games piece-meal, it’s not going to happen.
So one question remains: does it justify the price? Granted, the price has been lowered but it still costs as much as Splinter Cell: Blacklist. The Greatest Hits versions of the Arkham Series also costs as much or even lower. So, is it worth the money?
It’s hard to say. As I said, it will all boil down to how much you want this game. For fans like me, the quality of the game itself is reason enough to buy the game. But for others, the price point might make them hesitate. Remember: not buying this game does not make you less of an MGS fan. To tell you the truth, I haven’t played Portable Ops and I have only seen Peacewalker in Youtube walkthroughs. But I still consider myself an MGS fan.
Final Thoughts
The events in this game is definitely important in the life of Big Boss. This is where he lost everything he worked hard for, everything he suffered for. The interim between Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain sees him in a coma and being used to produce three super-soldiers in Solid, Liquid, and Solidus. This is basically the point where the Solid Snake timeline of MGS takes shape, coming into its conclusion in Guns of the Patriots. People have always asked how a charismatic hero suddenly became a criminal. Well, boys and girls, MGSV will give you the answer.
In hindsight, the Sons of Big Boss represented him in his different personas. Liquid was the leader of mercenaries, the terrorist that Big Boss became. Solidus was the leader of a revolution sought to free himself from the Patriot’s control. Solid was the soldier Big Boss once was, a hero who completes the mission with lethal efficiency, determination, and high-mindedness. I haven’t played MGS4 for some time now, and after playing Ground Zeroes, I went back to my last save and finished it through the end. That last scene with Big Boss suddenly became full of emotion once again.
Images courtesy of Gamespot
3 Comments
Shadow Moses Yiss
You’re pretty good…
kept u waiting, huh