3/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

System: PlayStation 4 Started: December 28, 2015 Ended: January 14, 2016 Flashback Review Now I see why I have to play Peace Walker. Seeing what happened to Paz really ticks my insides… Okay then, on with the review: Ground Zeroes is literally a prologue mission for Metal Gear Solid V, just like the Tanker Mission from Metal Gear Solid 2, as it used to be a demo disc that came with a hard copy of Zone of the Enders before the official release of Sons of Liberty. Ground Zeroes was a test run of what to expect in Metal Gear Solid V with its open sandbox and gameplay. Hideo Kojima really wanted Metal Gear Solid V to look and play well, and I’m sure the budget was completely bloated during its development, as there were some scuffles between the developer and Konami. They even created a new game engine specifically for this game. If Konami wanted the game to break even, they had to release two separate Metal Gear Solid V titles: Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. Having completed it 100%, I think it’s a good start, but it didn’t need to be released separately. For this bite-sized Phantom Pain game, I do like the sandbox design of infiltrating the base and rescuing Paz and Chico from a Black Site camp in Cuba. At least this is an important part of the Big Boss arc before jumping into the Solid Snake arc seen in Metal Gear 1 and 2. The graphics look great for their time, as it’s the first Metal Gear game to showcase the Fox Engine on a home console, despite the overabundance of lens flare. The controls feel comfortable, and using the touchpad on the PlayStation 4 for the map system was pretty cool. It almost has a Splinter Cell feel to it, and that franchise rivals Metal Gear. As for gameplay, I noticed it becomes a little too easy for its stealth mechanics, thanks to a significant change in the alert system. When you get caught, everything slows down in slow motion for over five seconds, and you have to quickly take out the target before the alert system activates. Ground Zeroes is a terribly short game. You can literally finish the main mission in half an hour or less, depending on your skill. It’s not worth the full price of $30. Even at its current price of around $20, it's still not worth it. Most players would probably wait until The Phantom Pain is released or even wait for a Definitive Edition of Metal Gear Solid V, which was released in late 2016. Since the game is so short, there are side missions, Easter eggs, and bonus content like rescuing Hideo Kojima himself in the game. If you really want to play Ground Zeroes, I recommend getting the definitive version of Metal Gear Solid V, which includes both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain in one package. Storywise, it’s a must-play to advance the plot for the characters introduced in Peace Walker. I mainly enjoyed playing it to mess around and to use the Metal Gear Solid 1 Solid Snake costume for the bonus mission. This prologue is set in only one location, and you’ll find yourself repeatedly infiltrating the same base, which can become tiring. For $30 at the time, Konami really played us like a damn fiddle.