The release of MGS5 Ground Zeroes is both exciting and unusual. Exciting because it's another great looking installment in the Metal Gear franchise and unusual because the core experience is limited to a 1-hour prologue for the forthcoming Phantom Pain, which currently has no release date. This begs a valuable question; Why was this game released? Do we really need a half-priced demo? Is Ground Zeroes a worthy purchase? The answers to all these questions is--What's $30 worth to you?
Ground Zeroes may not deliver a full-fledged licensed experience, but it does reinvigorate the patent stealth gameplay that the franchise is known for. More importantly it acclimates fans to the introduction of a new voice actor. Kiefer Sutherland's portrayal of Snake is awkward for the first few hours, and it takes some getting used to, but now I accept that Sutherland is a successful replacement to the previous voice actor. There are many changes to the series, including targeting and melee, however the game may not sustain newcomers for the duration of its content.
Its approach to narrative is unusual because rather than dragging-out the plot for several hours, the game is truncated into one campaign mission and five side-missions. The main campaign can be completed in less than 1-hour, or 1.5-2 hours for a true stealth playthrough. Each side mission runs about 10 minutes to 1-hour, depending on how you play. Missions could have been combined into a 3-5 hour campaign, they could have easily strung together the side missions as a preamble to the main mission. Segregating the missions gives the illusion of a very short game, only worthy of 1-hours. There is at least 5-hours of mission based objectives available in Ground Zeroes. Each mission must first be completed on normal difficulty in order to unlock harder levels and new items.
Almost everything about Ground Zeroes feels satisfying. The game looks fantastic and performs well on PS3 and PS4, however the performance on PS4 is noticeably better. The control-scheme from previous MGS titles has been changed in favor of a new intuitive layout that improves the flow gameplay and responds without impediment. The gunplay is good but not satisfactory, the shooting is respectable and the recoil is solid, however combat feels best during hand-to-hand engagements. Melee combat is very fluid and more rewarding than previous Metal Gear titles. The core gameplay of Ground Zeroes is stealth, and stealth is where the game has the most to offer. Sneaking around enemy patrols, discovering new paths to infiltrate, or creating new tactical advantages brings the open-world to life in ways that other stealth games fail to accomplish. The use of setting in Ground Zeroes provides a unique freedom that combines excellent auditory prompts with the incentive to use stealth: It's fun!
Ground Zeroes biggest downfall is that it cannot be fully appreciated after its dreadfully short opening mission. Players looking for greater context within the campaign might not find it, or not recognize that supplementary narrative framework can be gleaned from the side missions. Like all Metal Gear games, Ground Zeroes makes a statement about violence and war, about how violence can become perverted into atrocities. The insidious theater of war taints soldiers, misuses people, corrupts morals, and blurs the ethical lines of espionage. Unfortunately, its campaign struggles to make these concepts accessible to players, and placates its ending with a supplemental dosage of shock-value. Players looking for substantive narrative will likely be disappointed.
There's a lot to be said about the pricing of this game: $30 on PS4/ Xbone; and $20 on PS3/X360 (download only). It's not difficult to recommend a $20 downloadable game, the PS3/X360 versions look good, however, Ground Zeroes is a 'next-gen' title intended to be played on the PS4. It showcases several possibilities for next-gen gaming despite its short length. The PS3/X360 versions of the game happen to include passive the capability to import audio files, whereas 'next-gen' versions do not. The PS3/X360 ports also feature different control-scheme, that is more user friendly, yet not offered in the PS4/Xbone versions.
Ground Zeroes is pleasant and inadequate. I thoroughly enjoy the 10-plus-hours I've investment into the game, but the truth is that there's not more than 5-hours of original content. The narrative is staggered across six alternating missions, which isn't what I've come to expect from Metal Gear. If Ground Zeroes represents a snap-shot of Phantom Pain, then I think we have something to look forward to. If you're expecting the Metal Gear experience then you're better off waiting.