MGS V : Ground Zeroes gives us a glimpse of what to expect when the full
MGS V : Phantom Pain hits the shelves in September 2015. It is relatively short, but in all fairness it was intended to be, and it leaves us filled with anticipation for the full game.
You start out with an introductory cut scene where a few characters of the game are introduced. In a rainy secret prison camp in the beginning you get an early hint of what is going to be Big Boss Snake's ( the games main protagonist ) mission objective in this latest instalment of the MGS saga. As Scull-face ( Probable antagonist ) leaves the place via his chopper Snake gets introduced and you can view your mission objective to find out that this is going to be a search and rescue mission, objectives are Chico and Paz ( introduced in MGS : Peace Walker ). There are different ways to approach the mission, you can either enjoy the suspense of sneaking around the map avoiding enemy patrol soldiers while locating the prisoners that you need to rescue or you can go Rambo style dispatching every enemy whilst rescuing the prisoners.
The games graphics is stunning as expected from a Kojima Productions game. From the Rain drops and facial expressions to the grass and lighting the graphics is extremely detailed. I was amazed when the game transformed from the intro cutscene in to the actual game. The music is once again supplied by Harry Gregson-Williams, a world renowned music composer who worked on previous MGS games. The voice over acting is second to non as in previous MGS games with Keifer Sutherland taking up the role of Big Boss Snake. Sounds from footsteps and raindrops to gunfire and vehicles is exceptional. Cinematics transform from game play to cut scene and vice-versa with ease. The game features several precisely detailed weapons from the non lethal handgun to assault rifles and sniper rifle along with claymore mines and various hand grenades. My favourite is the CQC that Snake can perform with the added knock out with the slow motion animation. You can still perform hold ups and you can put an enemy in a choke hold if you sneak up on them from where you have additional options to either ask the enemy soldier a question, choke him out so he passes out or slit his throat. You can also pull down an enemy from the watch tower which instantly knocks them out. A new feature is the sprint which I really liked. When you sprint you can jump and stay in a laying position or start crawling. You can crouch and walk while in crouching position so that the enemy wont hear your footsteps, and another new feature is that you can carry bodies on your back. When carrying someone you can still use a single welded weapon or you can even toss the body you are carrying. The binoculars also get an upgrade, you can zoom in on enemy soldiers and tag them. After you tagged the soldiers, prisoners, vehicles, or anti-air guns they get added to your map where you can scout the enemies location easily. You can also listen in on the soldiers conversation while you zoom on them with the binoculars and gather Intel that can aid you in the mission, these new features really make the binoculars more relevant than ever before in MGS. Overall MGS : Ground Zeroes is a solid game that leaves us wanting the whole game.
Pros : Graphics, Sound, Controls, CQC, Weapons, Music
Cons : Game Length