My thoughts on MGS:GZ

So Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes has been out for a while now and only a couple of days ago did i finally pick it up. At first i was discouraged hearing about the lack of game time and the fact the main mission can be completed in 6 MINUTES, but nevertheless, i couldn't resist it any longer and Kojima Productions squeezed the money out of me.

Am i disappointed? No, even with the departure of David Hayter - the man who has voiced Snake since the original Metal Gear Solid - I am well and truly impressed with what Kojima and his team have created. I was initially one of the many in uproar when the news came about that Hayter was to be replaced by 24's Kiefer Sutherland, but having now played it, i can't help but agree with the decision to axe Hayter. Don't get me wrong, i'm a massive fan of David Hayter, he's an extremely nice person from fan footage and interviews, and there's few who seem to appreciate their fans more than he does. In my opinion, the problem is that the Snakes voice has become so iconic through the years that its hard to imagine anyone else doing it, but Kiefer delivers excellently. The problem with Hayter was that he always delivered the same tone - the rough, badass, "GRHGHH METALLL GEARRRRR" tone. Kojima has taken a gamble axing Hayter but the level of professionalism Sutherland delivers is far more noticeable and personally i fkin love his voice so in my book he gets a thumbs up. So what about my first impressions?

As the surprisingly small download quickly came to an end, i booted the game up, ready to get into what I had been craving for the past 6 years. Instantly i was surprised with what the now last gen PS3 version delivered. I've played Metro: Last Light at the very highest of settings, Crysis 1, 2 and 3 maxed,and Bethesda's Skyrim modded with ultra realistic ENB graphics, but from what the PS3 version offers, i can imagine the PS4 version to be the best looking game to date. From a perspective of realism, at least. So after what was a surprisingly short introductory cut-scene by this series standards and being informed of the mission objectives i set out into Camp Omega - an obvious attempt on Guantanamo Bay, US Prison black site on foreign soil which brutally interrogates POW's? yeah. So i've posted before on a thread or two about the new nature of the open world gameplay and it reminds me of a mix of the original Crysis, Far Cry 3, MGS and uncharted all thrown together. Needless to say, that's a good thing. From the get go the player is offered a wide range of options - do you want to use the classic tranquilizer gun or go lethal? do you want to climb up the cliff and go around, or pick the fences lock and risk a more aggro approach through the enemy's lines of sight or hell, even try climbing that tower and jumping the fence entirely (I don't even know if this ones possible, i should try next time i play) Kojima said he wanted a game where he could take an audience of 100 people and each would have a different story to tell of their experience playing and that's exactly what Ground Zeroes gives us. The levels of choice is what sets GZ apart from the modern corridor shooters and offers an insane amount of replay-ability. The main mission itself took me a lowly 25 minutes to complete, but for average gamers or newcomers to the series it could take about an hour to two hours to complete. Theres also side ops which i found suprisingly fun. It's not giving away much saying that one involves assassinating two marines in the camp and even this itself was a blast because of the quality of the world we are given.

So is that worth it? to me, yes, but everyone here knows i'm a die hard fan of the series, I've watched the universe of Metal Gear unfold my entire life and now the most important chapter of the story is finally being presented so of course i would think so.

Saying that, i think the price should of been £10 here and $15-20 in the States. I think that would of been more than fair for a demo of such quality. I read somewhere that MG:GZ is the best, most expensive demo ever made and i can't really put it any better.

To those who haven't played the others, it depends.
If you are wishing to get into the series now then it might be a decent pick up and since this is chronologically the fourth game (2 others were on PSP and not vital to play) it's not too much to take in and offers a short back story from the main menu.
In terms of value, no, but were it half the price then most definitely yes. Through completion of all Ops, trophies and replay-ability i'd say it's very possible to get a fair amount of game time out of it, but from the main mission alone, don't expect much.


Also, i feel i need to mention the controversial nature of this game, i love it. To put it short, you can listen to a casette tape of a roughly 13 year old boy being forced to rape the girl he loves who's roughly 22, and the both of them viciously tortured numerous times.
From the trailers we can see Snake taking diamonds from - presumably- a young African as he hands them over to Snake through the cells of his prison. I think that says enough about the controversy this game will cause.


TL;DR
I feel like Kojima Productions is the Studio Ghbli of video games, the way character is developed and story told is exemplary and I've never found any other media to be as captivating. GZ is too effin short, but too effin good, best gameplay in the series, kiefer does a gid job on Snakes voice and the controversial themes are great. Cut-scenes aren't too long so don't expect MGS4 the movie again. Graphically, incredible.

Can't wait for the Phantom Pain, it could very well be the best game ever made.

8.5/10

Ooh... I really feel the urge to go out and buy MGS:GZ now. But, I must resist. Can't afford it at the moment.

This was a really nice review, though. Very informative, without giving much away. Though, like you said, that might just be the fanboy in me talking.

This game gets my review reviewers score of:

10/10

Rafix wrote:

Ooh... I really feel the urge to go out and buy MGS:GZ now. But, I must resist. Can't afford it at the moment.

This was a really nice review, though. Very informative, without giving much away. Though, like you said, that might just be the fanboy in me talking.

This game gets my review reviewers score of:

10/10

I'd of gave you my account to download it onto your PS3 for free but i can't for two reasons:

firstly, theres a limit to two consoles you can download it onto - i found this out when i downloaded it onto my girlfriends PS3 and secondly i don't know how the regional differences would work with me using PSN in the UK and your PSN being NA but i'd say if you can loan a copy from somewhere you definetly should - I'm buying a PS4 for The Phantom Pain just as i did with the PS3 for MGS4  

Also, thank you for your kind comments on my little review - I'm glad you mentioned that i didn't give away much because that was my intention while trying to discuss more about the gameplay mechanics themselves so you've made me feel like i did well in that respect, so yeah, thanks mate

Saint570 wrote:

Rafix wrote:

Ooh... I really feel the urge to go out and buy MGS:GZ now. But, I must resist. Can't afford it at the moment.

This was a really nice review, though. Very informative, without giving much away. Though, like you said, that might just be the fanboy in me talking.

This game gets my review reviewers score of:

10/10

I'd of gave you my account to download it onto your PS3 for free but i can't for two reasons:

firstly, theres a limit to two consoles you can download it onto - i found this out when i downloaded it onto my girlfriends PS3 and secondly i don't know how the regional differences would work with me using PSN in the UK and your PSN being NA but i'd say if you can loan a copy from somewhere you definetly should - I'm buying a PS4 for The Phantom Pain just as i did with the PS3 for MGS4  

Also, thank you for your kind comments on my little review - I'm glad you mentioned that i didn't give away much because that was my intention while trying to discuss more about the gameplay mechanics themselves so you've made me feel like i did well in that respect, so yeah, thanks mate

Ah, you wouldn't have to do that! I'm sure I'll get it someday. If not just to have the case up with the rest of the games. That means a lot though

Oh yeah, I think that's the main reason I'll end up getting a PS4. I gotta say, though, you're damn devoted to MGS. Which is awesome, cos' before meeting you, I'd never met anyone as into the series as me.

Haha, no problem. I meant it, though! It's really a good review. I think with a little more formatting, these would look near professional, to be totally honest.

By the way, I don't think that was a "little" review.