Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Review (PC)

Snake, the main protagonist of the Metal Gear Solid series has returned to consoles since March, but PC gamers have been left out from the initial release of the latest game in the beloved franchise.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a prologue that paves the way to Hideo Kojima’s big comeback, Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain, which is expected to be released sometime next year.

Since Ground Zeros made its debut on consoles several months ago, there have been lots of debates on whether the game is really worth the price KONAMI has put on it, even though it doesn’t offer more than 2 hours of gameplay.

We’re not going to touch this aspect because it’s up to each and every one to decide whether a game is worth their time and money or not. We can, however, confirm that Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes can be finished in 1-2 hours, depending on your skill.

It’s important to understand though that Ground Zeroes offers a sandbox experience, an open world approach to every mission in the game. The story mode contains only one mission, but there are four additional missions in the game, which can be played as Side Ops.

If players manage to achieve a certain objective (collect all XOF patches) in the main mission, they will be granted access to two additional “Extra Op” missions.

These so-called Side Ops take place before the events in the main storyline and they are seen as “pseudo-historical recreations.” You can play them in any order and take any approach you would like.

Story

The Ground Zeroes picks up the story from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and takes it several years in the future. The story unfolding in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain starts 9 years after Ground Zeroes, which is why the latter serves as a prologue to the former.

In Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes you are Big Boss (funny, but yes), a former US veteran betrayed by the government, and that title shouldn’t go lightly. Better known as Snake, you are now commanding a private army and take various missions from faceless corporations.

“The only mission related to the main storyline that you can play in Ground Zeroes can be finished in less than 1 hour if you have some experience with the previous games.”

Taking the role of Snake, you are to save two prisoners from a US black site placed in Cuba, which is called Camp Omega. Infiltrating the site won’t be an easy job for newcomers to the series, but veterans will definitely find some new things to explore.

Paz, one of the prisoners you’re supposed to save, may have intel on the whereabouts of the person known as Cipher. The second prisoner being held in Camp Omega that you have to rescue is Chico, an ex-child soldier now captured by Skull Face, the villain in charge of the camp and XOF paramilitary force.

Night vision goggles

Gameplay

There are quite a few approaches that might lead you to your final objective, save Paz and Chico, and call in the helicopter for extraction.

You can take the stealthy approach, which is the easiest one if you know what you’re doing, or you can opt for the guns blazing approach, which isn’t that much harder because developers have reshaped the system into something that feels very much like a third-person shooter.

What’s changed in Grounds Zeroes is the removal of the radar and other indicators that would warn you in case you’re dangerously close to an enemy. They have been replaced by a binocular that players can use to mark the enemies on the map.

The new map included in the game resembles an anachronistic computer hologram (iDroid) and shows where you are and the extraction point.

You will have to interrogate enemies for info on where the prisoners are held because the map will not show you their position. You start with scarce information on their whereabouts, and if you decide to go for the stealthy approach, then you can interrogate them before killing them or knocking them down.

One other aspect that I have found in a solid part of the stealthy mechanism is the so-called “Reflex Mode,” which gives players who have been discovered by enemy patrols a few seconds to take them out before they trigger the alarm.

Everything happens in slow motions, but you don’t have more than a few seconds to reach before reinforcements are sent to the shooting site.

You can drive vehicles like jeeps, trucks and even tanks, all of which can be found in Camp Omega. Make no mistake though, if you by any chance crash your vehicle, the enemy will be all over you, so drive carefully.

Graphics and Audio

Metal Gear Solid fans are already aware that David Hayten, also known as the voice of Snake, has been replaced with Kiefer Sutherland. I’m aware that I’m walking a thin line here, but I really liked Kiefer’s voice acting.

He did a great job replacing David, but I know many still think that Konami should have never done this move. So I guess it’s each and everyone’s decision whether they consider Kiefer Sutherland better or not.

Talking about music, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes does an interesting thing, as it lets players select music soundtrack, so they can hear their favorite songs while blowing things up.

Graphic-wise, the PC version of Ground Zeroes is vastly superior to the PlayStation 4 game. By how much? Well, by a lot. If you own a good rig and a console, I would definitely advise you to get the PC version rather than the console one.

There are lots of lights and shadows not present in the console version. Other improvements include reflections and more details shown, which are mandatory for a stealthy approach.

Simply put, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes on PC looks and feels amazing, but only if you have a good enough hardware configuration to run it on Ultra settings.

Checking out Camp Omega

The Good

The Bad

Conclusion

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is the perfect opening for a much richer experience that Phantom Pain promises to offer. Ground Zeroes is intense, philosophical, dark, brutal, but full of hope at the same time.

It’s like most of Kojima’s previous works, a masterpiece. I can’t wait to see how Phantom Pain turns out next year, though after playing Ground Zeroes, I have the feeling that the upcoming title will be even better.

I reckon that the PC version of the game is much more appealing visually, but I can’t pass on the fact that the menu controls are the same as those on the consoles. That means you won’t be able to use the mouse, just the keyboard.

Other than that and the obvious too high price, there’s nothing in the world that should stop you from getting Ground Zeroes before Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain gets released.

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