The game is now $30 for both retail and digital versions. Complaining does good.
Category Archives: Ground Zeroes
Theory: Skull Face found in MGS3? Dr. Clark’s role in MGSV
(The original picture — which I’ve edited to include names — and this theory, both come directly from this SnakeSoup post by member Gentapo, so give that guy credit (or ridicule) for connecting the dot.)
Below are my thoughts on its plausibility and implications. I miss the days of longshot Metal Gear theories and rampant speculation, so now I’m going to indulge…!
Comparing the versions of Ground Zeroes
Konami has released direct comparison information on the various versions of Ground Zeroes. As you can see, the PS4 is the only version that will run at 1080p resolution; Xbox One has the same resolution as the Xbox 360 and the PS3, although it has the same frame rate as the PS4.
There are a number of very helpful screenshot comparisons as well. Here is a raw image captured from the PS4 during gameplay, and here is an image taken from the Xbox One. You can do more research on this by visiting the compare page of the Ground Zeroes website, like a responsible consumer.
Only For Revenge: Kojima’s Secrecy And Obsession With Misunderstanding
As the strange tale of Kojima’s meta-narrative becomes more complex and epic, when can we expect to see him tip his hand and explain everything? Why hasn’t he done this yet? Why does he keep his genius secret?
Sean Eyestone walks through Ground Zeroes mission
Why do I continue to be fascinated by Ground Zeroes?
Kojima Productions keeps walking us through similar missions in the same Cuban black site that Ground Zeroes revolves around, and this time Sean Eyestone tries to rescue Chico from the POW section of the camp at night, in the rain. It’s extremely dry, boring commentary from somebody on the Kojima Production staff. But I still love what I’m seeing. Try watching the video on “mute” and imagine taking your time with the mission while doing the typical Metal Gear habits of a) systematically eliminating all guards after interrogating them, b) stealing as much equipment and supplies as possible. Then imagine turning off “Reflex Mode” and “Tagging” while playing on Hard, and trying to do it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
If you ask me, the real meat and bones of the game looks incredibly compelling. The most exciting feature I saw here? The ability to force guards to call out to their friends! This is actually a feature I’ve thought should be in the game since Metal Gear Solid 3, along with using the enemy’s radio to create false alarms and spread disinformation. I’m extremely glad to see a step in that direction. It’s the kind of depth that I want from the next-gen.
Ground Zeroes costs how much, now? Interesting.
[Update: Without looking around too much I assumed GZ would have side-missions, and the official Konami blog for makes this clear:
MULTIPLE MISSIONS AND TASKS – Ground Zeroes boasts a central story mode and additional side-missions ranging from tactical action, aerial assaults and “covert” stages that will be sure to surprise.
So there you have it. A story mode, side-missions, aerial assaults, covert stages… This is definitely not a little demo.]
Finally we know something about Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes‘ release date and price. As Kojima hinted many times, Ground Zeroes will be a separately released prologue from The Phantom Pain itself, and will even have a boxed retail version for current gen consoles. It’ll cost $20 on the current-gen systems and $30 to download it on next-gen.
NEWS: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes will be released in Spring of 2014 (PS4 version $30 on PSN)http://t.co/kLmHncXks4
— Mr. Wolfe (@meta_gear) November 4, 2013
Judging by what we’ve seen in the preview trailers and demonstrations the “Ground Zeroes” mission itself seems to be pretty small, which is why people are upset about the $30 price point. But is this really a ripoff, or a sign that the game is a lot bigger and more interesting than we have been led to believe?
In the TGS demo we see a long list of classified missions to choose from, and the rescue mission for Chico is only one of them. Another mission (specially prepared for that show) was in in the evening, in clear weather. Since neither mission seemed to have a day/night cycle, or dynamic weather, we might be able to expect a series of missions leading up to the “main” one, teaching us how Mother Base will work, or training us how to use the various systems The Phantom Pain is going to use. Think of it as VR training, the briefing section, and MGS3’s “Virtuous Mission” all rolled into one. Prologues are generally supposed to introduce and establish the ideas and names that the audience will be meeting later on. It plants the seed, so that it’s not overwhelming later on. If MGSV is as big as Kojima has bragged before, we’ll need a $30 game to handle all of that prologue.
Because MGS fans are familiar with the Tanker Chapter of MGS2, and the Virtuous Mission of MGS3, many have been assuming the same thing here, but I doubt Ground Zeroes will even be included on The Phantom Pain disc when its released. Not only would this make Ground Zeroes more appealing as a stand-alone, but it will allow The Phantom Pain‘s madness to shine brighter.
Big Boss is in a coma for 9 years. The time between GZ and TPP releases will give us a sense of that long waiting period, certainly. Then, when we finally see Big Boss waking up from a coma with a horn in his head and a missing arm, the mystery about the game will feel that much more intense.
Ground Zeroes @ TGS 2013
Ground Zeroes was shown off at TGS this year, with a night and day demonstration. Now we’re getting a much more clear idea of how the game will work, and even how its mission selection screen will look.
The amount of negative reaction is surprising to me, but I think it has a lot to do with the way Kojima has been showing us the game. For some reason, Kojima must think we don’t understand the concept of an open-world MGS game, or he thinks the world will be stunned by the innovation happening, so he wants to play through scenarios and do commentary the whole time. Unfortunately, this breaks the “story immersion” that makes Metal Gear games feel so damn intriguing, and thus it feels like just another stealth game. Maybe that’s the real reason people are comparing it to Splinter Cell.
Confusion is another issue. The Ground Zeroes demo is looking more and more like a standalone prologue that will be released independently from MGSV. It’s frustrating that Kojima isn’t making it clear, and also doesn’t seem characteristic of his marketing style. The gameplay is nice, but it would be a lot better if we knew we could pay $15 for it in two months, or $30 in five months, or something! Maybe it’ll be free to play, who knows.
Anyway, equally interesting is the performance of Kiefer Sutherland, reading the same lines we saw in the original trailer. I’ve always liked Kiefer Sutherland and I believe he should be an amazing fit for this role, but I don’t care for his performance here at all. This is bad news. I can only hope that its not indicative of what the rest of the game and The Phantom Pain will be like. I have to wonder if Sutherland was uncomfortable with his working environment, and if the other “on-screen” actors will have similar issues: no doubt staring at a strange camera while wearing little dots on his face, self-conscious of his expression being captured and trying to match the timing demanded by the cutscenes, while delivering lines written as quick banter between old friends, but no doubt acting by himself. Or maybe the doubters were right and he simply doesn’t care. That would be a crying shame.
The gameplay itself looks very fast and responsive, with flexible options at every turn. Diving to the dirt, swiveling, hopping, sprinting, climbing, it’s all very sharp and immediate. Clearly this is not your slow, plodding, wait-for-animation-to-finish type of Metal Gear, which means that a skilled player should be able to deal with threats and get out of messy situations if they can prioritize and think on their feet.
The anti-air guns, armored personal vehicle, and rocket launchers all spoke to the need for this increased agility. Big Boss is going to have to kick some serious ass in this game, as well as doing some serious running. It makes me wonder about some things. Like having a limited numbers of enemies in a base, and the option to kill all of them and run around freely. The question of how different enemy groups in different parts of the world react to alarms, too. Will the African rebels have a different strategy than the Russian mercenaries? Variety is the spice of life.
Questions abound, and I’ll admit there’s a lot of key details missing, but I am optimistic. No doubt the camp we’ve been shown is the most “basic” example of an enemy base in the game, with some of the most straightforward solutions for dealing with it too. Who knows what kind of madness awaits in the full MGSV. Let’s not forget who we’re dealing with here.
MGSV: Tablets, user-generated content, episodic, multiplayer, and more! (updated)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is going to do everything, according to this interview Hideo Kojima did with computerandvideogames.com.
- Players will be able to create new missions for each other using tablets
- A “vast” multiplayer mode is being developed in L.A. Kojima Productions
- The game will be
releasedexplored episodically, with all of the missions in the game divided into “episodes” that can be explored at your leisure - Ground Zeroes (which will very likely be released on its own) will not feature a day/night cycle or weather patterns because it’s suppoed to help old players adjust to an open world Metal Gear
- The engine is being designed to handle everything, because it’s going to be used for all sorts of Konami brands
The game will be released episodically, “like a TV show” (source) which means David Hayter could come back to voice Young Solid Snake down the road. Or hell, it could mean a million things.
Update: The following picture-painting was under the impression that The Phantom Pain would be released episodically, which it won’t apparently. The game is simply episodic in how you explore the different missions it offers.
This might be hard to wrap your head around, so let me paint a picture for you.
Afghanistan is huge, and the trailer only shows a relatively small part of the whole area. Within the area there are a series of clues, “side quests”, and objectives that further the story but also just provide interesting benefits, but initially your goal is to rescue Kaz and escape with him on your back. You get back to Mother Base (or its equivalent) and plan your next move. You’re free to go back to Afghanistan and do other things, like kidnap people, steal technology and weapons, destroy enemy outposts, and so on.
Several areas are available with the initial release, including Cuba, and each of them can be revisited for strategic purposes, much like Peace Walker. There may even be a tug-of-war style fight for territorial control.
Meanwhile, “Those Who Don’t Exist” are hunting Big Boss across the world, phantoms in his own mind, who essentially serve as boss fights in situations where there shouldn’t logically be any. From a game design point of view it’s a perfect excuse to add new random challenges and extreme situations (flaming unicorn chase) anywhere.
One thing I bet we can count on is travelling the world to recruit new members, such as Emmerich, Quiet, Eli, and Code Talker. Each of them is probably going to be on a different continent, and have their own aspect of the game to contribute.
Maybe it’s just me, but this sounds like a dream come true. How the hell will this all work on the current platforms? I don’t know. Will multiplayer ever be cooperative? Will tablets factor into that? Could be. We know that Ground Zeroes itself will be solo, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be added later to the main game, now that we know MGSV itself is going to have an online mode.
If Kojima can pull off even half of this stuff, it will be a truly monumental sequel.