Shocking, underwhelming, and confusing at the same time, where does one begin to discuss Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes? I’m not sure, so I’ve decided to divide my commentary into a few different aspects. This part deals with core thematic gameplay.
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Is Metal Gear Solid V secretly Hideo Kojima’s attempt to break away from the Metal Gear series? With so many major changes to the formula, Paolo Padayhag believes it might be the case.
I’ve been thinking more about the celebrity praise page for the E3 2014 MGSV trailer, and it’s becoming funnier and funnier to me.
I just finished writing about how disappointing and fumbled the storytelling of Ground Zeroes itself was. It’s strange how none of these great celebrities are discussing how good of a job he did with that, considering it’s THE ACTUAL PROLOGUE OF THE GAME.
Why would Konami seek out reactions of celebrities on a mere trailer, when the prologue is already available for the world? Did they even ask them about Ground Zeroes, or do they already know that no intelligent person would praise it as a masterpiece or a work of art? Call me crazy, but I think the prologue should be considered a better test of Kojima’s storytelling ability than a carefully edited trailer with a licensed song. I mean, isn’t that what a prologue is for?
The trailer praise page serves as a reminder of how lame Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is. It already injected cash into Kojima Productions and served as a beta test for the Fox Engine, so now nobody needs to be reminded of its supposedly crucial role and its groundbreaking mature themes, artistic depth, or genius creative vision. That honor belongs to a damn trailer.
Besides being spoiled before it was even released thanks to the many trailers and demonstrations, Ground Zeroes manages to make a sordid mess out of a very basic story. Or maybe that’s the point.
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Ground Zeroes features lots of fun, fascinating gameplay embedded into a thoughtless structure. This article discusses these structural choices, why they matter, and how could they have been improved.
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Here’s an exciting update from the master of social media marketing, Hideo Kojima:
“As got feedback from people played GZ that they wanna revenge in TPP, I’m adding hints of what happens to Snake & his team in E3 trailer.”
They wanna revenge, huh? So you’re going to give them hints? Clever guy!
Considering you released a $40 multiplatform prologue game that has a cliffhanger ending, I have to say it’s pretty brilliant to use the world’s biggest videogame presentation stage to make some follow up hints! Much better than simply showing a blank screen for 8 minutes.
Once again we can see Kojima “reacting” to “feedback”, but this feels like a hollow marketing campaign to me, at least compared to past Metal Gear announcements which had genuine hype. Sure, we always want to know more information about the next Metal Gear game, but shoehorning in this rhetoric about fans wanting “revenge” (HINT: That’s the theme of MGSV) is a little bit contrived. Lying about being involved with The Phantom Pain, creating Moby Dick Studios, and releasing Ground Zeroes as a separate game have all generated more confusion and resentment than true hype.
This E3 trailer has a lot riding on it. It needs to finally get the average gamer to understand what the hell is supposed to be happening, both in terms of the story and the product itself. If it’s more chopped up cassette tape recordings, I’m going to roll my eyes so hard.
Ever wondered what lays beyond Camp Omega? Ever wanted to stroll the Cuban countryside as Big Boss? These guys can actually make that happen — despite Kojima Productions trying to stop them.
Shocking, underwhelming, and confusing at the same time, where does one begin to discuss Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes? I’m not sure, so I’ve decided to divide my commentary into a few different aspects. This part discusses the game’s iconic main menu screen.
< This article contains no spoilers >
