Kojima wants to show off, but as I just wrote in my analysis of their marketing, they don’t seem to care about preserving the intrigue and mystery around this game at all. I’ve always hated behind-the-scenes videos for my favorite things, unless it’s years later and I’m not “into it” the same way still.
Tag Archives: ground zeroes
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES (Part 1)
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 article contains no spoilers >
Ground Zeroes writings will be coming
I guess I should mention, I bought Ground Zeroes for the PS3 and I’ll be writing about it in a few days once I’m confident that I’ve seen everything I need to. I’ve beaten the main story and the Side Ops, but haven’t unlocked what I assume is the “Deja Vu” mission. I’ve listened to most of the audio logs, too.
I haven’t synchronized the companion app, or tested nearly everything I want to though.
What next and what’s interesting?
Ground Zeroes is just around the corner and I need to decide what to do about that! I want to get a PS4 and buy it on there, but they are still sold out everywhere around where I live, and Amazon hasn’t emailed me about new shipments yet. So who knows when I can do that.
I do plan on reviewing GZ in some way, or at least analyzing what it represents in the series, so as I wait for getting a PS4 I’ll guess have to do something else, huh?
What I’m currently fascinated by are EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark, a very interesting MMO (and creation tool spinoff) that’s being developed. I hate MMOs in general and I never cared at all about EverQuest, so that should tell you that it must be pretty special. They seem to be doing some extremely creative and interesting things with the series, and I suggest you start watching the video below:
Konami drops price of new-gen versions of Ground Zeroes!
The game is now $30 for both retail and digital versions. Complaining does good.
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.
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.
MGSV will kick mountains of ass, confirmed
It’s still hard for me to figure out how the hell Metal Gear Solid V will be able to fit on the PS3 and 360, because it sounds like a behemoth. But, I have no reason to doubt that NeoGaf user “duckroll” is telling the truth when he/she says that, in the latest Famitsu magazine, Kojima has revealed the following things:
– Ground Zeroes is the prologue to Phantom Pain, and it is intended to be similar to the pre-title sequence of a Hollywood movie, where something major happens to catch the audience’s attention, before the real story starts.
– The main content in Ground Zeroes is largely meant to be a tutorial for Phantom Pain. He uses the exact word – tutorial, so there’s no doubt about this at all. The story content in Ground Zeroes is limited to the night setting in the rain, but you’ll be able to see other times of the day via the side op missions. There is no dynamic weather or day/night cycle in Ground Zeroes.
– Phantom Pain is the game which will feature the full range of expanded features carried over from Peace Walker – base building, recruiting soldiers, etc. Most of this will not be in Ground Zeroes at all. You will not be able to use the fulton recovery system in Ground Zeroes either, but there are optional captives you can rescue using the helicopter.
– The save data in Ground Zeroes will carry over to Phantom Pain, and there will be benefits in the full game for extra stuff you decide to do in Ground Zeroes.
– The reason Ground Zeroes is being released as a separate package in the first place is because the main game is taking a long time to develop due to the large amount of content. So the marketing team at Konami worked out this release format with Kojima so gamers can at least experience the prologue segment of the game earlier.
– Kojima wants to reward fans who buy both Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain later on with some sort of content in the full game, but he hasn’t worked out the details with the marketing team yet.
– Ground Zeroes (and Phantom Pain by extension) will support a secondary display device via smartphones or tablets. It can be used to display stuff like leaderboards. There have also been feedback from people outside of Japan for a map display and so on, but Kojima has some concerns about players diverting their attention between two screens, so he’s still looking into it.
Peace Walker’s systems in huge, open-world areas
Now, assuming this translation and paraphrasing of the supposed interview (which doesn’t display when I click on the link) is accurate, the real bombshell is confirmation that Metal Gear Solid V will include building Mother Base, capturing soldiers with Fulton Recovery, research & development, and (therefore) a massive amount of replay value and layers to its gameplay.
I could not be more excited by this news, even though it was sort of mentioned before. Whether or not you believe that Ground Zeroes will be worth $20 because Kojima is calling it a glorified tutorial, doesn’t matter. What matters is that eventually, when MGSV is released, we’ll be able to build Outer Heaven with our own hands, just like we should. I’ve said before that I love how Peace Walker gives you an insight into Big Boss is different than Solid Snake, and how something as crazy as Outer Heaven could exist. Now we’ll be able to fully immerse ourselves in that role, sneaking around freely in huge environments, stealing weapons and technology, kidnapping soldiers, and doing the dirty work as we try to get revenge on Zero.
