Metal Gear Solid 5 News: Ground Zeroes Up and Running on the PlayStation 4

It's a new year, and Hideo Kojima is starting off 2014 with a tease. The man behind the Metal Gear series let slip that the opening for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, is leaps and bounds beyond the development phase.

Kojima tweeted the above image showing the Ground Zeroes icon on the PlayStation 4's dashboard, with the words "Here we 'begin' again today." That was followed by another tweet with "And starting," and what appeared to be either the game's loading or possibly a starting screen, seen below.

Good news for MGS fans, as the pics show that Ground Zeroes is sticking to schedule, and well on the way to lining up with its March release date. While Kojima didn't share any pics of the game running on the other platforms the game is expected on, it seems reasonable enough to assume it's at a similar state for PS3, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.

One half of what makes up the big picture of Metal Gear Solid V, Ground Zeroes acts as a prologue to The Phantom Pain, taking place in 1975, shortly after the events of Peace Walker, but nine years before Phantom Pain. Expect it to work as something of an expanded tutorial, helping to show newcomers the ups and downs, as well as feature "Side-Op" sub-missions, and a few challenge trials with ranking and leaderboards if you're feeling competitive. The game will take place at a U.S. black site facility in Cuba dubbed Camp Omega. Fans were introduced to the camp (as well as a mysterious disfigured mess of a man) in a trailer shown during an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series

Held prisoner in the camp is Chico, a child soldier of the Sandinista National Liberation Front and eventual member of Big Boss' private military company Militaires Sans Frontières, who supplied intelligence during the events of Peace Walker. Paz Ortega Andrade, also known as Paficica Ocean, was also mentioned in the trailer. Paz was another pivotal character from Peace Walker; a triple agent that infiltrated the Militaires Sans Frontières, the CIA and the KGB in order to further the agenda of Cipher, an organization that would later be know as The Patriots. As her body was never discovered after the aquatic destruction of Metal Gear ZEKE at the end of Peace Walker, her whereabouts have been unknown until this trailer, where we learn that she was discovered by fishermen and is currently being detained in Camp Omega, along with Chico.

It's Naked Snake/Big Boss' mission is to infiltrate Camp Omega, rescue Chico and Paz and deliver them safely to Mother Base, Militaires Sans Frontières' off-shore headquarters."

The ESRB recently released its rating for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, saddling the game with an expected Mature rating, as well as a few potential spoilers. The game is expected to release on March 18.