Good day to be a gamer, as the appetizer that is Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is out today, setting up a hankering for the main course, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. It's mostly positive reviews, but the game's unfortunately limited length is cause for some detractors to cry foul, despite the fact that we kind knew that already. See what the critics are saying below:
Kotaku, Yes - "You're at one of those restaurants where they serve gourmet food in very small portions. You've been given your entree-a intricate thing that looks as much like an exotic flower as a meal-and you take the first bite. It's delicious! You begin to cautiously dig in, ever mindful of the fact that this... well, this is all there is. Soon it'll be gone, and it's a long wait for the next course. That's Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes: An often beautifully constructed game that for all its good ideas and slick execution remains quite obviously a sliver of a larger, more complete game...Ground Zeroes subscribes to a "less talk, more rock" philosophy. The game has only two lengthy cutscenes: A nine-minute one at the start and a ten minute one at the end...In between, it's all game. That's a welcome change of pace for Kojima, and the strongest point in Ground Zeroes' favor: It may be short-my meticulous playthrough of the main mission clocked in at three hours-but it's almost all beef."
NextGenGamingBlog, 9.5/10 - "it has to be said Kojima’s storytelling methods have most definitely improved, servicing the gameplay superbly. There’s not a whole lot of story in Ground Zeroes, but what there is damn special. Cutscenes now blend seamlessly into the gameplay, so much so that you’ll barely notice the transition or a difference between the two. Not that I hated them, but expect hour long codec chats to be a thing of the past too. The chatter is still present (you can press L1 to initiate it), but now it takes place as you play. When the focus needs to be on the story, it’s most definitely there, but in Ground Zeroes gameplay is king. Oh and it’s a bit special...As a prologue to Phantom Pain, Ground Zeroes more than does its job. Where most Japanese developers have fallen behind the West, Ground Zeroes shows that Kojima and his team have listened, watched and adapted to the current gaming climate. Not only does Ground Zeroes set up Phantom Pain superbly, it strips away all the unnecessary fat, showing everyone that Metal Gear and Kojima still own this genre. Make no mistake; this is stealth gameplay at its finest. Now, can we have a release date for Phantom Pain please? Pretty please?"
Eurogamer, 9/10 - " It's a short, concentrated burst of the newly introduced open-world gameplay systems, and it suggests that Metal Gear Solid 5, across its two instalments, could be the most significant evolution in the series since it gained its Solid suffix. There are questions about how short exactly the experience is, and how that sits with Ground Zeroes' not insignificant price tag - but forget all that. Like the Ennio Morricone and Joan Baez anthem Ground Zeroes heavily leans on, it's a punchy, proud and stirring experience. You can't put a price on class like this...Ground Zeroes sees Kojima Productions analysing the blueprints of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, re-sculpting and retooling them to create a flexible spin on the stealth genre as pure as it is slick. The shift to the open-world genre ensures that the environment does much of the heavy lifting, and it helps that Ground Zeroes' own Camp Omega is something of a treat...As a precursor to Phantom Pain, it suggests that greatness awaits, but even on its own terms Ground Zeroes is something special. In the purity of its systems and the focus of its action, it's not just an antidote to the glut that had begun to weigh down Metal Gear Solid but also to the bloat that weighs down so many of the series' big-budget peers. Welcome back, Snake. You've been missed."
OPM, 8/10 - "Yes, this espionage appetiser is over sharpish. But for the time it lasts, the Phantom Pain’s prologue is better than the majority of full-length games on PS4...Nevertheless, it’s hard to escape the reality this is essentially a beefy demo designed to prime you for the bonafide main event that will take place when the full fat Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain most likely launches next year...This is an experience rich in possibility and hidden gems, though how much value you ultimately rinse out of the overly purse-pulverising £29.99 price tag depends on your aversion to repetition and desire for chasing high scores and S ranks. And yet, I still absolutely recommend you stump up the cash for this brief, utterly excellent stealth starter. In many ways, Ground Zeroes is a similar prospect to MGS2’s legendary tanker demo. Back in early 2001, Kojima Productions rolled out Zone Of The Enders to act as a glorified delivery device for that soaked Sons Of Liberty teaser. And while there’s far more content here than the iconic PS2 boat provided, this base infiltration remains a primer for a grander espionage adventure. As was the case thirteen years ago, you’re still dealing with a grizzled dude skulking around in pissing-it-down-conditions, knocking out guards and getting into all sorts of involving stealth pursuits."
Gaming Bolt, 7.5/10 - "There needs to be a clear understanding on what Hideo Kojima is aiming for with Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. It’s not a fully fledged experience, it’s a prologue and as such you should not expect all the bells and whistles that come along with a Metal Gear Solid title. There is widespread confusion that this is a paid demo but after investing ten odd hours into the game that claim is far from the reality. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is more of a technical showcase of what Kojima Productions’ brand new Fox Engine is capable of and what players can expect from The Phantom Pain...Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes has a decent amount of content and its life time can be greatly expanded if the player finds all the record tapes and other collectibles. The game obviously does not have content on par with its predecessors but whatever is there is genuinely intriguing. Ground Zeroes gives you a good indication about how The Phantom Pain is going to shape up and if the current mechanics are anything to go by, fans and gamers alike are in for a treat. Ground Zeroes on its own is a game that you should buy if you are a fan or if you’re frustrated at the lack of genuine stealth games. Others can wait till The Phantom Pain arrives."
Joystiq, 3.5/5 - "Kojima's fiction may be impenetrable to the newcomer, but one man's convoluted is another man's complex, and it's your job to infiltrate the latter. Ground Zeroes effectively acts as the cold open for the upcoming and separately released Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, sending Snake through a massive rain-drenched encampment in Cuba. It's not quite the glorified demo your cynical self might suggest, but this tantalizing prelude does show how Metal Gear Solid will change its crouching silhouette yet again...Ground Zeroes also marks a dour turn for Metal Gear, but it feels close to the ground, dirty and dangerous. Kojima has brought the camera down, severing us from the radar screen and the days of steering Snake like Pac-Man dodging guards instead of ghosts. He sprints, walks, crouches and crawls in one smooth motion, rolls behind cover and peers over the edge ever so slightly. You feel rooted in the world alongside Snake. You clench your teeth as he picks a lock (no minigame!) and slips out of view just in time. You notice the cutscenes don't really cut away anymore...The undoubtable quality of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes feels carved from a bigger, better game, and perhaps that makes it a better showcase for players who don't know their Snakes from their Otacons. Too good to be a cash-in, too calculated to be satisfying and too intriguing to spurn, Ground Zeroes is a fiscal test of patience. If you can't wait for the next stage of Metal Gear Solid, I'm afraid you'll leave this about the same as you went in.
Polygon, 5.5/10 - "After years of waiting, Snake is back in Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes. Nevermind, he's gone again. If you're confused by the rollout of Metal Gear Solid 5, let me try to break it down for you: There's the real Metal Gear Solid 5, subtitled The Phantom Pain, scheduled for release sometime before the sun and the Earth collide. And then there's Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes, a prequel to The Phantom Pain that is being sold as a stand-alone experience. But beyond offering a sampling of some of the enhanced gameplay systems being added to the series, Ground Zeroes is hardly worthy of the franchise moniker...Ground Zeroes is the biggest departure for the series since the original Metal Gear Solid. It's still a game about stealth, of course. But where Metal Gear previously relied on Snake's numerous gadgets, Ground Zeroes focuses much more on observation...I'm not sure that this more patient system is an improvement, though...It's admirable that developer Kojima Productions was willing to toss long-held franchise tenets out the window in favor of re-imagined Metal Gear Solid gameplay. And it's possible that in a more complete game, these additions might shine more brightly. But Ground Zeroes is hardly the right venue to demonstrate the future of the franchise. It's staggeringly short and unsatisfying, feeling more like a cash grab than an honest-to-goodness installment in a beloved franchise."
