RT Gaming : Metal Gear Solid V : Ground Zeroes Review (retrospective)

Welcome to another Round-table gaming review. Today we are going to review Metal Gear Solid V : Grounds Zeros for Xbox One. The first thing i have to say about this game right off the bat before i get into a little bit of the back story and details of Metal Gear Solid and the game it self its "Wow". This game is beautiful. Konami and their use of the new "Fox-Engine" is stunning. The way they used it in this game is amazing and something really to see on the Xbox One and PS4 Systemes. This game is a very great appetizer to the upcoming game Metal Gear Solid V : The Phantom Pain. Its shows off new characters and also some old ones as well. The style Hideo Kojima when with in this installment of the MGS Series is a true open world game. When i was playing it I really felt that I was playing in a very open based world where i easily got side tracked from the main mission. Thats not a bad thing if you played Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots, even though that game semi introduced what Kojima is doing with this game but that whole aspect of past games  was get to point "A" then "B" on rails narrative. Its really a refreshing take on the whole aspect of past games and structure, I really like where he took the game. Another thing he also did was limit cut scenes and the narrative is told through cassette tapes and various other items in the game. Its really appealing gamers who are not familiar with the whole world of Metal Gear Solid  but reward them in a very detailed and rich narrative in a unique way where players who never played a MGS title before will want to go back and enjoy his past works to fully understand the whole story of Metal Gear Universe. Now ill wrap up my final thoughts on the game it self in the last section , now lets get into the review

Game play and Controls

The Controls 

The controls are top notch. The reason why i say this is because im a veteran Metal Gear Player and the controls where not always  "User-Friendly" for players who never played Metal Gear. Used of the d-pad to select weapons , aiming down the sights with holding the "LT Button" then Pressing "RB button" was smooth and very fluid. That is just a small example of the controls and the layout of how they set it up this time around. I cant wait to play MGS V : The Phantom Pain because I'm excited to see how it will all play out with the very fluid control scheme it did this installment. Not to discourage anybody who would like to go back and play for example Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty , would be upset about how the controls are set up between a game made in 2001 and 2014.They will see how identical and very similar they are in aspects of shooting , CQC (Close Quator Combat) , and Grappling  they are to Ground Zeroes . They are just a lot more polished this go around.

Game-play

The meat and potatoes of this review. I can really say (coming a stand point of being a veteran metal gear solid player) The game-play is refreshing. Its really like playing the first Metal Gear Solid all over again , learning how to play again and learning how to navigate in the small world its set in. To Help they made a app for Android and Iphone Users to use during gameplay to view the map real-time to navigate in the world its set in. That is the most impressive thing about this game is the app for it , because you can listen to cassette tapes on the fly and also call in helicopter support very fluid and with ease. The Mission i played where Snake Aka Big Boss had to eliminate 2 solider on request of a his commander really showed what the game was about. The game is all about real time actions , real time movement and decisions making , and is based off night and day aspect . So if i didn't move in time, one of my targets that i had to eliminate could change course with out me tagging him and following his whereabouts. Its really shows where the game is heading , its based off your being rushed but at the same time your as the player decides how and what approach you can take. You can either run and gun and eliminate the targets, Sneak and be non-leathel and go about it a very ideal way , or you can get info out of surrounding guards on their whereabouts and meet the targets in certain locations to eliminate them. That right their is impressive and is just a very very small example how you can go about this missions. Another highlight in this game how fluid the hiding and sneaking is in the game. That's what Metal Gear is build around is the espionage aspect of game play. Very smooth and easy to hide and use the environment in your favor. Learning the lay of the land and finding little traps and situations better aid the player in completing the missions. I can admit i did get sidetracked a lot because i was having so much fun just admiring  the world they build that is really breathtaking and really plays into how Kojima set up the game where its your choice in how you want to complete the game.Gun Play has improved in this installment tremendously. It has a nice mix of sneaky game play and run and gun game-play as well. Comparing this to MGS : 4 it took a lot of elements from it but didn't over complicate the aspect of using the guns and items. "Fox-Engine" really does a great job encompassing Environment , Real Time Game-play, Espionage , and Gun play , its really impressive. One thing i didnt like about the map is how small and tight it is. But i guess it pays off with it being very detailed and deep with depth and the surroundings it self. Again i want to touch on the point of this game is very short but its really how you make it. Theirs a lot of detail in this game and hours of content to be found and back story for Metal Gear Veterans like my self to be discovered. Thats one aspect i still don't like is how short the game is but its a give and take relationship on that matter. The game has dynamic weather and a variety of missions to show off the general idea of what Kojima is going to present us with in the Phantom Pain.

Presentation and Game Modes 

The Presentation of this game is just unbelievable. Kojima does not disappoint in how the game opens up and how it ends as well. The Dynamic Start menu of Snake Aka Big Boss sitting in the helicopter while you choose what mission you want to do is neat. The small showing of what Kojima and Konami did with Ground Zeroes is something to really take note of and admire from such a veteran franchise.

One thing i didnt like about  the pacing of the story was how short it was. Thats one thing that really ruins this game, its a fantastic  game bur theirs more to be desired in the time frame of this game and how long we have to wait for the next release to come out. Again going off that point its really a love it or hate it relationship with this game. Me personally im a huge fan of Metal Gear and dont mind how short it is because of how Kojima set the game up. Theirs a lot of content to be found in this game , theirs addition 4 missions called side ops and 2 Extra op missions that give players some very cool Easter eggs that show you what a long road The Metal Gear Series has been on.

To End it on that note and to wrap up the review , Metal Gear Solid has always been a innovator in the gaming industry. The Last Couple of Installments in the series (Metal Gear Solid 4 & Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater) where great titles and really told a deep narrative. While Kojima is going a different round in storytelling in this installment , the game still provides the deep story telling of past games while introducing a new way to go about it . It really invites people who never played the game into a world rich in story and in history. The Game-Play is Fluid and at the same time its challenging that opens new ways to approach how you want to handle a situation. The Open World Aspect and minimal cut scenes you would think  would not make it a real Metal Gear game , thats defentily not the case and it bring new life into a veteran franshies. The Presentation is something i cant not stop talking about in this review and cant not wait to see what they really show in the New game The Phantom Pain.The new engine called "Fox-Engine" really made this game standout to show a real true next gen experience. I cant get over how amazing this game looks and how dynamic it is with the weather and real time actions of the MPC's and really makes you be on your toes and always have a plan "B" and "C" on lock. The only aspect i didnt like is how short the game is, and how small the environment is . But the game has a lot of side missions and various other things you can unlock. Their could have been more weapons and other gagets in the game and also the primary mission it was always raining thats one thing i didnt like as well. Besides them points this game really shows off a great project Konami and Kojima is going to put out with The Phantom Pain. I Suggest you play this game before you play the official game that come out later next year. As a Fan of Metal Gear Solid its a must buy and i really suggest if you like narrative games with rich story this is the game you should play. Also look into past games as well to get a better grasp of the actual story , its very impressive what Kojima has done over the years.

Final Verdict 

With Rich and Fluent game play , Unique style to get missions done , and Beautiful Graphics and Deep and Excleent story this game hits on all clyindes, but hiccups on the length of the actually game , minimal gadgets and weapon, and a small map area for exploration. Again its a great Prologue to the main game and its a definite pick up hold you over while the real game comes out later next year.

7.9/10