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Better Late Than Never Review: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes



"Kept you waiting huh?"

Happy New Years. I'm going to start off 2018 with a statement, or opinion rather, that I know is unpopular: Video games are not art. Now hold on a bit don't leave. Let me explain. Video games are not art, they are video games.

A video game is an interactive experience in a way no other medium can be. The speed and visuals of a film combine with the time of a novel to tell a story in an exciting way. You don't identify with the characters, you ARE the characters. You take on their struggles, trials, choices, and successes.

I say all this because I played through Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and rather than be disappointed by the game being a single tutorial mission I was impressed with what a single mission prologue game for another game could do for the story.

It seems almost unfair to say Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain are separate games but GameStop has them separate so we will too.  MGSV Ground Zeroes then is exactly wheat the subtitle says it is. Stealth espionage action. Emphasis on the stealth though.  Most games with stealth these days have it as an option. In Ground Zeroes you can try other things but stealth really is the only option. This is good but I'm getting ahead of my self.

The story is that Big Boss or Snake is infiltrating a US base in Cuba in the mid 70's to rescue his friend(s).  There's other stuff going on but really the game does a better job explaining it in words, cutscenes, and song. No really.

The single mission has you creeping around the base, marking guards, choking guys out, and rescuing hostages. There's an overbearing feeling of 'tutorial mission' over the whole thing. So much so that I was a bit surprised when the game sent me back to the tittle menu.

But when combined with The Phantom Pain it all works. This game is set 9 years prior to the main game and Big Boss has gone though some significant changes in that time so why shouldn't this segment stand apart?  It's a unique choice but an effective one to separate these sections of the story as games.

Ground Zeroes is here to do two things tell a story and get you ready for the next game. To that end its only fitting that it be a tutorial and cinematic. The cutscenes drip with emotion while you figure out just what Big Boss can and can't do. Length of the game aside, the gameplay is solid. The stealth works in a believable way and once you know the rules it becomes both fun and challenging.

There are problems. The length of the game is a problem, justified or not. Additionally the cinematic qualities also come at the cost of gameplay. Finally some of the cutscenes could have been playable sections.

The good:
-tough but fair stealth
-the series recap is adequate

The bad:
-it's 50% cutscene
-It's a single tutorial mission

I cannot, in good faith, recommend a game that is a single mission. That said this game is a great prologue to another game. In terms of video game storytelling this is a unique but fitting way to have the player interact with the story.

So. If you can find the two games together, as they do exist now in 2018, then it gets a solid recommendation. In fact, should you really want to experience this story, art or not, then I'd recommend you do just that.

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