Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes was released to show off the new Fox engine and let players get accustomed to the new control scheme. It delivers on those two goals. It offers fun gameplay and beautiful graphics (minus one complaint that I have). Considering that MGS 5: The Phantom Pain is two hundred times larger than Ground Zeroes, it is self evident that the price for Ground Zeroes is a bit high. The main mission and the five side missions all take place at the same location. Stealth reaps the highest rewards, as far as scoring goes, but players have the choice of being loud and proud if they so desire. I preordered this game because I thoroughly enjoyed MGS 4 on the PS3, I was anxious to see the new Fox engine in action, and I was ready for a new PS4 game. The graphics look amazing. Cut scenes are in-engine. Everything looks realistic, and it's easy to suspend disbelief and be drawn into the action. I do have one problem with the graphics, though, and it really stood out to me. I know I'm nitpicking here, but since everything else looks so great, I was disappointed to see this. The issue I'm speaking of concerns the tires on vehicles, mainly the helicopters. The tires look like stop signs, not tires. There were round tires on last generation consoles, so why not on these ultra-powerful new ones? Side view mirrors on the jeeps look just as bad. While this may not matter to a lot of players, I expect more. The A.I. is okay (normal difficulty), but there is room for improvement. I ran myself into a dead end and there was only one box to hide behind. A group of soldiers saw me go back there, but they did not engage me, nor did they try to draw me out. They simply ran off and said into their radios that they didn't see me anymore. I think the A.I. should know when the player is trapped with only one way out, but they don't. I was also seen going into an armory. They did not remain in the area and wait for me to come out, and they didn't come in to get me. They reported on their radios that I was no longer in sight, and then they just moved on. I hope this is fixed by the time The Phantom Pain releases. A lot of people are reporting this is a two hour main mission and about another hour worth of side missions. I actually got four and a half hours from the main mission because I thoroughly explored, accosted each soldier, and tried to find everything that I could, all without being spotted. Once I finished four side missions, I had 6.5 hours of gameplay. I haven't unlocked the fifth side mission. Four side missions are unlocked, but the fifth has a requirement (locating all 9 patches during the main mission). There isn't a lot of story. There are about forty minutes or so of audio logs you can listen to before you play (or whenever you want to listen to them) that offer some story. There are more audio logs you obtain during the game. I like the new map system, but there seems to be an issue with it. During missions, you will discover the location of items that get marked on your map. The issue is that once you collect the item, the marker on the map remains, and this creates confusion. You may find yourself returning to collect an item that you collected earlier, and thus wasting your time. I hope this gets fixed with a patch. I think the final cut scene should have been a playable sequence. I'm having a lot of fun playing this game. I appreciate good graphics and good gameplay. The controls work nicely. I still have some issues with controlling Snake while he's in the prone position (turning around, for example). Voice actors sound good, but the enemy soldiers' words are cliche.MGS fans will like this prologue, but don't expect a lengthy campaign. If $30 seems high to you, then wait for a price drop. This is more of a demo than a complete title, but it has replay value so you can try different approaches and that adds to the fun factor.
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