Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a 2014 action-adventure stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami. It is the eighth game in the Metal Gear series directed, written, and produced by Hideo Kojima, and serves as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which was released the following year. Set in 1975, a few months after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the story follows Snake as he infiltrates an American black site in Cuba called Camp Omega, attempting to rescue Cipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade and former Sandinista child soldier Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre.
Ground Zeroes offers new sneaking and traversal methods compared to its predecessors, as well as the choice in what order the story events take place by selecting missions in any order they chose. The game was originally developed as a mission for The Phantom Pain, but an extended development time resulted in Kojima splitting that portion of the game off into a stand-alone product so that players could get early access to Metal Gear Solid V.
Ground Zeroes was released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in March 2014, and for Windows in December 2014. Critical reception was generally positive, with praise for its mechanics and graphics, while the majority of the criticism concerned its short length. The game was met with some controversy for its handling of themes of sexual violence. It shipped a million units by April 2014.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, a bundle that includes both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, along with all additional content for both games, was released in October 2016.
Gameplay
Players control Snake through the game map and attempt to complete missions while avoiding detection by the enemy. The threat detection system is revamped, with the removal of an on-screen meter or gauge to indicate the player that they are in the 'alert/evasion/caution' state as in previous games, which have instead been replaced by more subtle visual and audio cues. Snake's binoculars have been revamped; instead of selecting the binoculars as an item, the binoculars are hotkeyed to a button. The player is able to mark enemies and monitor their locations in the holographic display of Snake's iDroid. There are directional cues to help players when an enemy sees Snake from a distance and approaches him. A new "Reflex Mode" is triggered when an enemy finds Snake; the player only has a short window of time to take out the enemy before they fully sound the alarm. Lights can be shot out to further aid the player's stealth efforts.Ground Zeroes features seven missions in total, locked at individual levels. After completing the main mission, the player unlocks four subsequent missions in Camp Omega set at different points in the day. These missions involve specific tasks, such as eliminating certain targets or obtaining classified information. After achieving a certain objective in the main mission, the player may unlock two additional "Extra Op" missions.
As the game is introductory in nature, being a prologue, the core story mission can be completed in a very short time frame. However, the game has many additional challenges, missions and alternative methods of play. A companion app for iOS or Android was made to help players access the in-game map and other iDroid functions on their smartphones. Console versions of the game have community features that allows a player to look at other players' performance in the game, showing where they were killed on the map.
Atmospheric weather and lighting in Ground Zeroes is mission-proprietary, meaning that the setting of the game depends on the individual mission being played. A real-time day and night cycle was originally planned for the game, but left out in favor of fully utilizing it in The Phantom Pain. Kojima has spoken about the restrictive nature of previous Metal Gear titles, saying that they "set on one rail to get from point A to point B, with a certain amount of freedom between". In contrast, Kojima's team instead offered the player new ways of traversal and sneaking methods, such as taking a jeep, a car, or a helicopter around the mission area. This was in order for Kojima to accomplish a "true open world experience" with Ground Zeroes.
Synopsis
Setting
Set in March 1975, a few months after the events of Peace Walker, players control returning protagonist Snake, also known as Big Boss, as he works with Militaires Sans Frontières to infiltrate an American black site on Cuban soil called Camp Omega. Once a refugee camp for people fleeing Cuba and Haiti, Camp Omega is home to an old prison that is being used for extraordinary rendition, as it has no legal recognition under the United States Constitution.Snake's main objectives are the extraction of Paz Ortega Andrade, who has information regarding the whereabouts of the person or persons known as Cipher; and Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre, a Sandinista and former child soldier who was captured by Skull Face, the commander of paramilitary force XOF, who have assumed control of Camp Omega. Snake's mission is supported by Kazuhira "Kaz" Miller and Dr. "Huey" Emmerich from MSF's Mother Base.
Plot
In the aftermath of the Peace Walker incident, Paz Ortega Andrade is missing and presumed dead. Under the direction of Kazuhira Miller and Huey Emmerich, Militaires Sans Frontières prepare for an upcoming inspection by the UN amid suspicions that they possess a nuclear weapon; MSF suspects this to be an attempt by Cipher to stifle them. Their preparations are interrupted when MSF agents in Cuba investigate reports that Paz survived and has been detained at Camp Omega. To complicate matters, Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre's attempt to rescue her has resulted in his capture. Believing that both of them could compromise MSF, Snake is sent to infiltrate Camp Omega to extract them if they are alive and confirm what they revealed to their captors. Snake believes rescuing Paz will convince Cipher to stand down, and that she will be willing to discuss Cipher's activities with MSF.Snake infiltrates Camp Omega just as a mysterious Special Forces unit known as XOF departs it. He locates and extracts Chico, who claims Paz is dead. Using a recording from Chico, Snake and Miller deduce that Paz is alive, and was moved deeper into the camp. Snake locates and rescues Paz, with the group escaping via an MSF helicopter designated Morpho One. On the way to Mother Base, Chico discovers that Paz was surgically implanted with a bomb, prompting Snake and an MSF medic to remove it by hand. They arrive at Mother Base to see it in flames as XOF forces attack. Morpho One lands long enough for Snake to rescue a few staff members, including Miller, who claims that the UN inspection was nothing but a ruse for the XOF ambush, as it destroys Mother Base. As they attempt to escape XOF, Paz regains consciousness and warns them that there is a second bomb inside her. Knowing that she is about to die, she jumps out to throw herself clear of the helicopter. The resulting explosion causes Morpho One to spiral out of control and collide with a pursuing XOF helicopter.
The epilogue reveals that the United States government downplayed MSF's destruction and attempted to cover up their dealings with the organization, as did many of MSF's clients. There are no known survivors of the assault apart from Snake, Miller, and Huey. In a post-credits scene, set prior to Snake's arrival at Camp Omega, Paz is interrogated by XOF commander Skull Face, who demands the whereabouts of Cipher / Zero, as Paz had met Zero in person. Paz eventually gives in and agrees to tell him Zero's location.
Collectible audio logs reveal that Huey arranged for the United Nations to come to Mother Base against both Snake's and Miller's objections, prompting them to hide the nuclear-equipped Metal Gear ZEKE underwater. At Camp Omega, Paz and Chico are tortured, physically and psychologically, for information about the MSF base. Chico divulges the base's location and defenses to Skull Face. Paz berates Chico for giving up the information, but later records herself saying she forgives him and would not have survived the torture without him.
''Side Ops''
Ground Zeroes contains four additional missions, known as Side Ops, that take place in the weeks before the events of the main storyline. In the game's universe, they are labelled "pseudo-historical recreations".In the first mission, Snake is sent to a U.S. naval prison facility in Cuba to eliminate or extract a Marine Corps sniper team hiding at the facility to avoid extradition to Laos, where they stand accused of war crimes. Suspicious about the facility's purpose, MSF stations a spy—revealed to be the series' creator, Hideo Kojima, reprising a similar cameo in Peace Walker—in the camp, who requests an emergency evacuation. Snake provides support from the air long enough for him to escape. Unable to plant another agent of their own, MSF send Snake in to make contact with an undercover informant posing as a guard. He discovers that the informant has set a trap for him, but is able to secure a recording made by the guard. With evidence that the base is an illegal black site, Snake returns in advance of an airborne assault to sabotage the facility's anti-aircraft defences. Although he is successful, the promised assault is replaced by an air strike, leaving him stranded at the base with fighter jets inbound. After escaping the Camp Omega seconds before the air strike reduces it to rubble, he and Kaz Miller speculate that the entire affair—from the camp's conversion to a black site to the aborted assault—were a series of plots orchestrated by Cipher, first to establish a compound outside any legal jurisdiction and later to disrupt Militaires Sans Frontières' operations.