So I played Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes recently. Ok... wont be typing all that out for a name again. Anyways I should be ashamed shouldn't I? It was terrible. It was a crime to see such a principle take place. It was stupidly short, a cash grab, and a waste of my time and questions my intelligence as a fan as they managed to make me pay a fee for their high production demo. I was essentially getting a tutorial, even Kojima compared the experience to one. Kojima betrayed us. At least.... that's what half the internet wants me to tell myself, but truth is I loved it and I'm going back to play a little bit more of it and see if I can get all XOF patches.
Ok actually truth be told, I don't agree with this practice and I didn't fork out $30 for it. It was a rental in my eyes, and a blessing that I was able to do just so. However with that aside I can't help but ponder this hot topic, and question all sides to some extent. Why did it happen, was it worth releasing, are the fans really getting their value, and is it really deserving of this hate?
I don't know whether or not to call myself a real fan of Metal Gear Solid. I love the series, and I've sunk a ridiculous amount of hours into the 2nd and 3rd game that were a part of my early teenage years of gaming. How could I not? As I've said in the past I'm mostly a gamer that came to gaming under the love of interacting with a lot of the world, preferably through quite a good bit of complex options. MGS provides that and a fantastic cheesy psudo-military fantasy story full of stealth, tools, action, and just so many countless moments to goof around in and little trivial bits to play with. MGS3 probably deserves a small spot on a list of my favorite games of all time. Yet... I haven't came off with quite the same enthusiasm for all their games, and honestly I just seem to be huddled around the sandbox enjoyment of 2 and 3 while 4 was a nice one way type of experience, and 1 is..... nice to catch up on, but nothing more. I still have yet to go for Peacewalker beyond the PSP demo. I also just shrug off any wait to another game, so I don't feel that intense fan build up and hype, or really any enthusiasm at all surrounding the idea of the next game. So I'm not sure whether or not I'd call myself a fan.... either way though I was smiling and enjoying my time returning to the series, and although some changes are a bit bitter I'll take whatever the open world throws out over MGS4's condition.
In ground zeroes, I found myself goofing around a bit, enjoying the stealth, and finding a shocking amount of content for such a tiny spot to have it all in. It was a legit fun and Metal Gear sort of experience, despite changes and the weird condition of the game. I may have beat the main mission in just barely under 2 hours (3 according to my own time tracking. maybe progress was lost dying and restarting check points?), but I went to side tasks, went back again, re-did side tasks, went back again, and in between each mission I would sit around playing with the casset options in the menu which in itself has some content to keep you busy beyond the gaming itself. I was enjoying those missions quite a few times with all there was to do, play with, crazy stunts to check out, enemies to hold up, optional areas to break into, and then the length was extended by how time consuming being stealthy can be. Oh and speaking of action and stealth, I heard so many comparisons to other games like Far Cry, Crysis, Splinter Cell, basically everything except Dishonored. The game feels nothing like that, and save for Dishonored which is in its own league I'd say this gave me a unique sense of fulfillment in the genre that I remember growing up with from playing past MGS games. I really was enjoying this a lot more. Splinter cell by contrast felt less open and more about precision based shooting in between sneaking, while Thief is slow, strict, and light based, and Far Cry/Crysis is just about bare bones sneaking for a bonus treat dangling in front of you that altogether comes out as quite shallow (which is why they're known more as FPS and almost ignored as stealth based). Meanwhile Ground Zeroes felt like a crazy but cool uncle sort of archetype out of all these, where it was unpredictable and crazy as it was immersive and sneaky fun. Did I mention my progress tracker is still at 20% after all this enjoyment? Does it still sound like a demo to anyone?
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| They added vehicles to? WAHOOO! |
However it still is a good question about value in general. I still can't fault the game much, even though I can't agree with the practice either. Let me explain that a bit more... I don't like a full game to just slice off a piece and make it some exclusive episode for half the price of the "200 times bigger" full game. Its a lame move I don't want to see more of ever again. Imagine your favorite games ripping off the first hour and then trying to make up for it with tiny arcade bits for completionists that all add up to half the price of the rest of the game. Doesn't sound good, does it? That's what happened here. A series like MGS can get away with it a tiny bit because of the playful nature of the experience, but that's just scrapping up some kind of excuse... it really isn't all of a sudden "Ok" by any means. I feel kind of bad for the major fans that were ready to patiently await the true 5th game, only to see it get halted for a bit so they could make you a premium teaser that would have been better built into the game.
Yet when it comes to value, you can't always look at it just as a series, its also about how much it stands as just a good game for the value. That means is it fun and solid enough to invest a budget price game worth of value and time into? However the problem is much of this value gets tied to the length, which for as long as we've known this game it was screaming about how darn short it all was. To answer this a bit better, I have to refer back to what I said when it comes to prices and over entitlement, though more about the time we live in rather than the main message of that article. We have games like Torchlight 2 (100+ hour worthy masterful ARPG) in the same price range as a 4-5 maps within DLC. You can buy a legendary multiplayer FPS like Counter-strike for a bit less than Gone Home. Meanwhile we also have an amazing experiences like Metro: Last Light and Bioshock Infinite giving us less length and content for the same price as Call of Duty, yet it still stands by as an incredible game that outclassed Ghosts big time in reputation. Were they out of the range of value? Oh but wait, it gets worse! Zelda Windwaker HD and Monster Hunter Tri HD are $50 while just about every other HD piece released as a huge trilogy for much less than those cost, but we all love and praise and let Zelda get away with it. Then we have people paying for flash games and giving them high scores, while valve is giving us one of the best multiplayer shooters of all time for free. My point is this... if we keep looking at the world and market based solely on price to length ratio, our heads are going to spin until it all flies off with so much ill comparisons and inconsistencies running through our brains. I love a long lengthy game for my money's worth like anyone else does, but its time to drop the argument a bit and rely on another great factor of value instead: the question of how fun is it? Suddenly it all makes sense, and most of those above comparisons can be ignored as a "to each their own" state of mind. I think Ground Zeroes fits within that slot, because I've had loads of fun with my time in it. I consider myself very close to getting the will to buy it, and it beats out thief in my book as best stealth game in recent time. Meanwhile what would a more die hard fan think? I'm sure they already bought it, and are still grinning wide as they perfect their stealth runs, or test how long they can endure a shooting fest through the base. Honestly if people can find it valid to sell flash quality arcade games like Aqua Kitty or Jets n' Guns on steam with a well received audience, I don't see any crime in selling this short but sweat saboteur's heaven of a game that makes up the heart of Ground Zeroes.
Ground Zeroes is short... criminally so in terms of linear length. However it offers us a fun small slice of sandbox that was made to hold over die hard fans during their long wait for the new big installment. I don't agree with that and think Phantom Pain would have been better with this all in it for a better total experience, however that doesn't make it all that terrible... not in the slightest. It certainly suffered a bit from an underdeveloped story and arsenal, but the core gameplay and spirit of enjoying a good MGS game is clearly there and it all rocks. On the up side this premium teaser was also a good way to see how the new mechanics feel, and even though I'm not happy with all the changes I was able to have a blast and felt it was a step up from the supposedly perfect MGS4. I truly enjoyed this game and felt like it had more to it than I expected, and contrary to my mocking at the start I've heard some other positive voices on the internet saying the same. This is one of those cases where I actually find myself siding more with the publisher than the outcry, because the outcry has gotten quite embarrassing to look at lately and feels like they forgot the fun more so than the corporate. I stepped off of the campaign with a smile on my face only to turn to youtube and watched what was a nearly 30 minute "review" of someone just yelling about the clocked time they got, and calling it all out as a cash grab despite all the clear fun it gave. Sorry gamers, but a "cash grab" has no position to be as fun as this was. It was crafted with fun in mind, and just looking at the side missions is an obvious indicator that it had more heart than most $60 triple A titles will dare risk (seriously, look up those extras... or even the rescue side mission, its quite hilarious what kind of 4th wall breaking cheesy fun they threw in). Anger got the better of fun in a well crafted game, and all people could do was point to the freakin' clock... its just a pretty distasteful argument there, no matter how you try to spin that. It doesn't pass for a review either. Chill out, grab the controller, and enjoy the game while its here. Its not something I would have asked for, but its here and better than I imagined, all while keeping a smile on my face and reassuring fans that greatness is on the way.
Though I also want to repeat a quote... 200 times bigger, its coming eventually and will be here for a much better value in the name of MGS5: Phantom Pain. Be a smart consumer and don't just blindly dash towards this game because your too impatient. Rent it a bit, enjoy it, and then wait patiently for the real package. Even to a die hard fan I challenge you to wait... its going to be ok, you were waiting this whole time just fine, you can wait some more for "200 times" the value. Unless your just aboslutely starved for good gaming, that's my only recommendation. Yet we're surrounded by releases like the open world super power game of infamous second son, and just had Dark Souls 2 released and the work there wont be finished for quite some time. Of course there's TitanFall to if that's your kind of thing, though I think the value there might be more questionable... but as said above, if its fun enough... go for it. To choose MGS:GZ over them seems a bit insane, but I suppose if you're really certain on the fun you'll have then I've done all I can to persuade you otherwise. It was a very well made experience for something so short. It faintly reminds me of Into the Nexus,... except a little less developed, but I guess that's two totally different stories and styles we're talking about here. Into the Nexus was made more as its own thing to rather than a matter of teasing. Still bear in mind my vote for that short but sweat R&C game came near GOTY status, and I've already heard some people saying Ground Zeroes has been their favorite all year so far... so its possible. I think it holds a good chance of standing its ground as a $30 game, or even better considering its $20 digital. Just please... help yourself to a rental first just to be sure its worth it.
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