Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes REVIEW (Xbox 360)

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes REVIEW (Xbox 360)

 In preparation to the upcoming Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima decided to give us a brief taste of what's to come for both next and current gen. A prelude of sorts, GZ (ground Zeroes) takes place after the events of Peace Walker, Chico and Paz have been abducted by a man referred only as "Skull Face" and taken to a fictional version of the infamous Guantanamo detention center, where they are being tortured and interrogated, so it's up to Big Boss to rescue the pair; the Boss goes in solo for this one (I still have no idea why he keeps doing the lone wolf routine when he has a freaking army at his disposal.), you are equipped with an assault rifle, a tranquilizer dart pistol, NV goggles, some grenades, and a nifty new piece of tech called "idroid" (yeah...), despite it's name, this one is one cool and useful peace of equipment (also it has a longer lasting battery), it serves as a mission hub, it grants you access to the usual stuff, mission objectives, recordings in the forms of cassette tapes, a map (the map hologram is handled exceptionally well), it even has an option to customize your game's soundtrack (setting ride of the Valkyries for when your chopper comes in for exfil never gets old), the idroid doesn't pause the game, so it feels like an organic part of Snake's inventory (although you can pause the game by hitting the back button), which is great, because it avoids getting the screen all cluttered with too much onscreen information.
Gameplay has been simplified and streamlined for GZ, the shooting controls are as good, if not better than the ones on the console port for PW, Snake moves a lot more smoothly that in any previous installment, and enemies also act and respond more naturally to whatever is going on around them. It's a lot less punishing to get into a firefight with several enemies at once this time around, health packs and field medical treatment are now gone and replaced with the ever-growing health regeneration, although you do get to use some sort of spray if got get critically wounded before getting to cover and regenerating... Now before everybody starts ranting about how the MGS franchise as you now and love it is dead, let me tell you something, it's not, if anything it has been improved upon by making a more organic experience, everything works, looks and sounds as it should, without making it unnecessarily complicated and detracting you from the game's experience, also if you feel that things are a bit too easy, you can always disable a whole lot of options from the game's menu and try your luck in hard mode.
Graphically speaking (on the Xbox 360), the game is amazing! textures, lighting, animation, lip synch, the overall look and feel is gorgeous (can't wait for Konami to use the Fox Engine on the next Silent Hill installment), no stuttering, no visible or annoying frame rate drops, nothing! Now the game does use only one level, sure it's a sandbox level, but it´s not that big really, although it is very detailed and grants you enough freedom to go about the main campaign mission or side missions however you see fit. Now for the bad news... It is short, very, GZ could well be considered a demo for MGSV: TPP, nonetheless it's a very enjoyable one.

My conclusion:

The game is nothing short of amazing, and serves as proof that the MGS universe still has some great stories to tell (although not much is revealed in GZ, more like hinted actually.), the game plays and runs smoothly, it looks great, and the more goofy and campy factor of previous installments has been practically removed, I for one actually liked that a lot (I mean, a soda chugging monkey? really?!), MGS plays out better in a more serious and darker tone, which kinda explains having Keifer Sutherland playing Snake, rather than having fan favorite David Hayter do it; what little we hear of Sutherland is convincing and conveys what a former SF, gruff, PMC dude would sound like, while Hayter's was more of a one tone caricature of a bad-ass soldier (kinda like a GI Joe 80's cartoon charatcter).
A little bit expensive for a demo, but a worth while purchase if you decide to take the plunge.