Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Is Fantastic... But...

In August of 2012, at a private function celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Metal Gear series, Hideo Kojima would announce the next mainline Metal Gear title. He revealed that it would be called “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes”, that Big Boss would return as the game’s protagonist, and that the story would serve as a prologue to another game in the series. The game would be announced to the public two days later, and as the release grew closer, Kojima would only continue to drop more info about the game, including the fact that the length of the cutscenes would be significantly reduced, as he felt that long cutscenes had become outdated… which surely had nothing to do with the reception to another game of his. And nearly two years after the initial announcement, Ground Zeroes would eventually launch in March of 2014. So how would Ground Zeroes carry on the story of Big Boss and, more importantly, how would it bring Metal Gear into the next generation? Well, let’s talk about it.
Full Metal Gear Series: • A First Timer's Journe...
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is a 2014 action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Konami. It is the eighth game in the Metal Gear series directed, written and designed by Hideo Kojima, and serves as a prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, 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.
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[@legomania2427]

10:57 We’re making a video, can’t fret over every sample text

[@notcole]

that uh... that's not supposed to be there 😅

[@StylishYeoman]

"Hey guys, to best simulate the frustration of waiting for Phantom Pain after Ground Zeros, the Phantom Pain video will be posted on June 22nd 2025."

[@notcole]

Well now that you mention it...

[@zebug4762]

Well, I wouldn't be too surprised if that happened. It's so easy to get stuck into the loop of doing all of the little side quests and developing new weapons/gadgets before remembering you really ought to continue with the mainline story missions... Though one more side quest before tackling the next story mission probably wouldn't hurt. And then you finally decide to tackle the story mission after another couple of hours of messing around. There's so much to do and so much you want to do in MGS V TPP that it definitely hurts the pacing of the story, but dang if it isn't fun.

[@natethegreat7967]

The events of Ground Zeroes take place less than a month after the end of Peace Walker. The two games end and begin (respectively) late and early in the years they take place in the timeline.

[@Artursamvelyan-ny9zk]

Man life flies. 10 years already

[@dr.loomis4221]

flies*

[@PlebNC]

Incorrect: MGSV as a whole was marketed as an open world game. Ground Zeroes was marketed as an opening chapter to the main game. Kinda like buying MGS2's tanker chapter. It's kinda scummy because you're effectively buying the tutorial/demo level but I guess Kojima was pushing Konami's patience on how much money they were investing and needed an easy win.

[@kazeohin]

Wait, we're supposed to not like Kojima? The man's a legend!

[@notcole]

I would absolutely agree! The man's resume certainly speaks for itself. Unfortunately, he has a lot of haters these days, with a lot of them belonging to the Metal Gear fandom 😔

[@astreakaito5625]

His last games aren't great however but yeah he still is.

[@reality_is_sin]

@@astreakaito5625death stranding is absolutely brilliant and MGSV while unfinished was still an amazing game with a good story

[@CerealKiller]

@@astreakaito5625 Death Stranding is far from something I would call bad. I feel like most of Hideo Kojima haters haven't really played most, if not all of his games and just base their opinions and criticism over obnoxious YT personalities.

[@CCDaDon15]

@@CerealKillerthey’re the same type of people who insist MGSV wasn’t finished and has a whole 3rd act that wasn’t worked on

[@slartimus]

I think it's worth noting that Huey doesn't just "talk [Big Boss] into it" re: the IAEA inspection, but rather _went behind Big Boss' back_ and told the IAEA to come on over _after BB had told them no._ They only went along with it after that because, as Huey points out while trying to cover his ass, it'd look really weird for MSF to have said no, then yes, and then no again, never mind that the person who told them yes had no authority to do so.

[@clearmountain28]

I think you can recruit Hideo in Peacewalker or Portable Ops, too. He is hiding in one of the trucks you have to inspect.

[@Aerynolae]

I don't think he ever found him in both games cuz he never mentioned it on his reviews.

[@DrMedicsGameSurgery]

In 2008 in metal gear the president isnt obama but the guy you save in mgs2 James Johnson right after solidus’ term ended.

[@diegomedina9637]

I've always find it weird how MGS has a mix of actual irl presidents and fictional ones. Like John F. Kennedy gets mentioned in 3 and instead of Bush we got Solidus in 1. And Nixson was alluded to exist in 2.

[@DrMedicsGameSurgery]

@@diegomedina9637 I dont think thats necessarily weird if it services the story of an alternate style history.

[@anotherLword]

@@diegomedina9637 put simply. If an actual president existed at time of writing then they're canon. The Shadow Moses incident of MGS1 was set in 2005 during Solidus' term. A game that was released nearly 2 years before even W Bush was elected. MGS2 is set in 2007 & 2009 but written in 2000 and released 2001. Kojima may be ahead of the curve but doubt he'd have known who'd win the next few elections

[@Myke_Alpha9]

Playing without reflex mode is the best, even without going for S ranks. Little advice: play the Phantom Pain without it, you'll enjoy it more.

[@187onaPigeon]

My first (and only) time I played both games I turned off every single help option. No reflex, no icons above their heads, etc. I wanna play The Phantom Pain again one day, but then I will enable the options to have more fun with the enemies

[@thankyou329]

100% this! Also recommend going into Display settings and turning off marking enemies, animation cues, directional cues. This to me is the ultimate MGS experience. Also, also modded TPP is the best game of all time

[@pixelsandpinfalls5700]

When you collect all the XOF patches you will unlock 2 extra side ops. Adds a little more to the game.

[@diegomedina9637]

You mean the best 2 side ops in the game?

[@user-gj8gc9zg8f]

You could already shoot while performing CQC since MGS3. On Peace Walker they gave us de CQC chain attacks, but removed the ability to move enemies while grabbing them, which for me counts as a negative. But on MGSV the CQC is absolute

[@starkiller332]

Reflex mode can be turned off in the menu in this game and the next to increase your rank even more, so if you find it more fun then feel free to do so.

[@TasTheWatcher]

I think a permanent tranq. suppressor would be fine, if they also put a much heavier restriction on _ammunition_ as a result, so players generally have to be more selective about when they use long-range knockouts, instead of just being able to take down every guard they see

[@megashillyshally]

It's been...nine (or ten) years.

[@DonutSwordsman]

As a kid. The graphics were mind melting to me, especially that rain bro on the texture of the Canvas and stuff. Insane

[@jacobdresback2946]

I love your MGS series so much! So sad that we are nearing the end now 😢

[@akoreankid92]

If the rumors are true then the split of this and Phantom Pain was on Konami. Originally Kojima wanted this to be like the Tanker/Virtuous Mission.

[@Andination33]

Not really, Kojima said this was an experiment, he wanted to make an episodic release like Hitman reboot which ended up being discarded after the reception it got

[@arechikitsune]

I am surprised that you decided to separate these into two part. But You covered a lot of things that I never even thought of.

[@vetteboy1982]

Also like to say a huge thank-you for doing this series. You have a good formula and a great speaking voice and attitude. So grateful that the interest hasn’t faded for what I consider to be the greatest game of all time. Can’t wait for you to get to Phantom Pain, and on that note , super glad my friend David Hayter finally started playing it after years of being upset over being replaced. 🐍

[@FsMetal-gk4iw]

It's fun and gorgeous. It is not a full game though. It is a demo.

[@aandr7127]

It's mgs2 tanker chapter. Play as real snake then get duped into another character next chapter

[@jamesforeman3793]

Congratulations on your fantastic videos for Metal Gear. After Metal Gear Survive, I'd love to see you do a final video of the franchise, what stuck out to you, favorite characters, a final ranking of the games now that you've completed it, and what you'd like to see out of Delta, after playing everything. All the best to you!

[@notcole]

I actually have an idea written down that's somewhat similar to that! Though it would be a while before I got to it... 👀

[@jamesforeman3793]

@@notcole totally get that. These videos take time and effort. Keep up the good work!

[@natedog101591]

I remember playing this game day 1 when it first came out and I discovered that objectives could be completed in any order cause I actually messed up and found paz first by infiltrating the base and ending up in the boiler room where she was held. Before ever locating chico in his cage

[@shuboy05]

Ground Zeroes is about four months after Peace Walker. The final level of Peace Walker takes place in late November 1974 while Ground Zeroes occurs on March 16, 1975.

[@twocontradictions]

Chole, I am so ready for a three hour video on your first time review of MGSV TPP. I both hate and love that game so much. And to think we are nearing the end, is a real sad one. This is good, sn't it?

[@clearmountain28]

The funny thing is both survive and phantom pain basically use the main mission of this game as their prologue

[@astreakaito5625]

You're almost there Chole! This was such a great review series! I played the hell of GZ and TPP on my PS3 lol. The stealth was so so good, gameplay didn't disappoint. still think those 2 games were the beginning of the end for Kojima as ultimately TPP did nothing good outside of the gameplay

[@skeith804]

Agreed on reflex mode. I think they wanted the game to be more approachable but it's pretty OP. I always turn it off personally and lately have been turning off the "light indicators" when someone gets suspicious so I can deal with the consequences of getting caught or making noise. While Kaz does explain the tape puzzle a little bit it's almost required from an accessibility standpoint. Dunno how deaf players would complete that otherwise. At least it doesn't mark where the flagpole is on your map or anything. You still need to follow the breadcrumbs.

[@cipheruchiha]

this was the prelude to mgs5 imagine this being the tanker mission on steroids mgs5 is the real open world but with ground zeros you get aloooooooooot for one level

[@protoaltus]

This is the ground zero for the phantom pain that sets in.

[@MalcomMcLeod]

I blame Konami for splitting up Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain. It would be cool if we get Master Collection release that combines these two in a more seamless way.

[@jimmynagy2662]

If they put MGSV in one of the Master Collections, it will likely just be the Definitive Experience version.

[@yodudeyo100]

Anyone who didn't get emotional listening to Paz's diary tapes has no soul.

[@macoycoy4664]

so about the mgs 5 tpp video. Should i expect to be around 3 to 5 months from now?

[@Tylerthephantom]

Was wondering whether you'd do Ground Zeroes on its own or as a package with Phantom Pain.

[@joshuakolton9955]

I remember being absolutely hyped for this game. As a demo it was pretty decent. Price was way too high though.

[@CucasNerdyCorner]

I'm glad you finally made to MGSV but I'm surprised you didn't review Metal Gear Solid Digital Graphic Novel on PSP 🤔 It's one of the very few games i haven't played from beginning to end. Only because i was the Blu-ray version with English voice acting. But regardless it's still technically a game and i would like to hear your thoughts on the new story elements they added. Also, you recruit Kojima In Peace Walker too. Theres even a trophy for it in the HD version haha. I'm surprised you didn't talk about the extra ops missions "Déjà vu" and "Jamais Vu". I noticed you were playing the PC version so I'm not sure if those missions are available on PC or not. They were originally console exclusive like the PS3/PS4 had Déjà Vu and Xbox 360/Xbox one had Jamais Vu but eventually they release a patch to have both missions on both console. Again not sure about the PC version. "Sample text"... Twice 🤣 that was funny 🤣

[@Brendan7001]

It's a shame this series is coming to an end 💔 it's so lovely Here's to you

[@Spider_Mike023]

Hmmm well. I’ll agree the tranq gun is OP. It needed suppressor system to balance out a bit I believe. And the game is short asf. But I’d argue that on release iirc it was 40$ game opposed to 60$, I was upset it was over so fast, but at the same time I racked up to at least 9-10hrs in it overall. Doing everything and playing around in it experimenting having fun and I did have fun so in long run I looked past the 40. Heck I paid 60 for way worse games…. The reflex system I found was a good balance, it would give u that little wiggle if needed, don’t know how many times would map some plan out and the slightest little hitch ruins the whole run, so the reflex was a good “hey you fudged up, but u get this shot to fix urself back on track.” And yea it could be broken by people, but again that’s something I feel plays into the strength, if some speed runner or such uses it to there advantage for whatever reason hey more power to them I say. And I’m mixed on your max explaining the puzzle thing, like I didn’t think of it at all til u mentioned it, and it makes sense your right. But I also felt it was organic cause we’ll max is in your ear for these missions, I imagine in a rea mission that yea they’d be bouncing ideas and going through the motions like that together so it never felt like was being explained the puzzle, but that like a friend was helping think it through on the spot….. but I really see your angle now you bring it up though cause thinking back on past games yea they didn’t hand hold that much, they say to call if need help so you figure it out yourself, or if took waaaaayyyyy to long the game would find a way to work around your incompetence to get through (not finding Meryl codec on the real game case comes to mind I’m pretty sure that cargo door eventually opens itself after awhile haha.) otherwise good take on this game, I still enjoyed and liked it but I get the criticisms. Will say the phantom pain coming I’m real torn on, fun game to play, but idk just didn’t retain that metal gear charm throughout a whole game and eventual feels like a openworld game where u just select a mission from a list and go do it however u like or can. It starts off with heavy metal gear feels, then once reach the game itself it felt the metal gear aspect took a backseat so it’s no where near my top fav metal gear games, great game to play, but not a metal gear like game for me.

[@snithnorddarthbathrobe6928]

Great to see thos video come out on my birthday. V is my favorite game ever and ground zeroes is really fun even if theres not that much to it.

[@jonmcclay]

I can’t wait for your phantom pain video!

[@nateschell877]

SUPER excited about Phantom Pain!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@imacg5]

The point of open world is "open", meaning open-ended or "non-specific-linear", not "world". meaning large-scale.

[@PlebNC]

Fun fact: In Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain if you hit a guard in Reflex Mode with an empty magazine to the face it will always KO them. This only works in reflex mode and is hilarious and a gigachad flex way to play the game by mag KOing every guard.

[@remeokits]

This game is a phyop for venom snake. Because at the end of peace walker big boss was told information by miller that made him not like him anymore. The knowledge of pax being a tripe agent. So in the phyop miller does not know that infor, thus the lie began in ground zero.

[@Shamon97]

Great, can't wait for TPP now :D

[@ryanricardo]

Great Video 👍

[@remeokits]

I could not do every trial but I did S rank every mission. But I did unlock everything and platinum 100%. Before getting more than ten missions in on mgs5 full game.

[@vetteboy1982]

I remember people being upset at the shortness of the game, but we knew Phantom Pain was coming and I just looked at it as an opportunity to practice the controls and what not before the actual game came out. I loved it and still go back and play Ground Zeros to this day. I also turned off the ridiculous reflex mode before I played one minute of the game…it’s for sissies. 😂

[@dr.loomis4221]

I can see why people were upset. It'd be like them charging $20-$30 for the Tanker opening of MGS2.

[@texdingo1540]

Hold up, who the hell dosen't like Kojima? Man is a legend who drove the entire industry into making games with fleshed out stories

[@Tomweldonsays]

MGSV was the one marketed as open world

[@unknownduck4927]

Please play both the "daja vu" and "jamis vu" missions. They're like a full third of the game. Plus listen to the extra tapes on KZbin. Skullface comes off as so boring in TPP without them.

[@notseaththescaleless]

bkud forgot the extra side ops.

[@loyalist1326]

Personally when I recommend mgsV to people I would typically tell them to buy the definitive edition which has both ground zero and the phantom pain stitched together into one complete game

[@theangryimp1345]

The "side missions" are main story. Its dumb but it has a narrative and the "first mission" is actually the last mission.

[@zenpai5998]

Is the demo free yet? 😭

[@Math_0027]

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[@airbo5104]

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[@Urmom-ce2ep]

Did you get to play as Raiden at all?

[@thrillshaveabeard]

I really didn't care much for this game when it launched. It, unfortunately, tempered my excitement for the Phantom Pain for years. I only played PP this past year. And it definitely was a lot better than my memory of this game was. So I guess that is kinda on me.

[@Alcarus06]

So this is the first time ive heard of kojima getting hate. And im not really sure why. I love the guys work. And so does the metal gear fandom. So why are they hating on him now?

[@armorvil]

Because of Death Stranding. It's probably good after many hours considering some people like my brother loved it, but I couldn't get into it / force myself to play more than 2 or 3 hours. Way, way, way too boring and unappealing imo. Norman Reedus also has the personality of a wet seashell in it. I really don't care for the guy, it seems that his The Walking Dead fanboys were the only ones his presence amused (and his presence also made it hard for me to believe in the game world). All in all, my level of fun was at a whooping zero while playing it. I loved "artsy" games like ICO or Shadow of the Colossus though so that wasn't the issue. It just seems to me that Kojima forgot to put a game in his video-game. I even watched the whole "movie" on youtube out of curiosity and it wasn't that good either. This game feels like the result of some bet in a late-night party : someone who drank too much : *"Hey Hideo, I bet even you can't make a game in which just walking in environments is the entire game / the bulk of the gameplay!"* and Hideo, who drank just as much : *"Challenge accepted, watch me!"* (honestly I'm pretty sure this happened but it was a serious meeting with Sony and they accepted to help fund a game with almost no combat, to kind of "elevate" video-games above violent/action stuff, to try and please all these boomers / pseudo intellectuals who bash video-games because they're always about beating-up something, even though they never played one more than 5 minutes).

[@seank7618]

Fun fact. I love ground zeros over 5

[@anthonyfernandez82]

That's easy to do if you don't like Afghanistan's open world and the base building aspect in Phantom Pain

[@scottianson5133]

It took me just over 20 hours to 100%

[@nohero1339]

30$ prologue that was never put into or intergrated with the actual MGSV game

[@darragh47]

13:36 Huh?

[@renatop2610]

In the perfect world, this game should have been packaged with the Phantom Pain. It felt cheap from Konami to charge $40 for what was basically a demo. All in all I think it was a great "amuse-bouche" to MGSTPP. I also feel that the Metal Gear series took a darker turn with this and the next game. Some of the comedic aspects of the series were still present, but I felt that this game had a more somber vibe when compared to the ones before. Specially some of its content.........like what happens to Paz in that base. Is the next one gonna be the last review or.....are you planning to do MG-Survive, which I don't think you should do that to yourself.

[@notcole]

oh I'm doing it to myself 😂

[@ElGranSanto]

Peace.

[@thankyou329]

Play with mods. Play with mods. Play with mods. Play with mods. Play with mods. Play with mods

[@TheJacklikesvideos]

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Is Fantastic... But... it still hasn't been corrected to Metal Gear Solid V: Grounds Zero.

[@BIGE82007]

??40.00 I pre-ordered it for ps4 for 30.00 several months b4 it came out. however still too short for 30.00 in my opinion

[@thankyou329]

I was sorely disappointed in this game until I discovered how the modding community fixed it. It's an incredible game with mods. Play with mods!!!

[@armorvil]

there's almost no mods for Ground Zeroes compared to Phantom Pain 😥

[@yomano9146]

I have close to 100 hours on steam

[@vladimirlovato4192]

For about half the things you were saying you don't like I kept thinking: This is peak MSF... This is peak MSF.... You're supposed to be OP storywise. Also, the prologue to a whole other game.

[@vladimirlovato4192]

And also... That's Konami's fault, that's Konami's fault , that's Konami's fault 😅

[@B0BBYD1G1TAL]

Over the years I’ve found that if you got a problem with what Kojima did then you’re missing the point of why he did it.

[@Reikosamaa]

3:50 "both actors do a grate job" ... i'm sure many people, me as well, disagree, as while i could completely understand this change for other games, doe to the actor change and obviously script writing and stuff, it feels like it's not the big boss we know, and that's rly annoying ... not to mention that he hardly has any lines in the games he is in.

[@subtegral]

That's because Venom and the Snake in Ground Zeroes are not the Big Boss you know. In GZ you are playing through Venom's first hypnagogia hallucination. The chopper medic, Venom, Ishmael, and the motorcycle Big Boss all have the same voice because they're all the same guy - the player - not the real Big Boss. GZ doesn't match up correctly to the ending of Peace Walker, and TPP doesn't match up correctly to Big Boss' own dialogue in Guns of the Patriots. All of V (Vee for 'V has come to') is Kojima's experiment to transplant the player into the series universe, therefore it's non-canon.

[@r62e71]

YAY new VIDEO

[@alexbabyfella3750]

Wait, people don't like Kojima now? what happened?

[@QuintessentialQs]

Wait... who are these "lots of people" who don't like Kojima nowadays? Death Stranding was a massive hit. And I'm pretty sure DS2 and OD are hotly anticipated. I, for one, won't be playing Delta very simply because he isn't attached to it and a Metal Gear game without any involvement or at least indirect coordination with Kojima seems just plain wrong to me. There is no Metal Gear without him.

[@subtegral]

Death Crapping stinks, OD will also stink. Kojima chose to leave Konami and Metal Gear for Sony and his own independent studio where he can feel like a film director by rubbing shoulders with Hollywood celebrities. He wasn't pushed out or fired by Konami. You're not gonna buy MGS∆? Good. Bye-bye then. Don't let the door hit you on your way out.

[@QuintessentialQs]

@@subtegral Wow, a very brave defense of a corporation, friend.

[@subtegral]

@@QuintessentialQs I don't care about Konami, I was simply letting you know what's what. And now you know.

[@marvinahrend9687]

Picked the game bundled with tpp up for about 5 or 10€. Best investion of my life

[@chairforce0ne]

The last 'real' metal gear experience imo

[@ThelVadamee201]

New video!

[@scarvello]

Ground zeroes was way better then tpp

[@hellowerewolf]

who doesn’t like Kojima? jeez that’s blasphemy

[@Tomweldonsays]

Don’t like Kojima? What are you talking about? Vocal minority, dude.

[@theViewer221]

Honestly, when Ground Zeroes came out I knew I wasn't getting much but I gladly paid the $40.

[@tidbit_509]

The "open world" may be small, but not as small as my weewee

[@punishedsquid2397]

Game is awesome. However, this commentary sucks.

[@Aerynolae]

Is the people who hate Kojima in the room with us?

[@subtegral]

00:55 well... let's talk about it. You enjoy repeating yourself with that same whiney sounding voice.

[@cutthr0atjake]

People don't like Kojima these days? Thats news to me. Why is that?

[@wickedgam3z]

You know this is just the demo to MGSV right? You cover this like it’s a full game.

[@armorvil]

it was sold to us as a full game

[@wickedgam3z]

@@armorvil it was $30 launch day. Who would think that’s a full game?

[@bigt4135]

Who doesn’t like kojima?

[@TasTheWatcher]

omg, I can't believe MGS got political