Aaron Neuwirth – Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Somehow I have managed to play a few games in recent weeks, which is always tricky with my schedule. Most recently, after finally obtaining my Playstation 4, I had the chance to check out Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. This latest chapter in the Metal Gear saga is more of a starter kit to familiarize people with the controls and set up the story for the next Metal Gear title, “The Phantom Pain”, which arrives in 2015. As a result, ‘Ground Zeroes’ is a short title, but not an unrewarding one, as it has plenty to offer, despite featuring a campaign that is merely a prologue to bigger things.
The game basically amounts to Snake (well, Big Boss in this game, but I don’t have time to go over this wacky story) heading into an American black site on Cuban soil. He has been tasked to rescue two particular hostages, but there are a number of other hostages and side missions to embark upon. While the mission is clear and the playing feel is limited, ‘Ground Zeroes’ does introduce sandbox-style gameplay, for the first time, into the series. While you have never been too limited with how to accomplish your missions, I can imagine this being a huge change for The Phantom Pain, which will be a much bigger experience.
As far as the game’s look and sound goes, ‘Ground Zeroes’, while limited, is everything you come to expect from a Metal Gear game. It is gorgeous to look at, even with the constant rain and increased grittiness of the cutscenes. The production values are great all around. Kiefer Sutherland as ‘Snake’ may take a little getting used to, but I can imagine it working to much better effect in a full game, where he can really express a true range of emotions. And of course, the music by Harry Gregson-Williams, featuring some specific songs, as well, is pretty fantastic, and very fitting of the tone of the game.
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Gameplay-wise, I can see this game winning new people over, while also feeling great for continued fans of the series. As long as newbies know what they are getting into, as far as the length of this game and its status as a setup to greater things goes, there is plenty to enjoy from a gameplay perspective. Metal Gear has always been a series about stealth gameplay and that has not changed. The controls have become more suitable to fit with the popular shooters of today, but it still works well for what is required of you as a guy sneaking around and trying to minimize huge shootouts. That said, you can take that route too, it’s all up to you.
I keep mentioning the limited nature of this game and while it is true that it may not take a long time to finish the main mission in this game (it took me an hour and fourteen minutes, apparently), it is a game that welcomes replaying the mission on different difficulty levels and using different tactics to meet the same goal. You can play the game as a pure stealth mission or go through it running and gunning or you can mix the two strategies. There are also plenty of bonuses to unlock, some of which will affect your experience, once The Phantom Pain arrives next year.
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For Metal Gear fans, think of this like playing just the opening prologue in MGS2: Sons of Liberty and then having to wait for the rest of the game. Obviously that kind of sucks, because you are left wanting more, but Ground Zeroes is still a wonderful prologue for a game that will likely be an amazing experience. It sets up the story, of course, which is always full of crazy twists and convoluted plotting, all while still being engaging and the vocal work from the cast and cutscenes are great. I missed not having a crazy boss battle to go with this game, but I was very satisfied with the classic gameplay fit for a next-gen console. It’s a new tactic, as far as releasing a Metal Gear game goes, but I was plenty happy with the results for the time being.
Jose Cordova – Tomb Raider
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Having not yet made the leap to a next-gen console I’ve mainly been waiting for Titanfall to arrive on Xbox 360. The recent string of delays has given me an opportunity to dig into the free games available to me as a PlayStation Plus member. I decided to jump into Tomb Raider since it was one of the major releases of last year that I never got around playing.
I immediately recognized all the great things said about this game. It’s amazingly cinematic with top notch voice and motion-capture performances and a strong protagonist in Lara Croft. The tag line for Tomb Raider was “A survivor is born” and it certainly does a solid job crafting a story that takes Lara from an inexperienced explorer to battle tested bad-ass. The story is a little ridiculous but not any more far-fetched than any action movie you would see at your local multiplex. Lara undergoes a complex transformation in what seems to be only a couple of days and soon she’s scaling cliffsides and mowing through enemy soldiers, but the gameplay and story are exciting and propulsive.
I haven’t complete the game but I expect to soon. Combat is fun and I’m enjoying the story. I can see the few complaints about the game just being another Uncharted game. Lucky for me I love the Uncharted series and it’s nice to see that type of adventure game with a female protagonist. Once finish the main game I might go back and explore the hidden tombs around the island although it will hard to resist digging into the rest of the great games available on PS Plus.
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