Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes is the glorious result of the unlikeliest of partnerships. MGS: GZ set precedents for AAA game delivery (as a prologue and a digital release), mid-tier pricing, open-world stealth and big budget gaming’s reluctance to tackle ‘taboo’ issues. Sure, Ground Zeroes was likely a cash grab to offset the spiraling development costs of MGS5, but this doesn’t belie its worth. Tonally, this is the darkest MGS game, skirting real world themes of rendition (with contentious results) in an analogue to Guantanamo Bay. Snake could tag foes with binoculars (like Far Cry 3), drive vehicles, shoot while side-rolling, and evade alerts using the last-chance Reflex Mode.ĭedicated players could easily clock 20-40 hours+ with the game, drilling deeper into the focused sub-missions to learn new approaches to stealth or all-out gunplay. Ground Zeroes streamlined the series’ trademark cut-scenes, ditched the comedic incongruity and embraced open-world stealth. Set in one location, the compact and oppressive Camp Omega encourages you to explore the game’s renewed, trench-deep, mechanics, which might get lost in a wider canvas. In fact, MGS: Ground Zeroes can be finished in four minutes by its world-record speed runner but the main campaign earns you a mere 9% completion rating. ‘MGS Ground Zeroes can be finished in an hour’ chorused the headlines, assuming outrage on behalf of the audience – while largely missing the point. 13 years later, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes highlighted digital media at its most reactive. In 2001, Metal Gear Solid 2 delivered a stark warning about the internet’s lack of context and echo chamber of opinion.

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