$19.99METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES One base, one night, your way in
A short, sharp stealth prologue: Snake infiltrates a Cuban military base to rescue two hostages. One map, one main mission, and total freedom in how you cross it. Sneak past searchlights and patrols, or walk in loud and deal with what follows. It plays like a tightly directed film you control, and it ends far too soon.
Is METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES worth it?
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES is worth it if…
- you want a stealth sandbox where every guard tower, drain and patrol is a route you choose
- you like short games that reward replaying a single map until you have it memorised
- you enjoy tense, cinematic espionage with a dark, serious tone
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One base, your route
The whole game takes place on a single military camp: guard towers, floodlights, anti-air guns, patrols, vehicles rolling the perimeter. Your job is to get in, extract two prisoners and get out. How is entirely up to you. Mark enemies with binoculars, cut the power to the cameras, slip through a drain, interrogate a guard for intel, or skip all of it and go in guns first. Get spotted and time briefly slows, giving you one chance to drop the witness before the alarm. There is no perfect route, only the one you make.
Short, but built for another run
Honesty first: the main mission takes most people under two hours the first time, and everything happens on that one map. What stretches it is how much the mission rewards a second attempt. Finishing gives you a rank, side missions change the objectives on the same ground, and knowing the base lets you try the run you imagined the first time: silent, fast, or absurdly bold. If you like squeezing a compact sandbox for every route it hides, this is that kind of game.
What should you know before playing?
Is it a full game or a prologue?
A prologue, and it says so itself: it is the first segment of Metal Gear Solid V, made to set up The Phantom Pain. One main mission, a handful of side ops, one map. If you want a complete, self-contained story, this is not it. If you want a dense, replayable slice of the best stealth design in the series, it delivers exactly that.
Do you need to have played the earlier Metal Gear games?
No. The story continues from Peace Walker and leads into The Phantom Pain, so veterans get the most out of it, but the mission stands on its own: infiltrate a base, rescue the hostages. If you are new to the series, this works as a short, low-commitment introduction to how these games play.
Can you play it without going full stealth?
Yes. Sneaking is the classic way, and quiet takedowns, interrogations and hidden bodies are all there, but the game never forces it. You can go in loud, and the consequences change how the mission unfolds. Both approaches are viable; the game just grades you on the result.
How long does it take to finish?
The main mission is roughly an hour or two on a first run, and the side ops add a few short missions after that. Chasing top ranks and every objective across repeated runs is where the hours pile up. Treat it as a compact game you replay, not a long one you finish once.
