METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES

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METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by KONAMI and was released on December 18, 2014. It received positive reviews from players.

World-renowned Kojima Productions showcases another masterpiece in the Metal Gear Solid franchise with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is the first segment of the ‘Metal Gear Solid V Experience’ and prologue to the larger second segment, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain launching thereafter. MGSV: GZ gives core fans the opportunity to get a taste …

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Single-Player

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES screenshot

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84%

Audience ScoreBased on 9,945 reviews

story903 positive mentions

monetization47 negative mentions

Ground Zeroes delivers some of the best stealth gameplay and tight controls in the Metal Gear series with multiple mission approaches and high replayability.
The game features stunning graphics and visual detail that still impress years after release, supported by excellent sound design and atmosphere.
Serves as a strong narrative and gameplay prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, providing important context and a compelling, emotionally impactful story.

The game is very short, with the main mission playable in under two hours, making its standalone price appear unjustified to many players.
Content is limited to a single map with most missions reusing the same area, which some players find repetitive and insufficient for a full-priced game.
Certain control and UI issues exist, especially on PC, including clunky weapon switching and minor bugs, detracting from the overall experience.

story
5,930 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
83%
2%
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes serves as a gripping but brief prologue to The Phantom Pain, featuring one main story mission that takes about 1-2 hours to complete and several side missions set on the same map. The story is intense and emotionally charged, providing important context for the sequel, but its short length and limited mission variety have drawn criticism for feeling more like a standalone demo than a full game. Despite this, the mission design, cinematic storytelling, and high replayability through different approaches and challenges make it worthwhile, especially for fans and those interested in the full Metal Gear lore.
- “The story lands harder than I remembered, especially if you’ve played Peace Walker.”
- “The main mission is a short one, with several other scenarios utilizing the same map. The story sets the emotional and thematic tone for the Phantom Pain, and completing every mission and collectible gives it the context it deserves.”
- “Ground Zeroes is a prologue that directly leads into the events of The Phantom Pain, making it essential for those who want a full understanding of Big Boss’s character arc.”
- “The main mission can be completed from anywhere from 45 minutes to 4-8 hours, and after that you're given a set of missions in the same map, that brilliantly showcases how the scenario changes from where you approach, and what objectives you have in the map.”
- “The opening mission is the only real mission, of 7 total, with any meaningful story behind it.”
- “The main mission is short, like an hour or less, and all side missions are on the same map.”
gameplay
2,000 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
58%
2%
The gameplay of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is widely praised for its polished, fluid, and highly responsive stealth mechanics that offer significant tactical freedom and multiple approaches to missions within a compact, densely designed sandbox environment. While the technical execution, AI behavior, and overall game feel represent a peak in the series' gameplay evolution, the experience is limited by its short length and constrained content, making it feel like a high-quality, replayable prologue or tech demo rather than a full standalone game. Players appreciate its role as an introduction to The Phantom Pain’s mechanics, though many recommend purchasing it only alongside or after the main game due to its brevity and value considerations.
- “The gameplay is excellent, the side content is fun to engage with, and there’s enough depth to make replaying it feel worthwhile.”
- “Fantastic gameplay, beautiful graphics, gripping story (for what little there is), and an excellent evolution of the metal gear franchise, but don't pay more than $10 for it.”
- “A masterclass in systemic gameplay, ground zeroes is a joy to dissect and tinker with, thanks to pristine controls, clever AI, a meticulously-crafted level design, and top-shelf presentation.”
- “I thought Snake Eater was great, then I tried this game and the gunplay is terrible. The crosshair for the tranquilizer is abysmal. Trying to get S-rank on hard is some of the most aggravating gameplay I've come across, and for some reason Kojima decided to just throw away the camo concept.”
- “The mission itself is really good and introduces you to the open world stealth mechanics, but the gameplay gets repetitive fast, even though I only played for about an hour. The lack of variety in environment and objectives in side missions contributes to a feeling of monotony for players looking for the expansive, varied gameplay typically expected in the Metal Gear series.”
- “Ground Zeroes is designed as a mechanical and narrative appetizer for The Phantom Pain, letting you get comfortable with the controls, stealth systems, and open-ended mission structure without being overwhelmed. However, instead of the traditional demo, it feels like a tech demo with a rather short campaign, and some game mechanics are rough around the edges and later fixed in The Phantom Pain.”
graphics
1,102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
37%
1%
The graphics of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes are widely praised for their stunning realism, impressive lighting effects, and detailed environments, showcasing the power of the Fox Engine. Despite being released in 2014, the visuals still hold up impressively well today, running smoothly even on lower-end hardware with diverse graphics options available. Overall, the game delivers a breathtaking and immersive visual experience that complements its refined stealth gameplay.
- “The graphics are jaw-droppingly gorgeous, with attention to detail that blew me away.”
- “Powered by the Fox Engine, the game looks stunning, from detailed character models to the rain-soaked prison camp; the visuals immerse you completely.”
- “The game's visuals are nothing short of breathtaking, with stunningly realistic character models, lighting effects, and attention to detail.”
- “These issues include frame rate drops and minor graphical glitches, which can detract from the overall smoothness and immersion of the gameplay experience.”
- “The graphics suck.”
- “The game is so short, you can finish it in one hour or less, the graphics aren't that great, everything isn't impressive; it is just like any stealth game on the market.”
replayability
459 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
59%
2%
Despite its short main mission and single map, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes offers exceptional replayability through multiple side missions, challenges, and varied approaches to stealth gameplay. Players can experiment with different tactics, complete objectives in numerous ways, and work toward achievements, providing many hours of engaging content beyond the initial playthrough. Though some may view it as a demo, the game's focused design and wealth of unlockables create a highly replayable and satisfying stealth experience.
- “Overall, ground zeroes' side ops, great gameplay, and incredible replayability extend the lifetime of what would be an hour-long experience to one that could take you at least 24 hours to truly complete for a relatively low price.”
- “The amount of freedom makes it very replayable, but it's still ridiculously short.”
- “Despite the length of the main mission, this game has loads of replay value with the side missions and all the collectible story tapes and unlocks.”
- “Without a sale, it's overpriced for the short playtime and frustratingly dull score crunch 'replay value' with a story littered with torture porn.”
- “The mission is about 2 hrs long and is boring as all heck and has no replay value to it in my opinion.”
- “I bought this to get into the series, and what I played was fun, but there's an undeniable truth a tin can and a spoon have more content and replayability than this game.”
optimization
399 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
37%
5%
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is widely praised for its exceptional optimization, delivering smooth performance and stable 60fps even on lower-end and mid-range PCs. The Fox Engine enables impressive graphics alongside efficient scaling, making it one of the best-optimized PC ports, though some minor issues with keyboard/mouse controls and occasional stuttering on specific setups are noted. Overall, it sets a high standard for optimization in AAA PC game ports.
- “The fox engine is fantastically optimized and gorgeous; this engine honestly puts most other devs to shame, especially since this was made by a team that is traditionally console-oriented.”
- “This game is insanely optimized (in a good way).”
- “Everything is polished to a mirror shine and is extraordinarily well optimized.”
- “It has severe stuttering issues on my system; I don't really know why.”
- “The game is horribly optimized: you can't play with a controller without a mouse cursor in the middle of the screen, you can't alt-tab, and the game constantly makes Snake go right when you don't want him to.”
- “Not happy with this game's performance at all.”
music
190 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
54%
2%
The music in the game is widely praised for its emotional, atmospheric, and fitting soundtrack, with compositions by Harry Gregson-Williams and notable licensed tracks like Joan Baez's "Here's to You" enhancing the immersive stealth experience. Sound design and voice acting are also lauded, contributing to a top-notch audio presentation. However, a common criticism is the lack of the custom music import feature on the PC version, limiting personalization compared to console releases.
- “The soundtrack, by Harry Gregson-Williams, is a masterpiece of tension and suspense.”
- “The audio design in Ground Zeroes is superb, featuring atmospheric sound effects, an immersive musical score, and top-notch voice acting performances.”
- “Whenever things get hectic and you enter an alert phase, the music soon ramps up and keeps you on the edge of your seat.”
- “Nothing says elite operative like sneaking past guards to collect in-game tapes while listening to music that absolutely does not belong in a black-ops mission.”
- “The feature I hate is that it's not here: the ability to add your custom music files (it's impossible apparently); I could do it easily on PS3, I thought it would be even easier on PC... but I was very wrong, apparently.”
- “Cant adjust volume on in-game music.”
stability
113 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
3%
48%
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes generally runs smoothly across a wide range of PC hardware, offering solid 60 fps performance and good optimization. However, users frequently report various bugs and glitches, including occasional crashes, freezes, graphical issues, control problems, and UI bugs, which can detract from the experience. While the game's stability is commendable compared to many ports, these persistent issues suggest it feels unfinished or buggy to some players.
- “Hands down one of the best console ports I've ever played, solid 60 fps with no glitches or crashes. It's a very short game as advertised but nonetheless still fun as hell.”
- “Overall everything was very stable and there were no glitches.”
- “The game runs great just about everything maxed, no glitches, 60 fps (might drop below in certain spots, no less than 50) on my GTX 660, 8 GB of RAM and FX-8320 @3.5 GHz.”
- “It lacks features that it should have and has bugs and glitches that were present on day 1 and never fixed.”
- “The game won't play; it freezes at the loading screen with a spinning circle in the corner and remains unresponsive. Restarting results in Steam saying it's already running. Please fix this issue.”
- “Game freezes and crashes are common on my hardware, which exceeds minimum specs by a large margin.”
atmosphere
87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
35%
3%
The atmosphere in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes is widely praised for its intense, dark, and immersive quality, enhanced by detailed level design, atmospheric lighting, rain effects, and superb sound design. Many reviewers highlight its tense stealth gameplay and cinematic presentation, which create a gripping and realistic military environment. Despite its short length, the game’s atmosphere is considered one of the best in the series, often noted as darker and more polished than its successor.
- “The level design, the atmosphere, the main mission of Ground Zeroes, every facet of this prologue is dripping with quality.”
- “What really sells Ground Zeroes, however, is the atmosphere—the incessant rain, the cold military floodlights cutting through the night, the shadows layered upon shadows that feel like they could betray you at any moment.”
- “The game's environments are beautifully rendered, from the intricate design of Camp Omega to the atmospheric lighting that sets the mood perfectly.”
- “I normally wouldn't gripe about something like this, but the dissonance between the supposed time period and Snake's equipment handily kills the atmosphere.”
- “The atmosphere is bleak and stripped of the usual surreal humor or meta quirks.”
- “Honestly the atmosphere and feeling that Ground Zeroes gave me made me really hyped to play The Phantom Pain, but as soon as I played The Phantom Pain, I felt that it lost a bit of the Ground Zeroes essence.”
emotional
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Ground Zeroes delivers a short but intensely emotional narrative, praised for its brutal and poignant story that sets a powerful tone for The Phantom Pain. Kojima’s masterful storytelling, supported by strong voice work, atmospheric sound design, and evocative music, deeply impacts players, evoking feelings of heartbreak, guilt, and tension. While some note its brevity limits emotional connection, overall it is regarded as a profoundly moving experience that leaves a lasting impression.
- “Learning what really happened to Paz is genuinely brutal, emotionally heavy in a way the series does really well, and it adds a lot of weight to what could have easily just been a throwaway prologue.”
- “Ground Zeroes feels like Kojima grabbed me by the neck, whispered “watch this,” and then emotionally suplexed me in under two hours (yeah, this game is short, though, but... pain...).”
- “The narrative's tension and emotional weight lay the foundation for the profound guilt and trauma that haunts our protagonist.”
humor
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
98%
2%
The humor in this game is a mixed blend of dark themes and occasional quirky, meta, and fanservice moments typical of the Metal Gear series, though it is generally less comedic than previous titles. Players appreciate certain funny missions, glitches, and subtle jokes scattered throughout, but overall the tone is more serious, with humor often coming from situational or AI-related moments rather than overt comedic elements. Fans of the series still find enjoyment in its unique blend of humor, despite some missing classic features and a darker atmosphere.
- “In my opinion a really solid prologue before The Phantom Pain, I enjoyed playing the Jamais Vu side mission as Raiden during a blast from the past and it was quite funny.”
- “The emergency evacuation side mission where you rescue Hideo Kojima was a blast, and if you collect all the badges around the island there’s a funny scene of Snake catching them – it’s nice to see these little touches throughout the game.”
- “It's amazing how much there is to do in just a 'small' map and while the game is darker it still has a wonderful sense of humor that is true to MGS fanboys out there.”
monetization
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
2%
94%
The monetization of this game is widely viewed as a blatant cash grab, essentially functioning as an expensive demo and advertisement for the full Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Many users feel it offers poor value for money due to its limited content and early release pricing, recommending purchasing the full game instead. Despite this, some acknowledge it can be enjoyable at a significantly reduced price.
- “Which is why microtransactions are pretty much pointless.”
- “I am so happy that this fun $20 demo has no ads at all.”
- “I understand this was released on its own as a corporate cash grab (originally $40 - are you joking?) / a way to get more funding for MGS V, but the potency of this package, especially at lower prices ($15 or less), fully reveals that releasing parts of games "a la carte" and allowing players to build their own personalized collections of just the content they want is a great idea (assuming they can be bundled into their own self-resizing launcher app, and that each mission is cheap, like a few bucks, and assuming you can just outright buy the whole game still for $60 or less).”
- “I try to play more of a game before I write a review but with this I did that this game is painfully short, it's not worth the space on your hard drive. Get the Phantom Pain, it's the same thing but there is more and better. This is a shameful cash grab. I got it in the deluxe edition so I didn't go out of my way to buy it but I'm just shocked at the poor value even for 2 bucks. I'd say don't bother, again, not worth the space it takes up. Get the Phantom Pain, skip this one.”
- “This is just a quick and rushed cash grab made for the die-hard fans who don't know other video games exist and they are milking every last nickel even the ones under we forgot about under our couches.”
grinding
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
27%
71%
Grinding in this game is widely described as tedious and repetitive, often requiring multiple mission replays to achieve 100%, which can diminish enjoyment despite some rewarding unlocks for dedicated players. While fans of stealth games and Metal Gear may find value, many criticize the excessive time investment and lack of engaging variety in the grind.
- “No managing mother base, no managing troops, no farming, no in-game rewards, no crafting, no pay-to-win microtransactions.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “100% completion is pretty tedious since you have to play each mission like 4+ times, which sucks.”
- “Some achievements require a lot of grinding, and from the perspective of an achievement hunter, absolutely don't spend 24 hours of your free time grinding out achievement objectives.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
Character development in the game is generally lacking or minimal, leaving players disconnected from the characters and their roles unless they are familiar with previous titles. While some praise the character design and visual appeal, the narrative fails to provide sufficient growth or depth for new players. However, a few note that the game still contains some development and plot twists, though it is less engaging compared to earlier installments.
- “Not as cerebral or involved, plot wise, but still has good character development and twists.”
- “Graphically, it looks great with lighting and textures being on point and the character designs themselves are really impressive too.”
- “The character design is basic, nothing out of this world; however, this doesn't mean that it is bad, could be better.”
- “There was no character development between these two, so I couldn't care about any of them, or anyone for that matter.”
- “You'll be lost as to who the characters are and what roles they play, as there is no character development in this "game"; you had to learn about them in the previous Metal Gears (Peace Walker notably).”
- “The character design is basic, nothing out of this world; however, this doesn't mean it is bad. It could be better.”

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6h Median play time

69h Average play time

3-20h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 121 analyzed playthroughs

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METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES is a action adventure game.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES is available on PC, Windows, Cloud and NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

On average players spend around 69 hours playing METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES was released on December 18, 2014.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES was developed by KONAMI.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its monetization.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES is a single player game.

Similar games include METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN, Hitman: Absolution, Rise of the Tomb Raider, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: Ultimate Ninja STORM 3 Full Burst, HITMAN and others.

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