Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes Gives Taste of Snake's Next Chapter

Hideo Kojima didn't want to keep fans waiting too long before they got their hands on Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, so he gave them Ground Zeroes in the meantime.

"Of course it would be ideal to release Ground Zeroes and the main part of the game all together," Kojima said, according to Kotaku. "But at the same time given that this week we have the next generation of game consoles coming out, a lot of the fans wanted to play something sooner. And given that the main game is a rather big game and still in development, it will take a little bit more time to get it out. We decided to listen to the fans and put at least the prologue out there so people will get the experience."

The game, which was released on Tuesday, takes place chronologically after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker and will take the player into The Phantom Pain, which will be released sometime in 2015.

So what does Ground Zeroes look like for Snake, who is now voiced by Kiefer Sutherland?

For one thing, it's darker in tone, according to IGN.

The game takes place at a military base, where Snake is an infiltrator trying to rescue two captives. The visually impressive game has Snake begin his mission at the edge of a cliff in the middle of a rainstorm. Snake also doesn't rely on tools; observations prove to be more important.

He can also use his binoculars to mark visible enemies, so he'll be able to keep track of them this way instead of through a radar, which has been removed as well as the vision cones that indicated the vision of the guards.

It's a quick play, which can be completed in one to two hours, but there's enough with side missions to stretch the replayability for eight to 10 hours.