There was a huge kerfuffle recently when Game Informer revealed in a preview that upcoming stealth game Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes only took its staff around two hours to complete. Everyone was just a little bit miffed, and understandably so, as the purportedly paltry prologue to next year's Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will cost you almost as much as a full release.
However, series big boss Hideo Kojima was quick to remind us that clear time isn't necessarily the same thing as play time. "Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes includes the main mission alongside five Side Ops. All missions include elements such as 'Trial Records', where players can compete against each other online," the auteur stated on Twitter. "This is not a linear game like the past. Ground Zeroes offers freedom of approach and play style, which we hope players will enjoy over and over again without boring [them]."
In other words, the famed director has planned a game that can only be fully appreciated with multiple playthroughs. It's an admirable goal to be sure, but we doubt that these comments will do much to convince those looking for something a little bit beefier in length. What do you make of the luminary's statements? Do you think that they sound like a stealthy cover-up? Press the action button in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com, via eurogamer.net]
Comments 18
I am hungry for some Metal Gear...
almost as much as a full release? a PS4 game is about £50 ground zeroes is only £25 on amazon (at least when I pre-ordered it and yes it's the PS4 version) and for what the game is and how it looks even if it's 2 hours £25 is about right I reckon, so what's the problem?
@FullbringIchigo I'm from Australia, and down here the PS4 version will set you back $89, which is around £50. That's probably got more to do with the ridiculous cost of videogames in Australia than it does with Kojima. That said, most people seemed pretty annoyed with the price on yesterday's article. I'm kinda torn, though. I really want the box (I'm a huge fan of the series), but I don't know if I can justify paying that much for it.
@FullbringIchigo It was showing up as much more than that the other day to be fair.
@get2sammyb to be fair it has now changed to £28 but still that's a good price in my opinion
@k_andersen I knew it was bad in oz but I didn't know it was THAT bad, would importing it be a cheaper option?
@k_andersen Sorry to hear that. Maybe it's time for some import =).
I wonder if game plays like real sandbox, so you can just explore the island and do some sidequests, meet some strange people alongside. Then, 2 hours make sense. I mean, people can beat Morrowind in one hour and Chrono Trigger in 30 minutes. But it dioesn't mean, that iyou can't play them for another 30 or 100 hours and have fun every minute.
@Gemuarto @FullbringIchigo I could just opt for the boxed PS3 version, which is about half that price. In the end, I'll probably just download it on PS4, and then hope I can pick up a boxed copy for cheaper somewhere down the line.
Regardless, the game looks absolutely fantastic, and, if Kojima is to be believe, will be pretty repayable. I find MGS:4 to be pretty repayable, so I imagine this will be too.
@k_andersen yeah it does look fantastic and I can't wait, I need another game for my ps4 (I only have Knack and ACIV)
A blue ray of any crumby recent release can be about £18. You'll get a lot more for £25 when you get your hands on mgs gz. Dunno what all the fuss is. Some outlets yes are overcharging because they don't have a clue what they are selling.
@k_andersen Every MGS game has replay incentives: 1 has two endings, 2 has dog tags, 3 has frogs, 4 has credits, and 5 will be sandbox. You're definitely not supposed to play thru once as fast as you can. Took me many playthrus to understand the significance of the Colonel/Mary/Arsenal convo where it says "not control content, but create context"
What is with australia? Everything there is so expensive. Is everyone in australia rich lol
I see what you did there.
Full price for a 2 hours game is not happening.
Bologna. You could say that about any game to beef up it's playable content. Most gamers don't collect everything, but they don't smash straight through either. Usually it's a balance between the two. Even so, when it's possible to play through a $40 game in less than two hours, we've got a serious problem. I cancelled my pre order yesterday in lieu of the news, and I'll just do without. I have other games and other consoles. I don't need to shell out $40 for this.
Two hours? Ha! They can say all the bull they want about trial records or whatever but a 2-hour gameplay is ridiculous. That means I'll probably complete the game in a day, squeeze the life out of it for 2 more days then it's shelved. Goodbye muchos dineros.
MGS4 you can complete in 2 hours for "Big Boss" emblem.
They make games that are very enjoyable to replay, I'll give them that, but you need more than just time trials to justify charging $30-$40 for a 2hr game. Theres probably plenty more we don't know but I'll probably wait and see if they release the two together.
Kojima has a good track record so I'm willing to have faith on this one. If it turns out that there is a lot of potential replay value then it won't bother me that the game can be speed run in a short time.
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