Gaming Metal Gear Solid

vanthaman

Winner
Joined
Apr 29, 2003
Messages
26,136
Location
Sussex
Ish84045 said:
:lol: Yeah they're great, great games.


Thanks bro. 2015 is a long wait, but there's no way I'll be willing to pay full price for GZ, if it's only a bit of a teaser. You're familiar with the pricing?


Arrgh, thanks VTM. I thought Peacewalker, for some reason, was only on the PSP.
Click to expand...
It was originally but it was also part of the MGS HD collection on vita xbox 360 and ps3
 

MajorTom

New Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
6,896
Location
I'm on it, get on it!
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/metal-gear-solid-5-ground-zeroes-rumor-vs-reality/1100-6418111/

Just read that and he says he got a good ten hours out of it with everything else. It will probably take me longer than that if I do everything as I like to take my time in Metal Gear games. £30 for ten hours will do for me and after I'm done I'll trade it in for a tenner. £2 an hour seems like good value, plus it will help with the mechanics for the actual fifth instalment.
 

esmufc07

Brad
Scout
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
49,891
Location
Lake Jonathan Creek
WeasteDevil said:
Yes thankyou. I expect that you are playing the 1080p version of this prologue?
Click to expand...
Indeed! I'm downloading the PS4 version. Set the PS3 downloading FFX. Looks like I'm not stepping out the house today.

It's a shame we have to wait so long for the full release, these games are always worth the wait though I suppose.
 

WeasteDevil

New Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
109,016
Location
Salford in Castellón de la Plana
esmufc14 said:
Indeed! I'm downloading the PS4 version. Set the PS3 downloading FFX. Looks like I'm not stepping out the house today.

It's a shame we have to wait so long for the full release, these games are always worth the wait though I suppose.
Click to expand...
I know that you are a big MG fan, probably THE MG fan on this website. Will be interested to read your opinions mate.
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
Will this prologue be completely different to the version coming later, or will it just be the first few missions
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
WeasteDevil said:
I'm not sure to be honest, but I don't think that any of it other than the location will appear in Phantom Pain in playable form.
Click to expand...
Ah OK, might just pick it up pre-owned if it turns out to be mega short in terms of play time.
 

WeasteDevil

New Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
109,016
Location
Salford in Castellón de la Plana
Adam-Utd said:
Ah OK, might just pick it up pre-owned if it turns out to be mega short in terms of play time.
Click to expand...
Edge:

And you’ll have to retread ground if you’re after value for money here. With only six missions and one map, which is just a few hundred metres across, this is a game that can be ‘completed’ in under an hour. Ground Zeroes defies explanation – it’s been called a prologue, a preparatory tutorial for MGSV: The Phantom Pain and a demo by different sources – but whatever it is, it’s overpriced when the likes of Dead Rising’s preview chapter sold for a few pounds on Live Arcade.

But you’ll want to retry. No first run will be flawless, so you’ll hit restart and replay the main mission again, only this time under new rules you’ll choose for yourself. This time, maybe nobody on the base dies. Next time, everybody – all 40-something of them – will die without anyone knowing you were there.

...

Ground Zeroes works because its systems are so carefully designed and well executed that they become toys with which to tinker. The AI is smart, yet it’s also predictably unpredictable, with guards tending to follow their eyes and ears, but inclined to suddenly glance over a shoulder without warning. They can be choked, held up at gunpoint – interrogating them reveals ammunition stashes and hidden items – or they can be made to call a nearby friend to lure them over.

...

These missions are varied, too. One has you extracting a familiar-looking Japanese agent from the camp while defending him from the skies, another asks you to assassinate two war criminals hiding on the base, and a third sees you meeting an informant and recovering an audio cassette. Each flexes Fox Engine’s beautiful lighting system with varied weather and a different time of day, and in every one the game changes the script at a moment’s notice, throwing a tank into a routine-seeming operation, say, or a double-cross. These scripted twists are supported by emergent moments as memorable as any from game worlds a hundred times larger.

...

Still, if it’s a demo, Ground Zeroes is the best demo ever; if it’s a prologue, it sets up the story so well you’ll spend the next year thirsting for revenge; and if it’s a tutorial, the systems it teaches are so intriguing that the prospect of spending an entire game with them is irresistible. Ground Zeroes is a resounding success in every respect bar its price tag, but value is relative. Fourteen hours in, we’re still learning.
Click to expand...
I honestly don't know!
 

Adam-Utd

Part of first caf team to complete Destiny raid
Joined
Sep 10, 2010
Messages
39,954
WeasteDevil said:
Edge:



I honestly don't know!
Click to expand...
Cheers for that. Yeah sounds like its worth a purchase but perhaps not at the full wack retail. I don't mind replaying games but I'm not somebody who enjoys doing it repeatably. I am a fan of the series though so I will more than likely buy it, but for £20+ I think I will wait.
 

esmufc07

Brad
Scout
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
49,891
Location
Lake Jonathan Creek
43 minutes :lol:

The full game may just be the best MGS yet though if that is anything to go by, the gameplay is stunning. Sutherland does a really good job too, though I do miss Hayter.

There's plenty still to do with regards tp the game and the way it's laid out gives you plenty of replay value. £25 however is overpriced, though I don't mind too much. Its a must for any MGS fan.

Oh, and the graphics are insanely good.
 

amolbhatia50k

Sneaky bum time - Vaccination status: dozed off
Joined
Nov 8, 2002
Messages
95,790
Location
india
esmufc14 said:
43 minutes :lol:

The full game may just be the best MGS yet though if that is anything to go by, the gameplay is stunning. Sutherland does a really good job too, though I do miss Hayter.

There's plenty still to do with regards tp the game and the way it's laid out gives you plenty of replay value. £25 however is overpriced, though I don't mind too much. Its a must for any MGS fan.

Oh, and the graphics are insanely good.
Click to expand...
How so?
 

izzydiggler

Full Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2006
Messages
3,101
Although it's essentially a glorified demo, I'm massively impressed. The game mechanics are the best in any Metal Gear game and the graphics are incredible (on the PS4 at least). It really whets the appetite for The Phantom Pain but it's a bit gutting that it's so far away.

Still rather expensive for such a short game but any fan will gain a lot out if the (short) experience. I had intended to flog it early to get something back but I think I'll be playing it a few more times and it's a great game to show off the PS4 when there's not much else about.
 

WeasteDevil

New Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Messages
109,016
Location
Salford in Castellón de la Plana
Technobabble for you (all 4 versions)....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes-face-off

Transparent as ever, Hideo Kojima's misgivings with Metal Gear Solid 4 proved largely technical in nature, with the scale of its levels and animation blending apparently falling short of his ambitions. Almost six years on, and we have an open-world slice of Metal Gear Solid 5 that seeks to address this - ambitiously hitting not one, but four platforms at once. Helpfully, the 60fps advantage on PS4 and Xbox One has been revealed far in advance by the studio, while Kojima himself declares the PS4 version as being closest to the photo-realistic bar his team is aiming for, thanks to its full 1080p presentation. But is resolution the only benefit in buying Ground Zeroes on Sony's latest platform - and what of the older console releases?

One of the perks of the PS4 version, as revealed earlier via a tweet, is atmospheric simulation - a real-time approach to rendering skies in the Ground Zeroes mission. This allows clouds to move dynamically and impact the sun's lighting, where by contrast the Xbox One release joins PS3 and 360 with purely static skyboxes. It's a difference that only becomes apparent during side-ops missions, where the military base is accessible in broad daylight. Though curiously, the skybox is reinstated during certain set-pieces on PS4 - making this a subtle advantage if you know when and where to look.

The resolution details stand as the most dramatic difference though, with Konami happily making public the specifics of each version ahead of release. From our pixel counts, we can confirm that the PS4 does indeed push out a 1920x1080 framebuffer as promised, while on Xbox One we have just a 1280x720 window with which to work. For a game that embarks on a crusade for open-world stealth action, the lower resolution on Microsoft's platform does affect visibility when lining up long-range shots - just as it does across Battlefield 4's sandbox areas.

A pass of FXAA post-processing is dolloped across both versions too, which sadly negates some of the clarity we were expecting from the PS4 version, though the final image remains respectable. Meanwhile, in the Xbox One's case there's no stopping the pixel crawl artefacts resulting from its lower pixel throughput, and the drop in image quality here remains tangible.

One point that remains a mystery, however, is the internal resolutions on PS3 and Xbox 360. Both are listed as 720p on Konami's product page, albeit with a form of scaling also mentioned. In practise, we're looking at a 992x720 resolve on PS3 and 360 alike, with a very basic form of FXAA to back this up - causing text and HUD elements to blur over slightly in the process. With all versions patched up fully to version 1.01, we've produced an extensive 78-shot Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes image gallery for you to judge these differences at your leisure. Meanwhile, for comparisons of the game in motion, we also have several side-by-side videos below.

...

But after playing all four version extensively, it's clear the Fox Engine is developed with the PS3 and 360 platforms in mind. The positive slant on this is that the game's core systems are intact regardless of format, and the visuals hold up gracefully on these against contemporary third-person action titles. On the negative side, certain areas feel unevolved for the more capable platforms. Wall chip damage remains limited to specific areas, sandbags are copy-pasted to produce unconvincing bunkers around the map, and newer rendering techniques such as tessellation go unused when tackling sharp points on geometry - such as the rather angular vehicle wheels.

That being said, rain and alpha effects do see a big upgrade here. As well as the resolution bump (to varying degrees), we also get a ramp-up in texture detail across the board on Xbox One and PS4, plus more accurate specular mapping. There are a few outlying spots that look garish up-close, but by and large these are easy to ignore.

Ground Zeroes' lighting model is a showstopper though, regardless of platform. By pushing for a deferred rendering approach, Kojima Productions adds more ambient lights than was possible in previous games, and takes advantage of its material-based rendering. In short, this means the physical properties of every in-game gun, rock or character has been meticulously drawn from real-life reference points. It's a long-winded process, but the net result is that light now reacts with all objects in a more photo-realistic way - reflections being based closely on a surface's actual roughness, while hair, skin and cloth materials are at the mercy of translucency.

...

Shadows are a sticking point too; the same on newer platforms, but implemented in unique ways for the older generation. In the 360's case we have dynamically cast shadows using a low quality dither effect, while the PS3 takes a different approach entirely. With percentage closer filtering (PCF), the PS3 produces the boldest shadows of the quartet, but at the cost of aliasing artefacts that run across their outlines. Otherwise, all platforms use a dithered approach to ambient occlusion under plants and small objects, adding some much-needed depth to poorly lit areas in the game world.

Crucially, the Xbox One and PS4 releases are relieved from the pop-in. A choice addition to the Fox Engine is its ability to stream assets in the background as you make a dart through the level - lending credence to its open-world aspiration - where entering and exiting areas is possible without a single loading screen. But level-of-detail (LOD) parameters for cliff-side rocks, light sources, shadows and even plant-life are very close-field on PS3 and 360. This causes visible pop-in when Snake sprints, as higher-grade textures replace ones only meant to be viewed from a distance. It's a distraction spared from PS4 and Xbox One players of course, though it's possible to catch a glimpse of it on occasion.

...

Even up-close, the new platforms simply render in more details and at a greater vantage. We have a surplus of grass, rocks and other minor extras populating the world on Xbox One and PS4 too, though again, neither adds more to the scene than the other. Comparing the PS3 and 360 versions flares up few differences though - the biggest anomaly being that dewy-wet road surfaces use a heavier reflective mapping on Sony's last-gen hardware, most noticed from a distance. It's the odd one out in this sense, even factoring in results on more capable hardware, but it's an uncommon sight.

Onto more good news; the Fox Engine is already cementing its reputation as an engine built for rock-steady performance. Not only is it designed to hit 60fps with v-sync on PS4 and Xbox One, but the overhead so high that not a single frame is dropped during our tests. What we're left with is an absolute lock on that number from start to finish, giving us a monotone 16ms reading in our frame-time analysis, ensuring an entirely consistent experience. This entitles Ground Zeroes to the fastest turn-around for a frame to appear on-screen following the player's input - a sublimely responsive game on whichever of these consoles you might own.

But what of performance on the Xbox 360 and PS3? With so much commonality between all versions, something has to give, and in this case it's - perhaps understandably - a drop to 30fps. V-sync comes included for both, but it's a disappointment to see even this lowered frame-rate target not being nailed. Stretches of 20fps gameplay are very possible here, and particularly so with the PS3 release when challenged by multiple guards around a prisoner camp. What we're left with is a far more sluggish controller response by comparison; a drop to what amounts to the biggest drawback in buying either of these releases.

...

As an early example of how the Fox Engine is refreshing the Metal Gear Solid series, it's hard not to come away impressed with this Ground Zeroes prologue. The PS3 and 360 releases buckle under the weight of its new-found ambition, with general performance lurking in the 20-30fps range, but on the whole the game is still fundamentally enjoyable as an open-world action game. Visually it's tie between these two older platforms down to the smallest details, though in the end the 360 does hold at the 30fps target more convincingly when stressed - making it the recommendation in this particular head-to-head.

As for the PS4 and Xbox One releases, Kojima readily concedes that having started development on earlier platforms, the game "might look a little behind" titles created specifically for newer hardware. Even so, the generational leap brings with it boosts to texture quality, much improved accuracy to lighting and shadows, and a curtailing of the pop-in we see on the memory-limited PS3 and 360. But chief among the advantages here is a committed approach to hitting 60fps on both platforms, where performance is hitch-free during all our tests. So determined to hit this figure without a drop, in fact, extra effects such an 80s-style movie filter were seemingly dropped mid-production, having proved too much of a drain on resources - even for these newer systems.

But the king of the roost is most certainly the PS4 version, with its slick 1080p presentation marking a clear lead over the maximum 720p possible on Xbox One. The atmospheric rendering for skies is also a welcomed, if subtle extra on PS4 - the ramifications of which aren't fully fleshed out for single area demonstrated here. With no PC version in sight for the moment, this is clearly the way to brace yourself for the full Phantom Pain package due late next year.
Click to expand...
 

ArmandTamzarian

Full Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2009
Messages
3,830
Location
Belfast
Supports
Liverpool
Just about to move on to Infamous from this game (should be delivered in the next few days) and I have to say I've loved it, though I'm a big MGS fan anyway so no surprises there!. I reckon I've put close to about 15 hours into it, still sitting at about 37% completion and haven't fully completed the last mission so no doubt ill jump in again in the future to try and get it finished or some get higher classes in the other missions. I've got 'S' class in three of the missions and have only got the Ground Zeroes mission completed on hard so that leaves plenty of things to try and get done before the Phantom Pain comes out.

From what I've seen of this game it looks like the phantom pain is gonna be something special. The controls are very tight, gameplay is very enjoyable and the graphics are brilliant, especially the lighting engine in the game, definitley not a glorified demo for me & well worth 20 odd quid in my book especially for the 100% completionists out there, but maybe those who don't like going in again & re-playing games once they've seen all the storyline aspects to improve scores or get a higher percentage may want to wait untill there's a price drop or bundle with the full game to play it as it's a game designed with multiple playthroughs in mind for you to get your money's worth out of it.
 

Bojan11

Full Member
Joined
May 16, 2010
Messages
33,115
So this will be the last MGS made by Kojima. Don't get why everyone on neogaf is sad. I'm happy he's going to move onto other stuff.
 

.Rossi

ever get that feeling of déjà vu?
Joined
May 26, 2012
Messages
18,064
Location
Currently on trial for plagiarism
Bojan11 said:
So this will be the last MGS made by Kojima. Don't get why everyone on neogaf is sad. I'm happy he's going to move onto other stuff.
Click to expand...
But, surely they'll bring out MGS1 for next generation?! It's a classic I still play to this day!

Or Solid Snake's first mission?! That wasn't really covered on any Playstation console.

Hands down, the best game franchise I've ever played. GTA runs it closely but, MGS is just the bollix!
 

Twigg

Not Twigginator
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
15,283
Location
Alfordsay, earnay Oldway Affordtray
Supports
100 extrapolation
.Rossi said:
But, surely they'll bring out MGS1 for next generation?! It's a classic I still play to this day!

Or Solid Snake's first mission?! That wasn't really covered on any Playstation console.

Hands down, the best game franchise I've ever played. GTA runs it closely but, MGS is just the bollix!
Click to expand...
MGS is indeed the bollox.
 

Woodzy

Full Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
14,765
Location
Cardiff
Played and finished 1 - 3 over the last few weeks and it really is an incredible experience.

Tried Peace Walker on recommendation and really couldn’t get in to it. Excited to get back into 4 when I get hold of a PS3 but in the meantime playing Ground Zeroes for the first time time and it really is an incredible jump in quality gameplay wise.

I played quite a bit of Phantom Pain a couple of years ago but the level design of Ground Zeroes seems a bit better in my opinion.

Probably on my own with this but i’d argue that I would have taken a game without the open world and base building and instead build upon Ground Zeroes with the classic linear MGS style.
 

padr81

Full Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2015
Messages
11,967
Supports
Man City
Woodzy said:
Played and finished 1 - 3 over the last few weeks and it really is an incredible experience.

Tried Peace Walker on recommendation and really couldn’t get in to it. Excited to get back into 4 when I get hold of a PS3 but in the meantime playing Ground Zeroes for the first time time and it really is an incredible jump in quality gameplay wise.

I played quite a bit of Phantom Pain a couple of years ago but the level design of Ground Zeroes seems a bit better in my opinion.

Probably on my own with this but i’d argue that I would have taken a game without the open world and base building and instead build upon Ground Zeroes with the classic linear MGS style.
Click to expand...
100%, Phantom Pain feels unfinished to me. Too much time building a giant open world, not enough content and having to repeat missions to get the ending is flat out stupid. I enjoyed Ground Zero's even if it was a glorified tech-demo.
4 is a good game but a bit of a chore at times, too heavy on cutscenes and cinematics.
 

esmufc07

Brad
Scout
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
49,891
Location
Lake Jonathan Creek
Woodzy said:
Played and finished 1 - 3 over the last few weeks and it really is an incredible experience.

Tried Peace Walker on recommendation and really couldn’t get in to it. Excited to get back into 4 when I get hold of a PS3 but in the meantime playing Ground Zeroes for the first time time and it really is an incredible jump in quality gameplay wise.

I played quite a bit of Phantom Pain a couple of years ago but the level design of Ground Zeroes seems a bit better in my opinion.

Probably on my own with this but i’d argue that I would have taken a game without the open world and base building and instead build upon Ground Zeroes with the classic linear MGS style.
Click to expand...
Fully with you. 5 never felt like an MGS to me, at all. I don't include it in the main series, makes me feel slightly better about not finishing it.

I do really have to play through 1-4 again soon. Been a long time.
 

Paxi

Dagestani MMA Boiled Egg Expert
Joined
Mar 4, 2017
Messages
27,678
Really got into Metal Gear 4 and Platinumed 5. Awesome experience. I absolutely loved Metal Gear 4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.