Imagine if the tanker section of MGS2 (and some extra gimmicks) were separated and sold for a cheaper price. That's what MGSV: Ground Zeroes is, serving as a tech demo/prologue for Phantom Pain. Its actually not that bad but man I wish it was just in V proper and not this weird move from Kojima/Konami.

Because of how similar this and PP are in terms of gameplay I'll mainly discuss what Ground Zeroes does unique. The map is one of the best Kojima has made, being not only pretty big but having a ton of entrance points which makes the replay value superb. it's story is also one of the darkest in franchise history, with moments like the destruction of Mother Base and the ending being some of the standouts (the optional Chico tapes also include the darkest moments of the entire franchise). Mission varitety is also a strong suit, with such things like the Kojima rescue or console exclusive (MGS1 recreation and Raiden vs Snatchers) being a ton of fun.

All that being said I can't in good faith call Ground Zeroes a good game because ITS JUST A DEMO. The actual content is really short if you're not going for the replay value and the story content is so barebones. I don't hate the episodic idea but at the same time this absolutely needed more than just one main mission and a bunch of filler (that is required to unlock the later Chico tapes). At the very least it does do a great job of making me excited to finish the story with Phantom Pain but as it stands Ground Zeroes is just alright at best and a scam at worst.

6/10