Question: Where does Ground Zeroes rank in the MGS series?

[Dirty Duck]

I think Ground Zeroes is some of the tightest design in the series and despite still being on the PS3 the next-gen wow factor hit as if we were already on the PS4. Starting in the dead of night, in heavy rain, and packed to the brim with the lens flare that became so iconic of MGSV, it’s the moodiest intro to an MGS game to date and for good reason.

As far as story goes I think it’s the darkest Metal Gear has gotten. The use of “Here’s To You” as the game’s main vocal theme as well as the obvious allusions to Guantanamo Bay positions both Big Boss and Ground Zeroes itself as opponents of US imperialism and its unjust persecution of prisoners. It served as a perfect palette cleanser after Peace Walker maybe felt a bit too much like a jolly romp with a ragtag band of misfits. XOF destroying everything you’d built throughout an experience like Peace Walker was a great story beat and it left you (and Venom haw haw) hooked for The Phantom Pain.

I love TPP and I think it does carry on the design philosophy GZ took towards stealth and infiltration. That being said I do wish there were some more Camp Omega type locations dotted throughout the map. Keiv is right that there definitely are locations that are similarly designed but I don’t think any felt as large as Camp Omega did. The entirety of the game taking place there probably helped with that.

With all that being said I do feel that Ground Zeroes' length means it can't rank that highly amongst MGS games for me. Even if it is an incredibly cohesive package it's not as ambitious or sprawling as any of the other entries given that it is essentially the tutorial for MGSV. Tutorials are always designed more tightly in an attempt to forcibly teach the player the game's systems, so it's no wonder that MGSV's approach with those same systems are more fast and loose, letting the player interact with them in their own way. I have a lot of respect for Ground Zeroes and I do actually think I'm fine with it being a separate entity to The Phantom Pain but I feel like it mainly exists as an appetiser for it. That being said I do think considering MGSV as one package that includes GZ and TPP bumps both up in ranking-they compliment one another very well. Talking about it has made me want to replay it. I remember a member on MGSF doing very niche runs on YouTube that tided me over until TPP. Theoryraptor I think was their name? I always read it as "the ory raptor" which is very dumb.

But also no cardboard box 0/10.