Set in 1975, a few months after the events of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the story follows Snake a.k.a. "Big Boss" as he infiltrates an American black site in Cuba called Camp Omega, attempting to rescue Cipher agent Paz Ortega Andrade and former Sandinista child soldier Ricardo "Chico" Valenciano Libre. The game offers players new sneaking and traversal methods as well as the choice in what order the story events take place by selecting missions in any order they chose. Ground Zeroes was originally developed as a mission for The Phantom Pain but an extended development time resulted in director Hideo Kojima splitting the specific portion of the game as a stand-alone product so that players could get early access to Metal Gear Solid V. Critical reception to Ground Zeroes was generally positive, with praise for its mechanics, voice acting, story, and graphics, while the majority of the criticism concerned its short length. The game also generated some controversy for its handling of themes of sexual violence. Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience, a bundle that includes both Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain, along with all additional content for both games, was released in October 2016.
SCREENSHOTS
DEVELOPMENT
In February 2012, a site named "Development Without Borders" owned by Konami was uploaded promoting development for a new Metal Gear title, which was titled "The 'next' MGS". The site was recruiting staff for the 2012 GDC pavilion in March, and requested applications for several positions for the latest Metal Gear Solid targeted for "high-end consoles and PC" and "next-gen Fox engine". As the year went on, screenshots and videos of the newly announced Fox Engine were unveiled by the team. This media demonstrated a range of settings and characters, none explicitly related to the Metal Gear series. Certain screenshots, however, were noted to feature a character who resembled the Big Boss character of Metal Gear, walking up to a Stryker AFV, previously seen in Metal Gear Solid 4.