Game Informer's latest cover story centers on Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, a prolouge to the main MGSV game set to come out next month. In it, they reveal that they played through the main mission in two hours, with a speed run in 5 minutes being possible. This has set off a big debate over the game's actual value, reigniting a long-running argument over price-to-length ratio in modern video games.
For me personally, this debate usually misses the point. Replay value is often far more important to a game's worth than how long it takes to get through the main campaign. I've put in dozens of hours with Mega Man X--which, incidentally, you can beat in about an hour or so if you know what you're doing--because the game is just that damn awesome. And games with good multiplayer can last for decades; hence people still playing Street Fighter II to this day (myself included).
However...in this case, I think the complaints are justified, albeit for a different reason.
Kojima himself has described Ground Zeroes as a demo--a short teaser to get you acclimated to the main game, which is set to come out next year. But there are plenty of options for doing that which don't cost a dime, let alone up to $40 depending on which platform you get it on. Metal Gear Rising did a great job with this; the training VR missions and the first level give you all the basics you need to know what you're getting yourself into for the rest of the game.
So rather than being a demo in the traditional sense, this seems more like Konami breaking the game up into pieces and selling them separately to make shareholders happy. I can't think of any justification beyond that. Given how the save data for Ground Zeroes carries into the main game, and that it contains key plot information, people who want the full experience would need both games. It comes off as a cynical cash-grab, especially when the next gen versions cost almost as much as the full game despite the latter being "twenty times bigger" according to Kojima.
I just hope that this approach doesn't become a trend if both parts of the game sell well.
The supposed length of the game doesn't really bother me either. If it is crafted as well as any of the Metroid games I will be replaying it on a yearly basis.
I can't say that I like the pricing structure. Why are there three different prices for the game?
Yeah, that's the main thing that pushes it over the line. If it's being treated like the first part of the main game, then there's no justification for charging $40 for it.
I wonder if people would have been pissed off had MGS 2 only consisted of the Tanker part. I wouldn't pay $40 for a demo. Screw that crap. I paid less than that for the MGS collection (1-3). Plus I could buy a ton of games off Steam for that price. Not like I need anymore lol.
Hell, there are full games on the PS4 and Xone you can get for that price now. It's pretty ridiculous in light of that.
My most anticipated game and the reason I bought a PS4. And then this news comes out :(
The price are: PS3 digital = $20, PS3 physical copy = $30, PS4 digital = $30, PS4 physical = $40.
$40 for a demo is pretty ridiculous I think. I could probably buy 2-3 full PS3 games for that. I am not pre-ordering and will wait for a used copy to become available. I always do this for games that pull stuff like this. It really sucks because the Metal Gear Solid series is my favorite in gaming. Hugley disappointed.
That sucks.
Sad to see games joining the movie trend of splitting movies into multiple parts.
Part of me really thinks this is more of Konami's doing then Kojima. MGS V has been hyped up from them so much. Plus there's not much on the horizon for them other Castlevaina Lords of Shadow 2. But still this is a very shallow move. I though GT 5 Prolouge was the last of crap like this.
Blasted whoresons!
I think they charged too much for what essentially is the trailer/short-film version of a whole game. I don't think there's a problem with games being short so long as there are plenty of incentives to replay them but "this" seems like little more than a demo disguised as something greater.
Why not just have us wait longer and tack this on top of the main game thus ensuring Phantom pain will be all the more spectacular? Note to Konami,this is microtransactions done "wrong".
I didn't even realize that they were doing this with Ground Zeros. I wouldn't be shocked if they later re-release this with the main game as a "GOTY" package in following months.