Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes Revealed

Metal Gear series Creator Hideo Kojima has been teasing a new entry in the long-running stealth franchise for going on a year now, but has yet to provide anything more than a few choice words and a promise. Today, however, the developer made good on his promise and revealed the next entry in the franchise, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes.

After revealing the game and its very Japanese subtitle (this one might top Guns of the PatriotsKojima gave a live demo of Ground Zeroes to press in attendance for MGS's 25th Anniversary. While we weren't there to experience the event first hand, and Konami appears to be squashing talk about the game on Twitter, a few details have slipped through the cracks.

Most importantly we know that Ground Zeroes will be the first game to support Kojima's new Fox Engine. Kojima has already provided a brief preview of the engine, but this was the first gamers had seen it in action. Such adjectives as "amazing" were tossed around whilst 8-4's Mark MacDonald describe the live demo he was seeing.

Among the details Macdonald was able to get across amidst general enthusiasm was talk of an open-world environment, a helicopter evac, and quite a bit of Solid Snake sneaking around. MacDonald ended his play-by-play of the demo with, "Sounds like MG, but the scale & atmosphere... Wow" — not just a glowing endorsement, but words that have us very, very excited.

Of course, seeing Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes and hearing about the game secondhand are not one in the same, so we reserve final judgment on the product's initial unveiling until we see it live. Past experience with the franchise has always wowed us visually, but how Kojima evolves the signature Metal Gear Solid gameplay is paramount to anything else. An open world demo isn't all that surprising, though, as Kojima teased his next project, codenamed Project Ogre, would support such a feature.

Take a look at the first art work for Ground Zeroes, courtesy of Famitsu:

Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes Art Work

Talk of an open-world environment sounds intriguing, but the possible experimentation within those given play areas will have to justify sacrificing linearity. The aforementioned Guns of the Patriots had some semblance of an open world, but we're guessing the Fox Engine has allowed Kojima to far outdo that.

This is obviously just the first we're hearing of Metal Gear Solid Ground Zeroes so be prepared for more details as the various members of the press in attendance for the industry-shaking 'MGS 25' event begin sharing their experience. And, as always, we'll be sure to keep you posted as the story develops.

Source: Mark MacDonald (via Giant Bomb)