Really enjoying it. It's weird having to relearn how to play MGS after growing up with them; the stealth is totally different and with all of these new mechanics(particularly how mobile Snake is now) it's pretty much an entirely new game. I find I'm more methodical, taking my time trying to get through an area without being spotted. I'm averaging about 40 minutes per side mission, and I'm playing them multiple times.

Did its job of making me sit here like "oh my god the phantom pain is going to be awesome i cant wait to do this shit in an open world"

The game is great. The only problem I have so far is when you turn off that slow motion effect when your spotted, the alarm is instantly raised. They don't even use their radios, they just yell the moment they spot you and the alarm goes off. Even when they are the only soldier in the area it still happens, maybe I just have bad luck.

I played a bunch of it last night and the main mission again today, trying to get that S rank. I love it. The gameplay is a perfect evolution of the MGS gameplay, the sound design is fantastic and the lighting is probably the best I've ever seen in a video game. I really love the new style cutscenes, no cuts, all one long "take" and they seem much shorter and to the point than ones in previous games which I'm totally on board for. This is a hell of an appetizer before The Phantom Pain.

It reminds me of a SLIGHTLY clunky Chaos Theory, though that may be the rainy/rocky/small base setting along side the suit, goggles, and night vision sound.

I'm really digging it. Beautiful game, plays better than any prior MGS game, and this demo/game should prove plenty of opportunity to kick the game around and see how the systems hold up.

I am annoyed by soldiers not always recognizing dead or knocked out enemies, and the idea of alerts winding down feels dated. It's nice to see higher level alerts have a lasting impact...tanks being stationed and whatnot.

I've only played through once, so some impressions may not be totally accurate, but I'm digging it quite a bit in the short term.

Game is intense but getting recognized is very easy. Every damn time i get spotted, Restart.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist is better in every way.

If this game wasn't called MGS, would anyone give a shit about it?

I just finished it. I beat it in 2 hours and 20 minutes, 9 alerts, 8% complete and with a d rank.

I enjoyed it a lot, there's an exciting sense of tension with the stealth and how wide open you are, and discovering how to use the new mechanics are. The whole radar system is similar to MGS4's sound ring, the controls are really closer to Peace Walker, so I never felt too alone, peace walker also had marking enemies. The whole reflex system is interesting, creating a clever heighten reaction time, but personally for me I believe in doing CQC. The idroid is interesting, just left it on listening to paz cassettes it felt like a good substitutes for Codecs but it's still same system they had in Peace Walker.

They are still using tech from MGS3 and 4, noticing the dissolve animation when your have walls, or folliage clip into the way of the camera. And explosions are no different then in MGS4. But overall it does look really awesome even on a modest PS3. Love just being between the tents, really getting that narrow feeling compared to being out in the open. I'm surprised to see enemies still off in a wide distance compared to most open world games. It's no surprise lighting looks phenomenal, really surprised around the last bits of the story.

I'm constantly reminded of MGS2 demo, not for the obvious reasons, but really that first time experiencing the controls. And being overwhelmed by how much freedom I'm given. Like learning to get dog tags, hanging on the ledge and doing pull ups, getting a cold from waiting outside too long, or learning how to shoot right. MGS4 felt like it was playing itself until you see a crazy cinematic. I'm really excited for Phantom Pain, I want to just use the helicopter more, I want to listen to cassette tapes, I love observing enemies and eves dropping in on their conversations to find items on the map, I really love how realistic the faces look, and I'm glad I played through Peace Walker.

I got really choked up seeing mother base blow up. When the soldier dies in snakes hands, I just went "maybe he was an S rank solider specializing in engineering?" Or like the Doctor on the helicopter "what's his ranking? did I find him?" Those little nerd moments of mine.

white Raiden looks badass

@nutter: I would think of it as the other way around actually... I love Chaos Theory, but that's more clunky than Ground Zeroes.

@bigjeffrey: How's the Raiden mission? The references in the PS4 mission were fun, but from a gameplay standpoint the mission totally sucked. A lot of it was literally just " yo go stand in this specific spot and then this short video triggers "

I've beaten pretty much all of it now, and the core gameplay mechanics were mostly great. I thought almost all of the missions were just fucking bad, though. Can't wait to actually play the " full game. "

They really need to fix the AI's field of vision or whatever though. I'm getting totally sick of being spotted through giant walls. I guess that might not be a thing they're able to fix, but still.

May be nostalgia, it's a hell of a thing.

I just remember Splinter Cell and Chaos Theory being ridiculously smooth for their time. The Prince of Persia remake from that generation feels this way, too.

Ground Zeroes feels slightly off...I last played MGS4 maybe a year ago and may have liked controlling Snake in that a bit better. Either way, it feels good enough. I played through MGS1 and 2 HATING the mechanics built around that camera (and did so happily).

This has been one of my favorite Metal Gear experiences since MGS 2. I do hate that if you aren't in Reflex mode being spotted means instant alarm but once you figure out the how the guards react to everything its pretty easy to manipulate them into doing what you want them to do.

Really looking foward to Phantom Pain after this.

some of the side ops have some pretty ridiculous shit in them that I think everyone should see, especially if they are looking to get the full value out of this game.

I love it. Very re-playable so I will get my 30 bucks worth easy. Also made me want to play Peace Walker which is cool because I have the MGS HD collection already.

So I've played though GZ main mission twice now, once to beat it and once to get all the patches. Did most of a run on Hard to see what it was like. . I've played all the Extra Ops except for Deja Vu so far, some of the Extra Ops 3 or 4 times. I have no complaints about the length and variety of the game. Lots more to unlock and S rank.

It's a pretty unbelievable game so far. The stealth engine is just awesome. Yes, on Hard Mode the sight lines are really really unforgiving but I can live with that. There are a few bugs however with enemies seeing you through objects. Maybe only happened 2 times in 10+ hours of gameplay, but hopefully something they can iron out for TPP.

Difficult game all in all. The fact that retries subtract from your score is harsh but it makes getting the perfect run really awesome. The reflex time on hard is also such that you any wrong button press and your f*ed. No reflex time is a little lame to be honest. Goes back to MGS1 style INSTANT ALERT.

In Peace Walker I would often get frustrated and just feel there was no way for me to stealth through, in GZ I feel there is always another way, so that's very cool.

Also: SMOKE GRENADES you guys.

This is a great game with tons of replay value. It took me 107 minutes to complete the main mission on my first time really trying to take it all in. Played a few side missions and finding those tags are my purpose in life other than classes and work or even breathing. (NO I will not look up guides to this, im a MGS fan and do not need such things).

Game looks fantastic, the animation is top notch and sound is great along with controls that are the best in the franchise. Seeing some shadow stuff pop in the distance similar to the assassins creeds games of last gen which is a bit disappointing but to mark down the game for that is like marking down a model because she has a freckle.

I do have some things I am not happy about.

1. Interrogating people has no English audio. (Assuming there will be some in Phantom Pain version)
2. There's no knocking on surfaces. It's a pet peeve really, loved that feature in past games to draw units over. I worked around it by throwing mags so its not the end of the world.
3. Pretty bummed that you cannot open the porta potties around the camp to hide bodies. (the blue rectangular bins lined up everywhere). I guess I just assumed they would be like the new version of the lockers from previous entries in the series. One can also not go into the trash bins that looked similar to the ones from MGS4.
4. Wish there are more gadgets. (the Eye from mgs4 or the radar ping from snake eater are some examples). I am 90% sure there will be some more included in the PP because Kojima is Kojima and I love his devices he puts in games.

Highly recommend people get this game if they are familiar to the franchise.

It's take out 12 guards (Some body snatchers some regular people)

Body snatchers must be killed.

After that you wait for a helicopter which lands in the center of the base alerting more guards. Defend the chopper end mission. I thought it was okay. But using Raiden's run was pretty cool.

Did you meet the REAL Kazuhira Miller?!?!?

I found it's one of those games that when I finished, I had little to no impressions. The game is TOO short. The graphics are stunning, the voice acting is nice, and so are the mechanics and the FOX engine proves itself capable, but I beat the game in LESS then two hours. 8/10.

surprised I spent over 23 hours into this.

Just popped in MGS4 for comparison, just reminded how cluttered the interface was. What's interesting about MGS4 compared to ground Zeroes is how much situation awareness you have, instead MGS4 is more scripted and feels too linear until you get to chapter 2. It's just interesting how much change went into this game in the span of 6 years, good to see there's a sense nothing is sacred in it's gameplay and makes me excited for The Phantom Pain.

The real reason they changed voice actors, Hayter can't act, deal with it.

I played through the main mission tonight. I did...poorly. A 2 hour 40 minute completion time with an E rank. I got spotted and killed a lot while searching for Paz. It didn't help that I took several wrong turns. That being said, holy shit is this ever dark. The way it sets the stage for Phantom Pain is really nice, and I actually like Keifer Sutherland as Snake. As much as I like David Hayter in the role, the change in actor really helps sell the shift in Snake's character.

Finally got my first S rank in 7 min no guide needed. Was very happy since i am not that good at the game.