Addressing concerns about the short play time of Metal Gear Solid 5‘s prologue chapter, Ground Zeroes, series director Hideo Kojima has released a statement defending the game. The latest issue of Game Informer reports that the game could be completed in two hours, but Kojima stresses that clear time is not the same as play time and argues that there’s plenty of material in the game to justify its $40 price tag.
Kojima notes in his statement that there are five side missions in GZ apart from the main mission, as well as a multiplayer element.
“This is not a linear game like the past,” Kojima said. “GZ offers freedom of approach & play style, which we hope players will enjoy over & over without boring [sic]. I believe people will be satisfied with the ‘Play Time’ of GZ and will not stress the ‘Clear Time,’ which is a standard for linear games.”
Designer Jordan Amaro of Kojima Productions – the studio responsible for the game – backed up his boss, saying, “Are Journey and Dear Esther long? Voltaire’s Candide is like a hundred pages at most. Yet they are masterpieces of video game and literature. This smearing will not stain and affect what we’re aiming to achieve with MGS, the game industry in Japan, or video games as a whole.”
Journey and Dear Esther sell for $15 and $10 respectively.
The full game that is to follow, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is said to be “hundreds of times larger” than its prologue. Konami has yet to set a release date.
