There seems to be some slight confusion resulting from Konami's GDC presentation in which they unveiled Metal Gear Solid 5. Coming out of the panel, it was believed that The Phantom Pain and Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes would combine to make up the new Metal Gear Solid 5 game. That's both true and false, or at least very misleading.
You see, both games — Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain — put together is Metal Gear 5, which is exactly what series creator Hideo Kojima told GDC attendees this week. But they will likely be released as separate games, meaning you'll probably have to buy both to experience what is essentially the entire Metal Gear Solid 5 game. In this case, MGS5 isn't necessarily a "game" in terms of one disc, but rather more of a story that will be experienced via a two-part release. Just to refresh your memory, here was the trailer shown at GDC.
Ground Zeroes, as it was explained to CVG, will "act as a prologue that tells the story of the fall of Mother Base – the Militaires Sans Frontières project built in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker – and how the attack on it puts Big Boss in a nine-year coma." The Phantom Pain tells the story of what happens when Big Boss awakens from the coma, which the trailer explained was nine years later. It's all starting to make sense now.
A Kojima Productions representative explained that both parts will be playable on existing consoles (Xbox 360 and PS3), but did not clarify how they will be sold and distributed. It seems like both games will be released separately and while we don't expect them to come on just one disc at launch, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of bundle offered in the future.
[CVG]
