Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes Hits Steam In December

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Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes-- the prequel to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain--is coming to Steam on December 18.

Ground Zeroes is a brief game. It's one level, but it teases the anticipated follow up to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which received the rarely given perfect score on Gamespot.

In Ground Zeroes, you infiltrate a Camp Omega-- a military base-- as you rescue two captives. You can play the game in different ways.

If you want to rescue your friends with stealth and finesse, then the game offers rewards for not being spotted by an enemy. In addition, your score gets boosted if you don't kill opponents.

There are, however, lots of choices in terms of heavy artillery. You can commandeer a tank and wreak havoc on the Camp Omega or you steal a rocket launcher and send enemies skyward.

At the end of the mission, you find that the rescue was all for naught, as your enemies planted a bomb inside one of the freed prisoners. A long cinematic follows--grimly setting up The Phantom Pain.

The Phantom Pain still has no release date. It is speculated that it will be released in 2015, but series creator Hideo Kojima hasn't made any official announcement.

For more about the Metal Gear series visit its official website here.