A lot of gamers were confused when the titles Phantom Pain and Ground Zeroes were announced for release. It was back in December 2012 when news of the game called Phantom Pain originally debuted. After several months, the creators of the game revealed that it was in fact a subtitle of the core Metal Gear Solid V game. It was set in 1984 and took place nine years after Ground Zeroes. For those who are not familiar with Ground Zeroes, it is actually a separate game that completes the experience when playing Metal Gear Solid V.

According to the creator of Phantom Pain, Hideo Kojima, Ground Zeroes will serve as an introduction to the gameplay of Phantom Pain because it is considered open-world but closed in a limited area at the same time. Ground Zeroes focuses on the characters named Chico and Paz and what happened to them right after the events of Peace Walker. Those events took place a year before Ground Zeroes.

Even if the Ground Zeroes game is considered to be a simple prologue to the Phantom Pain, it is deemed to be an important milestone, especially in the stealth genre. The focus of Ground Zeroes is failure. The entire game redefines failure and makes it fun. It is a game that allows people to look at failure as an opportunity to transform and become better. Due to the unique attacks of the game, it requires the gamers to be more patient and dedicated. There are usually complex concealment mechanics or AI enemies that are highly difficult to deal with. They usually withhold their payoffs in order to maximize gameplay and make it more intense. However, not all gamers found the gameplay good enough or simply put, not everyone enjoys failure in the same way that the creator intended it to be enjoyable. However, it has still raked in lots of support upon release.