Modders unite Metal Gear Solid 5 and Ground Zeroes 11 years after release

More than a decade after release, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain finally plays the way Hideo Kojima originally intended – with Ground Zeroes as a proper prologue. Created by RLC and uploaded to NexusMods by CapLagRobin, the mod merges both titles into a single cohesive experience, reconstructing the structure Konami stepped away from for commercial reasons.

The backstory is well known to series fans. Ground Zeroes was originally developed as an opening mission and prologue to The Phantom Pain, but was split off and sold separately so players would have something to play at the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One. Kojima reiterated in a 2023 social media post that the original plan had always been a prologue, not a standalone release.

The mod works by adding the Ground Zeroes campaign – which takes place several months before The Phantom Pain and after Peace Walker – to the mission list on the iDroid. By default, the game transitions into it automatically after completing Episode 1: Phantom Limbs, though automatic transitions can be turned off. The only hard requirement is owning a copy of Ground Zeroes.

Beyond the story integration, the mod opens the Camp Omega map for free roam exploration inside The Phantom Pain. Players can wander it as Venom Snake, run side ops, and use Fulton extractions – mechanics that simply didn't exist in the original Ground Zeroes. How closely any of this matches Kojima's actual plans is impossible to say, but nothing has come closer to bridging the two games until now.

The modder is upfront that "many issues persist" and some "features not implemented" remain. Still, for fans who've been waiting on an official release combining both games, this is the nearest thing to the original vision available today.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is available on PC and consoles.