MGS 5: Ground Zeroes pre-orders include bonus Mother Base staff for Phantom Pain, iDROID app detailed

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will include a Mother Base recruitment mechanic similar to that seen in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Konami has announced that Ground Zeroes pre-orders will come with bonus staff for Snake's bass in the second game.

It follows today's batch of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes PS4 screens, which show Psycho Mantis, lock-picking, Snake's map device and much more.

In a press release sent to VG247 today, Konami confirmed that the Mother Base format is central to Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and that Ground Zeroes pre-order customers will receive DLC codes for bonus staff inside the game box, while digital editions will grant access the content automatically once you load up The Phantom Pain. The codes also unlock undisclosed bonus items.

The publisher adds that characters and POWs rescued in Ground Zeroes will be made available to you in The Phantom Pain, helping you build your Mother Base. As something of a tease, Konami confirmed that Snake's actions while rescuing certain individuals in Ground Zeroes can have implications in the second game.

Konami also issued more details of the Metal Gear Solid 5 iDROID app, which is available with all versions of the game via iOS, Android and Xbox Smart Glass. It's a second screen app that syncs with the game, showing you a map of the world, letting you call in air support and giving you a way of playing collected cassette tapes beyond the game itself. There's also global leaderboards.

Chiefly however, iDROID gives players another way of building Mother Base, working as a standalone game that syncs with Ground Zeroes.

What do you make of the Mother Base mechanic and iDROID? Let us know below.

Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes launches March 20 on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.