Metal Gear Solid 4: Just how good is it?

be warned: this review does contain Spoilers.

I finally opened up the box to the game i had been waiting on since I’d heard about it in 2006. I felt anticipation build - that excitement you feel about getting your hands on what has been billed as a truly triple "A" title. With the disk in drive, the eight minute install was almost too much to take, I paced my room in front of my 37'' HD TV; reading the control setup in the game manual provided. I should have probably read some of the install comments appearing on screen next to a giant smoking Solid Snake, but instead I found myself shouting at the screen: "stop smoking and come on already!"

And then it began... a ten day saga of playthroughs, re-playthroughs, metal gear online and a personal quest to pick up all guns, unlockables and find as many secrets as i possibly could. i am now on my sixth playthrough and what have i learned? I have learned that there is still so much more to do and that some may beyond my "profound" abilities as a veteran metal gear player.

The Story:
Guns of the patriots is actually a standalone story. it is true that to get a full appreciation of the Metal Gear saga you need to have played the other games, but in principal you should be able to understand THIS story with only a little knowledge about previous titles. The story is about a computer system, a system designed by The Patriots that controls / influences almost ever aspect of society from the war economy through to social norms. The most important of these controls is through the use of Nanobots input in every soldier / PMC to ultimately make them stronger, faster and better. Nanobots regulate everything a soldier does from healing wounds to removing battlefield emotions.

Of course: paramount to a soldiers success is his weapon and in mgs4 all weapons are "ID locked" to a single genetic code. alas, the patriots system also controls this, so if a soldier were to suddenly be blacklisted in the system, they'd find their gun(s) locked and thus, unable to use a firearm. Enter Liquid-Ocelot, who has made a personal quest out of trying to infiltrate The Patriots system and use it against them.

Metal Gear hasn't survived 20 years and 4 incarnations on the playstation brand without an intriguing story and this wouldn't be Kojima if there weren't several twists and turns, big revelations and ultimately cross's, double cross's and characters, that you just don’t know who’s side they are on. Needless to say - while fans will sit there and debate these issues and their meanings for years to come, others will just simply just enjoy the game for its engaging storyline.

Gameplay
The gameplay in Metal Gear Solid is some of the best action/stealth out on the market at the moment and its quality lies in that it can be either. You can ultimately choose to play Snake as a Rough, Tough killer, or the cautious, stealthy soldier. The view can also be changed from third to first person - be it the occasions your looking through a scope on a sniper rifle, or simply walking around the various locations in true FPS mode - looking down the sights on whatever gun you've decided to use.

Snake can climb over things, lean against things, he can hang from ledges, lie down both on his front & back, crouch, roll forwards, roll sideways and ultimately, move in all these positions. You can fire your weapon when knocked to the ground for example or peer round walls to see what’s coming. you can even pop out and shoot from leaning against a wall or hang from a ledge and shoot a guy with the weapon in your other hand. The point? while other games have utilized this cover system, there is very little that snake cant do. My only biggie, is that a run button wasn't included in the game - though it could ultimately have changed the dynamic of the whole thing.

Snakes weapons are ultimately procured on site and then unlocked by Drebin – a global gun runner with an ability to provide you with “fake” ID's. Other weapons such as gun emplacements are found scattered around the various game settings but there is not really much need for them other than to basically have some fun. You'll also get a break-up in "standard gameplay" with various vehicle chases, "boss" fights and Hideos movies, which fully integrate you into the world Kojima has created. Because of this, along with the changes in location (there are five acts) the game never becomes repetitive. One minute you'll find yourself gunning down soldiers in great numbers, the next you’re creeping in the shadows following resistance members. It is not revolutionary gameplay I’ll grant you, but it is at the very top of its rung. 

Graphics/movies
The game graphics are nothing short of spectacular; this game is one of the best looking titles on ps3 currently. The environments are rich and detailed and unlike other games that spend a lot of time getting the feel for a specific environment type ("urban fighting" "jungle" etc) MGS includes several great looking environments. The character models are detailed and look realistic (not keen on Merryls hairstyle but it at least looks like real hair.) Throughout the game you can pick up face camouflage which ultimately mean Snake can change his face to look younger or to "become" some other character in the metal gear world, and these attributes will remain (when equipped) during movies. its cool and one of my favourite additions.

The Movies: I have no doubt that they are by far the most cutting edge realistic movies that are found IN game, nor do I doubt that the movies are beautifully crafted and directed, but there is a great deal of them. I spoke on gameplay earlier and while fantastic the amount of time you are actually playing as snake can be anything from 5-20 hours. Veteran MGS fans will know that to pick up some of the unlockables in game (namely: big boss emblem) you need to be 'rushing the game in 5 hours'. It also has to be said that this 5 hour scenario is on one of the hardest levels of play with only a tranquilizer pistol allowed should you be looking for the aforementioned emblem. Its not easy, and a lot of casual gamers wont manage this...but its doable. My point is that there is a total 8 hours of movies, which although skippable (should you want to miss out on some brilliant action), yet there is only, potentially only 5 hours gameplay.

regardless of where you stand on the issue however, the game is beautiful, and the movies are nothing short of epic. i just wish there was more to the game. 

Lasting appeal
I have already mentioned that I have played through this game countless times. (by my forth run-through I was skipping a lot of the movie simply because it does count towards your final time). The bottom line on lasting appeal is that it does exist in bucket loads in this game.

1.) You'll want to play through countless times to pick up the various weapons/unlockables and secrets. 

2.)You'll want to revisit certain gameplay elements and cut scenes solely for their enjoyment factor (Raiden vs Vamp anyone? REX vs RAY?

3. Metal Gear Online. Its more Metal Gear, but against players around the world and while setting it up is a b1tch (Konami, ultimately, make you create two accounts with separate names and logins,) it is fantastically good fun. I feel I should mention that MGO is a game that is quite difficult to get into and truly difficult to master. Those that have played the beta seem to have free reign in servers when it comes to CC, tactical play and just... ability. MY advice is get online quickly or you run the risk of being left behind.

Conclusion.
its hard to see what Kojima and Konami could have done to make this game better. ultimately its a well rounded and epic game and it wont fail the hype that seems to have been created around it. There were perhaps a few areas that needed some more focus - mentioned throughout this article, but in some respects they are knit-picking for the sake of criticism. The issue of in game movies come down to a preference, and regardless of whether you love or hate them, you'll watch all of them on the first playthrough simply because they tie up all the questions you've ever had about MGS. I do feel that online needs some more structure i.e "newbie only" servers, for those new to the online experience but genuinely, taken as a package, MGS4 is a grand example of what a truly next generation game should be.

Credit is due to A.Roy (my new editor-in-chief) for his painstaking attention to detail and for making this the best blog it can be. It, undoubtedly, still includes some technical mistakes but cheers regardless fella but he has at least sorted out some of the biggies.