Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

When Metal Gear Solid 4 was originally discussed by Konami and Kojima Productions, there were rumblings that it was going to be a spin-off, a new Metal Gear story with new characters. That made sense at the time, since the Metal Gear Solid Trilogy was completed with MGS 3 Snake Eater. However, there were still some unanswered questions left from earlier installments in the series, such as the true identity of the Patriots and the true plans of Revolver Ocelot, who occasionally had his mind taken over by the villainous Liquid Snake. Later, it was announced that MGS 4 Guns of the Patriots would be a final adventure for Solid Snake, tying up all the loose ends created over the 20 year history of the Metal Gear franchise. At first I was a little hesitant about this, wondering if Hideo Kojima and his development team could really create an epic and satisfying conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid storyline. My worries were unfounded; the story here is an incredible conclusion to the nigh-ludicrous tale, explaining everything in a way that makes sense and bundled in some of the best production values in the world of videogames.

Metal Gear Solid is at its heart, a tactical action game with stealth elements. One of its prominent features has always been that players can get through the entire game without killing a single enemy character. That hasn’t changed for this newest installment, although should you decide to take the louder and more action-filled route in this new game, your options have been beefed up significantly. The game now looks and moves more like Gears of War or Resident Evil 4 than the old 8-bit Metal Gear games that started this legacy. A new over-the-shoulder shooting camera and more traditional action game controls make this Metal Gear handle like none before it, and the result is a smooth and enjoyable game that doesn’t sacrifice any of the control depth found in the earlier games. Those that take the time to learn advanced tactics like Close Quarter Combat and the different handling characteristics of each weapon will find a rewarding stealth-action experience here, but if you want you can just run through the whole game, guns blazing.

Assisting in that is a new system called Drebin Points. Early on in the game, Snake meets a character named Drebin, a shady figure who calls himself a “gun launderer.” What this amounts to is that any enemy weapon you pick up can be converted either into money that you can use to buy new weapons, or unlocked for your own use. Weapons and ammo are easily buyable through a menu accessed from the pause screen, meaning you’ll likely never run out of ammo and you’ll always have a rocket launcher available to you if you’d like to cause a big explosion. This is a dramatic change from the older games, where you were stuck with the weapons and ammo the level designers gave to you. It opens up the gameplay like never before, and makes the game generally enjoyable and not too hard to complete, whatever your play style.

The real draw here is the story, and the way it’s presented. Graphically, this game is the finest looking game currently available for consoles, with a smooth framerate and highly detailed characters and environments. About half of the game’s 15 hour run-time is made up of real-time cutscenes (save for a couple of cutscenes that cheat and use video of the engine running). These are gorgeous and feature well-animated characters acting with delightfully over-the-top gestures and martial arts moves. The sound is also top notch, and will take full advantage of a surround system if you have one.

An online mode is also included here, called Metal Gear Online, that’s essentially an upgraded version of the online mode in MGS3 Subsistence, but running on the new MGS4 engine. It’s a decent game, but it’s not for everyone, and since it doesn’t make direct use of the Playstation Network, signing up for an account and character is somewhat cumbersome and difficult. Downloadable paid expansion packs are going to be released regularly for the online mode, but the single player is the real draw here.

This game is definitely one for Metal Gear fans. I’ve avoided too much discussion of the story, but it’s a 5 Act Epic, tying together the whole franchise and detailing the fates of all of the characters. It might be a little daunting to start with this game if this is your first go, but the graphics and production values might be reason enough to do a little checking up on the background if you haven’t played the old games. Konami released a free Metal Gear database over the PSN Store that contains all the info you could ever want to read about the series, so be sure to check that out if you’re interested. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a thrilling conclusion to an exciting action series, and yes the rumors were true, the last 90 minutes of the game is a cutscene. If you don’t mind watching several slick movie sequences, or you’re a fan of the series, this is a phenomenal game, and the best cinematic killer app the Playstation has received since Heavenly Sword and Uncharted. Highly recommended for fans of the series and those who love cool cutscenes. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, check out www.konami.jp/mgs4/en/.

By the way, Konami has started to mention that they’re going to do another Metal Gear game. Here’s hoping that this one actually is a spin-off and builds on the great gameplay work they’ve done here, rather than trying to add to a now perfectly capped-off story.


	Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 Review…5 out of 5 By Alex Rowe When Metal Gear Solid 4 was originally discussed by Konami and Kojima Productions, there were rumblings that it was going to be a spin-off, a new Metal Gear story with new characters. That made sense at the time, since the Metal Gear Solid Trilogy was completed with MGS 3 Snake Eater. However, there were still some unanswered questions left from earlier installments in the series, such as the true identity of the Patriots and the true plans of Revolver Ocelot, who occasionally had his mind taken over by the villainous Liquid Snake. Later, it was announced that MGS 4 Guns of the Patriots would be a final adventure for Solid Snake, tying up all the loose ends created over the 20 year history of the Metal Gear franchise. At first I was a little hesitant about this, wondering if Hideo Kojima and his development team could really create an epic and satisfying conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid storyline. My worries were unfounded; the story here is an incredible conclusion to the nigh-ludicrous tale, explaining everything in a way that makes sense and bundled in some of the best production values in the world of videogames. Metal Gear Solid is at its heart, a tactical action game with stealth elements. One of its prominent features has always been that players can get through the entire game without killing a single enemy character. That hasn’t changed for this newest installment, although should you decide to take the louder and more action-filled route in this new game, your options have been beefed up significantly. The game now looks and moves more like Gears of War or Resident Evil 4 than the old 8-bit Metal Gear games that started this legacy. A new over-the-shoulder shooting camera and more traditional action game controls make this Metal Gear handle like none before it, and the result is a smooth and enjoyable game that doesn’t sacrifice any of the control depth found in the earlier games. Those that take the time to learn advanced tactics like Close Quarter Combat and the different handling characteristics of each weapon will find a rewarding stealth-action experience here, but if you want you can just run through the whole game, guns blazing. Assisting in that is a new system called Drebin Points. Early on in the game, Snake meets a character named Drebin, a shady figure who calls himself a “gun launderer.” What this amounts to is that any enemy weapon you pick up can be converted either into money that you can use to buy new weapons, or unlocked for your own use. Weapons and ammo are easily buyable through a menu accessed from the pause screen, meaning you’ll likely never run out of ammo and you’ll always have a rocket launcher available to you if you’d like to cause a big explosion. This is a dramatic change from the older games, where you were stuck with the weapons and ammo the level designers gave to you. It opens up the gameplay like never before, and makes the game generally enjoyable and not too hard to complete, whatever your play style. The real draw here is the story, and the way it’s presented. Graphically, this game is the finest looking game currently available for consoles, with a smooth framerate and highly detailed characters and environments. About half of the game’s 15 hour run-time is made up of real-time cutscenes (save for a couple of cutscenes that cheat and use video of the engine running). These are gorgeous and feature well-animated characters acting with delightfully over-the-top gestures and martial arts moves. The sound is also top notch, and will take full advantage of a surround system if you have one. An online mode is also included here, called Metal Gear Online, that’s essentially an upgraded version of the online mode in MGS3 Subsistence, but running on the new MGS4 engine. It’s a decent game, but it’s not for everyone, and since it doesn’t make direct use of the Playstation Network, signing up for an account and character is somewhat cumbersome and difficult. Downloadable paid expansion packs are going to be released regularly for the online mode, but the single player is the real draw here. This game is definitely one for Metal Gear fans. I’ve avoided too much discussion of the story, but it’s a 5 Act Epic, tying together the whole franchise and detailing the fates of all of the characters. It might be a little daunting to start with this game if this is your first go, but the graphics and production values might be reason enough to do a little checking up on the background if you haven’t played the old games. Konami released a free Metal Gear database over the PSN Store that contains all the info you could ever want to read about the series, so be sure to check that out if you’re interested. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a thrilling conclusion to an exciting action series, and yes the rumors were true, the last 90 minutes of the game is a cutscene. If you don’t mind watching several slick movie sequences, or you’re a fan of the series, this is a phenomenal game, and the best cinematic killer app the Playstation has received since Heavenly Sword and Uncharted. Highly recommended for fans of the series and those who love cool cutscenes. This game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB. For more information, check out www.konami.jp/mgs4/en/. By the way, Konami has started to mention that they’re going to do another Metal Gear game. Here’s hoping that this one actually is a spin-off and builds on the great gameplay work they’ve done here, rather than trying to add to a now perfectly capped-off story.