Metal Gear Solid 4 Review 44
mikesd81 brings us a detailed IGN review of the recently released Metal Gear Solid 4, which notes:
"Fans familiar with previous Metal Gear Solid games are aware that each title has introduced new gameplay mechanics for Snake to take advantage of. The incredible part about Metal Gear Solid 4 is there are tons of additional features added to this title, and even when you run into a system or mechanic that you wouldn't think would fit in the Metal Gear Universe, Kojima and his team have figured out a way to make it blend seamlessly with the gameplay, which easily allays any fears or concerns you have.""
My thoughts after a few hours with the game (Score:5, Interesting)
I suspect that at least half of my play-time so far (possibly a little more) has been watching cutscenes. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of non-game-engine cutscenes. By and large, I find most game-endine cutscenes needlessly ugly and often badly thought through. However, I do think it's possible to have to much of a good thing. And that's definitely the case here. Between the end of Act 1 and the Start of Act 2, there are more than 30 minutes of cutscenes. Sure, the plot is interesting (more on this in a couple of paragraphs). But it'd be nice to let at least a bit of gameplay intrude.
The gameplay itself is fun. It's not actually what I would expect from a Metal Gear Solid title. In a nutshell, it feels much closer to Call of Duty 4 than to Splinter Cell. Combat is a much, much bigger part of this than in any previous installment and, happily, the combat mechanics have been tweaked to the point where they are actually damned good. You can still sneak through the game if you want, but you can also just grab the biggest gun you can and blast away (indeed, the game seems to reward this approach more). The weapons-shop system is a little immersion-breaking, but from a gameplay point of view it's highly useful and encourages experimentation with different weapon setups.
To be honest, if there's one other game that this reminds me of, it's Resident Evil 4 (which is a nice game to be compared to). The pace of the combat and the control system feel very similar. The weapons are deeply satisfying to use, in the same way as RE4's. The AI here is noticably more significant than RE4's, but I count that as a good thing.
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And now... the plot. More than any other game around (barring perhaps the Final Fantasy games and Persona 3), MGS depends upon its plot. This isn't your average paint-by-numbers Tom Clancy plot, to put it mildly. To get the most out of this, you will need to have played all of the previous installments of the series. Even if you have, you might find yourself struggling to remember some of the more obscure subplots referenced here. More or less every significant character from the previous installments makes an appearance here (including several thought dead), along with a bunch of new characters.
The effectiveness of the plot varies wildly. There's a good war-story being told here. While I personally disagree profoundly with its strong anti-war message, there's no denying that it's both shocking and effective in its execution when the game focusses on this. This isn't your average George-Clooney brain-dead Bush-bashing fest. It's something both more visceral and more sophisticated. Unfortunately, the plot also suffers from being deeply silly at times, when it strays from its core war-story plot. The reintroduction of Vamp, and the introduction of these strange new robot-women-things makes for a few good shock-horror moments, but it's hard to take them seriously, in the context of what's otherwise quite a dark, bleak piece of social commentary. Ultimately, what you end up with is a story that swings wildly between the sublime and the ridiculous. At least, unlike MGS2, it hasn't gone all End of Evangelion on me... yet.
I'd find it really, really hard to put a score on this game, based on what I've seen so far. IGN love it. Penny Arcade hate it. I can actually sympathise with both points of view. Ultimately, I think it's best to treat it as a game which is both fantastic and dreadful at the same time. If you can find a state of mind where you can appreciate the truly great elements, while regarding the rest as "so bad its funny", you'll enjoy this game hugely. If you can't, you'll hate it.
Excellent review (Score:1)
Of course, I know nothing about who signs your checks...
thank you!
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Some camp is to be expected but gathering from trailers and what you said, the game appears makes a mockery of itself. They should have a "camp" advisor for the American version of the game, just as they have different voice actors for each version etc. The camp for the previous MGS games was done sparingly an
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Moreover, what doesn't come out in the reviews is that this game has a serious poo fixation. Within the first couple of hours of gameplay, there are two distinct major poo incidents. The first one shows you rather more than you might want to see of an enemy trooper... the second one, in particular, is just plain... freaky.
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Screaming Mantis' marionettes are just lame. We get it, she's like The Sorrow, who's like Psycho Mantis. don't insult our intelligence by dangling that in front of our faces!
I didn't really have a problem with any of the campiness. Metal Gear Solid has always been over the top and silly. What separates it from other games is that it realizes that it's silly and revels in it.
The dolls, to me, seemed to be more a self-referential nod, similar to how snake says "infinite ammo" when pointing to his bandanna in MGS2. Between her name, her looks and Snake's reaction, I think they made it pretty apparent the first time you see her that you were supposed to make the connection to M
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Unlike many who post on slashdot, I'm no luddite when it comes to technological advances in gaming. I honestly believe that high-definition gaming can genuinely enhance the player's experience, delivering a richer emotional context and a more realistic setting. There are countless examples already of how high-definition graphics have made games better. Unfortunately, showing me in great detail how a guy
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Strategy games and tactics RPGs, where it's convenient to have a lot of textual information on the screen at any one time.
Any game which relies on creating a "cinematic" experience. Let's face it, standard definition on any screen over 30" gets distracting if you're used to PC gaming, because the resolution is so bad.
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From the US economy relying on a flawed monetary system, to the war economy being the reason for the invasion on Iraq, the Metal Gear series arguably contains the best story in video game history. You would appreciate the story, and ultimately the game, a lot more if you begin to compare the Metal Gear story w
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However, interesting or not, having over 50% of the game made up of cutscenes (and I'm not exaggerating here, this thing makes the Final Fantasy games look short on cutscenes) just grates after a while. Especially as the cutscenes a
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They're not trying to create a video game in the classic 1980s sense of the word here. This is a deliberate attempt to fuse a movie and a video game. And it works, to some degree. The interactive element allows a whole emotional level that isn't available in a movie... as Snake breaks down over the course of the game, the player actually feels his pain. If games were going to be just about shooting aliens or jumping on turtles, I'd have grown out o
Obligatory Penny Arcade reference (Score:2, Informative)
If you are like... to lazy to click the link on the slashdot front page.
I see what you did there Mr. AC... (Score:2, Funny)
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My friend's review over the phone (Score:5, Funny)
A Game for the 'Fans' (Score:5, Informative)
Where MGS3 succeeded in making the plot work for new players, it failed at doing so for the controls. Even some veteran players had problems with the controller layout, most of which were due to multiple actions using a single button, but at different pressure levels. The top down camera as well was difficult to use for most players with the loss of the radar.
MGS4, on the other, made strides in the playability of the game (although they don't bother to explain all of the different CQC [gametrailers.com] moves in-game, I think most new players can get by without them), but I feel that a new player would be completely lost as far as the story is concerned. It was obviously a difficult job considering how many loose ends the game needed to tie up. It's apparent that they at the very least tried to help newer players out a little by reducing the amount of codec calls you receive, the length of each one and making some of the calls happen in real-time while you're still in full control of the character. However, when it comes to the cutscenes they clearly felt it was better to give the fans of the series what they were used too rather than trying to make them appeal to a broader set.
Having finished the game last night I thought it was great. They tie up just about every loose end in the entire series and the large majority of them in a satisfying way. The final scene (after the initial credits) I thought was a great concept, but it went on much longer than it needed to, I felt. There wasn't as much humor in this game as the others and what was there wasn't as good as past games, but given the somber tone of Snake's dilemma I can understand why. There are a few parts where the weight of the situation can bear down on you; one scene in the last level is sure to go down as one of the most emotional moments in gameplay history.
As far as the gameplay is concerned I mostly knew what to expect since I played in the Metal Gear Online beta. I was surprised that there was one level where you were forced to be stealthy. In the levels before it you were given the option of how you wanted to play (though generally rewarded more for being stealthy), but in this one going guns akimbo didn't work. I could see how that could turn some people off.
I didn't feel the bosses were up to par with MGS3, but I don't see any game living up to the enemies in that one, especially 'The End.' With a few exceptions all of the bosses in MGS4 were new characters and you didn't find out their stories until AFTER you defeated them. To make things worse their background is revealed through (relatively) lengthy and boring codec conversations. This is one place where I felt MGS4 dropped the ball, but it seems to be a side effect of not wanting to introduce any new major characters.
Graphically and cinematically this game is ridiculously great. The character models are easily the best I've ever seen in a game(note: I'm mainly a console gamer). Most of the background textures are good, though a few are pretty low-res, but it seems to be a trade off for having such detailed character models. The cutscenes are enthralling and rival the work of some of the best directors in film (though some of the dialog is really, truly awful). What's great is that, for the most part, they blend seamlessly back into the gameplay.
Overall, I'd say the game is fantastic if you're familiar with the story, and an interesting, though flawed, ride for those who aren't but are patient enough to sit through the long cinematics.
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I had never seen about half of the main characters in MGS4. (To avoid spoilers, I won't name specifics.) I just finished the game yesterday, and honestly I was completely blown away. The game has many references back to previous MGS games, and I thou
Important feature (Score:1)
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Nanomachines (Score:1, Interesting)