Well, I didn't read the review but I agree. That game is on my list of best games ever and may have knocked Metroid Fusion off of the number one spot. | |
This is probably my longest review ever...and it is only the first part. Part two will talk about Metal Gear Online in depth and will probably be put up sometime soon. I apologize for the length. I pretty much talked about EVERYTHING in MGS4 other than the multiplayer so that may explain it. As arrogant as it may sound, I can't help but think this is my best review. I dunno if I was able to top my Playstation 3 console review, but i'll leave that up to the readers. REVIEWS COMING SOON Vampire Rain | |
It really is a good review Unfortunatly i couldnt enjoy the game as much as you due to More watching cutscenes then actually playing the game The unneeded tieing every character into the story. AKA Big mama The way the game didnt like you stealthing and prefered you shooting. (Thats how it made me feel) The Poor Humour 5 different Acts all set in seperate areas, whereas other MGS games didnt have this. But if i didnt know about these things I would love to play the game from reading your review. Unfortunatly the reason i bought my ps3 was MGS4 because the series was great up to then, and i was disapointed. I must ask though, was this review done because of a certain other persons "intelligent Metal Gear Solid review" because there seems to be a few of the MGS reviews up this week | |
I agree with those points a lot. The humor is pretty damn poor. Having Big Mama be EVA does seem unessential, but someone had to tell Snake the entire history of the patriots and Big Boss was too busy dieing to do it anyways. For the most part, most of the characters they brought back seemed to fit, except for Big Mama since you only really ever see/hear from her for like an hour of gameplay. As for the locations part, I thought it was nice to go to different locations, especially Shadow Moses. As for the stealthing part, I found plenty of times where Stealth was the answer. Take the whole beginning of Act 5. The GECKOS and FROGS will tear you apart if you try and run through that part guns blazing (trust me, it didn't work). I've been wanting to do this review since before I even had a PS3. I haven't read the "intelligent MGS4 review" yet, but I did see some of the comments it's been getting and it didn't look too good. I think I need to read this review though. I've been writing this review for a few days now but I finally finished MGS4 yesterday so I decided to finish the review and post it when I finished it. | |
Over all I found this to be a rather good review, you seemed to cover all of the bases though I'm not an expert on such things. Oh and correct me if I am wrong but shouldn't this;
Be done like this;
Or
| |
I really enjoyed reading this review. It gave alot of points and wasn't too biased. Oh, I really enjoyed reading this review since it gave valid points and a really good insight to the game and story. Metal Gear Solid is definately a game for the fans and it is like a movie. One this I will say is that I really freaking enjoyed the movie. The game is a closure for the fans of the series and answers many questions. I've played Metal Gear Solid since I was a child and have grown up with it so it's great to finally understand the entire series. If a newbie to the series played the game, It'd be the same thing as watching the end of a movie. Back to the point, I really enjoyed the review and well, you got yourself a fan. :P | |
Great review, I liked how you examined all the parts of the game, and graded them fairly. MGS4 is made for the fans, and it's not really for newcomers. But I found the ending a bit strange to me, but heck, its Kojima. It was pretty sad to me, and almost brought a tear to my eye. I enjoyed the review and look forward to more great reviews. | |
Very well thought out, can't wait to see the others. | |
Another very good review Brightside, although I havn't played MGS4 enough to make an educated opinion, I would say I agree withyour views - at least to a certain extent. Its ok to be complimentary in your review - as long as you don't go over the top - your not a fanboy just because you praise a game. | |
It probably should...i'm not a grammer expert but you are probably right | |
While it didn't get me worked up like MGS3 did, there were still a few tears dropped at the end of MGS4...
Very well put...
Yeah, i'm pretty sure I miss spelled his name. I knew what it was, I just didn't know how to spell it. | |
I hope I didn't come across as too much of an elitist prick, I'm just happy to be helpful | |
I'm always happy to get critisizm... | |
Glad to have helped then. | |
Very good reveiw. With the actual ending during the credits, I kind of missed it due to not being able to skip the credits, so I decided to walk outside while they rolled. It seems almost silly | |
That had to suck | |
Finally a review that isn't full of bias. I hated MGS3 camouflage with a passion. btw you misspelled phenomenal and implemented | |
Im surprised noone is commenting on this, i guess everyone is reading the 'other' review | |
I really liked this review. Your style makes for an easy, enjoyable read. I like how you divide your review and the sharp style means I wasn't bogged down in wordy explanations for things. I always liked Raiden. Just thought I'd share that. | |
Thats actually right, the original ending was vetoed. Anyway that was a brilliant review and i agree on basically every point so i wont go any further into opinion. It was well written and the 'voice' was good, but, though it strikes me as a little odd to want more length, the paragraph i quoted from may have needed a line or two of elaboration as it seems like a really (fairly) harsh critism, one which usually would have lost a game more than 0.5 points. Though as a player i understand, though the ending ruined it the rest of the game was great enough so that it could be forgiven. Oh by the way, though there was no radar it needs a mention than when you lay down, or crouch (to a lesser extent) the ring around you is close to a radar, the only thing really missing is the view areas, though you can normally guess effectively by how large the spikes are (unsure if that was intentional - if the spikes grow when they look your way). Keep up the good work :) | |
A Final Fantasy VII review you say? You do realize that I hate that game with the passion of 1000 suns, right?
You are right. I guess I just wanted to express how frustrated I was with that damn ending. The entire Act 5 had chills running down my spine and the button mashing scene had me sitting like 2 feet from my television. And, i've always liked Raiden too...
I'm glad you liked the review. I see what you are saying about losing more than .5 points. But that isn't really how I give the game a score. Sure, I factor in what was really good and bad plus the things I really liked. But those things don't really IMPACT the score like you would think they do. Basically, I go by how much I enjoyed the game and the score I think it deserves. I like to think that the golden rule of video games should be... "It doesn't matter how great your game looks and sounds. If it isn't fun, I won't play it" Metal Gear Solid 4 was a VERY fun game that I played in chunks of time that went far beyond many games i've played in my gaming career. It was a game that made me want to get to the end and made me want to hear more of the story. It was a game that made me go "Oh shit!" more times than I could ever imagine. I was on the edge of my seat through out most of the game and even though the very end (not before the big boss stuff because I did enjoy Meryl's and Raiden's endings) took me completely out of the game, it didn't take away those feelings I had before the end. I like to think that I review games for everyone (most of the time...maybe...kinda) and I made it very clear in my review that MGS4 is a game for the fans, it isn't for everyone. As AMAZING as the story was to me, it didn't have that emotion that MGS3 had. I admit that I shed tears at the end when Snake salutes the graves. That's why I didn't take away more points or give it more points. Honestly, I don't think any game to come out in the past 10 years deserves a 10...NOT EVEN OCARINA OF TIME (which is one of my favorite games of all time). I'm pretty sure none of what I just said makes any sense... | |
That game is one of my favourite games ever. However if you can maintain this relatively objective style of reviewing, then we won't fall out about it.
Made sense to me. I cried with Snake too, and personally I don't think there is a game that deserves a perfect 10 either. | |
I hated FFVIII with a burning passion. Though that's only in retrospect, loved it when I was still an FF virgin (first FF I played, I might add). I don't have a PS3 and as such, I can't comment much about the game. One thing though, cutscenes are a Godsend for the series. I remember those moments in MGS1 where so much time was wasted during that codec conversation with Naomi. That time could have been used for a far better means of conveying the story (granted, that was really a technical limitation at the time). Great review. If I get to play this one day, I hope it has the same impact as the MGS3 ending. That was the first game that came REAAAAAAL close to reducing me to tears. And you planning to review FFVIII gave me ideas to review my memory back log of PS1 RPGs (DWVII, FF Origins, etc). Hope I remember those gems well enough to make a full review. | |
Alright...i'll see what I can do with FFVII. You probably won't like what I have to say though (no one has so far). Let's see how unbiased I can be with that game (what a challenge it shall be!) | |
Pretty good review, very glowing. Personally I feel the slight silliness of the plot Now RE: Your Upcoming FFVIII Just be objective and logical in your criticisms and if you are being overtly opinionated admit it, don't just say your right and everyone else is wrong. That's how you get lambasted like the "Intelligent" reviews did. It's okay to hate, just know that you may be alone in your hate. | |
I never say that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Its more like the other way around. If I even say something that isn't 100% truthful, the fanboys will swarm like angry bees (its happened before). It's very difficult to talk about a game you haven't played for almost a decade. | |
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Warning: The following review contains major plot spoilers for the game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. If you have not played the game and would like the plot to remain a mystery, please read with disgression. Areas that contain spoilers will be marked when appropriate.
One of Hideo Kojima's greatest creations is finally coming to an end. Metal Gear Solid 4 marks the end for Solid Snake. The years of fighting are finally going to come to an end in the final installment of the critically acclaimed game series. Is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots a proper sending for Snake or does this great hero deserve better?
Because of the nature of MGS4, this review will be divided up into two parts. The first part will talk about Metal Gear Solid 4 while the second part talks about the other game included called Metal Gear Online. Both reviews will be given IN DEPTH so be prepared for them to be very long. You have been warned.
"It's time, Snake. It's time for your final mission.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Metal Gear Solid is the creation of gaming legend Hideo Kojima. Back on the NES, Kojima created the first game in the long running series called "Metal Gear". The game had players sneak around various jungle and factory screens as Snake. It wasn't until Metal Gear 2 that Snake was given a real name, Solid Snake. Metal Gear 2 was also the introduction of two of the series main characters, Big Boss and Frank Yeager (Grey fox). Metal Gear 2 was never released in America as the game only released on the MSX, a japanese computer. MG2 was the game that introduced many of Solid's main features like the radar and codec screen.
It wasn't until Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne that people really started to take notice of Kojima's brilliance. Metal Gear Solid starred Solid Snake, who was ordered to infiltrate an alaskan military base on the island Shadow Moses. The game featured a VERY intricate storyline with twist after twist after twist. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was released on the PS2 with so so results. Fans didn't take too kindly to the overly complicated storyline or the introduction of a new character, Raiden (Jack). Fan faith wasn't all lost because Kojima put out the fan favorite, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. While taking a few wrong turns with the camo and food systems, MGS3 exceled in all the areas that MGS2 failed in, mainly the story department.
"Metal Gear Solid took Solid Snake to the highest levels of Gaming Greatness, making Snake a gaming icon"
And so we've come to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the first game in the series to hit the Playstation 3 as well as the game that will end the story of Solid Snake.
There is no denying that Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the best looking games to ever hit a console. Kojima Productions really put the time and effort into making MGS4 look incredible. The character design might be the best i've ever seen in a game. Allies, enemies and bosses all look incredible with every little detail in place, whether it's Otacon's stubble, the vains on Vamp's body or the wrinkles on Snake's face.
Not only do the characters look phenominal, but the environments are just as astonishing.
The environments in MGS4 are all very distinct and diverse, which is what every gamer wants to hear. All the places you will go all give off a distinct vibe that really sets the tone for the area, whether it be the arid sand and buildings of the middle east or the frozen snow land that is now Shadow Moses. What really makes the environments look great is that Kojima Productions didn't miss a single detail. There is not a texture out of place in MGS4, which makes everything just look even more impressive.
Metal Gear Solid 4 just looks incredible. I know that i'm starting to sound a bit fanboyish, but I just can't express enough how great the game looks. The only way to really experience MGS4 fully is on an HDTV in 1080p or 1080i, which is what really seals the whole graphical package in my opinion.
"It's really difficult to express the graphical power of Metal Gear Solid 4 without having the game infront of you. Take my word for it, the game looks incredible"
The game looks incredible, but sounds just as great. Metal Gear Solid has never been lacking in the sound department, but MGS4 just takes it to a whole new level. The voice acting may be some of the best in any game with returning favorites like David Hayter as Old Snake, Christopher Randolph as Hal "Otacon" Emmerich and Quinton Flynn as Raiden. Everyone from the previous games have been voiced by their original actors which only adds to the experience. The voice acting has never been a negative in a Metal Gear Solid game. If anything drags the voice acting down, it's the writing. Every Metal Gear game to date has had some pretty pathetic writing when it comes to the dialog with character spewing lines like...
"I feel asleep"
"Well, if you come back in one piece, maybe I'll let you do a strip search on me"
"What are you playin' around with that ketchup for?"
"You are a fool to come back here, stupid man"
"The La Le Lu Le Lo?"
"Of course. I can't begin to count the number of agents whose lives were saved by a cardboard box... "
It's tough to see some great characters like Snake and Ocelot voice some horrible dialog. To be fair, all the writing isn't bad. There are some truly intellectual moments that are delivered in the Metal Gear games, but finding them is up to you.
If there is one area that Metal Gear Solid 4 surpasses many other games, it's in the soundtrack. Metal Gear Solid 4 may have on of the greatest soundtracks known to video games. It is right up there with Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy, maybe even surpassing those games (it depends on your particular taste). It has been a while since the beauty of a song in a game has brought tears to my eyes and Metal Gear Solid 4 was the game to bring them on. I won't say the name of the song, but you'll know which one it was when you hear it. The hardest part of talking about the soundtrack is that I can't really let the readers hear it.
"Don't expect the gameplay to reflect the fight between Raiden and Vamp. Snake is all about sneaking"
Metal Gear Solid 4 has a very strong presentation in both sound and graphics. Does the gameplay stack up as well? Thankfully, it does.
Before you even start playing the game, you are going to have to install the game. This is pretty standard for PS3 games. With MGS4, you will have to install a different part of the game at the beginning of each of the games 5 Acts. The first install is only about 10 minutes, even though it says 8 minutes. After that, the times get less and less until you get to the 1 minute mark for Act 5. It really isn't that bad if you have patience. If you don't have patience, then you should be playing the PS3 in the first place.
The gameplay may be the biggest change in Metal Gear Solid 4. The core gameplay has remained the same since the original Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne. It was really surprising seeing how much MGS4 is different from the other 3 games. Players have direct control over both Snake and the Camera. If you've played Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistance, you will know this system very well. Unlike in Subsistance, you can't switch between a static camera and the third person camera, which is nice. The entire game reflects the third person camera with there being very few places that the players vision could be blocked, which is always great to see in a game.
Like Metal Gear Solid 3, MGS4 doesn't give you the radar. The only way you can tell where enemies are is either through direct sight and knowledge or through the new item called the "Solid Eye", which allows players to utilize night vision, binoculars and a radar. Also like Metal Gear Solid 3, MGS4 uses a new aspect in the stealth formula, sound. Enemies can now hear you reloading, running/ walking on various terrain and even hear you turning the Solid Eye on and off, not that sound will really matter.
A big draw back in the gameplay department is the fact that the enemy AI is still pretty dim. The enemies are smarter than they have been, especially the FROG soliders, but they are still far from being a forced to be reckoned with.
The biggest addition and plus about the gameplay comes in the form of the new over the shoulder camera angle for combat. Players can now hold down the L1 button and go into a Resident Evil 4 style over the shoulder camera angle. This makes shooting very simplier than it has been. Not only that, but players can still go into 1st person but only to aim down the sight of the guns. With every addition it has, MGS4 has one BIG drawback and it comes in the form of the inability to shoot from the hip. You can't really run and gun in MGS4 because you can only shoot when in the OTS or 1st mode, which makes it a pain in the ass when you have to run away from a fight and don't wanna get shot. The new additions to the gameplay do outweigh the drawbacks so everything can be forgiven.
A new feature implimented in MGS4 is the ability for players to purchase weapons, ammunition, etc from a merchant named "Drebin". Because all the weapons are under ID lock, Snake can't just pick up any weapon and use it himself. If Snake picks up a weapon, he will either keep it if he doesn't already have one or he will sell it to Drebin for Drebin Points. Those points can then be taken to Drebin in exchange for new weapons, unlocking ID locked weapons, etc. If Snake picks up locked weapons, he automatically sells them to Drebin so don't need to constantly visit Drebin's Store, which is easily accessed by using the Start Menu. The best part of Drebin's Store is that players get to keep all the ammunition from the guns they sell, which means there will be lots of running and gunning in MGS4. Not only that, but players can upgrade certain weaponry to make their effects much greater.
"When it comes to weaponry, there is only one person you need to call"
I know what you are thinking. I have basically talked about everything that MGS4 has to offer, but I haven't touched on the Story at all. Well I did that for a specific reason. I was saving the Story for last because it may be the most important part of the Metal Gear Solid 4 experience.
Spoiler Alert Begins
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots may have the best story out of the entire series. I'm also not just saying that because everything is wrapped up. MGS4 has one of the easier storylines to understand in the entire series. Solid Snake is finally feeling the effects of the virus that killed his brother, FoxDie. He experiences advanced aging that makes his older than he really should be. Colonel Campbell appraoches Snake with one last mission when Snakes' Brother, Liquid Ocelot, becomes a threat to the world around him. Old Snake is sent into the Middle East to investigate the appearance of Liquid. From there, Snake will travel across the world, experiencing very different scenarios along the way. The story is intially divided into 5 acts, which limits the amount of information the player will be bombarded with. In my personal opinion, Act 4 and 5 are the best parts of the game, offering the best moments of the game.
There are PLENTY of cutscenes in MGS4 and they are probably of the highest quality i've ever seen in a game. Kojima is truly a storyteller and MGS4 is his playground.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is the game that will bring Snake's story to a close and for the most part, it does a great job telling a convincing story. Almost every character from previous Metal Gear Solid games is brought back into MGS4 for one last moment. Kojima did a great job finding a place for these characters in the story of MGS4. For all those people who never liked Raiden, I dare you to not like him in MGS4.
If I had to complain about the story, it would be that the writers had to put in all those weird comic relief moments like all of the PS2/PS3 jokes people make and the hairless monkey who is addicted to soda, wine and cigarettes. With as serious as the game tries to be, it feels weird to have forced comedy at all.
The main draw to the story of MGS4 is that gamers finally get to see how everything ties together and for the most part Kojima didn't leave anything out this time. Everything falls into place by the end of the game and the player should be left with a satisfied feeling. In my personal opinion, I felt that MGS4 was a very satisfying game with a very satisfying ending.
That is where I have to stop myself because that may be my biggest gripe with the game itself and all Metal Gear games in general. Metal Gear Solid doesn't know how to stop itself and shut up at times. The ending of MGS4 may be the place where it does it the most. After you partake in a very satisfying last act and watch Meryl and Johnny get married, Raiden and Rose reunite, and Snake says goodbye to the world, the credits roll...or atleast they were supposed to. As the game begins to roll the credits, they start with the voice actors of all the characters and they get down to Big Boss (who was previously not in the game at all but apparentl had a voice actor). After they get to Big Boss, the game cuts away to another scene that shows that Snake couldn't go through with shooting himself. Then, out of no where, Big Boss appears to add even more exposition to the game. Basically, Big Boss tells Snake that the events of all the Metal Gear games is something of an infinite cycle. Apparently, there will always be another person like Zero who will begin another organization like "The Patriots" and everything will replay over and over with different people.
It was at that point where I lost all faith in the game. Up to the credits, I loved every moment of the storyline until Kojima decided to ruin the flow of the story by adding Big Boss and Zero into the mix. It was almost like the writers weren't happy with the story they initially wrote. There are so many twists in this game it would make M. Night Shyamalan cry tears of joy. From the moment Big Mama told me Big Boss was a weird disfigured corpse, I wasn't expecting to see him at all. Apparently, that corpse was REALLY the perfect clone of Big Boss, Solidus Snake from MGS2. The REAL Big Boss was then rebuilt from pieces from Solidus and Liquid.
Why does Kojima feel the need to twist every aspect of his own story? Did he feel that it wasn't complex enough without throwing Big Boss and Zero into the mix?
Spoiler Alert Ends
Being a fan of complex video game stories, I couldn't help but love Metal Gear Solid. I've always been a fan of the series and I probably loved Metal Gear Solid 4 the most. MGS4 is definitely one of the best games of 2008.
Even though i've almost done nothing but praise Metal Gear Solid 4 this entire review, I can't help but dub MGS4 as a "game for fans". Newbies probably wouldn't get too much out of the game because of how story driven MGS4 actually is. If a new player is looking to get MGS4, I have to say that they pick up the previous games first and see if they like the series. If they find it interesting, then by all means pick this game up. It is one of the best story driven games out there and really is rewarding if you can manage to put al lthe pieces together yourself. MGS4 marks the end of the Metal Gear Solid series and thus Kojima is going to finally work on other games. I can only hope that one of the two games he is working on happens to be Zone of the Enders 3. Please Kojima?
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots gets a 9.5 out of 10. This truly is Kojima's masterpiece.
"Goodbye, old friend. We will never forget you"