I've wanted to write a review for MGS4 for a while, as I've seen so many high scores around popular gaming journalism sites and, if I'm completely honest, I really didn't see what they did. Maybe it's because they'd played it whilst it was still in production. Who knows? Now before any readers who have just discovered this blog (and if you have, you have more time on your hands than I do) and decide to belittle me for what I'm about to write, I have played every single MGS title, 1 through 4, back to back. I've played through each title at least 3 times just to get to grips with the story arc and I have found 3 subliminal messages that Kojima has tried to push since the first installment of the franchise.
1. Nuclear weapons are bad.
2. Walking bipedal tanks created to launch nuclear weapons are also bad.
3. War... ugh.. good god y'all... what is it good for?
OK, maybe the last point is a little off, as if there were no war, Kojima wouldn't be sitting on the throne of AK's he's created through the means of his vast currency collection off the back of the franchise. And also I've deviated from my original point. MGS1 was a masterpiece and has shaped the way some modern games are being developed. 2 was a storyline shambles with more plot twists than the ending of a saw film. 3 was back on track with amazing boss fights and a camo system that worked. MGS4 was just.... meh. It's the only word I can use to describe the hype and 10/10's the game has cheekily managed to score.
Let me start off by saying that MGS4 is one of the primary reasons I decided to buy a PS3 instead of a 360 ( that and I'm a Sony fanboy) and on my first play through, none of the cut scenes were skipped. My wallet even went out of its way to shed out an extra £30 to buy the collectors edition, featuring a making of blu ray and a plastic old snake figurine. That's how awesome I thought this experience was going to be. And to my excitement and joy it was delivered to my door a day earlier than release. I was the first person I knew of that was going to play MGS4. Insert the disk into my PS3 drive and I'm greeted by an old man in a black PVC bondage suit smoking a cigarette, and I have to watch this for half an hour while 4 gig of game data is saved onto my PS3's hard drive, while all sorts of health warnings are thrown at me every 10 seconds.
Still not one to be disappointed, I waited for Old Snake to finish taking the last drags of his cig so I could finally get my hands on the game, and seeing as I was going to do this properly, it took me around another 15 minutes until I actually got to control wheelchair bound action hero snake, and in all fairness to him, he can still shoot and break peoples faces thanks to his muscle PVC getup. I moved snake a few meters when the screen fades to black and another 2 minute long cut scene cuts in. My excitement is beginning to drain a little now. Cut scene ends and I begin to move him a few meters again. Oh wait... another small cut scene! The infamous REX ripoffs jump into action, my excitement ramps up a little again. I get to handle snake again for another 2 minutes, moving in and out of ruined buildings to avoid the watchful CCTV camera of the Gekko units. I get spotted and run for a door way and another fucking 20 minute cutscene introducing snakes octocamo. The worst element of this is the fact that this could have easily been made into an interactive setpiece in which you try to escape from the clutches of a maurading Gekko trying to turn you into old exploding body parts.
I mean I can understand that MGS has always been a story driven game but this is only the prelude to the main game, and so far, out of 30 to 40 minutes I've been able to hold a controller, I've only been able to make use of it for 3 out of 30. However, things are about to get a lot worse. I am now introduced to the events prior to snakes mission, and the mission briefing, a recurring theme before each act in which the plot so far is conversed between snake and Otacon for around another half an hour. But at least you can use Mk II while they're talking to find extra batteries and other hidden extras right? For 10 minutes out of the full briefing maybe. Take your favourite MGS and then times the cut scenes and codec chatter by at least 2 and then you have the full scope of how little play time you will have, considering the game can be completed in 2 hours minus the story.
My main gripes with the game, however, is the use of the tagline "Tactical Espionage Action" when you will be doing almost no sneaking whatso ever. Unlike MGS1 where sneaking was almost paramount until you completed the game and got either the stealth camo or bandana, within around 20 minutes of playing MGS4 you are given a tranquilizer gun that practically has an infinate ammo scattered around each act so instead of shimmying around ledges and using the octocamo to great effect, you'll be sitting in an open spot picking off guards with a tranq gun dart to the face and running to the next cut scene point. The textures look good until you get first person mode and get a good close inspection to find really blotchy, almost bitmap like patterns, and this ugliness translates to the octocamo suit when taking on the properties of the texture.
The amount of playing time is extremely disproportionate to the rediculously long cut scenes. And my biggest gripe of them all, is the fact that the only good bits of MGS4 were already shown off at various conferences during its development, and none of these elements were changed. Anyone remember the epic Raiden vs Vamp stand off trailer shown at E3 a few years back? That was in MGS4 in its entirety and nothing about it was edited or changed, so it spoilt the whole battle. The boss battles are unimaginative, the team obviously trying to replicate the success of the Cobra unit, and failing dramatically. Who gives a shit if they're all based on real life models? They aren't epic boss fights, end of, although shooting a crazy bitch in the face isn't all that bad actually.
Oh, and my major gripe is the whole of act 3. In which you will spend half of your time following a resistance agent, clearing his path of PMC soldiers so he can lead you to the resistance HQ. As stupid as some game mechanics are, nothing beats shooting a PMC while the agent looks in his direction, and then looks puzzled when the soldier drops to the floor in a "What was that noise?" MGS1 style. The second half of the act is you on the back of a bike shooting unmanned flying units topped off by a wank boss battle.
Despite this, there are a few redeeming qualities about the game. This section contains a few spoilers so if you havn't had the privelage of playing and don't want to know some of the plot, do not look here!!!
During the cut scenes you are given prompts to press the R1 button when a character mensions something memorable. And if you dare press R1 you are treated to some flashback images reminiscent of the old MGS games to tie plot points together. The character models are incredibly life like, stylish and will be difficult to match (until uncharted 2 comes out anyway). So good infact that when watching a cut scene my mum burst into the room and asked what I was watching, presuming it was a TV show. When graphics can fool your mum, you know they're good! The shooting element works well. Infact if anything it works a little too well as it completely cancels out the need to use stealthy tactics.
The only thing that redeems MGS4 in my eyes is the whole of act 4 in which you return to Shadow Moses all over again. With 1 being my favourite of all MGS games, I almost exploded in my pants when entering a full HD shadow moses complex. My pants explosion complete, however, when I discover that I can pilot metal gear REX, forcefeeding suicide Gekko units bullets and rockets whilst running through a crumbling tunnel of death, and to top this amazing act off, i get to kick the face off of liquid ocelot's metal gear RAY Bruce Lee style AND you get to watch Grey Fox impersonator #2 Raiden almost get crushed to death. Amazing. And the final battle between ocelot and snake is also actually awe inspiring. Almost a perfect good vs evil final fight. And I was also genuinely shocked at the return of Big Boss at the end, and him personally terminating Zero's life.
Overall, the game is slow until act 4 and then it suddenly hits the form that MGS is known for. As much as I hate the lengthy cut scenes, the lack of stealth mechanics, act 3 and all my other nitpicks, Acts 4 and 5 and the ending pretty much make MGS4 a worthwhile experience and as much as I rant about the cut scenes, they're actually executed quite well and it does give you an insight into the thoughts and emotions of the characters, and it is an emotionally exhausting ride from start to finish. Worth it if you're a true Metal Gear Solid fan. If you aren't there isn't much point in looking at the back of the box.
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