|
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
Genre: Third-Person Action
Release Date: June 12, 2008
Platform: Playstation 3
Reviewer: Eric
 Over twenty years ago we were introduced to Solid Snake. His adventures were
tough, moving from the NES to the original Playstation. None of the older games
really mattered too much, but things changed right before our eyes. Metal Gear
Solid 4 is hoping to change things again and at the same time put Snake’s
adventures out on ease.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is a cinematic video game that sticks to its guns. Snake has
been through too much in his life and that is about to change in the final
chapter. Hideo Kojima has created a game that is worth while on the Playstation
3.
Six years in the future, war is as common as walking and breathing. The entire
world has been in a constant war for sometime now. Services are now sold to the
highest bidder, the world as we know it has changed for the worst.
Snake has been called out of retirement for this job, one final mission from
Col. Campbell. Right away, Snake is set into the Middle East to undercover what
is going on. He finds out that things are once again being masterminded by
Liquid. Unlike the past, Liquid is prepared for anything that is being fired at
him.
The first thing you will notice about the game is Snake. He is referred to as
Old Snake, a grey haired warrior that still attacks evil like a teenager. To
help out, Snake has a new set of weapons and devices for his mission. The
camouflage outfit is only a start of what gamers can expect from Old Snake.
 When you are done with knowing how old Snake is you will start to rip your hair
out with the installing and loading times. The first install takes eight minutes
long while the rest only take a few minutes. I completely understand that PC
games have install times, but when a console has this many installs you can’t
help but question yourself.
During these install times you are treated to words of wisdom from the
programmers and Old Snake smoking one cigarette after another. Thankfully we
learn that smoking kills and you should take breaks in-between gaming sessions.
Thank you developers.
The whole purpose of the install times was to slow down the loading times. These
loading screens don’t seem to take too long, which is great. What I do have a
problem with is whenever the loading is done. You will see a message saying to
press start, but I do not hear any sound indicating this. Either my hearing is
going or the sound is so small, only super sonic hearing humans can hear it.
 Gameplay wise Metal Gear Solid 4 feels the same. The controls are still the same
and Snake moves around just like he did from the first game on the Playstation.
Camera controlling is a lot better this time, making this game the best one when
it comes to gameplay. Camera angles are one of the most important parts of a
game, if you can’t control what you see then the game will ultimately slack
later on.
Stealth use to be the key in Metal Gear. In the fourth game of the series you
can’t beat it without doing anything real stealthy. There are points in the game
where you can kill a flow of non stop enemies. This lets you build up your ammo,
making those stealth moments go away because you can constantly shoot the evil
doers.
The fourth game in the series seems to have been made for anybody to pick up and
play. Metal Gear Solid 4 offers a wide range of difficulty settings in the
beginning. The easier one you pick from will make your journey fast. Playing the
game on the easiest setting will give you a good idea on how the game works, but
you are left feeling unsatisfied when the credits come up at the end.
Even though the game is much easier than past titles I ran into a lot of parts
where I didn’t know where to go. This game is not like modern games. Don’t
expect to see arrows on the ground or somebody telling you which way to go and
where to go. Parts in the game that should only take a minute or two to figure
out may end up taking ten or twenty minutes. Trust me I had problems early on in
the game and I played through the other games before trying this one.
 There is a shop in the game now, something like you saw in Resident Evil 4. The
mechanics are a little different, but the feel of this feature is great. You are
now rewarded for picking up everything in sight. Once you pick up so much just
pause the game and go to the shop option. It’s that easy and the things you can
buy are beneficial in the long run.
One part of the game that doesn’t sit right with me is the cut scenes. The cut
scenes take up hours upon hours of the game. All of these scenes are beautiful
looking, they look better than anything I’ve seen today.
Now for the bad part about these cut scenes. There are times in the game where
you literally play a few minutes and then you have to watch a ten minute scene.
Early on in the game this is annoying because all you want to do is play the
game. I know the series has always been all about cut scenes; however I felt
like I bought a $60 instead of a $60 game.
 Metal Gear Solid 4 features online play with five maps. Sixteen players can play
at anytime. Some stages were built for certain gameplay types. The stealth
stages are the best, Ambush Alley is my favorite stage out of the bunch.
Beta players have to create new accounts. The process is a lot easier this time
so you can register without any problems. There are not any problems with the
online mode yet; everything seems to play out just like it does in story mode.
Hopefully things stay the way they are.
Final Verdict
Solid Snake’s final mission is the best one in the series, but it is not a
perfect game. The install times start to get annoying after the first few acts.
Playstation 3 games are known for having these install times now, but any more
it’s starting to get out of control. This part of the game really doesn’t ruin
the gameplay too much, all the blame goes on the cut scenes.
Enough is enough with cut scenes. If programmers are going to add these into the
game then they better back it up with just as much gameplay. Metal Gear Solid 4
is a fantastic game, but when you get little or no gameplay at times then you
might find yourself turning off your Playstation 3.
Rating
9.50 out of 10
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Trailer
|
