Developer: Kojima Productions
Publisher: Konami
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Players: 1 (1-16 Online)
Hours Played: 30
Progress: Game completed on highest difficulty
Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS 4) is the highly anticipated final chapter in the critically acclaimed saga that originated on the original NES and got re-popularized on the PS1. Fingered early on as a PS3 title, MSG 4 was originally mentioned as a possible launch title, however to fandom?s mass disappointment, got delayed several times during its long development time. Now that it?s finally here, does it live up to expectations, and does it adequately wrap up the engrossing, but convoluted storyline?
Any writer will tell you that a good story must have a beginning, middle and an end, this however is a rule that commonly eludes the video game industry as sequel after sequel is released with new and often disjointed storylines holding games together.
It?s refreshing to see a company that doesn?t give in to the tempting premise of milking a popular franchise with a steady stream of sequels, but instead decides to create a compelling story and as part of that, actually makes it come to a conclusion.
Many pages can be written on the intricacies of MSG 4?s story and how it ties up loose ends, brings back popular characters from past games and reveals more information on the game?s protagonists. We won?t go into details too much, but suffice to say that if you?re a fan of the series and actually managed to dissect, and enjoy the series? story, you wont be disappointed by new developments and conclusion of it all.
Set after the events from MSG 2, the world has turned war into a large scale economy titled, appropriately, the ?war economy?. Countries and factions commonly employ mercenary groups called PMCs (Private Military Companies), which are used to squash rebellions, combat terrorist cells or otherwise act as the militant muscle of a country. Snake has aged beyond the years that set MSG 2 and 4 apart and is suffering from an illness that has left him looking like John McCain?s grandpa, giving him the nickname ?Old Snake?. The game starts out in a desert setting where Snake is put smack in the middle of a conflict between rebels and a PMC as an impartial, covert operative trying to investigate the whereabouts of arch-nemesis Ocelot, also knows as Liquid Snake. From here the player is taken to a variety of different settings, some of which will be very familiar to fans of past games in the series, as Liquid?s plan for military domination are slowly uncovered and intersect with Snake-and-his-team?s efforts to stop him, and the involvement of other members of the Patriots, with agendas of their own.
A major innovation in the series is found in the game play. The series has always had a focus on stealth, as opposed to run-and-gun gaming. This alienated, to a certain extent, more action-oriented players as the series nudged (or sometimes shoved) the gamer into a slow and methodical approach to getting through levels. This time around a tweaked control scheme and over-the-shoulder camera view allow the player to shoot with more accuracy and give the game a 3rd person shooter feel. The brilliance comes from MSG 4 allowing the player to either play with a focus on gunplay or on stealth.
Let?s talk about the shooting first, MSG 4 provides the gamer with a truly fantastic collection of weapons. Everything from pistols, to sub machine guns, to rifles, to light machine guns to explosive weapons can be used and come with a detailed description of its real-life background and qualities. Better yet, most of these are customizable with grips, grenade launchers, scopes and more. Many of these weapons have to be scavenged from downed enemies or found at varies locations within the levels. There is a store that can be accessed through your small, robotic, sentry side-kick; the Mark II. The store, run by an arms dealer named Drebin, allows you to unlock newly acquired weapons (all PMC weapons have ID locks, only allowing the registered owners to use them), buy ammo and new firearms. Duplicate guns are automatically sold at the store for ?Drebin points? allowing the player to get new goodies. The comprehensive collection of weapons is a real treat as they all have different qualities and strategies, and generally look very cool. When you put all this together, you?ll find that the game is very forgiving, nay encouraging about using gunplay in the game. A solid cover system, flexible camera and plethora of weapons make firefights fun and engaging. What Resident Evil 4 did for advancing the series to an action-oriented winner, is what MSG 4 does to successfully turn the franchise to the action genre.
Long-time fans might be turned off by this concept as it seemingly shuns its stealth-action roots, this however is where the game?s brilliance further shines as it doesn?t ignore the stealth game play but allows the player to choose between both. In reality it rewards being stealthy through avoiding kills and not triggering alerts, by granting points (used at Drebin?s store) and awards at the end of each level. Going trigger happy and causing mass destruction yields no such rewards. The truth is that the ?easy? way to play is to use that massive list of weapons to your heart?s content and experience the game more as a 3rd person shooter. The game becomes a lot more challenging when you make it your focus to avoid kills and to get through levels by avoiding detection. Although a large part of your arsenal serves no other purpose than to make your enemies bleed, there are also many weapons and items, that will aid you in neutralizing or circumventing foes without detection. This style of play requires strategic use of weapons like the dart gun, sleep mines and yes: Playboy magazines! Another highly publicized game play innovation is the new octocam suit, which Snake wears during the game. It automatically copies the color and texture of Snake?s surroundings, whether it?s the floor he?s laying on, or the wall he?s leaning against. The suit helps improve Snake?s camouflage rate, which is crucial in avoiding detection. Another tool which will help the player master the art of stealthy evasion is the ?Solid Eye?; an eye peripheral that serves as binoculars, heat vision and night vision. You?ll never be left wondering where your adversaries are located on the map.
The game not only impresses with its game play innovations, but also its graphics. Let?s be clear: visually MSG 4 is the best looking game on the PS 3 and rivals any current console game. Animations are incredibly life-like, which is especially apparent in the in-game cut scenes. Facial animations are second-to-none, the modeling is so realistic, especially on some of the female characters, that it sometimes gets hard to distinguish between a computer game character and an actual person. One of the best features of game?s graphics engine is the lighting. Most environments are draped in this subtle, ambient lighting that gives the textures an extremely realistic look. Whether it?s the sun reflecting off Snake?s face or the shadows cast by the many one-story buildings in the desert level, the lighting feels organic and enriches the environments. Having said that, the indoor environments, which lack the ?organic? (or simulated sun-) lighting, reveal ?flatter? textures that could?ve done with some bump mapping. Its hard to find any other gripes with the graphics though, this is truly a visual masterpiece.
The audio follows in close pace, the music is truly cinematic, especially with action packed cut scenes. However even during the more tranquil moments, the music has this epic and sweeping feel that?ll suck you right into the game. Sound effects are very realistic, every gun sounds different during firing and with surround sound enabled the immersion is complete. Many of the series? voice actors are back for MSG 4 and do as good a job as ever, that doesn?t mean the voice acting is world class; some of the dialogue can be rather hokey, but the majority of the main characters are well represented.
This comment on the quality of the dialogue touches upon the game?s main, but forgivable, flaw: the writing of the cut scenes. Most cut scenes or mission briefings (cut scenes between levels) are substantially longer than in other games, with some pushing the 20 ? 30 minute mark. Any media wanting to do an early review of MSG 4 was actually told by Konami to withhold this information from its reviews or articles, or lose the opportunity to do an early review. This is a bit questionable, especially considering the fact that it was a conscious design choice by the development team, and not an unwanted flaw that sneaked into the game unnoticed. I have absolutely no problems with lengthy stories, Bioware is well known for writing long and involving stories for their games, as long as the story is engrossing; the longer the better. The problem with MGS 4?s writing is that it takes too long to makes its point; the dialogue is never ending and uses far too many words. This can partly be attributed to the game?s Japanese development roots, the Japanese pace their stories differently and use more plodding dialogue to develop the plot. Having said that, MGS 4 will have moments where you?ll feel like shaking your fist at the screen and yelling ?get to the point already!?. That doesn?t mean there?s not a lot going on, as previously stated many story arcs from previous titles in the series are tied up here, and new revelations are introduced, its just that it all could have done with a better sense of purpose and finesse.
The multiplayer in MGS 4 is a further innovation of the series as it combines stealth-action game play and multiplayer death match into an engrossing online experience. There?s a bigger focus on team work and using strategy than in most 1st person shooters. A lot of players, especially new ones, will approach the MGS 4 multiplayer like any other, but they?ll miss out on some of the subtleties and abilities that that other games don?t offer.
Graphics
Absolutely stunning, animations, lighting, facial textures; the best looking PS3 game so far and one of the best looking games of its generation to date. The game?s only weakness appears with indoor levels where textures can seem a bit ?flat? and not very detailed, but only where outside lighting isn?t present.
Audio
Beautiful score, varied and realistic sound effects and ambient noises, decent voice acting, dialogue will grate on you over time.
Game play
Solid controls, effective ?over-the-shoulder? camera angle for shooting, brilliant blend of 3rd person action game and stealth-adventure; best evolution of the series.
Lastability
12-15 hour campaign, severely lengthened by drawn out cut scenes, is a bit easy on the default ?normal? difficulty setting (which is the hardest difficulty setting available at the start of the game) but with an innovative multiplayer and campaign that?s worth revisiting again (especially if you played it the ?run-and-gun? way the first time), this one will be in your PS3 for a while.
Overall:
9.7
What a swan song for Kojima who managed to not only please long time fans of the series but also evolve it to appeal to a whole new fan base. This is the complete package with engrossing story, beautiful graphics and intense game play. One of the PS3?s best and a sorely needed exclusive to keep gamers attention on Sony?s console for the time being.
