"Metal Gear Solid 4" Review Wrap-Up
"Metal Gear Solid 4" Review Wrap-Up
This could make you want to buy a PS3. Advance with caution.
It's supposed to be a system-seller, and you know it I know it Sony knows it: a system-seller is what the PS3 is desperately in need of. The Metal Gear series has always been one of the monumental franchises for Sony; it is their very own Mario or Zelda, only much more gritty and mature. Of course: there is GTA IV; and it's incredibly successful. But: it's not exclusive. Solid Snake is. The exclusive cash-cow. And he will strike on June 12th, when Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots is released.
His strike seems to be well-prepared, because IGN (not really known as the kind of people that hype just about every somehow promising game and then reward it with the highest rating possible most of the time) reviewed it and believe that it is an incredible experience, rating it with 9,9 out of 10 points. That's one hell of a good rating on the IGN-o-meter. Not many games can keep up with that, most of them don't even come close.
Reviewer MacCarthy's summary doesn't sound like words of a dissapointed gamer:
It probably wouldn't work as a film because it would seem both overblown and trivial. But you could say the same about certain operas, or novels. Fortunately for us, Hideo Kojima happens to be someone who has found the confidence to express an artistic vision that is wholly suited to his chosen medium – and a medium that is uniquely young enough to bend to his will. It's not fair to call him a frustrated film-maker. If he had been a film maker he might have been frustrated. Instead he has found a medium large enough to contain his unique artistic vision.
Which is a long-winded way of saying that this game rocks.
It is the ultimate in fan service, but it is also hard to see how this could be anything other than one man's uncompromised vision of what a videogame should be. The action sequences are faultless. The cut-scenes – well, yes, you could argue that there are too many of them, that they're too long, and that the dialogue is occasionally leaden. Indeed many of the most dramatic cut-scenes might make you crave action, or wonder why they couldn't have been turned into interactive sequences. But that's because they're the work of an auteur, and if you're going to enjoy the high points of Hideo Kojima's vision, there has to be an acceptance of his excesses, too.
Because this is a return to and a best of and an everything you ever loved about a Metal Gear game, all wrapped up and distilled into one, undiluted vision of gaming.
I don't know what these words are doing with you, but I can tell you what they are doing with me: They suddenly make me want to call a PS3 my own. Because this just sounds like the very game I like. Very cinematic, packed with detail and with a storyline that's well thought through.
No hype intended though, so I'll also let you know what www.eurogamer.net thinks about the game, because they only rated it with 8 out of 10 points. Not the most glorious rating you can think of, and reviewer Oli Welsh justifies it with the following words:
You're sorry to see Snake go. But should you be? Guns of the Patriots is a frustrating, fractured game that turns Metal Gear Solid's world upside down several times over, but never changes it. It just burrows deeper into what fans love and detractors hate than ever before, and it will make few converts. It's a crying shame, given how many genuinely classic gaming moments there are here, given the countless exquisite creative touches, but Metal Gear Solid 4 is its own worst enemy. You could not ask for a funnier, cleverer, more ambitious or inspired or over-the-top conclusion to the Metal Gear Solid series, but it's definitely time to move on.We love you, Snake. Don't come back.
So it's probably not going to be such a "best rated game ever" milestone like GTA IV, but then again: Who thought it would? Metal Gear Solid has always been the underdog in the gaming genre, and it doesn't intend to change it now that the franchise and Hideo Kojima get their requiem, this being the last Metal Gear game developed by him, the mastermind of the series.
This probably made you want to buy a PS3. Sorry for that. No harm intended.
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I've played the same version of MGS 4 which has been reviewed now, it was a three-day-event in late April for "important" European press (all those reviews were/are based on that event -- see the photo I've included in the news). I really liked what I experienced! But MGS4 has turned the series into an action game: At least on "easy" and "normal" level it's rather easy to just shoot your way through the levels. The new weapon purchase system is interesting and motivating, but makes the game feel very "gamish" sometimes: When you encounter a helicopter and it begins to fire at you, you can just pause the game, buy a bazooka, and bring the thing down. THAT's what I call fast delivery! Also, the cut scenes are overlong. I'm not a diehard fan of the series, although I began to play MGS on GBA, so probably all *real* fans will disagree, but instead of passively watching a cutscene for 20 or 40 or 60 minutes at a time (changing the camera perspective doesn't count for an "active" experience in my world), I'd prefer them a little shorter and more... concise. Also, I do not quite understand why every female character in the game has to be right out of a Supermodel show, or why female doctors need to wear open jackets that barely hide their chest. Anyway, MGS4 is clearly a great game with great sound and music, and the graphics are good for a nextgen console game (but textures are not, in quite some instances). What I really liked where the boss fights and all those little ideas and gimmicks. The combination of Fantasy, Technology, "Akira-style pseudo philosophy", near-endless cutscenes and all those characters from former parts of a series is astounding and, I think, unique in the gaming world.
It's interesting to read your take on the game. I, as a matter of fact, only played one "MGS"-game up to now, and that was the re-release of the first "MGS" on the Gamecube: "Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes". That was really fun and already back then I really liked the cinematic style of everything, the cut-scenes (I'm a big fan of them as long as they are there for a reason) and the story. But because I don't own a PS2 I never played any other game in the franchise. I would like to change that with buying a PS2 (it's not like the "MGS"-games are the only games worth playing on that "old" console, right?).
So yes, you're getting me right; basically I'm tempted to buy pretty many consoles at the moment. ;)
I wonder if that Game could spark my interest.
I played the first title when it was ported for the PC, at which point it just looked outright ugly with it's washed-out textures. After that the PC had Sam Fisher and I lost track of the Snake-Franchise.
Well, I guess I have to wait for a demo...there will be a demo, right?
I watched the first 10 minutes of the game and asked myself why there are still overly long, non-interactive cut-scenes in a high-production value game like MGS4. I never got an answer to that ...
The problem is, you can skip cut scenes, but you might miss essential information, then. There should be a "fast forward" AND "fast rewind" function, I think...
I really like Cut-scenes, the ones from DiabloII still send chills up my spine, but this just sounds wrong, I want to play a game, not watch it. If he wanted to make a movie, he should have done so.