Score
Gameplay:	9
Graphics:	10
Sound:	10
FunFactor:	10
PlasmaFactor:	10
Overall:	9.8

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review
June 27, 2008 by Rangebar Merani

With 20 years of gaming in the Metal Gear series, it was tough to see the series come to an end, but what a beautiful ending it was. I wasn’t the biggest Metal Gear Solid fan back when it hit the PlayStation, so I really didn’t play through much of the series. That’s why it was even harder for me to accept the ending; I just fell in love with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and its astonishing story.

I played through most of Metal Gear Solid, halfway through Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and I didn’t even touch Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. But even without playing all the previous installments, I still felt attached to this game. Hideo Kojima’s incredible and passionate story and plotline really hit my soft spot and made it really hard for me to put this game down.

Gameplay

As far as gameplay goes, its just on par with how good MGS4’s story is. From what I’ve played in the past MGS games, MGS4’s control scheme is by far the best in the series. Although you now control an older Solid Snake, he’s as fluid and sneakier than ever. And speaking of being sneaky, the CQC (close quarters combat) controls seem to be a bit awkward at times. Sometimes when you’re trying to grab an enemy, it won’t really work like you want it to, but with a little practice, you’ll be dispatching PMC soldiers with few problems. Hugging walls, rolling, crouching and crawling are all done with simple button presses, and the aim of your gun is almost always on point. Although Snake is able to hug walls and duck behind cover, the game lacks a true cover system in which you can peek out and aim. With so many games out now using a cover system, I didn’t understand why Kojima Productions couldn’t implement one into MGS4.

It’s incredibly easy to switch through your weapons, items and gear during a firefight, and speaking of gear, MGS4 introduces a few new equipment items such as the OctoCamo, the Solid Eye and the Metal Gear Mk. II. The OctoCamo gives Snake the ability to mimic his surrounding and hide from enemies. By hugging a wall or lying on the ground and remaining still for a few moments, Snake will take on the same color of his surrounding, making him almost invisible to his enemies.

Not only does the Solid Eye include night vision and binoculars, it gives Snake a whole lot of help with item data (you can tell what’s in an item box), enemy data and a Baseline Map. The Baseline Map is a visual map that displays the “sense” given off by enemies or other moving objects. The Solid Eye is a great way to detect where enemies are, but be careful not to over do it, or else the battery will run out on it and you’ll have to put it away for a while.

The Metal Gear Mk. II is probably the most inventive piece of gear in the game. The Mk. II was created by Otacon to help Snake during his mission by using it as a scout, collecting items and delivering electric shock attacks to enemies. Say you wanted to scope out the area ahead, just use the Mk. II’s stealth camo and you’ll be able to control it to see where enemies are. It’s a very useful way of getting an advantage over your enemies.

The biggest difference in gameplay between MGS4 and its predecessors is that in this game you don’t necessarily have to be sneaky all the time. Although the game does encourage a stealthier approach, it also occasionally encourages a run-and-gun approach, making it easy to get caught up in just mowing your enemies down. I tried to be as stealthy as I could when I played, but I still racked up quite a number of kills. Killing enemies this time around was just so much more effective than in previous games, so I don’t blame anyone for not being as stealthy as they should. It’s nice that you can play both ways and the freedom to choose how you want to play is much better than being forced to play just one way.

Of course, Solid Snake isn’t Solid Snake without a complete arsenal behind him. With enough weapons in the game for an army to carry, Snake has plenty of different guns to choose from in MGS4. Early on in the game, you’ll meet Drebin, a gun launderer, and he’ll then become available at anytime to purchase and upgrade weapons from. Using Drebin Points (the in-game currency to buy and upgrade weapons), you’ll be able to purchase weapons at anytime, even during a boss fight, and can customize most weapons with suppressers, mounts, and more.

This is one of the best things in the game because it makes Snake’s missions friendlier than ever. You’ll have complete access to more guns, ammunition, grenades, etc. at all times… as long as you have the Drebin Points to buy them. Getting Drebin Points is pretty easy, though; simply pick up any weapons you see laying around, and if you’ve already got that gun, you’ll get credited with Drebin Points for it. You also get more Drebin Points for how well you do in combat, how many kills you get and also by watching flashbacks during cut-scenes and mission briefings.

Speaking of cut-scenes and mission briefings, MGS4 has some of the longest cut-scenes I’ve ever witnessed in a game. It took me about 20 hours to complete MGS4 on Solid Normal mode, and I swear it seemed half the game was just cut-scenes. Okay, I was exaggerating a little bit, but there is a whole lot of dialogue in the game. Some of the mission briefings go on for almost half an hour. For the most part, though, I really didn’t mind most of the cut-scenes and dialogue; first, because they were some of the nicest cinematic I’ve seen in a game, and second, they really helped with understanding the game’s story and learning about what happened in previous games.

One of my favorite things about the game is how it goes through the entire MGS storyline, so you know what is actually going on. This is especially helpful for someone like me who hasn’t played all the previous installments. The game goes from talking about the earliest parts of the MGS story from the Philosophers, to the Patriots, to Big Boss and all the way up to the hero of the game, Solid Snake. If it weren’t for all of the mission briefings, cut-scenes and flashbacks, I would’ve had a bunch of trouble keeping up with what was going on in Guns of the Patriots.

Packed in along with MGS4 is Metal Gear Online, a full multiplayer online game where you can play with up to 16 players on five different maps. Before you hop online you’ll have to create a player and also create a Konami ID that will be attached to that created player. Once online you’ll be able to enter a number of different lobbies and play from a few different games including Free-For-All, Team Deathmatch and a sneaking mission, in which one player is Solid Snake and both teams are after him. There is also a Clan creation option, but it doesn’t become available until you get to a level 3 ranks, which is roughly 20 hours of online gameplay. The game also notes that there will be tons of downloadable content to come in the future, so watch out for new maps sometime soon.

Graphics

From the characters, to the weapons, and down to the environments, all of the visuals in MGS4 are extremely detailed and finely textured. From an unnamed war-torn unnamed Middle Eastern city, to jungles of South America, to a retro-industrial eastern European cityscape, all the environments in the game are absolutely beautiful. I honestly can’t think of one major issue with the visuals in MGS4. There may be a little bit of a framerate drop during huge explosions, but other than that, there’s nothing much to mention. Of course, with an eight-minute installation period when you first pop the game in and then smaller installs between acts, you should expect the best visuals that the PS3 can offer. Even the smallest of details like water drops on the camera and dust kicking up when Snake hits the ground make the game that much more wonderful to behold. As I mentioned earlier about the cut-scenes, they truly are some of the best ones I’ve seen in a game. Even though many of them were quite long, I didn’t mind watching them because they looked so good. The character models and animations are top notch. Even in the midst of combat, you’ll notice Snake, or “Old” Snake, grab his lower back when he’s in pain. The game is undeniably one of the best looking games ever.

Sound

All I can say about the music in this game is “wow”. The soundtrack is one of the most beautiful I’ve heard in a game, keeping up with the likes of games like Final Fantasy. The Love Theme is easily one of the best songs in the game, and from what I’ve heard, one of the best songs in all of the series. Sometimes during the game I would just sit there and listen to the song, while its harmonies and haunting melody just take over my feelings. Another cool thing about MGS4’s music is the option of listening to your Ipod, which plays songs from all the different games in the MGS series. Besides the beautiful music, Snake and every other character also sound great during the game, showcasing a wonderful dialogue, and the sound effects are clear and accurate.

PlasmaFactor

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an absolutely wonderful game. There are two things that I really liked in this game that separate if from others in the series. The first thing is how in-depth the story is. Not only does the game tell its own story, it also goes into so much about the past games and helps tie the entire story together. I think this was a very important part of the game, because without it many of us would have been lost… at least I would have been. The story of the Metal Gear saga is a really confusing one, but for how exhilarating it is, it’s totally worth going through the cut-scenes and mission briefings to find out what’s really going on.

The other thing I absolutely loved about MGS4 is how you can choose how you want to play. No longer are you forced into just sneaking around and being stealthy the entire time. MGS4 really allows players to take action and take the killing approach if they really feel like it. Get to a point where you’re tired of sneaking around? Just go ahead and go on a killing spree. I promise you’ll still make it to the next part of the game. It’s this kind of freedom that gives players their own choice of how they want to play.

Conclusion

I’m going to get straight to the point here. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the best game on the PlayStation 3, hands down. If you don’t have a PS3 yet, this is your number one excuse to finally get one. Not only is this game a masterpiece and one of the best games of the year, its arguably one of the best games ever created. It’s sad to see the series come to an end, and even sadder to see this story’s conclusion. It’s even harder for me, because I just fell in love with this game. I’m hoping for a fifth installment, but if not, it looks like I might have to go back and play some of the past titles. With an incredible and in-depth story, action packed gameplay, gorgeous graphics and a thrilling online game as an extra feature, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a phenomenal game and a must own for any gamer.