Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)

“What I liked: - Graphically brilliant, from the environments to the extremely slick weapon models, and everything in between. - The grand attention to detail. Almost every area has been thought of and treated well. - The sheer size of the game....”

“What I liked:
- Graphically brilliant, from the environments to the extremely slick weapon models, and everything in between.
- The grand attention to detail. Almost every area has been thought of and treated well.
- The sheer size of the game. There's around 8-9 hours of amazing cutscenes for story, a great host of weapons from the usual (M4 Carbine, PSS) to the obscure (Solar Gun, Mantis Doll). There's even items such as Playboy magazines and empty ammunition magazines that can be used to distract your foes. There's an in-game iPod with a host of soundtrack items from all of the Metal Gear games, and there's an equippable barrel to go along with the traditional cardboard box. It's a lengthy game with a near endless amount of replayability; especially when you unlock items such as the Bandana (Infinite Ammo) and Stealth Camo. This game is massive.
- The soundtrack and voice actors are great.
- The story is... Hideo Kojima. I think that's the best way of putting it. he's goddamn insane, but you love every minute of it.
- Gameplay wise, it's essentially the perfect stealth/action game. You can complete the entire game without killing any enemies if you wish, or you can knife everyone; you can go guns-blazing, or you can be the sniper from afar. You can modify most of the weapons to suit your playstyle, and the range of weapons themselves give ample opportunity for personal approach. Bodies can be dragged or hidden in things like dumpsters and lockers; enemies can be approached and held up at gunpoint, forced to surrender their weapons; you can even lay down an "emotional magazine" and watch as a grown soldier breaks down and cries. I could go on (and on, and on), but my point is - this game is massive in scale, and should appeal to all fans of stealth/action games.
- The "Octocamo" is the signature piece. There's lots of equipment/gear/items/weapons in the game to get excited about, but this one tops the lot. It's a suit that blends in with your surroundings; you simply remain still for a second or two, and the suit actively mimicks your immediate environment. It looks and feels awesome.
- The game also has a great sense of humour. There are plenty of references to previous Metal Gear titles, references to old Playstation technology, and often the game is self-aware. A quick example: Psycho Mantis (a guy with psychic powers) asks you to behold his power. He then asks you to place your controller flat-down, and proceeds to make it vibrate, before exclaiming: "VIBRATION IS BACK!!" (a reference to the return of vibration with Dualshock 3; this was patched in since the game came out around the time of Sixaxis). I also quite like how Snake's psych bar drops every time someone mentions something about his being old or having a 'senior moment'.

What I didn't like:
- If you had asked me back in 2008, I would say that having to install each Act (five acts total) individually as I played them, and having to reinstall other acts upon switching was frustrating. I understand the attempt to save on storage space with a massive game, but even in 2008 I was very quick to switch my 60gb HDD out for a 500gb one, so the option would have been nice. However, as PS3s tend to come with 250gb space nowadays, the anniversary patch added the option to have them all installed permanently.
- I loved the addition of trophies in the patch, but having them disabled for pre-patch saves really sucks, given the sheer size of the game and the amount of times one may have replayed it since 2008.
- The only way to track emblems / gameplay stats is to load one of the mission briefings and view them on an awkward scrolling-text bar. This feels like an obscure and inconvenient method; why can I not simply view them from one of the menus?
- Sometimes the frequency of cinematics can detract from the gameplay; whilst I may enjoy the story and game as a whole, even I found there were a few moments I just wanted it to let me play the game for an extended amount of time, freely.
- Couldn't help but feel it would have been more fun to fight PMCs and... Well, human beings, for more of the game, rather than fighting them for the first few acts and then switching to obscure mooing robot ostriches. Just saying. :-P
- Sometimes the CQC controls can feel a little merciless; I mean, you get accustomed to them after a while, but it's still easy to make a mistake because you either pushed forward on the analog stick when sneaking up behind someone, or you forgot you had a non-CQC weapon equipped.”

“To describe how this series has had a great detailed story, is to describe days of information lol. So ill just say that this game has had my attention. More so that the series has always been what has made me just think there is more to it. Bottom...”

“To describe how this series has had a great detailed story, is to describe days of information lol. So ill just say that this game has had my attention. More so that the series has always been what has made me just think there is more to it. Bottom line, it has good gameplay and action! But lacks equal gameplay. Meaning you have nore cutscenes then a call girl has clients. But unlike games like Gears Of War, where the story is no less or more then dudes just gunning shit down! And can be described as just dudes felt like driving in a truck, and shooting shit! You will have a more well made story in Metal Gear Solid. Especially if you played the others games in the Solid series! This game concludes it with more then twists and turns. It spans to where you have just that moment where shit has you on the edge over and over. And you truly feel for what transpires! But you lack as I said, "equal gameplay." which isn't gone. Its far from as bad as you get in games like Xenosaga. But you will have that need to get a snack as you watch cutscene after cutscene. Which they give options to interact with, in hidden and open ways! And the story its self is very interesting. And only sucks if you play this first! Or just lack understanding on the context. This game will remain as one of my most favorite series. And this ended magnificently! Unlike games like Gears or Halo where you need a novel to know where the story is great. And the game good. This game and series has fun style and amazing story, and if your aware of its rep and can appreciate it. It will be amazing for you as it's been for many. ”