Metal Gear Solid 4 is a ridiculously good game.
Even by itself, it’s an awesome experience just previously unseen in video games. Global conflict has become the sole economic pillar. You play as Old Snake, a grizzled battlefield veteran with one final mission: assassinate the leader of the world’s private military corporations (i.e., mercenaries), who happens to be your genetic twin brother. Nuclear deterrence, nano-machines technology, genetic manipulation, and world superpower conspiracies, they all weave into an alternate universe with events drawn from the annals of modern history.
Forget the princess in the other castle.
Now, most games would begin and end with such a backdrop for the forthcoming ass-kickin’; Contra would be perfectly happy with this story as you enter the fortress of aliens, guns a-blazin’. MGS4 asks the opposite: infiltrate the enemy fortress, figure out what happened, and kill the target without alerting one guard of your presence. If you do get spotted, try to use non-lethal force to resolve the conflict, and be sure to hide the body. Whereas most games nowadays are about how fast you can annihilate a moving object, Metal Gear revels in sneaking and stealth.
What makes MGS4 special is that it continually develops the story as you play through the chapters – it paces the increasingly complex plot akin to a movie, with detailed cutscenes revealing more information about events and characters of the Metal Gear world. Eventually, the world is fleshed out with such fine detail that it’s natural to treat it as a plausible universe…albeit one largely influenced by anime and rife with extended monologues, and often breaks the 4th wall by referencing itself as a game.
Speaking of detail, MGS4 is full of little touches. There is a fully functional in-game iPod, but pop in a JPop MP3 during a boss battle and they will actually dance to the tune. Soldiers pee inconspicuously on wooden docks, if you care to look through the zoom lens of a sniper rifle. Snake’s cigarette burns out, in real time, as he smokes. The game has a plethora of bonuses hidden well off the beaten path, and it must have taken the developers many long months to create all the little things most players won’t even see.
Then there are the “wow” moments. I’m tryign to not spoil the game (as per Metal Gear convention), but many of the scenes inject game interactivity into cinematic quality fit for the silver screen, presenting an experience previously unseen in neither film or games. It’s a perfect melding of passive and interactive entertainment, and the heavy story ups the ante even further. The common reaction on blogs and forums is simply: “epic”.
And the best part is that it’s the fourth game of the Metal Gear Solid series. The Metal Gear series itself spans more than 20 years (1), and the latter Metal Gear Solid series also has a decade-rich history. The pluses above – “tactical espionage” gameplay, complex plot, painstakingly detailed areas, and epic scenes – have been honed into a slick package which also serves as the finale for the series. MGS4 ties together 20 years’ worth of storyline – at this point, complex enough for the developers to release a MGS database – and satisfyingly wraps up all the loose ends. In many ways, the game is fan service to the sizable fan population the series has earned in its lifespan, but it’s gotta be doing something right to have picked up so many loyal followers.
Drawbacks? You wouldn’t get as much out of the game if you didn’t play through the first three games; the story and especially the dialogue can get cheesy at times; stealth may not be your cup of tea; there may be too much story, which cuts into the time spent playing. Valid criticisms all, but I find that the many brilliant moments more than outshine a handful of down points.
Anyway, I just spent 1-1/2 hours gushing about the game. For those uninitiated in Metal Gear lore, check out the recently released Metal Gear Solid Essential Collection, a package of the first three MGS games. If you have a PS3, get this game; if you know someone with a PS3, get the game for them.
Then steal both.
- the earliest harken back to the NES days (↩)