The problem with evaluating a game like MG4 is that is it, essentially, two entirely different games fused into one lengthy and at times bloated package.
The first half of the game contains some truly brilliant mechanics. The stealth, refined from MGS3, is implemented perfectly and gives the player full agency as to how they wish to progress. You can crawl through warzones on your belly with bullets whizzing overhead and opt to be a passive observer or you can engage the enemy in lethal or non-lethal fashion, killing and mining their fallen supplies. The weapon system which allows you to steal, strip, sell and customize arms is vastly superior to anything present in the previous games. It effectively turns weapons into currency; a logical extrapolation given the setting of the game.
In many ways it is the definitive sandbox stealth game, where each and every action can cause any number of responses. I clearly remember one point in the game where a helicopter was doing low passes as I remained in hiding. In a move that was both entirely unscripted and impromptu, I fired a rocket at this copter and reduced it to smoldering wreckage and it was neither a primary or secondary goal but rather the result of my own unbridled agency and decision to be proactively aggressive.
Then the game shifts and the second half becomes something far more stilted, narrow and linear. The narrative begins to invade the game play to such an extent that the latter feels more like an excuse to tell the story. Some of the second half contains solid playtime but the sheer abundance and intrusiveness of the endless torrent of cinematic cut scenes can be difficult to endure. I still enjoyed it but I also found myself wanting to watch less and play more because frankly, the second half of this game is a much more passive experience.
Still, the game does more right than wrong, assuming you can deconstruct and separate the mechanics from the overwrought and laborious narrative. I've never been particularly impressed with the stories in any of the MGS games so I didn't find this entry to be any more offensive in that regard. Kojima clearly wanted to wrap up this particular story arch and given how grossly convoluted the story had already become by the time MGS2 rolled around, I wasn't surprised that MGS4 ended as such.
When I replay this game I only play the first half and honestly, I still think that first half is one of the best games ever made.
At the same time, I can fully understand why MGS4 pissed people off.
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