Metal Gear Solid 4
"There are plenty of valid criticisms that can be leveled at MGS4. Simply setting up a multiplayer game is a byzantine process, and once you actually get into an online match, the experience is so bland that you wish you hadn't. The fan-service-heavy story is thick with dialogue that is as melodramatic as it is longwinded, though you also get treated to plenty of creepy voyeuristic overtones and cringe-inducing attempts at humor. And Otacon; oh how we'd like to gag you with duct tape and beat you with a broomstick. If you want to constantly whimper, we'llgiveyou a reason!
Yet despite all this, Metal Gear Solid 4 is still easily one of our favorite games of 2008, in no small part because the visuals are simply beyond reproach. From the almost eerily natural, emotive animations to the painstaking level of detail on, well, every single thing you see, it's a technical marvel, though it's the quality of the cinematography and the art direction that really make it sing. The game's dramatic use of split-screen late in the game is one of the showier examples of the game's knack for visual flair, but it's apparent that serious thought went into how every shot was framed, and this kind of care brings some visceral punch and dramatic weight to even the silliest video-game nonsense. There's no shortage of huge, action-packed set-pieces in MGS4, but it's the rare quiet moments that really show off the game's craft. It's easy to keep your attention with a barrage of bright colors and flashing lights, but even when you're watching a scene where nothing is said and little is actually done, you don't want to blink. This kind of inference is taken for granted in films, but for a video game, it shows a level of visual subtlety that is unprecedented."
it was up against nominees Burnout Paradise, LittleBigPlanet, Gears of War 2, and Crysis Warhead.
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