A true masterpiece and a fitting end to the story of Metal Gear Solid.
It begins in the middle east. The world is on a course for destruction as war has become a major industry and the economy heavily depends on it, giving rise to Private Military Companies (PMCs) who fight on contracts from whoever is willing to pay. Liquid Snake, Solid Snake's clone twin brother who has taken over the body and mind of Revolver Ocelot, has become the head of the 5 largest PMCs in the world, and has amassed an army equal in scale and power to that of the U.S. Military. What's more, he plans on taking control of the SOP (Sons of the Patriots) system, a system that enhances and regulates the actions of, records data on, and controls soldiers through nanomachines implanted in their bodies. In this way the Patriots, a shadowy organization who rules America from behind the scenes, can expand their influence by being in control of the worlds' wars. During his work for the United Nations, Snake's former CO Roy Campbell discovers the location of Liquid Snake, now called Liquid Ocelot, and sends Snake to the middle east to finish it once and for all. In the time since the events of Metal Gear Solid 2, Solid Snake has aged well beyond his years. Snake was genetically engineered to begin aging rapidly at a certain point, to keep him from being used against his creators. Nevertheless he accepts this final mission to put a stop to his brother's plans.
Upon arriving at the mission site, a battlefield where the local militia are engaged in a battle with soldiers from the PMC Praying Mantis, Snake sneaks through the warzone and meets up with Rat Patrol Team 01, headed by Commander Meryl Silverburgh, a young female soldier who fought alongside Snake in the Shadow Moses incident from the original Metal Gear Solid. Meryl and her team direct Snake to Liquid's location, where he hopes to find and assassinate Liquid. But nothing in Metal Gear has ever been or ever will be that simple. Snake arrives in Liquid's camp just as he initiates a test run for his plan. Snake and all of the soldiers around him who have nanomachines lose control of their bodies. Liquid escapes,and so begins the race to hunt him down and prevent him from taking control of the SOP system, which would essentially allow him to rule the world.
Along the way, Snake meets some new friends and enemies, along with a few characters from his past. The story is mainly told through cutscenes, rendered using the in-game engine. A long-complained about aspect of the Metal Gear series was the length and frequency of cutscenes and Codec conversations. The Codec convos are cut back considerably, and some are played out during actual gameplay. The cutscenes, however, are as long and sometimes confusing as they have ever been, in true MGS style. However, the storytelling is so good that you probably won't even mind. A big discussion point before release was that of a rumored 90-minute cutscene. This may have been true, but the cutscenes kept me so interested that I never watched one that felt anywhere close to 90 minutes. Many times the game switches from cutscene to gameplay seamlessly. The sneaking element plays similarly to 2006's MGS3: Subsistence, with a few new features added on. The gunplay, however, sees a complete overhaul, taking on a style similar to that of Resident Evil 4, Gears Of War, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Grand Theft Auto IV, etc. Even with the changes, the game maintains the signature Metal Gear feel. Snake has access to an abundance of weapons(some of which are customizable) and items. A replacement of sorts for the Soliton Radar of past Metal Gear games is the Solid Eye system, an eyepatch-like device that gives Snake information on enemies, allies, items, and doubles as both binoculars and nightvision goggles. Another handy little tool is the Metal Gear Mk. II, a small robot with scouting and light combat capabilities. It can definitely make Snake's life easier.
MGS4 is a game that can be played in any way that the player chooses, suiting itself well to both stealth gameplay and the run n' gun style, even letting you play in fps mode if you choose. The a.i. makes for some challenging sneaking and combat sequences. The only problem are the boss fights, which take much patience and accuracy (provided you're not using auto-aim), as your opponent either spends the entire fight running from you and only appears every minute and a half or so for a few seconds, or moves so fast that targeting a specific body part(and their whole body, for that matter) becomes a frustrating task.
Needless to say the visuals are great, as all Metal Gear games have been for their respective times. When looked at through the model viewer, Snake and his Octocamo mask disguises sometimes border on being indistinguishable from actual people. The game natively runs at 60 fps, but with so much going on in the game at most times, minor framerate drops are near constant. The game moves beautifully even when not running at 60 fps. Sound effects and voice acting are top notch as usual.
The only real complaint is that the game plays out in acts that must be installed separately to play and replay them. The install times are short, the longest being 3 minutes, but become a pain when you want to load and play a specific part or watch a specific cutscene.
All in all, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots is an amazing ride during which you may have trouble putting the controller down. Kojima Productions has crafted something special here, something that will likely be remember for years to come. If video games are not art, then Metal Gear Solid 4 is not a video game.