While I have patiently waited for MGS4 to come out ever since I bought the PS3 system the game is somewhat of a let down
User Rating: 8 | Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Platinum) PS3
While I have patiently waited for MGS4 to come out ever since I bought the PS3 system, I have to say the game is somewhat of a let down. Generally speaking it is a good game. But in no way would I rate this game anywhere above a 8 overall. It definitely wouldn't make my top 10. Infact I would have to say that this is the second best title of the series. The Pro's: The gameplay itself is good and in many of the zones having the war going on around you gives the game a unique new feel. It also presents you with several opportunites to either speed your way through by helping the militias kill the PMC's, or make it a blood bath by killing anyone and everyone who gets in your way. The third alternative (and the least travelled by me in every MG game I play) is to sneak your way through. Ironically this is probably a much bigger challenge now due to the constant and sometimes random movement of the Militia and PMCs, with random gunfire and explosions going off literally everywhere. It also becomes more of a challenge later on in the game when you have to deal with flying frog women. While some of the controls are different to give it a new feel, overall the controller function isn't all that different from previous games in the series. Which in my opinion is a huge plus. The unbelievable cut scenes are something fans of the series have come to expect. However in MGS4 the production staff really outdid themselves. The scenes are dramatic, absolutely stunning visually and seamless in transition. The music score for the game itself is the best in the series to date and the way they incorporated some of the older games music and graphics really gives you a sense of where the game has come from. The storyline is by far the best in the series. Fans of the series (who followed the storylines) will be ecstatic to see all the character relationships come together and to really find out those details that have been intentionally left out of previous chapters in the story. The end of this chapter of the story will surprise just about everyone, but in no way is this the end of the series (contrary to what you may have read elsewhere). They did a great job leaving enough at the end of Snake's story to develop the next chapter in the series and some foreshadowing in the game itself leads you to believe there's more to come. The online gameplay is a new unique experience and is very realistic. It could be a stand-alone game if there were more maps to play the various games in. And after reading all that you're probably asking yourself "where's the downside?" Well, there's a lot to be desired in the latest installment of MGS. The Con's There are some minor bugs with it when "quick equipping" and un-equipping both weapons and items. At first I thought it was the controller so I switched it out but on multiple controllers I had this same isse: I found from time to time I had to hit R2 and L2 multiple times to remove/re-quip my weapon and item. Not so bad when it comes to items, but when going from CQC to enemies at a distance or vice versa it got kind of annoying. The overall gameplay becomes ridiculously easy if you make even a weak effort to help the militias. In many of the zones you basically have to either just get to a certain area or kill specific groups of PMCs (sometimes both) before the militias gain control of the area. Once that happens if you helped the militia you basically get to search the entire zone for as long as you want without running into any interference. So in essence you can run straight to a certain spot kill a handful of PMCs and let the Militia do the rest, killing everyone and everything in the zone for you. Not exactly high marks for difficulty in the areas where there are militia. As if that wasnt enough your reputation with the militias stays the same even when you're on a different continent. The cut scenes. Never before have I said those words with more dread. They are brilliantly done, and way WAY overdone. The production staff seems to have intended that half the game be a movie. And while I know and have loved the cut scenes in previous installments, these are ridiculous. There are parts of the game that you go almost 20 minutes without actually moving Snake. And just when you think one cut scene is done it chains into another cut scene. They overkilled this to the point of it being brutal. I found myself intentionally going for more kills and alert phases when I was actually playing just to put some more time inbetween the scenes. And if it were just the cut scenes alone I would have a love/hate relationship with it. But during the cut scenes there are points when you have to mash on X to get the flashbacks to get yourself some extra Drebin points between acts (or in my case because I'm a completionist). It got to the point for me where I was just hitting X randomly through every cut scene because of how many there were and how many times you have to hit X during them. At first glance I really liked them but after completing the game once I have to say it would have been better if those flashbacks were just added to the cut scenes in real time and more Drebin points were awarded for something else since watching the flashbacks has absolutely no bearing on your final rank. And speaking of final rank I am glad they put that in the game. But there is a drawback. Not having all your stats at your fingertips when you finally get to it is a big let down. With no way to track it you really dont get a feel for how well you wound up doing. Inbetween acts it does a good job of listing what you have accomplished. I was disappointed to see that it was left off. Also speaking of Drebin I think that putting the ability into the game to literally have infinite ammo and every important weapon in the game handed to you for free is a huge drawback in this installment. A lot of previous games your strategies in areas were dictated by the ammo you had, the weapons you had found and what ammo you could get off the enemies in the area. Now its a simple matter of "kill more guys get more stuff for free". There isn't a lot of strategy involved when you can have a silenced fully automatic sniper rifle with infinite ammo at your fingertips very early in the game. And for anyone who's ever played a Metal Gear before the sniper rifle with a silencer is by far the deadliest weapon when you need to get somewhere quickly and quietly. The last beef I have with MGS4 is by far the biggest: The boss fights. To say that they are ridiculously easy would be grossly understating the obvious. There is only one of the B&B gang that poses any real challenge at all and the only reason she is a challenge is because of the blizzard going on while you're fighting her. Even with the blizzard on a scale of 1 to 10, (10 being the most difficult) she's at most a 3. She can only hurt you if you're on the ground or hit by one of her grenades and since I was perched atop one of the towers all I had to do was crack out one of my missle launchers and follow her trail with night vision when she ran by. Not even close to difficult. The only real "challenge" if you can call it that is the Solidus phase of the final boss battle which probably will take you 2 or 3 tries to figure out his moves and then he's toast. Overall I'd have to give the game itself a 6.5 out of a possible 10. The game is far too easy with long drawn out cutscenes inbetween limited amounts of action. Every weapon that matters is available for purchase with every upgrade imaginable and all the ammo you'll ever need very early on. There aren't very many places to get caught up because of difficulty spikes or bosses that are overly challenging. And the general feel of the game is less about playing and more about watching the story unfold. Unfortunately it is a let down for the series and for the fans. Though I do feel many people will buy/rent the game and have an initial positive reaction to it, I think in the long run this could be a back breaker for the series. Ironically the only saving grace may be the online feature. Replay value: 2/10. 
