Trade the mind numbing 10+ hours of cut scenes for more stealth-action and co-op split screen...please
I find this scary - are there now going to be "cut-scene wars"? If you thought the possibility of the war-economy injecting nano-technology into our bloodstream to control our minds was keeping you up at night - you ain't seen nothin' yet!
If the cut scenes were a movie - the audience would walk out of the theater. Period. The reviews I read make excuses because it's a video game, and tend to use words like "artistic expression" a lot. Let's get a grip, shall we - and then lets disarm and throw that idea to the ground just like Snake.
Here is my beef - at a time when a game (HALO) outsells a blockbuster (SPIDERMAN) on its opening video game no longer have an excuse. They absolutely should employ the best screenwriters in the business - no - the best TEAM of screen writers for every big budget title that comes out such as MGS4.
Now - THANKFULLY - you can simply hit start, and skip...start..skip. But not me. I watched every second of every cut-scene... and I want those hours of my life back. I suggest for those who are going to play, as soon as you start feeling like wincing, vomiting, or just banging your head against any solid surface, just hit "start...skip". Just do it, don't be fooled into thinking you will miss something. There is not one cut scene in this game that is a "must see". You will not miss anything. Let's be clear - the voice acting is very well done, and the actors deserve credit... but the writing is grotesquely painful.
OK, can we finally get to the game play? It's deep. You probably end up with one of the most diverse array of weapons outside of "Ratchet and Clank" (heh, heh) in any game. Which is a little weird since mastery of this game involves stealth. But thats OK, because the stealth play is deep as well. You can grab, take down, tranquilize, flip face down, shock knife, disarm, knock out, throught slit, gun butt, roll...phew, even more stuff I'm not sure how to explain in words. Let's just say it beats the Call of Duty 4 "instant knife kill while running"...
So you got some cool game play mechanisms. You also got your octo-camo suit, the alert system and other stealth mechanics. Problem is, you don't really get a nice chance to maybe replay sections to perfect your "craft" because of the whole cut-scene mentality. It feels too much like a really bad movie with a few game moments interspersed. You never get the feel of developing your skills through game play. It almost brings a tear to my eye thinking about it - Otacon, sniff, are you crying with me on this?
The boss battles are also very nice, although I hated the VAMP boss battle - it felt like an old boss battle from a weak title, and I don't mean that in any nostalgic way. They were a lot like a Silent Hill, Resident Evil feel, the survival horror mixed in with your ridiculous arsenal of combat weapons.
Again - how about giving us about 3 more boss battles or even a few more mini bosses instead of the cut scenes.
Finally, if you have ever played the split screen co-op levels of "James Bond - Everything or Nothing" - you would know that stealth co-op rocks. Basically it comes down to a series of situations where you and your partner have to do syncronized stealth take-downs, and that's just fun. ANd since I invokes the "Everything or Nothing..." title, that game is a good example of well written and acted cut scenes... if you could combine the refined game mechanics of MGS4 with THAT screen play, THEN you got your 10-10.
So - don't be afraid to skip the cut scenes... and for you game designers, spend time on the game mechanics and don't get over indulgent on your "artistic vision" - the art is in those GAMING moments. MGS4 has those gaming moments... it unfortunately missed an opportunity for real LASTING greatness.
I can't give this game anything less than an 8/10, it has 10/10 moments, but the producers EGO deserves a 3/10 and I hope the gaming community will come to its senses and demand tightly produced stories and cut-scenes in the future.