This game turned me into a Kojima fan.
Now i'm sure 99.9% of metal gears fanboy community will argue with me but I must say the game certainly delivers in alot of areas but in others, well it could have done better.
The stealth mechanic overall is utterly brilliant and I now refuse to play any stealth game now that doesn't feature my character wearing a suit that automatically adapts its texture to match its closest surroundings.
If kojima wanted to show how 'stealth should be done' he certainly did it with this game.
I have never played a previous metal gear solid game(gasp!) and I must say I wish I had. I have no idea why I've avoided the franchise until now, probably because my first and only experience with mgs prior to 4 was under a minute of playing mgs3 and getting so frustrated with the controls and camera I instantly ejected it from my ps2. Sadly I never gave the game another chance. So naturally upon hearing about mgs4s revamped control/camera systems I took interest and boy am I glad I did.
Now I'm not going to review the story, the acting, plot, etc that the games are famous for. Bottom line no other game has had a story so ridiculous yet at the same time as awesome as metal gears. By mid way through the game I was actually attached to snake and when you find out that one way or another hes going to die sooner rather than later it really hurts. This man or character rather is certainly worth all the praise and idolization he receives. A fitting end to a legendary figure of video gaming.
Now story and awesome characters aside this is still a game and like all games it is imperfect. There is and never will be a perfect game in any genre, if there was, what would be the point in making new ones?
As a stealth game, MGS4 works, it is by far the best i have played, the funnest and on the higher difficulties, the most challenging and most satisfying. There is something about the way you can silently sneak up behind an enemy, latch your arm around his neck and wait for him to pass out, or do the bad thing and end his life with a quick knife to the jugular execution. The best part of this game is most of the time you have the option to kill or not kill, its up to you. And strangely despite being on my 2nd play through now I can neither 'only knock out' or 'only kill' in this game, because no matter how hard you try sooner or later the 50 or so incredibly well modeled, animated and sound recorded weapons are just too appealing to pass up. Its like kojima filled the game with shiny delicious candy and then said 'no you shouldn't have any!'.
Should they have left out all those awesome weapons, the handy upgrade system and 'rpg like' drebin points system behind it all? well no but yes. On the one hand its an action game and everyone else has guns, lots of guns. But on the other hand snake is an assassin, a stealth soldier and 'going in rambo style' is as far out of character for him as 'not cutting guys in half with blades' would be for kratos.
The third person shooting is fine, its cover system is somewhat 'behind' compared to a title like gears of war or uncharted but then the enemies in mgs aren't too bright offensively speaking so its not like a more dynamic cover system would have been needed anyway. Basically you cant latch onto walls and then shoot from behind them, you have to un-latch, shoot, run back, repeat. The enemies do however do some cool stuff while your sneaking, they seem to have actual awareness of each other and you feel like your creating your own tension whilst trying not to be spotted by them, very cool.
Anyway there's not much I can say that hasn't been said already about the title. If you own a ps3 then you should get mgs4, if you want a ps3 and need a reason to buy one, mgs4 is a good one. The game isn't for everyone but it is certainly the most 'open' version in the series to date.
Plus if the long convoluted cinematics aren't your thing every single one can be paused or skipped though if that were your intention I'd say don't bother getting the game as the story after all is what has defined the franchise and set it 'just a little higher' than everything else over the years in that department. My only complaint about the cinemas really is that you cant re-watch them after game completion, some are so wicked you really REAALLY want to show them to people and you cant. sigh
If you're worried about having missed the previous 3 games like I was don't worry as the major or key events of the games are all reiterated in one form or another. The running theme of the game is basically control and a 'potential' society that humanity could become someday. If nothing else by the end of the game you'll at least be aware of private military corps and the effects that nano machines could have on the world some day.
Most people agree that nano tech will be the next 'internet' as far as worldwide technology revolutions go and considering its already used in things like glass that changes light filtering levels and paint that 'heals' scratch marks the games overarching ideas can be believable to some degree. Though I'm sure most people would have trouble believing that nano machines could be used to control and monitor physical and mental conditions of people if you think about it its not to far fetched.
Of course like with everything kojima does he certainly pushes the 'realism' envelope. Raiden stopping an object 500 or so times bigger and heavier than himself for one example. lol
On a side note(potential spoiler), this game has THE BEST mech combat EVER and its so sad it lasts for so little time.
You'll possibly be thinking Raiden is a badass by games end, I hear that people hated him in mgs2 so I gather that the changes made to his character in 4 were fan-driven. Less whine more face palm for the win. Even if snake is doomed to death and to never grace another game you know that a game all about Raiden would be pretty freaking sweet. I'm fairly sure kojimas goal was to make him very likable by the end of mgs4 and I'm certainly looking forward to any game that he may star in. Who doesn't like cyborg sword wielding kung-fu super humans? Though I could have done without the not-so-subtle homosexuality, (vamp licking 'white blood' off himself *cough*). bleh
On aside note, I never played online so I didn't bother going over that part but I'm sure its as good as every other 'we need to add multiplayer because people wont shut up if we don't' mode.
I want to download the music, dear god I could listen to the menu music in mgs4 for days on end.