Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
The one thing that really makes it all go a little downhill on the storyline is that, the story. It's so convoluted that it's hard to keep everything straight. Old Snake, Young Snake, Liquid Ocelot, and many, many more just make the storyline way too confusing at some points and require a second viewing to really get everything straight. The humor and tons of inside jokes just add to the whole experience as well. It takes itself seriously but makes fun of itself as well. The voice acting and script are very soaked in Metal Gear cannon which is great for people that have been playing the Solid series since our PSone days. But that's Konami's parting piece, I mean come on, think of anyone else that could pull of Hayter's voice for Snake. The one thing I love about this game is the musical score. It's amazing. The songs transition from action to happy to somber perfectly. The sound effects are also top of the line. The chatter of machine guns, soft footsteps of a sneaking Snake. It truly is amazing.
The gameplay mechanics are familiar to old MGS players but it's much better this time around. It's much more rewarding to the player in CQC and in firefights. The melee controls are streamlined now and are no more of the 'grab baddy, baddy counters, death'. It's easier to kill or knock out an enemy which used to be so frustrating I more than once broke a controller. When you are in a gun fight you feel like you are really making a difference to the fighting. There are tons of weapons at your disposal, everything from the .45 Operator we all know and love to, RPG's and mortars. But everything looks and feels like it's supposed to. It's also just as rewarding to not get involved and just sneak around the fighting. You can also use the iron sights if you want to or customize almost every weapon to use scopes, lasers, or whatever else you find.
The evasion mechanics also feel tight and spot on. Crawling, crouching, hiding behind walls, looking around corners, and hanging off a balcony. The picking off an enemy when they're looking the other way is very rewarding. All the Otacon gadgets also make life easier for you when you are sneaking around trying to get to your objective. The OctaCamo suit is the most used and one of the most fun. Wearing the suit and hugging the wall or floor will mirror the texture of whatever surface you are on. Which makes it one of the most used and most essential part of the game. It's gorgeous to look at and helps you evade the bad guys, and some of the textures you can use will bring back memories. The other major device is the Solid Eye which acts as a sonar device on your compass, information readout on your hud, and night vision goggle. Of course the old gadgets are back, such as the cardboard boxes and cigarettes. But some of these new gadgets just get in the way of the game. For example the iPod is completely useless as you can't have another gadget equipped while using it. I don't know what the guys from Konami do but you can use and iPod and the Solid Eye at the same time, one uses ears the other my eye.
A few things do stand out from this title, one is the many different styles of play. You can sneak, you can shoot, you can blow crap up. But it all requires a basic thought of getting to your objective. It's not like they made a stealth game and added some shooter elements, or an action game with stealth sections. It isn't the old games where if you get caught you might as well resign to the fact that you are going to die and restart where you last saved. It's tough to get out of the pickle but not impossible. Which makes it all the better when you do get away. Another aspect of the game that distinguishes itself, but to a lesser extent, is the stress levels and psyche of Snake. There not health levels exactly but they do add an element that just makes it a better. The more stressed out Snake is the less accurate he shoots, so sniping is out of the question. He also groans more which makes enemies easy to find you, and therefore harder to get that perfect game.
Of course it doesn't matter how you go about playing the game if the enemies AI actually uses the incredible level designs to kill you. Say you decide to use a cardboard box to hide from you enemies well if it wasn't there two minutes ago they'll wonder where it came from and investigate consequently blowing your cover, but if you act fast enough and nobody sees it happen, you can knock that guy out. If you are in a full blown firefight you will have enemies flank you, use cover, throw grenades with pin point accuracy, and overwhelm you with brute force. Each level is linear in design but you have different choices to make with these levels to get where you need to go and explore the differences in each level. One of which is such a wonderful trip down memory lane it'll make you remember why you fell in love with this franchise, and the resulting boss battle in the swirling snow is one of the best in gaming lore. This battle requires you to think about tactics while evading the patrolling units and tracking the boss.
The online multiplayer in MGS4 creates a very pleasing gaming experience but it's pretty cut and dry. Deathmatch battles are pretty much the staple but it isn't your normal online FPS. Cardboard boxes don't help of course, but evasion and tracking are essential but you have to take your opponent down with firepower instead of CQC because of the camera which renders an element of single player useless here. There are many other styles of gameplay but they are simply rebadged versions we all know and love. It's also a real pain the butt to get an account to actually do these online gaming features and I suggest you do it just for the experience of customizing your avatar and the sheer number of people actually playing this online.
If you were not a fan of the MSG series before this release, this one won't change your mind. It will however make you realize that gaming technology has come leaps and bounds since the first MGS release over ten years ago. If you love the MGS series like yours truly then you really don't need to read this because you already know that it kicks major ass. And when the story is done you wonder if it actually will be the last one, because the story is impressive but not as impressive as this behemoth among titles.