Title: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Console: Playstation 3
Rated: 18+
Warning: This review may or may not contain spoilers. To be on the safe side, read this after you've gotten to a certain point of the game (Around 3 hours in).
Storyline/plotThis is what the MGS games excel at: The plot/story. I can not get enough of the amazing storyline. It beats even The Darkness in more ways than one. 9 years after Shadow Moses (MGS1) and a few years after the Big SHell incident (MGS2), Snake is called into action once again. Why? Because Liquid Snake (aka Liquid Ocelot) is planning to take down The Patriots using a system that almost literally controls soldiers using nanobots. This mission takes you to a few places in the world rather than one. You show up in the Middle East and South America and other destinations. However, regardless where the destination of the mission is, the objective is the same: Find and kill Liquid Ocelot. The story seems simple at first but then it refers (a lot) to past games so it's definately a plus if you've played the previous games. As if that's not enough, this MGS game still has all these wonderful plot twists that just blow you away sometimes. In MGS games, you should come to expect the unexpected. But you can never expect the twists that Hideo Kojima throws on the table.
10/10GraphicsThe graphics are pure brilliance. The makers really put extra thought and care into each and every aspect of the levels and overall details. No doubt that the word awesome is an understatement.
10/10Gameplay and DifficultyThe gameplay lacks length. There is no doubt that cutscenes take up more than 50, maybe 60% of the game. It's more like a movie sometimes. Personally I can't complain, I love cutscenes. But this is a game, not a movie. The game controls are slightly different than before. From what I can see, you can no longer shoot without aiming your weapon first. But you shouldn't be thinking TOO much about weapons, after all, this is supposed to be a stealth game, and taking out enemies with non lethal force is cool if you do it right. Ofcourse most of the trademark stealth moves are still there and som new moves exclusive to MGS4 has been added. And in the stealth factor, it's quite good despite sometimes it's better to just walk over and shoot all the enemies without a supressor on the gun or just man a mortar and bomb your enemies to oblivion. Even so, the stealth part of the game is very well done and it's the most fun part of the game. It's a lot easier to hide now since you got this thing called "Octocamo" which automatically (yes I said automatically) changes the suit color pattern and texture to match the background/floor you stand leaning on or lying on. The amount of guns you can get and fire are vast and varied. Cool thing is, you can customize your own weapon and put on a few things.
As for the difficulty level, there are 4 settings. These have been given names that I don't remember right now. Theres 4 but I only remember "Liquid Easy" and "Big Boss Hard". Liquid easy is...very easy. For noobs/newbs however, it may prove a challenge but that's it. Enemies on easy are such pushovers! One shot in the leg and they die, no joke. I know it's supposed to be easy but still. Anyways, having 4 difficulties is perfect for veterans and rookies to the game.
8/10Voice ActingWhat would we do without you David Hayter, the voice of Snake. The voice acting is brilliant! It even outclasses The Darkness, but only slightly. The voices and such are very well done in this game, no doubt these people got skills.
10/10Music & AudioThe music is great, and as if that's not enough you can actually find and use/play an ipod MP3 player with music you find in the game. I know it's unbelieavable. It's an awesome touch to the game and I think they should have done it in MGS2.
As for the audio. The gun shots, the screams, the yells, the sound effects, they've all really been done brilliantly. The sounds vary a lot sometimes and the details of the sound effects are...unbelieavable!
10/10Blood, Gore and ViolenceThis is a MGS game, ofcourse theres blood, gore and violence! They've significantly lowered the amount of blood since MGS2, but all for the better, why? Because when you shot someone in MGS2, an unrealistic amount of blood spewed out from the enemy's head. Now theres not as much blood but theres still plenty! And need I comment on the violence? It's war!
9/10HumorOh yes, this game has humor. There are easter eggs and ofcourse a soldier we've seen in MGS1 and 2. His stomache problems are hillarious and never fails to bring me laughing. Guessed who it is yet? That's right, it's Johnny Sasaki, also known as Diarrhea Johnny. He literally shits himself in one scene which is absolutely priceless! Not to mention certain codec calls and other things in the game. No worries, it's an action/drama game, but trust me, it has plenty of humor in it.
8/10Character DesignsNeed I comment? Snake, Ocelot, Jack/Raiden, the Colonel, all the designs in the game are well done and has undoubtly shown traces of the next generation. Cyborg ninjas, the "B&Bs" and all the familiar faces have been done with extreme care and excellence.
10/10Scare FactorWhen your radar is down and an enemy can be anywhere, you have to admit you can get a little nervous. Sure theres some really disturbing things in the game and the sudden noise breaking the silence when an enemy spots you can startle you, it's startled me a lot more than once. The bosses and certain parts of the game can make you nervous and you can be struck by panic if you're suddenly discovered by an enemy and you don't know what to do before he's already called for backup. Anyways, to sum it up, it's a spooky game sometimes, but it's nothing compared to Doom 3.
6/10MultiplayerTheres actually an online mode, but I haven't tried it so I won't rate it other than I'm sure it's awesome.
No rating-----
One of the best games I have ever had the pleasure to play. However, this game has 2 major drawbacks. 1: It's a lot more cutscene than game. 2: The plot can get confusing if you haven't played through the previous games. The graphics combined with the characters, voices and sounds make this game almost a reason alone to get the PS3.
Total Rating:
10/10I'm gonna go watch the whole gameplay on youtube, seeing as I can't be arsed to get a PS3. To me, it's a waste of money, but that's not for me to judge. I'll be on youtube if anyone needs me.
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