Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
Developer: Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
Platform: PlayStation 3
Purchase Date: 06/12/2008
Clever and funny mandatory installation screen.
MGS4:GotP is definitely the first real PlayStation 3 game. It sure has the best graphics yet on the gaming consoles (yes, Crysis on the PC is still better looking). The production value is up through the roof, as evident from Hideo Kojima's exquisite directing, quality soundtrack as well as voice acting, and the weird high resolution full motion videos found lurking about within the game. But is it really fun to play?
The most artistic video game main screen ever, for sure!
I have only played around 5-6 hours into the game and as you can see in my Daily Game Log, I haven't gotten back to MGS4:GotP after the first several days of purchase. The fact of the matter is, Hideo Kojima is talented but confused. Playing this game is really like watching a movie. I will clarify that there are definitely long sections of gameplay found here but Kojima's focus seems to be on the cinematics rather than video game aesthetics. Basically, he shouldn't have made this one into a game. It should have been made into a very, very long movie... Maybe an anime series.
The transition between in-game cinematics and real gameplay is flawless.
Another proof that we don't need any more full motion videos in video games.
Touted as the final chapter in the Metal Gear Solid saga (let's see how long that statement is going to last), players get to control an older Solid Snake who seems to be down on his luck. When his arch enemy, Liquid Ocelot, is found in the Middle East, Snake is sent there on a mission to stop him once and for all. Once the players can finally control Snake, the familiar espionage action gameplay commences. Just like the previous Metal Gear Solid games, the best way to proceed through the game is to crawl/duck/hide away from enemy detection on your way from point A to point B.
There are definitely a lot that can be enjoyed from this game. Though the plot is so convoluted, cheesy, and selfishly self-serving, it is still admittedly engaging with the real-time cinematics rivaling the best of the summer's biggest blockbuster movies... Assuming of course that the player is ready to be overwhelmed by information and dialogues so detailed, it puts the highly demanding biblical and philosophical references in Xenogears to shame. There is an online multiplayer tactical shooter included - I haven't tested this yet since the patch download is so ridiculously slow. As grand as this game may seem to be, with the gaming media so eagerly willing to assist in its hype, the importance of gameplay always triumphs over the misguided ambition of a confused designer who always wanted to become a film director but ended up making video games instead.
FIRST IMPRESSION: 3 out of 5
1 comment:
I did like the way the game was played and the look and feel of it.
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