Those of you that remember playing the first Metal Gear Solid game available for the original Playstation may remember the battle against Psycho Mantis where he was “reading your mind” and always knew what you were doing until you unplugged your controller from Port 1 and plugged it into Port 2. It looks like Kojima’s hiatus from controller hijinks is over. Metal Gear Solid 4 has a few tricks of its own…

[SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW!]

We spoke to one of the few US journalists that have played the full game and under condition of anonymity, and they agreed to divulge a few gameplay elements that gamers have never been exposed to before. Although most folks laugh at Sony’s implementation of motion controls, after playing MGS4 with the DUALSHOCK3 controller, you just might change your mind!

Those familiar with Metal Gear games know that you’re likely to spend a good portion of the game crawling around on your belly, using cover to conceal yourself. Our source says that about a third into the game, gamers will encounter “an amazing” level where you’re crawling underneath moving robotic tanks. The level can be played using the normal control method, but you can alternatively unlock in-game assets by completing the segment using Slither Snake mode.

Slither Snake mode utilizes two DUALSHOCK3 controllers (SIXAXIS won’t work since rumble is required) and you basically mimick crawling with a controller in each hand (picture a surfer paddling out to meet a wave.) Kojima’s team was able to accurately gauge direction changes as you simulate crawling. The catch? The screen will be completely obscured by dust, your surround sound system will be nothing but a giant rumble, and you’ll be judging directions based solely on the intensity of the rumble in each hand. If the rumble gets stronger, you’re nearing the treads of the tank driving over you and you need to turn the other way. This control method is unlike anything our source has ever seen or heard of and amazingly, it’s reported to work very well.

Another interesting twist in the use of controllers has been dubbed The Snake Eye. It has been reported that the Special Edition and Limited Edition of the game will include a custom black eye patch “strap” with some latching mechanism to hold the Playstation Eye camera in place. This will mark the first Playstation game to use a camera as a moving input device.

Unlike most EyeToy/PS Eye software, what the “Snake Eye” sees will not be directly displayed on the screen, but instead it will be used to show things as they are analyzed; very much like the scenes from Terminator 2 and 3 where you will see your surroundings analyzed in realtime. While the length of the USB cable on the PS Eye may seem to be worrysome at first, apparently being close to the screen is important for the illusion to best immerse you in the gameplay. Owners with larger displays may be better served with a USB extension cord to back away from the screen some.

The last innovative use of controllers involves the use of a Bluetooth headset and was dubbed Snake Bite. There is a level later in the game (no plot spoilers, simply gameplay mechanic spoilers) where Snake is being tortured during an interrogation. This section of gameplay is completely driven by voice input. The Snake Eye strap has two elastic loops that allow you to attach a DUALSHOCK3 controller to each side of your head.

You are then instructed to close your eyes during gameplay (the display goes black anyway) for immersion purposes. You interact verbally with the interrogator with various physical acts against you being simulated by the two DUALSHOCK3 controllers vibrating against your temples and the sides of your head. This section of the game may take anywhere from 10 minutes to days depending on how you play it out. The catch? This section is dynamic and isn’t the same each time through and there is no saving your progress midway through it. If you’re not giving the in-game interrogator the information he wants to know, you have to keep endure more torture to progress. While the controllers’ rumble may not seem like much, after an hour of it on your temples, it can really get to you according to our source. Apparently, during the focus testing of this portion of the game, retired military interrogators were brought in to observe and were quite surprised at how effective and realistic the method used in-game was.

When asked about how long the controllers kept their charge, we were told that an in-game voice would instruct you to plug in your controllers (while still being worn) if the batteries get low. Any thoughts of simply turning the controllers on and sitting them down can be tossed out the window. Extremely subtle rumbles periodically need to be verbally identified, if this identification doesn’t happen, the interrogation doesn’t proceed. Until the interrogation is over, you don’t get back to the normal gameplay. By far, this proved to be the most unexpected, shocking, and powerful aspect of the new gameplay revealed.

If you check the official Playstation Blog entry for MGS4, the last sentence references checking back on Monday, April 14th for a very special surprise “in store” for you. Our source indicated that one of these new gameplay mechanics was likely to be shown on the new Playstation Store Monday, but whether we would be getting actual code or a video was unclear. Check back here for more information!

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