Judging from the site’s recent history, you may well be familiar with Sarcastic Gamer’s ability to obtain exclusives on the latest things in the tech and gaming world. Last year, Doc and Lono were invited to Microssoft HQ to get a first-hand look at Surface, and were given the faceplate that’s up for grabs in the birthday card contest. I don’t think we were quite expecting to get Metal Gear Solid 4 early, as by coincedence I’ve received it before I was meant to.

Giddy excitement follows after the hop-skip-leap-jump!

So, picture the scene; the suburbs near Glasgow, 9am. Not that easy to picture, but just think average suburbia with more rain and you’ve pretty much got the idea. I wake up, stifle a yawn, as you do, then go downstairs and check the post. There’s a parcel from Play.com, who I preordered MGS4 from as they’re usually pretty prompt with their releases; I didn’t think they’d be as prompt as this.

Had a little feel of the parcel as you do (again) and realised it felt the right sorta shape for a PS3 case; a little bit smaller than a DVD case but the same breadth across the way. “No way,” I was thinking, as anyone would. Grabbed a knife, ripped the parcel open, and there you go:

Right there, in my hands, one fresh, brand new, not-meant-to-be-out-yet copy of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I’m unsure of whether the sleeve is a first-edition-only kind of thing, or whether it’s a deal with Play.com (since they were the sole UK distributors of the full-fat special edition, which I missed out on) but either way, it’s pretty classy. And it’s much, much better than the US box art. Sorry guys, but it just is.

What then followed after the ‘unveiling’, so to speak, was a stream of excited profanities too strong to be printed on what you’d probably consider a PG-13 website. As you’d expect from a 17 year old gaming nerd, there was also some hopping around and slightly cringeworthy giggles of hysteria. It’s probably a good thing I was home alone. But then again, I was sitting here, knowing that outside of the press I was one of the first people in the world to have this game. And that’s a pretty sweet feeling.

Of course, the 8 minutes for installation that then followed were anything but. Watching Snake light up and smoke for eight whole minutes was agonising simply because I was gawking at how good it already looked, and he was only smoking a damn cigarette. Of course, the moment it was done I was straight in there for 3 straight hours.

Unforunately, 3 hours was all I got since I’ve been learning to drive and I had a lesson scheduled for noon today, because I’d assumed that it wouldn’t get in the way of MGS4 arriving the next day. So much for that, eh? Then, purely because I’m such a kindly soul, I’d volunteered to assist a school with their annual variety performance so I was out for the rest of the day operating spotlights and organising microphones. Now though, half an hour after I got home, I’ve been able to come in, sit down, and play some more. Well, I would be if Lono hadn’t e-mailed me asking me to write this article, dropping in a remark along the lines of “lucky b*****d”. It’s all a conspiracy, he just doesn’t want me playing it before him!

Of course, my dedication to this site (again, being the kindly little soul that I am) is driving me to, for one of the first times ever, simply dive headfirst into a game and get it finished, so I can have a review up for you in the coming week. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time I grabbed some nutritional supplies (that’ll be some powerbars and a lot of cola) and retired to my own little mancave. I will leave you now with Snake confirming Metal Gear Solid 4’s PS3 exclusivity and this simple message: it’s going to be a very, very long night.

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