It’s Metal Gear Solid 4 week here at Sarcastic Gamer, or at least it seems that way lately. Well, here’s my two cents… I just finished MGS 4 and I’ve got to say… what a ride. In the end, the only criticism that really could be had with the game is that it gives you TOO much. The question then becomes, is that really a criticism? Too many weapons, too many ways to deal with obstacles, too many cut scenes, and the biggest gripe: that the cut scenes are too long.
Does any of that hold up, or is this the hands down contender for Game of the Year, so far…? Let’s check out the facts and try to be as SPOILER FREE as possible, after the jump.
I’m just going to get this out of the way… The cut scenes are too long. The mind numbing exposition filled cut scenes could have easily been edited down into smaller chunks. You know what though? In the end, it doesn’t really matter.
The game is just so filled to the brim with stuff to do and ways to do it. There’s so many ways to arm yourself with either lethal or non-lethal weapons. You can simply run and gun your way through the game, or play it as an old school sneak fest. I played through it with a bit of both, as the situation dictated. I barely used the Mk II, and as I sit here, I don’t think I ever used it, where I wasn’t just messing around with it.
You can befriend Militia, or leave them alone. You can take hostages and use them as a shield. You can do SO many things in the game, it’s mind boggling. This excruciating attention to detail even carries over to the cut scenes. The combat in the cut scenes are painstakingly performed and entertainingly choreographed. The character models are a sight that I haven’t seen on the Xbox 360. The Octo camo is brilliant as a gameplay mechanic. I could go on and on… If you played it, you know what I’m talking about.
Simply put, this is THE most polished, almost flaw-free game I have ever played in all my years as a gamer.
As an example, when playing the game through to completion, it’s hard not to play through the last two Acts and say, wow. Kojima really turned the tables as far as gameplay is concerned and when everything comes to a head at the end of each act, you’ll be doing things in the game you’ve only dreamed of. The gameplay forces you, to a certain extent, to feel as the character feels. I know it sounds absurd, but if you’ve crawled through the micowave oven in Act 5, you know what I’m talking about.
It’s four years of hard work, painstaking attention to detail and an obvious and genuine love for the source material that has obviously carried MGS 4 to it’s rightful place as best PS3 game, including Call of Duty 4.
And I haven’t even talked about Metal Gear Online yet. Best game ever? Well, that’s certainly open for debate, but Most Polished Game Ever?
Hands down… absolutely.
My vote for Game of the Year… so far.
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14 responses so far ↓
1 SWSilentkiller // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:13 am
Lono I have to agree with you, this game is indeed very polished and the microwave oven scene was epic.
2 Ratchet8clank // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:17 am
i agree. MGO used to suck until i discovered sniping. I RULE
3 Sean "Rothbart" Workman // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:33 am
Wow, way to give us a warning that there’s (one?) spoiler in this post… microwave oven? Thanks… :-/
But back to the topic at hand… I’m about halfway through the game and unless some freak alignments of the planets happen… some “perfect storm” of gaming… I don’t think the question even needs to be asked if MGS4 will be game of the year… it’s evident now. I don’t think the bar in polish has been raised, I think the current bar was used as a launching point for the new mark MGS4 set… six miles higher.
It’s easy to focus on all the new and cool things Kojima pulled off, but it’s also easy to forget the little things he nailed too… fingers… the fingers on the characters in this game look… *gasp* realistic! The mouths… the characters have realisticly lit mouths, they don’t have radioactive teeth or look like they came straight from a rave with glowsticks shoved in their gums… skin, wrinkles, cleavage, etc. Character models in MGS4 top most games’ cut-scenes and these were all in-engine.
The sound work in the game was also top notch. Very rarely do I run across a game where the surround sound actually gave me spatial awareness as a player… MGS4 is probably the best implementation I’ve ever heard.
Lono, you nailed it on the choreography… the fight scenes at the end of Act 2 are things I can’t even imagine Hong Kong cinema pulling off with all the wire tricks in the world… they’d HAVE to be done via CG and MGS4 made it gorgeous.
I can’t go on enough about this game and I’m not even done yet… the cut-scenes are long, yes… but they’re intentionally exhaustive. Not to exhaust _you_, but to carefully and meticulously tie up all the loose ends of the multiple epic games that preceeded MGS4. I noticed a couple times I used the CODEC to call Otacon and he’d give me short tips, but on the 4th or 5th time (I was seeing if he’d repeat his tips quickly) he broke into this 5-6 minute exposition on war, oil, government and how they’re all tied together… the depth of information available in this game and the amount a single playthrough probably misses is stunning. I can’t think of a more comprehensively presented game.
Is MGS4 perfect? I’m one of those “no game is perfect” guys… Did MGS4 just knock every other “perfect contender” down a notch? No… it knocked them down about FIVE notches. It is exactly what it was intended to be (even though the scope of that is enormous) and there is so much polish on this game, I need subglasses and SPF-40.
Game of the Year… confirmed!
4 Tenudin // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:36 am
Yeah the act 5 final scenes were truly epic. I remember after seeing some of the scenes, I was thinking Snake would welcome death over enduring some of the things he went through to complete his mission. IMO this is the best send off any game icon has ever gotten in terms of a quality final appearance. Long cut scenes or not. This game has set the new benchmark for production quality and has truly shown the promise that this generation has to offer. Waiting for the delays while Kojima polished this game to the near perfection that he did was well worth it. I’m glad he took the Valve approach and said it’s done when it’s done.
5 SWSilentkiller // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:39 am
Something I forgot to add in my previous post.
This game would not only win game of they year but if their were a category for Story of the year I think MGS4 would win hands down.
6 Kiltman67 // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:39 am
I’ve been fine with the cutscenes, only really found one so far that I felt was in any way unnecessary and even that was short: the sailor in act 5 revealing he had no combat experience.
I agree there’s too many weapons, or rather there’s not enough difference between them. Maybe I’ve just been biased by CoD4 but the differences between each weapon just seem trivial and I never really felt like I needed to swap between machine guns or between rifles in different situations.
The game is gorgeous though, just wish I had a bigger screen to watch it on. Being critical though, I did feel as if some of the textures in Act 4 were a little “nostalgic” (without giving away spoilers).
7 Lono // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:45 am
I dunno about “Story of the Year.” The story is pretty ridiculous, although extremely intricate.
I’m not saying it’s necessarily bad, per se, but I wouldn’t go and start calling this game the Schindler’s list of video games or anything.
8 Eddiemilz // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:58 am
tatally agree. i’m 95% sure this is guna be GOTY. there are a few releases later on in the year though that could give it some good competition.
…i want cod5 to be a contender. i hope trayarch don’t f’ up
9 Eddiemilz // Jun 19, 2008 at 10:59 am
*totally
10 Meresin // Jun 19, 2008 at 12:37 pm
The sound alone won my Game of the Year title. It made me glad that I dropped some change on a decent 5.1 system.
11 cell989 // Jun 19, 2008 at 1:36 pm
This game made me cry, in the same way LordOf TheRings:ROTK made me cry too. Its the last one we get to see Snake in, its the last episode where everyone of the characters finds closure. The ending to me is awesome. One particular Act is just mesmerizing and full of nostalgia, I almost cried in happiness and I thank Kojima for letting me experience such work of art. Its epic, its emotional, its GAME OF THE YEAR MATERIAL.
12 Kyle // Jun 19, 2008 at 3:21 pm
*interupts the glowing priase fest*
I think this game should win the, (BDiPbVCotY) Best Defecating in Pants by Virtual Charcter of the Year (BDiPbVCotY). Hands down.
Good job Kojima, he really loaded those khakis.
*closure of interuption*
I agree totally, it’s GotY, and everythign else is goign to have an uphill struggle to beat it. Only thing I am wonderign about is Little Big Planet, but it seems too casual for GotY. Or possibly Gears of War. Not that I’d agree with eitehr winning voer MGS4.
13 anthonyjh // Jun 19, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I can say honestly, that I have never cried while enjoying any film, TV show, book, or song. But I cried at the end of MGS4.
The game play is fantastic, the story (while absurdly long winded) is one of the best I have seen in a game. I’ve always loved the MGS series, and 4 was a fitting farewell. Loved the game.
I really enjoyed the mini review, good stuff. Though the “microwave oven” bit is kind of a spoiler…
14 FOR WE ARE MANY // Jun 20, 2008 at 6:41 am
Definitely THE GAME OF THE YEAR.
one of the best games of all time,if not the best.
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