Metal Gear Solid, the marmite of the gaming world, ask any gamer and it will be black and white, like it or hate it. Either way this is a constantly massive selling game and shows no signs of changing its style.
For those of you who are new to the game, you control Snake, voiced by the now very famous David Hayter. Snake is a badass one man army, genetically engineered and involved in a generation spanning battle against terrorists wanting to use the Metal Gears for world domination. This game promises to finally tie up all of the loose ends from the other stories and give the players a gaming experience they will never forget.
I had played the first two games in the series and thought they were great, however for some reason I could not get into the third in the series, in fact I was really worried about this game, hoping that it was not more of the same, but after playing MGS4, I can happily say its all back to normal.
The game is presented in the near future, Liquid Snake has resurfaced and Snake and his team are trying to take him down. Like all MSG games expect a massively disjointed storyline, with plenty of twists and turns, also expect to see a lot of old characters pop up at some point. To make the most out of this game you will be required to have some previous knowledge (not essential), as thought the game there are references made to previous plots and characters, there are flashbacks that you can activate with the X button during the cutsenes, but again you need some previous history with the game to know what is going on.
MGS4 again blurs the line between films and games, the lengthy cutscenes are well acted, all of the original cast member return to reprise their characters. The cut scenes are always the area that splits the gaming community, people feel that they are not playing the game as much, however I felt that this just brings you closer to the game and the surrounding characters. Also for the first time the cutscenes are almost on equal par in terms of graphics to the game itself.
MGS4 is essentially a sneaking game, the main aim is to get through the game without being spotted, if you do, all local enemies will converge on you, they will also call for backup, here you need to either fight it out or find a hiding place, such as a box or under a car to wait out the alarm to die down. Once the initial alarm has dropped the guards are still on cautious. Once this time has passed you are clear to go on safely. Even though this is supposed to be a sneaking mission (Otacon will remind you of this frequently), there are parts of the game where you are in a full blown street war, here all your weapons come into play, and there are plenty to use, these are collected from fallen enemies and also supplied by Otacon throughout the game. You can collect weapons from the floor however some of these are ID locked, thankfully though this is were a weapons dealer called Drebin comes in handy as once you meet him you can trade and purchase new items and upgrades for your weaponry.
To keep the hardcore fans happy there are loads of new additions to the game. I won’t mention most of them as they will essentially spoil the game experience, however a few neat additions include an Ipod that you can use to listen to tunes that you pick up along the way, there is also mention of using your own tracks on the PS3 harddrive, but that won’t happen just yet. Another great bit of product placement is a Playboy mag, place one of these on the floor and watch the guards get put off by it, allowing you time to sneak or attack them without harm or setting off alarms. You also have a Metal Gear Mark 2, this little fella is controlled by Otacon and follows you around. You are also able to control him by selecting it as an item, here he can traverse the battlefield, use a cloaking device and scout for possible threats. Finally, the eye patch seen in the demos all over the net is in fact a Solid Eye, this item allows Snake to switch between infrared and battlefield info, this is where each item will be highlighted, enemies will be red and allies blue.
The Codec makes a welcome return, this time it has full video, so you can see who you are talking to. Also worth a mention is a great little touch I noticed playing around with the options. You can switch in game Codec messages to your bluetooth earpiece, so rather than coming out over the speakers, Otacon will talk directly to your bluetooth device, a truly great touch of realism.
Controls are the same as always, R1 and L1 operate the weapons, R2 and L2 bring up the quick select for items and weapons. The Start button brings up a map that has some really helpful objective markers, plus you can go to Snakes backpack and select more weapons and items, check you mission brief and also use the Codec.
The levels and boss fights are really huge as always, with 5 Acts to play through, each one is separated further into smaller areas, meaning that this game will take a while to play through. You also have 4 difficulty settings, with another opening up on completion of the game.
The graphics and sound on this title are truly premium, there is nothing even close to it on any console at the moment, the surround sound is engrossing with effects of full on battles taking place all around you to the more subtle sneaking areas, where you listen out for footsteps of approaching guards.
As well as the main game you also have the completely new Metal Gear Online. Once you have gone through the lengthy process of installing and updating (approx 9 min), you then need to register a Konami and Game ID, thankfully this links straight to the required site. Set up these and you will go to the next set up area, designing your character. There are a few models to choose and customize, but not really enough to keep your player original, I think maybe Konami will release some new items in the Metal Gear Shop, for a small fee of course. There is a lot of setting up to go through before you start play, about 20 mins worth, however once done you are ready to go. In the game lobby you can choose from plenty of options including Training, here you are given the basic moves and also short training on the CQC and SOP actions that are not used in the main game. You can also be trained by another online player, offering you direct hints and tips to improve your game. To play online you can choose from starting your own game or joining up in an existing one, the lobbies are quite laborious to get through, however this is there to fine tune your experience and ensure you play against the right level of player. There are 5 maps to play through, and each one has a choice of 7 mission types, making sure there is plenty of variety. The levels themselves are well made, offering plenty of cover and also trigger points were well organised players can set ambushes in tunnels and the like. You have the usual deathmatch and team deathmatch, but there are also the sneaking missions where it’s all against one, the idea is for the player playing as Snake to take down and collect as many dog tags as possible. Team Sneaking is sees one team in full stealth camo and while needing to capture certain objectives. Rescue, Capture missions and also Base missions finalise this great list of online styles. Whilst most of these are fun, I feel the team deathmatch will be played the most as this is the most engrossing style.
As far as online communication goes there are a few selections, you can either use a keyboard and type or use the select button in game, choosing from a pre-selected group of commands, like fall back or cover me. The server itself seems capable of dealing with a large amount of people and I had not experienced any lag whatsoever during play. The graphics and sound again are as good as the main game itself.
In the end I cannot recommend this title enough to fans or newcomers. All who play will be engrossed by the great story and action. There are so many ways to play this game, full on action or slow paced stealth so everyone is happy. With so many cool little touches, this game will take forever to get through and experience it all. Even the naysayer’s who feel this is not really a game but a long movie will have to shut up and take note as this truly is what the PS3 is all about....At last an epic title that the console can be proud of.
