Review: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Konami launches this the fourth and final chapter in the Metal Gear Solid series which features not only the incredible storyline of the single-player game, but wonderful multiplayer gaming as well.

Some movies tuck in a four or five minute tear-jerking moment at the end of their brief two hour existence, but imagine what sort of emotions you could evoke with an eighty hour epic to work with. Woven together from four episodes, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid is truly the magnum opus of interactive storytelling of our time. While some may be daunted by the prospect of long cut scenes, especially when they’re deeply emotional, the experience is entirely worthwhile. Of course, there’s plenty of great gameplay in there too, augmented, rather than sidelined, by the story.

For the uninitiated, Metal Gear Solid dubs itself a “tactical espionage action” game. It’s a third person game, with a mix of sneaking about and shooting things. The game features an extensive inventory of weapons and gadgets to help you get your job done, ranging from silenced tranquilizer pistols to rocket launchers. The game quite generously adapts to your personal play-style: you can sneak through every level and never kill a single enemy (except the bosses, of course), or you can blast your way through every obstacle, leaving a trail of destruction in your wake. Most players find a mix of the two that suits their preferences (I tend to sneak and snipe).

One of the driving points of the Metal Gear Solid series is the story, which comes to its climactic conclusion in MGS4. I won’t make any attempts to summarize the plot, as it is far too complex for the scope of this review. However, I will say this: it is very satisfying for fans of the first three games, incorporating numerous key elements from the previous story arcs and wrapping it all up together, while at the same time being presented in a manner that is understandable to someone who hasn’t played any previous games. Although any serious PS3 fan will have a 60gig unit capable of playing the previous three titles, a casual fan looking for a solid PS3 title can safely pick up Metal Gear Solid 4 and enjoy it without having played the first three titles. It just might not have quite as much of an emotional surge though, without having experienced the climactic moments of former games, like the epic struggle between The Boss and Big Boss.

Metal Gear Solid 4 does make some changes from the previous titles. The biggest change was to the camera system. In previous MGS games, your camera was fixed, although you could switch into first person mode to look around. Unfortunately, in first person mode, you couldn’t move. This meant that if you couldn’t get a clear shot from your current position, you’d have to switch into third person, move to a new location, and switch back to first person again, having to re-acquire your aim from the point of view you had in third person mode. All in all, it was a complex and often frustrating system, making it exceptionally hard to acquire targets on the move.

Metal Gear Solid 4 re-writes the whole camera system by letting players move their camera freely in third person mode, and move their character around in OTS/first person mode. One of the bigger differences in MGS4 is that, when you hold your aim/shoot button, instead of putting you straight into first person, the camera simply orients itself over your shoulder with a general reticule indicating your line of fire. Pressing the triangle further puts you in first-person for more carefully aimed shots or views down your weapon’s scope. The result is a far more smooth and seamless combat system, making it far easier to run and gun or acquire targets after moving to a safer location.

Another change was made to the way you interact with your environment. An ‘interact’ button performs all your actions, based on a small silhouette at the bottom of your screen. When you get close to a wall, it shows Snake hugging the wall for cover. Press triangle, and Snake moves into the wall. The silhouette then shows him moving away from the wall. Press triangle again to move out. Of course, you can always walk away from the wall to disengage, adding an extra layer of intuitive controls to the new scheme. Hopping up on crates is also accomplished in the same manner.

The weapon system also saw a significant facelift. Now, every enemy you defeat drops the weapon they were holding. You can pick it up and take the ammo, and sell the weapon to Drebin. Drebin is a gun launderer; he buys the extra guns you collect and in return gives you “Drebin Points” which you can spend to get new guns, mods, and ammo. This market system adds another layer to the game, causing you to have to pick and chose which weapons you want to unlock earlier on in the game, but by the end you’ll have more than enough points to get every gun. On the other hand, one fun feature was taken away: you can no longer double-tap R2 to turn your weapon on and off to instantly reload it.

There are now five difficulty levels to the game, ranging from very easy to an unlockable (by beating the game once) very hard. My first play was on medium (the ‘normal’ difficulty) and I found the game to be challenging without being too frustrating (well, a few parts were, but they were the exception, not the rule). It resulted in a very satisfying experience. The range of difficulty levels ought to make the game both accessible to novice gamers and hardcore players alike. As in previous MGS titles, after beating the game you can re-load your clear data and play the game a second time with all your weapons; I absolutely love replay modes like this.

Sadly, one of the more adorable features of previous MGS games has been dumbed down in MGS4: the codec. Gone are the lengthy conversations about inane things accessible by contacting random people on your codec in the middle of the mission. Now, all you have on your codec is Otacon and, later, Rosemary. A few other people contact you from time to time, but you can’t call them back. The save feature has been moved to a button on the main menu rather than a codec call, which probably was a good idea, but now no one can tell you about a movie they saw every time you save the game.

On the other hand, now you get an iPod, which lets you listen to music while you ninja your way about the game. Included in the selection of songs, most of which you have to find as secret items strewn about the game world, are official Metal Gear Solid podcasts. Very cool stuff. Though, as they admit in their own podcasts, the first time through the game you’re more likely to be using the Solid Eye or other functional items than meandering about the battlefield with your iPod on.

Not unlike most PS3 games, Metal Gear Solid 4 features an install of the game. However, I was very disappointed with how it was handled. There are two layers of install: a big install when you first play the game, and small installs before each act. I thought that this was meant to break down the total install time, and after beating the game it would be fully installed and I could just play whichever level I wanted. Not so. The second set of installs, before each act, OVERWRITE each other. This means that every time you go to a different act, including going back and replaying the game, you have to RE-INSTALL that act. There’s no option to do a full install. This was a major point of contention for me. I would much prefer all the data installed on the HD.

My only other complaint was a lack of a ‘kill endless waves of badguys’ bonus mode, as seen in Resident Evil 4. This would have been a fantastic addition to MGS4, given the improved combat system, but instead all you get is a basic shooting range against dummy targets. On the other hand, you do get Metal Gear Online.

Metal Gear Online is the multiplayer component to Metal Gear Solid. It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s like a whole other game. It’s like buying Half-Life and getting Counterstrike. And best of all, it’s free. No monthly fees, no access fees, no Xbox Live subscription garbage. Just sign up on Konami’s webpage for a game ID and play. It’s fast and easy and ever so fun. The game runs really well, too, and reminds me a lot of Counterstrike with buying gun load-outs and all the different game-play modes, ranging from deathmatch and team deathmatch to sneak, capture, and control modes. In fact, Metal Gear Online alone is worth buying MGS4.

There’s really so much to say about MGS4, but I’ve tried to stick to the best features of the game. The story speaks for itself. I could spend pages going on about all the memorable characters and events in the game, but I’d rather you found them out for yourself. And, aside from the irritating installation system, the game is perfect. Certainly the best game on the PS3. And, if my friends are anything to go by, MGS4 literally worth buying a PS3 for.

Pros: 1080p graphics, greatly refined interface, incredible epic story, MGO is great multiplayer.

Cons: Installation system requires you to re-install every time you play a different act.

Score: 9.9 (out of 10)