“All about Metal Gear Solid 4”

[Marcus Dublin]

So with MGS4 just a few days away I thought I’d start this thread for the Metal Gear lovers out there. I’d like to use this thread for those who are either planning on getting it, playing it, or just into it:D. I for one can’t wait and I’m trying to clear my schedule for it’s release day, and like many other gamers out there I’ve been waiting for MGS4 before even purchasing a PS3! With that said make sure to check out some of the cool media floating around for the upcoming release.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Mgs4us_cover_small.jpg

Game trailers has an awesome “Metal Gear Retrospective”, this will bring fans new and old up to date on the series: http://www.gametrailers.com/retrospective.php

IGN has put together a cool before and after of the Metal gear trailer and how the look of the game has change throughout the course of it’s development: Metal Gear Solid 4 Showdown: 2006 vs. 2008: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/880/880025p1.html

Series Creator / Hideo Kojima Interview: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/878/878984p1.html

A kick ass MSG4 AMV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UamnTY3_0n8 ;)

[-JL-]

I'm definitely looking forward to it... I love these series. :)

And just a few weeks ago I finished MGS3:S in almost one sitting after not playing it for a almost a year. :p

[JacqueChoi]

I can't believe I'm actually going to be buying a PS3 for this 1 game.


Anytime between now and the 12th of a confirmed 360 version, I'll delay the PS3 purchase till God of War 3.

[Marcus Dublin]

I can't believe I'm actually going to be buying a PS3 for this 1 game.


Anytime between now and the 12th of a confirmed 360 version, I'll delay the PS3 purchase till God of War 3.

Well there are a host of solid PS3 titles out now like Drakes Fortune, Heavenly sword, Ratchet and clank, Motor Storm, Warhawk, etc. Now that I'm getting a PS3 I'll finally be able to pick these games up as well.:lucky:

[YdoUwant2know]

Well there are a host of solid PS3 titles out now like Drakes Fortune, Heavenly sword, Ratchet and clank, Motor Storm, Warhawk, etc. Now that I'm getting a PS3 I'll finally be able to pick these games up as well.:lucky:


You can skip Heavenly Sword. With only 4-6 hours of game play it is a great rental but in my opinion, not worth the price tag.

Surfing online and found the back cover. Apparently you will need to install like 4600 MB onto your PS3 to play it. WTF? :eek: A four and a half gig install on a console game?

On the bright side, it looks like up to 16 player online.

[Marcus Dublin]

Well I've already played and beat Heavenly Sword at my friends house and I liked it enough to pick it up at a cheap used price, the same goes for Lair "wonky controls and all":). When it comes to the MGS4 install, well welcome to the future;). Don't get me wrong I think It sucks as I'm really not used to installs on my console games but if it cuts down on loading then it's all good with me.:D

You can skip Heavenly Sword. With only 4-6 hours of game play it is a great rental but in my opinion, not worth the price tag.

Surfing online and found the back cover. Apparently you will need to install like 4600 MB onto your PS3 to play it. WTF? :eek: A four and a half gig install on a console game?

On the bright side, it looks like up to 16 player online.

[Satya]

Yeah, I've been waiting forever for MGS4, as you can see my avatar is the Naked Snake himself. Well first thing first though, got to get me self a PS3:cry: !

I just hope there's no lame Raiden surprise like in the second title, though. Good thing the third one kicks a$$!

Been downloading prevs of MGS4, looks pretty darn sweet.

[Shadownami92]

Well Raiden seems to be in it, and as far as I can tell he's no longer a pretty boy ninja. :D

I really can't wait for this game, I already have a PS3 and the graphics and really high resolution textures look amazing.

It's also got pretty nice controls which I really like in a game. It's also fun since it's one of the only game series that somewhat plays out like a movie.

[Marcus Dublin]

I just noticed that Game Trailers had a number of other vids, enjoy: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/1743.html#Content :D

[butt_sahib]

Im one of the greatest fanboys of the MGS series...so ill probably be teh first in line at the release! D:

[Kalango]

the mustache sells everything! Totaly loved the past trailers...lets see what it ended up with :p

[Jono-GHOSTWORKS]

Raiden seems to have had some sort of accident.... no lower jaw is kind of creepy if you ask me.

As for surprises, there will be tons of them, I'm sure.

This and FFXIII are the only things that'd make be buy a PS3. I heard it uses more power than a fridge!!!

[Satya]

Well anybody who got the first chance to play it, please just tell us about how good it is, don't tell us about the surprises?! ~ thank you.

[LowRez]

Well the guy sat next to me at work got his last night, so has played a bit and won't shut up about it.

To sum up what he's said, if you like metal gear you'll love this, its awesome apparently.

[Marcus Dublin]

I'm on my way to my local Game Stop to pick everything up:D, I'll share my thoughts on the game in a few days!:D

[GrM]

The game is so totally awesome, and lives up to all the hype. I wasnt even planning on getting it, but my girlfriend convinced me to get it while she picked up GTA4 (we felt we had resisted that one long enough). So far I've played about 5-6 hours and it has me hooked. The cinematic feel is awesome, the gameplay is great, and the art is superb.

[Marcus Dublin]

So it's 4:30 am my time :eek: and I'm dreary eyed, I'm roughly 10 hours into MGS4 and all I have to say is WOW:thumb:! I'll elaborate more when I get a good night or should I say morning sleep.:yawn:

[ShadyD]

Raiden seems to have had some sort of accident.... no lower jaw is kind of creepy if you ask me.

As for surprises, there will be tons of them, I'm sure.

This and FFXIII are the only things that'd make be buy a PS3. I heard it uses more power than a fridge!!!

I don't remember exactly what, but as a huge MGS fan, I can tell you that he needs that suit to stay alive. Something in his blood i believe. You can see that his complexion is also much paler.
What i'm even more interested in is.. how did young snake end up in there (Another enfant terrible??)!? And meryl!? And Big momma!!??!
Blargh! I need to save money!
To anyone who currently owns the game, please don't answer my questions =P.. i'd like to discover the answer myself, as i'm sure would the others reading this post.

man.. I'd be embarrassed if proved wrong now, after calling myself a fan.

[Marcus Dublin]

Well I finally finished MGS4 and all I have to say is that it totally lived up to my expectations! Hear are my thoughts about the game as a whole:

Graphics:

Yeah I figured I'd get this out of the way first. So how does MGS4 stack up to COD4, Assassins Creed, Gears of War, GTA4, and all of the other top tier next gen games? Quite well actually and in some ways surpasses the other titles with it’s sheer elegance! MGS4 is a "beautiful" game that does a great job at using its engine to create an engaging world from a purely visual standpoint. The art assets used in the world are well crafted and very consistent throughout, it's hard to look around the environment and spot anything that doesn't quite fit! Like some of the games I mentioned earlier MGS4 has a sense of polish that most if not all developers shoot for but only a handful seem to achieve. Another plus in the visual presentation worth mentioning is the post processing and FX used throughout the game. Unlike a number of titles out there that seem to go overboard with colored filters, bloom, HDR, etc. MGS4 goes the path of less is more. Yes the art staff at Konami uses the latest bells and whistles quite liberally but it’s all with a purpose to set the mood and tone and doesn’t beat you over the head with it’s “look what I can do tech”. A perfect example of this can be seen in act 2 where Snake is in navigating through a sun drenched environment similar to that of MGS3. Everything has a photo quality to it yet maintains a sense of artistic charm and poetic license.

When it comes to character art in games I’m pretty anal as I look for flaws and to see what could have been done better in the context of the world, well I’m pleased to say that the characters in MGS4 are some of best 3d models ever put on screen. Snake along with the rest of the cast carries a sense of believability while maintaining a slight Japanese anime flare, the art style never goes too far in either direction and the overall tone of the game befits from this fact “Team Ninja can you hear me”. That being the case I believe Kojima and co. have reached a middle ground that will appeal to both eastern and western tastes without turning off either. Last but not least is the character and mechanical design work of the game, which is in my opinion second to none! Yoji shinkawa and co. have pulled out all of the stops and their designs will be admired and imitated for years to come. Everything from Snake and Raiden’s outfit to the beauty and the beast crew screams sex appeal and style, not to mention that the Metal Gear Geckos are simply the coolest since the ED 209!

Presentation:

MGS4 is has a lot of cut scenes, I mean a lot! That being the case they have to be both entertaining and engaging to sit through which they are. In terms of production values MGS4 has the best cinematics in gaming history with Heavenly sword coming in a close second. The level of direction and acting is inspiring; Kojima and co. make great use of mood and timing within their shots cutting to people places and things at all the right times. The voice acting is also top notch with David Hayder as Snake adding just the right amount of tempo and bravado to an aging Snake. The same can be said for the rest of the cast who all do a fine job with there respective roles. All in all MGS4 like the past games of the series will serve as the benchmark on how in game cut scenes should be handled and I think the industry moving forward will be better for it.

Music and Sound:

The MGS4 series has always taken its inspiration from modern Hollywood action flicks and this game is no exception. Harry Gregson-Williams and co. have crafted an absolute masterpiece, everything from the opening “old snake theme” to the “love theme” performed by Jackie Presti casts a foreboding shadow and mood over the whole game. The music does a great job keeping the player engaged from the heavy game play moments as well as the many cut scenes. If anything I would highly recommend tracking down the soundtrack and listening to it as a stand only piece of art, it’s that good. Next up is the sound design, which at a first listen comes off as your standard fare but as the game progresses you’ll notice how dynamic the 5.1 sound mix really is. Everything from the gunfire, explosions, to the Metal Gears sounds terrific and is an aural treat. I can honestly say that I found my self-turning my head to my rear speakers on many occasions. Overall the sound work is right up there with COD4 and Frontlines and I'm sure will garner a good number of awards come game of the year time.

Game play:

MGS4 takes a bit of a departure in terms of its game play and control mechanics when compared to the rest of the series, as much as I love the MGS series I always felt the controls were cumbersome! Well thankfully Kojima and co. have fine tuned and streamlined the control schemes for a new generation, gone are the days of pressing four buttons to stop drop and roll as things feel a bit more intuitive. The same can be said for the new camera options which changes the game play up as well, I love the RE4 inspired over the shoulder look since it makes combat a lot more fun. Speaking of Combat it seems MGS4 gives you the option of “playing it your way”. This time out you can run and gun or play it as a pure stealth game, I’m guessing this was done to appeal to the many “FPS” fans out there. Of course in my humble opinion I think MGS4 should be played the way it was intended, as a pure stealth game but I can see how playing it as a straight up shooter could be appealing. This is especially the case since you can now buy weapons and ammo on the fly. That being said it’s cool to see the developer at least giving the player options!

Story:

Well all I can say is you either buy into the world Kojima and co. have created or you don’t, plain and simple! MGS4 doesn’t pretend to be anything but a love letter to the fans, and as convoluted as its story is does tie up a number of loose ends. It was great to see some returning characters from the earlier games as well as the birth of a few new ones. One thing I would love to see in future Metal Gears is the exploration of Raiden’s character, given his ending it seems that he has more to live for and that creates greater depth to what was once a hollow character. Of course at the end of the day it’s Snakes story and it’s great to see it finally come to an end, speaking of which has to be one of the most satisfying heart felt endings I’ve experienced in a game to date. The ending in my opinion ranks right up there with some of the best the industry has to offer, games like Panzer Dragoon Saga, FF7, Shadow of the Colossus, God of war, Zelda OoT, Okami, POP Sands of time, come to mind. With that said after 20 years of playing the Metal Gear games I’m going to miss ol’ Snake, he’s easily going to go down as one of the greatest characters of all time and filling his shoes won’t be easy. Now I can only hope that new chapters “without Kojima” of Metal Gear games is just as engaging and entertaining as the games of old, as a gamer and as a Metal Gear fan I believe we’re in for some interesting times indeed!


Well Time to play through the game again, see ya!:)

[ShadyD]

nice review.. Even though i haven't played mgs4 (Yet!) i'm hoping Kojima is just fooling us again and is already secretly working on mgs5.. *dreams on*

[JacqueChoi]

The MGS4 80gig PS3 bundle packages are sold out (why the hell would megachains like Futureshop **aka Best Buy** order only 10??).

I've gotta wait 2 weeks till I can get my MGS4. It's GTA4 and Puzzlequest till then.

[Marcus Dublin]

Gametrailers has the last installment of the Metal Gear discussion up on the Bonus Round, enjoy: http://www.gametrailers.com/bonusround_list.php

[Shadownami92]

I'm going to have to make sure to get this game, I'm glad they took the alert circle thing from the Zone of the Enders games and put that in there. I've actually heard lot of people complain about it though due to cut-scenes and being too much like a movie.

[Marcus Dublin]

Hey Guys make sure to check out the "Beauty and the Beast" womens photo shoot;), it's both creepy and cool at the same time! Not to mention you can get up close and really appreciate the modeling that went into these creations, top notch stuff: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35257.html
By the way you can access the other girls on the right hand side of the page towards the bottom.

HD Link to all the vids: http://www.gametrailers.com/game/1743.html