Snake? Snake?! Snaaaaake?! 

Title: Metal Gear Solid 4
Publisher/Developer: Konami/Kojima Productions
Platform: Playstation 3
Release Date: 06-12-2008
Number of Players: Single-Player (MGS4)/ 16 Online (MGO)

Looking back again at the goodies we received as gamers in 2008, I can’t look past Metal Gear Solid 4, no matter how much I try. I never did get around to writing a first review and for that I have shamed myself. Hopefully, I can rectify that today. Where to even begin on what has to be one of the grandest, most epic scale games I have ever had the grace of playing? 20 years of Metal Gear. I remember my 8-bit, glory days. In fact, I’d would say that some my earliest gaming memories entail Metal Gear. I am not sure I will be able to keep this review to my characteristically short review form (that was sarcasm). Every so often a game so huge, so massive, so ginormous comes about that there’s just no way getting around its grand details.

Let me start out by saying, “Thank God for Blu-ray”. While I didn’t tally the precise minutes down, I would say there’s almost a full movie’s worth of cinematics in Metal Gear Solid 4. That fact alone would have frightened me if it were on good, old DVD. Of course, being on Blu-ray doesn’t afford you the ability to sneak by with the world’s fastest load times. In fact, you’ve heard it and you’ll hear it again, be prepared for the mandatory installs. Note, I did not say “install”. That’s because, on top of the initial install which took about 11 minutes on my PS3, you are looking at roughly 3 minute installs between each of the “Acts” of the game, 5 in all. Now once you can get past that, however, you are in for the gaming ride of your life.

Before I digress too much here I am going to give a general word of warning: I am going to make a lot of Metal Gear references here. You may know some, you may not. If I took the time to recant the history of Metal Gear you’d be reading a 200 page novel, not this review.  So bear with me because understanding the mind of Hideo Kojima can be a daunting task.

Snake’s old, real old. Okay, well, he’s not really old, but he sure feels that way. Due to FOXDIE and a God knows how many other viral infections Snake has rolling around in his bloodstream he has been prematurely aged. Enter Old Snake. As I said, he’s technically not old per se; as much as it is his body has been aged at an accelerated rate (the smoking probably doesn’t help either).

In Metal Gear Solid 4, Liquid is back with a vengeance. Here we go now, the part with a lot of references. Take a deep breath with me. Liquid Snake and Solid Snake are clones from Naked Snake, a.k.a Big Boss. Let’s not confuse either of them with Solidus Snake who was yet another clone. Naked Snake was considered to be one of the best soldiers ever, so to continue his genetic legacy, the clones were made. If you wonder why Liquid does not look at all like his cloned brother, Solid Snake, in Metal Gear Solid 4 that is because that is actually, and more accurately, Liquid Ocelot. Confused yet? Keep going. Liquid Ocelot was created when Revolver Ocelot, under the employ of Solidus Snake grafted the left arm of Liquid Snake onto his own body. How’d that happen? The FOXDIE killed Liquid Snake.

But how did Revolver Ocelot become Liquid Ocelot? The arm had a mind all of its own! (Cue creepy music). Liquid’s consciousness lay dormant in the arm, worming slowly into Ocelot’s mind until finally, Liquid got bored and took over Ocelot’s body entirely. Voila, Liquid Ocelot is born. Now I won’t even get started on who or what the PATRIOTS, Foxhound, and Outer Haven are. You’re just going to either have to play the games or spend some time on Wikipedia.

So, let’s stick with Metal Gear Solid 4. Snake, now dubbed “Old Snake” is called back into action when Liquid’s plans to destroy the PATRIOTS once and for all and gain control of the world are brought to the surface. Poor Snake, who should be sunning in Miami by now, is press-ganged back into work. But who better to combat Liquid than his own “brother”, Snake?

Let’s pause for an intermission. Here is where I would tell you the story details behind Metal Gear Solid 4. However, this would also be the point where you probably either fell to sleep, got confused, or got bored and went to go shoot something (hopefully in a game). Look, the plot is complex and long. It was written to tie up so many loose-ends in the series and finalise the “condition” of several of the series’ characters. The brief summary would be that Liquid has gained control of one of the PATIOTS’ AI systems, GW, and with it can control the nanomachines that control most military, paramilitary and private army forces and their equipment. One man, with all the power.

At the heart of it, Metal Gear Solid 4 is a stealth-shooter game. You’re more than welcome to just play it as a shooter, hosing down everything that you see before you, but you would really be missing out what “Metal Gear” games are really about. I mean, without sneaking you’re going to end up with a very lonely cardboard box. That makes him sad.

Of course, if you want to forego all the sneaking and creeping you are going to miss out on one the greatest new weapons in Snake’s arsenal: Octocamo. Even now when I replay the game I find myself finding new areas to lie down or lean against while taking cover just to see the Octocamo copy the pattern as closely as possible. The Octocamo, as the name implies, is part of Snake’s new combat suit, which also augments his strength. Much like our little cephalopod friends, the Octocamo suits will mimic its surroundings, thus allowing Snake to blend in and become virtually invisible (or a statue with a VERY odd hand placement).

Weapons, weapons, weapons! More than the previous installments in the series, Snake has virtually the entire collected stockpile of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Administration at his disposal. This is enhanced by Snake’s new, yet freakishly attached to his monkey… no that wasn’t a euphemism, friend, Drebin 893. As standard faire with the Metal Gear Solid series you are offered a variety of lethal and non-lethal weaponry. Of course, don’t go expecting to use a .50 sniper rifle in a non-lethal fashion.

Drebin 893 is a weapons broker. As all weapons in the Metal Gear-verse have now been locked down by nanomachine ID coding, thus ensuring only the right people can use the weapons, Drebin 893 is an underground gun launderer. One you make his acquaintance you start earning Drebin Points, a currency used to buy new items or weapons off Drebin 893. The guy comes equipped with an APC that has a shockingly similar Octocamo system and, oddly enough, a leather hot-pant wearing, hairless monkey. Hey, don’t say I never warned you that there were some odd things in Metal Gear Solid 4. Eye… have…you.

In this installment, which is allegedly the last, of the series be prepared to run into just about ever familiar face from the Metal Gear Solid series. I’d list the cast of characters, but that’s almost a full page in and of itself if I included their descriptions and first appearances. Remember, for all intents and purposes Metal Gear Solid 4 is intended to conclude the Metal Gear Solid storyline and all those of the characters embroiled within. This is why I am telling you that some of the cut-scenes are worthy of pausing, making some popcorn, grabbing something to drink, and sitting back to enjoy. You’re welcome to skip these cinematic cut-scenes at any time, but doing so your first time through would be a big mistake.

Entrenched within these cut-scenes, to keep you on your toes, are two forms on interaction. The first is nothing more than switching to a first person perspective during the cut-scene to look at things from Snake’s point-of-view. The second interaction, however, is much more critical. At key moments during the cinematics you will be prompted to press the “X” button, initiating flashbacks from the previous games. These are actual shots, sounds, and scenes from the previous games worked into MGS 4. Now you’re starting to see why MGS 4 needed Blu-ray and that install. I should note that you will also earn Drebin Points for the number of flashbacks you initiate at the end of each chapter, so you’d do well to catch them all.

Of course, the game offers flashback to the 10th degree towards its conclusion. This part may be a bit of a spoiler, so be warned. However, if you haven’t played the game by now you’ve probably still heard about this tidbit. Not only do we, as players, get to revisit Shadow Moses, the start of the Metal Gear Solid series, we also get to actually play a portion of one its levels as “Snake’s Dream”. This has to be, by far, one of the best levels to die-hard fans of the series. As Snake makes his way back to the now abandoned facility we’re assaulted with haunting sounds of the past, making this one of the best moments in gaming history in my humble eyes.

The voice acting, as always, is superb. David Hayter reprises his role as Snake showing astonishing talent in lending life to a fictional character. Fans might recognise other voices throughout the game such as Steve Blum (Cowboy Beebop), Phil LaMarr (Futurama), Nolan North (Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune), and Lee Meriwether (Batman and former Miss America). It’s been suggested by fans that a Metal Gear Solid movie should be made, but I will tell you right now that I don’t see a need. The lengths Kojima went to with the game itself is just as good, if not better than any movie they could make. Matched with a score written by Harry Gregson-Williams (Shrek, Chronicles of Narnia), the cinematics themselves could be watched concurrently (with a little filler, of course) as a movie.

The control scheme of the game should be fairly familiar to any fans of the game. Those who are new to the series will be able to pick it up quickly enough. L1 aims, R1 shoots. L2 opens the inventory window, whereas R2 opens the weapons menu. Movement is controlled with the left analog stick while free-look camera controls are managed by the right analog stick. When in combat that player can choose between 3rd person and 1st person perspectives with the click of a button. Obviously, the latter comes in handy when making those precise shots.

As a nod to the Playstation 3, one of Snake’s other new toys, the Mk III, is actually controlled by a PS3 controller in Snake’s hands. The Mk III is a knee-high little remote robot which allows Snake to scout areas, while it is cloaked, from remote. Also, the Mk III plays a pivotal role as this is Otacon’s primary method of assisting Snake in the field. I’d stop and explain who Otacon is here, but fans to the series already know. New fans won’t find it taking too long to figure out who Otacon is either.

Of course, I couldn’t finish this review without talking about Metal Gear Online. What is Metal Gear Online? Welcome to the 2-for-1 that is MGS4. Included with the game is a fully-functional, online component for multiplayer action, free of charge for both the game and the service.

Metal Gear Online offers several modes of online play:

Deathmatch- Which is pretty self-explanatory
Team Deathmatch – Same as the above, but as a team now, people
Capture Missions – Which pit teams against one another for control points.
Rescue Missions – Teams take turn attacking or defending a spot with no respawns.
Base Missions – Which is similar to Capture Missions but now have several control points.
Bomb Missions – Which pits an attacking team with a bomb against the defending team.
Team Sneaking – Which puts the attacking team, equipped with stealth equipment, in the position of attempting to acquire targets from the defending team.
Sneaking Missions – Team up against Snake himself to collect as many tags as possible or kill Snake a set number of times.
Interval – A more free-for-all mode that does not impact ones online statistics.

While Metal Gear Online is certainly not the strongest multiplayer game out there, the fact that it is A) set in the Metal Gear Solid universe and B) free makes it one hell of a bargain. Regular expansions for MGO are planned and the Gene and MEME expansions have already been released offering new character slots, models, and tournament entries.

The controls for Metal Gear Online function pretty much the same as MGS4, of course. Players are ranked by their wins, defeats, and other statistics. MGO ships with 5 multiplayer maps, and the expansions offer the player to take on “Special Character” roles, in which they will play as key player characters from MGS4. The only downside that really irked me in MGO was the region locking for online play. This means that players can only compete against other players within the same region in which they live. Given the times, I really didn’t see a logical reason why I couldn’t play against players from all about the world.

The Review:

Story:

I am not going to lie to anyone here. Hideo Kojima is probably the only human being on this planet who fully understands the entire scope of the Metal Gear storyline. Nonetheless, it is about as epic as you can get in a video game. Personally, I found myself getting attached to and feeling sorry for several characters throughout the game. In a lot of games, story is maybe 30% of what makes the game. In MGS4 it’s definitely a 50/50 split. The story is key to the life of the game and it is done well, period.

Gameplay:

There’s an occasional moment where you might shout “No! Lie down, don’t roll!” or something along those lines. But other than that, the controls, as designed for the game, work perfectly. Creeping along in the grass, camouflaged by my Octocamo suit while waiting to take down and enemy target never got old to me.

MGO offers the same control scheme. The only complaint I have and have heard lodged is the slow movement of the characters during gameplay. This is because no one is ever sprinting head first into bullet-fire like other multiplayer games. The movement speed is more akin to the Rainbow Six series of games and it suits the environment of the game well enough.

Music/Sound:

With some of the best voice acting ever to grace a game console/platform, MGS 4 offers award winning work. Harry Gregson-Williams’ score rounds out a fantastic game. Tunes such as “Old Snake” and “Father and Son” are fantastic pieces of music in their own right, let alone to be included in a truly epic game.

Graphics:

Some may agree, others will argue against me, but in the end Metal Gear Solid 4’s graphics are about as top-notch as you can possible get… in my opinion. I had the joy of playing the game through on a 42” 1080P HDTV and it was stunning at every turn. The only area of note where I saw flaw were the “jaggies” on the shadows, but this is something I see in God knows how many games. For that alone, I will not fault MGS 4 for this.

The Good:

Roughly 20-22 hours of gameplay, depending on difficulty and player speed, offer a great length game that is augmented by the inclusion of an online game as well. Story and acting that is head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to just about every other game on the market.

The Bad:

At times you might feel like you want a little game with your cut-scenes, but you can always skip the cut-scenes if you just want to get back into the action. The load time of roughly 3 minutes between each act might annoy some players, especially given the 11-13 minute mandatory, initial install.

The Ugly:

MGO could use a bit more support and region-locking needs to be removed, period. There are Metal Gear fans all over the world and locking us away from one another is a poor idea.

Overall:

Metal Gear Solid 4 is by far one of the best games I have ever played in over 25 years of playing video games. Two games for the price of one with an entire movie (with all the cut-scenes counted) thrown in make the game worth every penny you could spend on it. MGS 4 is a game that can actually evoke an emotional response from me (other than tossing my controller in frustration) and I count that as a massive achievement.

Final Vote: 10/10 and winner as my choice of Game of the Year for 2008