Metal Gear Solid 4

[the division of joy]

really should've played these games....

[soldier of fortune]

Its never too late, you could prob pick up the whole lot of them up off Ebay reasonable enough

[the division of joy]

I plan on doing it at some stage, i just find it hard to play older gen games when i have a ps3.... No idea why

[soldier of fortune]

heh, i still have to finish Snake Eater! I'll get round to it some day!

[The NZA]

heh, i still have to finish Snake Eater! I'll get round to it some day!

 

 

gamestop hookup got me Metal Gear Solid: Saga vol 2 DVD today, which included the private beta invite for Metal Gear Online!

i can download said beta 4/17 and the game's up from the 21st to May 5th, so uh, whatever other game's going by then will be on hold. i cant wait!

[Iambaytor]

I still haven't played any of these games beyond the original NES one. Which is sad since Sons of Liberty has been sitting neatly in between Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (Also untouched by these hands) and The Great Escape (almost finished) for like 6 months now.

[The NZA]

That is indeed a shame. just like the fact the european cover:

 

 

...is looking like its done by series artist Shinkawa, and therefore way sharper than our standard US cover:

 

 

...eh.

[Losifer]

Just picked up the MGS4 DVD today...Hope this beta is good.

 

And about the covers, I'm actually in the minority preffering the US cover. (This coming from a guy who loves 2D artwork above all else)

Edited April 7, 2008 by Losifer

[Maldron]

Just picked up the MGS4 DVD today...Hope this beta is good.

 

And about the covers, I'm actually in the minority preffering the US cover. (This coming from a guy who loves 2D artwork above all else)

 

My store said they didn't get them in today... and I have to wait until tomorrow to check again. I swear, I hope they didn't get them in a second shipment. I do not feel like getting screwed on this.

 

EDIT 04/08/08: Managed to get my copy today, to much rejoicing. Now to wait until the appointed time for downloading action. And then, face-shooting!

Edited April 9, 2008 by Maldron

[soldier of fortune]

Man i'm getting excited about this game now!!! And the european cover is kick ass.

 

Did that collectors set come out stateside as an appetizer?

[The NZA]

basically, yeah. for like $35, you get MGS 1, part 2: Substance (hard to find/expensive) and part 3: Subsistence. its an amazing deal, to get everyone all caught up.

 

im just waiting for the cover of our special edition, if its the same US one, ill just print out the euro one and slap it on there, like i did with uh, Ico and other games.

[The NZA]

 

thank christ, solid art for the LE.

also, its $85 and only available (for now) at Gamestop.

METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS LIMITED EDITION: $84.99

Featuring collectible packaging with exclusive artwork by famed Kojima Productions illustrator Yoji Shinkawa, the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition will contain everything that is included with the Standard Edition as well as an additional Blu-ray disc featuring two "making of" documentaries. The documentaries will include extensive interviews with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Soundtrack CD. The Limited Edition will be available exclusively at GameStop.

[The NZA]

Oh, shit. this is $60 but mia chewed up part of my old PS3 headset, and this is might tempting.

 

 

also, here's lookin at you, stillB.

 

[The NZA]

so yeah, was busy with this one yesterday & for the foreseeable future...all i can say is: this game is the fucking business. I waited all year, past the GTA and every other hype for it, and its delivering. Anyway, ill be scarce this week and its Kojima's fault, god bless him.

[soldier of fortune]

Oh man, i gotta get this, and soon!!!

[Senshik]

I played up to at the second chapter, when i got sleepy and had to go to bed at around 4am... also, Nick was bitching.

 

I swear this game... is fucking amazing! I love the features, the weapon customization, I like that I don't always have to be stealthy because god knows i'm fucking impatient, but playing dead comes in handy!

 

Today Nick's lucky that I have to read for my up coming finals... otherwise, there would be a civil war at home!!!!

 

[bishopcruz]

Well, spent from about 11:00 pm to 4:00 am beating the ever loving shit out of this game!!!!!!! it's a Metal Gear Tradition. Hell with MGS1 me and a Buddy had forgotten to clear enough room on a memory card, and thus had no ability to save to we played through on one LONG motherfucking playthrough.

 

Overall, it is very good, but probably still not my favorite in the series (that goes to MGS1 or MGS3) but it is better than MGS2. Oddly enough they really have a lot in common.

 

Gameplay:

I liked the overall faction vs faction gameplay though it took a while to click.

My biggest problem with it was, once it did it was over. I finally had gotten into the whole battlefield stealth thing, then BOOM, no more of that for the rest of the game. It turned into MGS1 with camo for the rest of it.

Act 2 has the best gameplay of the entire game.

 

However I DO give props to the great action set piece battles

Act 3's chase was aweosme and REX vs RAY was the ultimate badass MGS moment I have been waiting for. Seriously, I was giddy!!!

 

 

Props also for the (Act 4 spoilers)

Way that returning to Shadow Moses felt like MGS1 again. I especially liked how they re-recorded lines from part 1 without the crappy accents. I did enjoy that section of the game, but it was altogether too brief.

 

 

Still I can't helo but feel like this game had less overall gameplay than even MGS2 did. I think part of it is that each environment felt very sparse and not part of an actual world, unlike Shadow Moses, Big Shell, and Groznj Grad. It's weird, I liked the changes of environment, but missed their cohesion. I think that Kojima had a much grander vision for each environment. It just would have taken another 2 years of dev time to reach it.

 

The game itself feels extremely linear, much more so than previous games. That's a bit of a disappointment.

 

Act by Act Analysis (Spoilers for the number of acts ahead. I don't really think that's a spoiler, but if you don't want to know how long the game is, careful):

 

Again, mixed feelings looking back at it. I'll try to mark these by act as best I can:

 

Act 1:

Not nearly enough happened for me in this opening act. Meryl and Rat PT 01 were cool, but the game took a bit too long to get into its basic setup for me. Part of it might have been the fact that Kojima released basically every major cinematic from this Act in his trailers. The introduction of Old Snake was well done however.

 

 

Act 2:

MUCH better. This act had the best combination of story and gameplay in the game. The story naturally built up to an amazing conclusion and I was pretty much floored throughout. Great environments, that fit the story perfectly made this the epitome of what Kojima was striving for. The stuff with Naomi was interesting, it got me thinking as to whether Snake would make it through the game alive (at this point I was pretty sure he would.) The reveal about Vamp was good, and I liked how Otacon still wants him deader than dead.

 

 

Act 3:

Great tone, very Noir, which I assume Kojima was going for. The early gameplay was awesome, and I mention it here because it added well to the tone of the story in this act. The reveal of who the Patriots were was pretty sweet as well (Big Mama rocked!!). Here's where those 90 minute cinematics started coming in though. WOW! Really cool scene at the end of the Act but holy CRAP did that take a long fucking time. That scene could have been done just as well, if not better in half the time. I mean it left like the SOP soldiers were arriving for like 15 minutes. Also, Snake gets his ass kicked. Ouch.

 

Still the reveal of Mama's bike and some of her lines were just plain AWESOME. I was having geekgasms when Snake got on the bike and we ran through the town.

 

 

 

Act 4:

The fanboy chapter. Gameplay here was probably at its lowest level, but the fun of re-exploring Shadow Moses was sweet. Storywise, it felt a bit filler, and the game really started to enter into unintentional humor territory with the deaths of Vamp and Naomi. I mean, I had had Naomi pegged for death when Hal had fucked her earlier in the game. But WOW, talk about going out in the most devastating, yet completely pointless way possible. I don't, and probably never will, understand why she decided to kill herself. Heck her double/triple agent role had been strange enough up until now, from here it got just plain asinine.

 

Still I busted out laughing when Otacon screamed "Why does it always end this way?" He's got a point. Sniper Wolf, Emma, and now Naomi, that dude is the kiss of motherfucking death. It took me like a minute or more to stop.

 

The end of the chapter was sweet, with the appearance of Mei Ling and the Mt. Patriot mobile. Raiden also dies for the second time.

 

 

Act 5:

He got better though. This was a pretty non stop fight, though the level was short as FUCK! I thought that it would be more akin to the final areas of MGS1 and PO and well anything, Nope, one area, that's it. The Mantis return was funny, but a little odd though Campbell in that fight was FUCKING GOLD!!!!!! The story reached its conclusion as Kojima drifted ever more to insanity. The game just kept getting more and more absurd as it went on. Meryl and Johhny was silly, Raiden was comedy gold again, and how better to end a game than with a Geriatric Fight!!!!!!

 

Also, I'm prety sure that Drebin is the devil.

 

Props to the cinema that plays while running through the Microwave corridor though. It was pretty cool.

 

After that I was pretty certain no one of importance was going to die. Too many last stands, and it was getting a little overwrought. Then Naomi shows up and I realize that as usual her actions are those of a schizophrenic.

 

Then Ocelot says that he was working for the same goals as Snake the whole time. WTF??? You could have saved an old man some back pain by MENTIONING this and not trying to kill me you dick!!!!!!!!

 

 

Ending:

Ah the happy ending, and Snake blowing his brains out, which I might have bought if it wasn't for the 10 minute fucking cinema that followed it.

 

Also, Drebin as Devil? Confirmed.

 

Then we get to the meat of the Ending, the Debriefing. Ah Big Boss, it was so AWESOME to see you, just to watch you go out like a motherfucking punk. FOXDIE? Again, fuck I hate that virus. Not to mention if BB KNEW that snake had the foxdie virus, why not send Snake a note? Also, why make a version of Foxdie programmed to kill Big Boss if you are trying to keep him alive (medically at least.) Also, last we saw BB wasn't he a Terminator Style Cyborg?

 

The Debriefing entered into unintentional comedy territory when Big Boss REFUSED to fucking die. At the end I half expected him to ask Snake to turn off the oven in his apartment because he forgot before he left. Also, when the FUCK could he have planned this with Naomi, or talked with her if he was in a coma?

 

Cool seeing Big Boss, story makes no sense.

 

 

 

At the end of the Day, MGS3 still has the best overall story IMO, it just makes the most sense without having to go WTF every 5 minutes. Still, technically MGS4 is amazing, though not the best in the series, I can dig it.

[The NZA]

I'm on act 4, taking my time and loving this game like i havent in a long time. So fucking awesome, i second bish's geekgasms, the game really pays off for fans.

 

Mission briefings go on for like a half hour, and i will agree that the later bits of act 3 felt like they could've been more effective were they shorter (and the b-level dialogue/metaphors showed up after that, which i was waiting on) but thankfully so far, that's not the norm; this game's really raised the bar on cinematic & story-telling for me at this point. Even when you feel the story needs to move forward, the game tosses you fan service & throwbacks. Really starting to feel like Kojima pulled out all the stops.

 

The action's less so than previous chapters due to these cinemas or some different objectives, but holy shit its spot-on when its going, and the boss fights are fucking epic, really up the ante from before which is everything i'd hoped for. I cant wait till Mantis.

 

Again, so far, bish is picky/crazy but i have to see how it all goes down - the simplicity of 3's story is hard not to hold as a favorite, so im uncertain if this'll take that crown, but gameplay-wise, this is beating everything before hands down.

[Maldron]

Done.

 

I really don't get the obsessive fans of the game. I mention the name of a gun, I get yelled at as if I revealed who Voldemort REALLY was to a bunch of five year olds. All the reverence of faith with none of the desire to know, combines to be a huge clusterfuck of fandom that amounts to me getting yelled at because

I had to leave after mentioning I hit credits because it implied something happened.

 

 

Seriously. This game was fun, I enjoyed it, I'll do it more. But none of this game deserves such a fanatical lack of interest.

[The NZA]

Done.

 

maldron - you got some weird people angry over that, that's not saying a thing.

 

bish had some complaints id nitpick with but for the most part, we agree - there's a lot of closure to be found in the ending, and i personally enjoyed the final fight (though i do wish theydve done a bit more with the last beast battle; captain deus-ex was cool to see but i was hoping for more 4th-wall breaking).

 

The ending was indeed crazy long, especially the big payoof scene. It was amazing to see but could've used some brevity for impact. Overall, the gameply (which was slightly short next to the cutscene's length) was about the best in the series for me - the locales/settings around the world were a welcome change from the usually limited areas previous installments. Controls were definitely tighter, i only had issues with the usual rolling/crawling bits (less so, thankfully) and the weapons & customization bits were a lot of fun, i cant wait to see the unlockables.

 

Plot-wise, this was a lot more like 2 - advancing the plot a great deal but not as much with character, although kojma clearly opted for gratuitously long cinematics rather than constant codec calls. Looking at it overall, it was still a lot less convoluted than 2 overall as well. and yeah, the throwback moments were huge fan payoofs, the best of which was hands-down:

fuck off, go play the game man

.

 

So, i loved it, GOTY for me thus far easily. Gonna do some MGO soon and get ready for my next playthrough; i so want to conquer the impossible-looking Big Boss mode. I ranked Eagle this go-through, but i think it might be doable with a few attempts. We'll see.

In the end, 3's my favorite for story, 4 for gameplay. Kojima has me dying here wanting the inevitable Subsistence expansion.

[Maldron]

I'm trying to go through The Boss Extreme right now for the Big Boss Emblem. It's gonna make me cry. No continues is one thing, but no ALERTS is going to be a bitch. I try to go through without killing, so the no kill thing is fine... but just the alerts coupled with the 5 hour completion limit.

 

Anyway. Irish: End of Act 4. Epic.

[The NZA]

aw, dammit, my hardcore points are gonna be so low when you pull this off and i quit during act 2.

 

but yes, the beginning of act 4 was a special kind of awesome, and its closing fight was....well, i think ive wanted to do that since i played the NES game. I think bish came by & watched me at that point just to share the geekgasm.

[Maldron]

aw, dammit, my hardcore points are gonna be so low when you pull this off and i quit during act 2.

 

Heh. I just spent an hour getting from the first checkpoint to the second within the conditions. It's frustrating as all fuck, man. But once you learn the path, it's easy to go through, you just have to be smart and avoid alerting anybody.

 

Still. :p There's no save limit on this one, so it's more likely any idiot like me can do it.

[The NZA]

Well, i was reading the guide (dont judge, the art/lithograph sold me) and it says i should get a few weapons before giving it a go.

my main concerns are:

1) time - You basically have to get through levels quickest while still slowly crawling and going unnoticed. Also, the boss fights are insane, and past the first one, there's always enemies running around with them, shooting everything to shit. If ive a lower cap on abuse/stress/rations, i see a lot of death in my future, nevermind the fact that bosses like beast # 2 took me forever.

i wish i had a good gauge of how long's too long for certain fights/areas.

 

2) deah - so basically when you get a game over, you cant continue, right? you just have to load up your last game. that's gotta be frustrating, but i imagine its the only way.

 

3) no killing - i hear ammo on the MK is limited, and there's only so many stun grenades - how you managing, man?

[soldier of fortune]

Only got stuck into this yesterday and have progressed well in act 1, so far i'm fucking loving it, any one who's not played MGS before,should buy this game!