MGS4 is an astonishing multilayered experience unlike any other.
Great graphics, amazing sound, beautiful music, addictive game play, innovative stealth mechanics, through the roof production values, Hollywood level cutscene direction complete with the latest shaky camera techniques, state of the art motion captured animations, quality VA, all these are part of the MGS4 package but what really makes the game the experience that is is, is the story and the way it ties and concludes this behemoth saga.
At its surface, the game tells/continues the story/rivalry of two brothers (Solid and Liquid), one good and one bad. In MGS4's universe, nanotechnology is fully mastered and the world is run by a shadow organization called "The Patriots". This is basically the stage where the play takes place, literally ;) The story takes you to 5 distinct locations throughout the game, each representing a different stage in Liquid's world domination plan. I'm not gonna go into specifics as i really wanna keep this mini-review as spoiler free as possible, but i'll only say this: !prepare! as you'll be in for quite a ride, both epic and lyric.
There are action sequences that will literally leave you breathless and sweating, there are over the top sequences that will leave you with a big smile on your face and thinking out loud "ok, now i've seen everything", and there are dramatic moments that will leave you with misty eyes even if you are a bold tattooed bad ass gangsta's cousin. The game plays with the gamer's emotions by going from humouristic and cheesy to profound and dramatic in the blink of an eye, always keeping the distinct charm present throughout the game and series.
There is no other story focused game on the market comparable to the level of professionalism displayed in the MGS4's story sequences. Every shot, every zoom, every focus shift, everything is motion picture level and the fact that they are rendered on the fly by the PS3 is even more mind blowing. I am a videographer myself and in all honesty MGS4's cutscenes could easily be the subject of study at the Film School, they're "that" good. The story itself is very elaborate and succeeds in effectively creating believable characters and motivations. The phychology is very deep and deals with a lot of different situations and profoundly humane character reactions when faced with the given contexts. There's heavy emphasis on exposition, in the classic manga/Kojima style, but in the end, all the more rewarding. As with all truly great stories, there are things you are told and things you are left to discover for yourself. There are always pieces of the puzzle scattered throughout the game whether they are in the form of a word or simply a look which can change the meaning of an entire scene. There are many layers of depth in both main story and sub plots as well as many brilliantly interlaced themes and anti war messages that really make you ponder on the futility of it all when related to the real life we live in.
Underneath it all, it is ultimatelly a pondering on the very things that make us human, with all the good and all the bad. "Life is something to be treasured" and it is never too late to take a step back and look at what our true values should be.
So, almost everything about MGS4 is mind blowing, whether we are talking about its story, gameplay, boss fights or technical achievements, this one is for the history books. I said "almost" 'cose there are some issues, like the individual chapter installations, some stiff animations here and there, lack of movie theater and boss rush, and some other stuff that ultimately should really not bother anyone as they do not affect the core experience all that much if at all.
Very few stories ever achieved it but with MGS4, Solid Snake's saga comes to an end in full glory. It is the "ultimate" Metal Gear Solid experience !
10/10
The PlayStation 3 may not have been the strongest generation for Sony, but there were still some diamonds in the rough that deserve a revisit as PS5 remasters.
Even if they could just remaster and put on PSVR2, some would still look great as VR titles and could do a whole lot to bolster the headset w these exclusives! I'd imagine the investment of reworking these titles into VR would be way less than building new games from the ground up, and they could be amazing experiences, and VR often makes flat games feel fresh again. The Resistance and Killzone games are particularly what I want to see!!
I played killzone 3 in 3d and it really changed the game per being immersive.
In vr, that would be even more awesome.
Funny you mention that... my son wanted to play some PS3 games in 3d on my PS tv and he was blown away by how good KZ3 was. It really was a great addition to the game. Im surprised there have not been more 3d games from that era being ported to the PSVR/VR2.
resistance 1-3, killzone 1-3, uncharted 1-3, uncharted golden abyss, folklore, socom 4 , motorstorm, twisted metal, MAG, heavenly sword
Killzone 2+3
Sly Thieves in Time
Crack in Time
God of War Ascension
Motorstorm
Modnation racer
Infamous 1+2
Killzone trilogy in VR would be amazing bonus points if they offer shadow fall.
There was a psvr1 Killzone project that supermassive was working on at one stage which wasn't up to scratch and Sony brand it back in house I was hoping we would see that on psvr2 eventually.
Personally I'd love to see some more love or acknowledgement of psvr2 from Sony in general it was a expensive headset and Sony barely acknowledge it's existence
The amount of work needed to remaster these games wouldn't be beneficial on a financial and business sense.. MGS4 would probably be the best bet as it would need the least amount of work!
The time is perfect for a resistance fall of man game campaign coop multiplayer
The resistance series is str8 trash to me. Socom 3 I would welcome. Or killzone MP.
Resistance was ok but Warhawk and Starhawk was better and kept me coming back for almost a decade of fun and petty revenge on the loud mouth unskilled players 🤣
Edit I loved capture the flag dropping the pot on the flag carrier was extremely satisfying as well as transforming your plane in bot form and stumping them to death 😱
An article looking at the symbolic meaning behind the cigarettes in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
Game creator Hideo Kojima is and probably will always be best-known for his creation and stewardship of the Metal Gear series at Konami, which since his departure has been more-or-less on permanent hiatus (don't mention Survive). In his almost three decades these games evolved to the point where they predicted certain problems of the information age (MGS 2), took aim at contemporary topics like Guantanamo Bay (MGS: Ground Zeroes), and ended on a profound sense of sadness about our species' inability to break the cycles of global conflict (MGS V).
It's not clear what sparked this reflection, but Kojima's been thinking about Metal Gear Solid 4, an entry that was (and unfortunately still remains) a PlayStation 3 exclusive. In that entry the player controls an aged Solid Snake in the year 2014, caught up in a civil war being fought between Private Military Companies (PMCs).
To this day, it's one of those games where I refuse to skip the cutscenes, no matter how many playthroughs I've done.
But if you ask me...MGS2 was bloody prophetic and has aged like fine wine. That game was blasted as the weakest entry, and yet it's so enduring. I replayed it some time last year and it was remarkable.
Heed not the lamentations of people that say that MGS2 is bad because of the Snake/Raiden bait and switch. Every MGS game has its own merits, and while most people consider 3 to be the best, they all shine equally in my opinion.
@sad
I would generally agree but with the exception of MGSV. It had truly excellent gameplay/combat, but dull and largely empty open world(s), and a narrative that is literally only half finished.
I really wish Kojima hadn't tried to go open world with MGS. It just wasn't right for the series. But I get it. He didn't want to make MG anymore but he wasn't allowed to make anything else. So he had to experiment within that franchise. Still, it was the wrong direction.
I have been thinking about this a lot, MGS2 being the weakest and getting blasted.
My conclusion, for some years now, it's my favorite game of the series.
Going from MGS1 to MGS2 was such a big leap, in graphics, mechanics, etc.
And now it's even more relevant for being 'bloody prophetic' as you stated.
Maybe dust of my vita and play it again...
It's a shame we never got a remaster of MGS4. The original game only rendered at 1024x768, and it ran anywhere from like 20fps to 60fps depending on the area. A remaster could have very easily cleaned up the visuals and performance. It's such a great game. I just want to play it again but in its best possible state.
I agree, but they did all sorts of tricks to make use of the ps3’s cell processor….they’d probably have to rebuild the game in order to make it run on another machine. And, if that involves remaking those cutscenes somehow, then itll never happen, unfortunately.
Nah. There have been plenty of remasters of PS3 games and they've turned out fine. It can be done.
War... war never changes. Or does it? The war has changed ...did it? The answer is no! Unless it is yes! No, of course it is! Is war! Yes! No! Yes?
He was always ahead with this series. MSG1 taught me about the importance of passing on our genes into future generations but in a responsible way, for they are bound to what we experienced in our lifetime. Sons of liberty taught me about global control and simulation runs to test society in a grand scale, the importance and dangers of control of information. MGS3 taught me about patriotism and how that can blind you into doing things you never would have otherwise, all for the sake of politicians who only see you as another pawn in their grand scheme of things. MSG4 taught me war is inevitable and always orchestrated because it's great for the economy. Soon simulation systems will start dictating who goes to war and why, all run through proxies. Privatization of military company are already here. We already started to see how a small group of elites dictates everything that happens. Nothing is done, nothing happens without strings being pulled.
All that was literally the themes and core story of each game, so not surprising he learned that from MGS. Metal Gear Solid 2 in particular is so relevant today, it was more than a decade ahead of its time and a work of genius. Kojima saw what the digital future was going to become when it was in its infancy. Even MGS 5 despite being unfinished and less of a traditional Metal Gear Solid game with regards to story, had a fair bit to say about language and control over it that is relevant today.
It's a highly acclaimed series for a reason, and one of my favourite.
I've watched my brother play the MGS games, but I only beat MGS1 myself on the PSP in 2014, and MGSV in 2016. I took the themes and plots as lore, tbh.. trying to piece together the story of MGS rather than relating them to our current times.
It's definitely social commentary, Eidolon. You should read the "themes and analysis" section of the Wikipedia page for MGS2: Sons of Liberty for a start! Game was heavy on this.
I'll take a look, thanks. Actually might pick up MGS2 again (PS Vita), It's been years since I last played. Might start a new game tbh.
MGS2 literally predicted digital manipulation of information that we see today all the way back in 2001. MGS2 became Zucc's playbook.
Yes back in 1998 when I was 13. Throughout the years more information has been shown on this subject matters, but go back to early 2000s and information wasn't as prominent. Kojima was ahead of the game
If it wasn't for the retconning of how FOXDIE works, including clunky scenes with Naomi and Liquid, MGS4 would be a perfect game. There are so many gameplay options. It felt like us PS3 owners got something truly unique and special.
Nice review, basically the same thoughts/score as mine(*HINT**HINT*). :)
Thank you very much, this review reflects my sincerest thoughts on the game. I initially wrote a much longer review, but ultimately chose to massively edit it so it would be more accessible to anyone who wants to know about the game but doesn't want to spend an hour reading ^_^
Truly an amazing game.By far the best i've ever played.
The only series to actually pull me into the story and care about the characters.