This review contains Spoilers.
I come to this review as a lifelong fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, I am not a 'fanboy' as I have always tried to see through mass opinion and hype and am the first to point out any games problems.
From the moment I first played the first Metal Gear Solid, I could sense I was onto something special. The writing may have been a tad melodramatic at times but the sheer scope of the game, the intrigue and memorable characters have cemented this as a truly magnificent game in gamers minds.
The second felt like a huge step up for me and while it has its fair share of detractors, I felt that MGS2 moved even closer to that level of involving narrative only seen in novels, films and a few TV shows.
The third may have superficially felt more like an homage to James Bond films, it still is a favorite of mine due to the incredible writing of The Boss and Naked Snakes relationship. Also it was refreshing to see a woman in a video game as impressive and badass as any of her male counterparts without resorting to 'teh boobz'
I realize I haven't even spoken about MGS4 yet, I have a point I'm getting at its just I had to lay down this groundwork of what makes the MGS series so damned impressive before I could make any clear points about the game.
To be perfectly honest, I'm disappointed with this game. So many things were wrong with it. From the overabundance of cameos from past characters, the terrible and culturally arrogant Americanization of the entire world (Yeah South American rebels don't usually sound like Frat Boys) to the severely misused BATB unit.
The odd thing is I still love this game, I suppose a mix of my past history with the series, the brilliant and diverse gameplay and that the cut scenes that were good, were very very good. I just think Kojima played it way too safe and then went insane.
I realize its easier to comment on Cold War politics now then current events but it made the game world feel very superficial. Having no Militiamen (or women, have they never seen anything on South American warfare?) as characters to anchor why people are doing what they're doing made it very hard to care. I suppose that may have been the point, but it hasn't been done in any prior MGS and it didn't work.
The interactivity between gameplay and narrative wasn't pushed as promised (A note to Ryan Payton, INTERACTIVE CUTSCENES!111 does not just mean pressing 'X' occasionally) A friend of mine came across the innovative idea that while fighting the beauty forms of the BATB Unit, a brilliant device were to have their touch initiate a lucid flashback, allowing you to live out the horrors of their past and truly making us empathize. A phone call from Drebin just doesn't cut it.
To be honest the first 3 acts, problems aside are pretty solidly (ha) done and despite the occasional 'FATE IS YUR DESTINYYY' outburst from Naomi, nothing soured too much.
Act 4 and 5 however seem to quickly descend into self-parody. If it isn't NANOMACHINES filling in every single plot hole with quicksand, its a ridiculous overreaction from Otacon to Naomi's death (Stockholm Syndrome induced love for Captor = justifiable, Estranged sister = definitely understandable, random woman you banged a few days ago = not so much).
Snake defeats not-Liquid, Liquid (seriously I think Kojima just gave up at this point and let fanfiction writers finish the script) and we're treated to a Spielberg-enriched ending cinematic where Meryl gets married(!), Raiden somehow gets his human body back and acquires an annoying son (yeah the Rosemary-Campbell relationship is a lot more interesting then the unneeded resolution) and Snake kills himself.
ONLY he doesn't and Big Boss is alive for some reason. I honestly didn't know how to react when the credits rolled, halfway torn between amusement and sadness at this supremely silly ending to a fantastic franchise.
I realize this was more of an essay then a review but it seems that no-one is making a measured assessment of this game. It is neither the second coming of Christ nor the videogame equivalent of Cancer. Like most things its somewhere in between. However I think because of the series supreme quality, its hard not to be very harsh when talking of it. I did really enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone with a passing interest in action games.
