Raiden did steal the show, and I honestly question his ultimate purpose. His only addition to the story is “Get Snake out of every tough situation.” and I felt a bit jipped.

Shadow Moses Island was my favorite part of the game, especially the part involving the “metal gears” toward the end of the mission.

MGS4 has alot of extras though, and its going to keep me playing for some time to come. Nice blog.

I think first off the game is simply stunning, I think it’s about the only game I’ve played on a next Gen, or indeed any console that does both third and first person perspective gameplay properly, and in a manner that’s fun. That said, one thing I noticed for sure on my second play through is just how short said gameplay actually is- I think I may be able to speedrun this game almost as fast as my best times in MGS2.

What I’ve loved about it though is the dialogue, the acting, the grand setting and the characterisation. There was a part of me after MGS2 that asked ‘Are we ever going to able to understand this mess?!’ and with MGS 3 and 4 I think we finally can.

What this game does brilliantly, is explain how and why things are linked the way they are across the entire series, and not just tying to game one and two and ignore three. The cutscenes are masterful, and I needed a good seat and a supply of stuff to keep me going over the weekend as I played it through in two sittings for the first time, it’s so addictive.

I take very much exception though to the fact that the Codec is limited so badly to just two characters, one of which(Rose) is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and twice as irritating. I understand Snake is Black-opping it up, but no Colonel?! Seriously, surely they could have gave us some sort of bone here, after all, all three prequels are renowned for the amount there is to hear Via Codec.

Again though, it’s a minor gripe. The visuals are amazing, the gameplay is awesome for what there is, the cutscenes are more epic in scope than any movie I’ve seen, and by the end I couldn’t count the amount of times I shouted ‘HOLY SHIT!’ at the screen, and that’s usually rare in single player videogaming.

Is it just me though, or did anyone else sense a lack of narrative or dialogue from Snake himself? It appeared to be Otacon, Roy, Naomi and Mei Ling with Snake offering minor input. It appears only Otacon and briefly Naomi touched on the emotional content of the aging and the short time Snake has…..Campbell ignored it, Meryl used it as a weapon to assert herself, Mei Ling said nothing about it and Raiden didn’t say a single thing about the change in Snake.

It appears you’re doing a thankless job throughout the game, which makes both Shadow Moses and especially Outer Haven’s Microwave Defense scene all the more tragic, because on first play you really do think Snake is going to collapse and break down, only for him to will himself onward.

Shadow Moses was hauntingly nostalgic, and any long-time MGS fan who didn’t at least well up a little is lying to themselves I’d say. :p

The end fight had a lousy mechanic, but the emotional dramatic content alone made it a standout moment- Ocelot KNOWS that Snake is going to kill him one way or another, but he just wants that last fight with someone said to be as good as his idol Big Boss- it really showed Ocelot in a different light, as MGS3 tried to do also, which was great.

The ending was just incredible, I was expecting a suicide and found instead some meaningful closure- closure that ensures Snake et all will be able to live in peace for once. The appearance of Big Boss, and his subsequent reconciliation with Snake is one of the most standout plot twists in any game, ever made.

It’s not perfect, some of the dialogue was Cold, some of EVAs lines were dreadfully executed, the codec is limited in the extreme, people don’t seem to treat Snake with as much respect as he is due given his condition in the game, Naomi appeared to torture Otacon, which made me laugh rather than grip me emotionally like it was supposed to…..all minor gripes. This game deserves to be played by everyone.