Metal Gear Solid 4.
I posted this in my blog on Newgrounds, but I wanted to rekindle this topic since I posted it the day after it came out and I’m sure a lot of people hadn’t played it then, but have had a chance to play it since. So without further ado:
Metal Gear Solid 4 is pretty sweet, to say the least.
The graphics are insanely beautiful. The boss battles were pretty impressively fun although not quite as weird and quirky as the other games which was a bit disappointing. Cutscenes were long as FUCK but typically very engrossing. There is a lot of that super long convoluted “no, it was actually this” plot devices that kept coming and coming but for the most part the cutscenes were very good.
I don’t feel like this game has as much of a formal link to the previous 3. I could see some very obvious formal links to the previous games but I did not identify one ultimate goal of the storytelling in reference to the other games. In the long run I was sitting there trying to decide ultimately what was the point of it all and couldn’t put my finger on it whereas in the other games it’s typically really clear.
I also found the Beauty and the Beast unit, byfar the most intriguing element of the game to me, to be completely under involved. They felt almost tacked on which was a major disappointment. None of the major characters in the game ever referenced them outside of thier allotted bossfight time, and even then it was sparse.
It was a very awesome experience and I’ve never felt a video game grab me in such an epic way as MGS4 did. Although, as I mentioned, I couldn’t really pinpoint the goal of Kojima in this scenario other than to tell a story, I can still say with confidence that Kojima is very good at using the video game medium in its own unique way to make the player feel something other video games or movies couldn’t make you feel.
Thoughts? Questions? Feel free to discuss the game here. If you mention spoilers please label your comment as such.
Spoiler alert
If you are super anal about spoilers please don’t read below this.
There are two parts of the game, both playable, that I very much enjoyed and find to be some of the most memorable sequences ever. One involves an incredibly elegant and surreal revisit of Shadow Moses island that made my skin crawl by how eerily nostalgic they made everything. The other, without giving away too much, is a sequence where as Snake you feel completely helpless and as the player you almost feel connected to Snake’s pain and will to succeed. As a player I thoroughly felt connected to the situations at hand as if my actions were the ones that decided the fate of the entire game.
Also Raiden’s role in this game was fucking awesome. It was great to see that all that identity crisis stuff in MGS2 paid off in the end, and Raiden stole the show, literally, by creating a scene in which it is much more entertaining to watch him than Snake. Kojima is funny about that kinda stuff… but he really gets into your brain and makes you really feel the pain. You, as Snake, can’t watch a complete turning point in the game. You’re forced to stick to your gruntwork while the hero takes down the villain. It’s such an incredible parallel to the game’s message.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:13 am
Same question on Newgrounds…
Have you played Metal Gear Online?
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:45 am
No I haven’t yet, unfortunately.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Can you make a video of yourself playing the game and post it on Youtube? ^__^
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 am
i agree mgs4 is amazing i hope ya make a video about it…
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 am
whoo
ever since this game
hit my ps3 a few weeks ago i kept
checking your site day after day, ’cause
i was real curious about what your
impressions would be on this one ..
which .. sounds pretty strange afterwards.
.. anyways, i feel like u spotted the
game’s best n “worst” parts pretty well;
one thing i can totally agree with is
the B&B appearance n storytelling
through drebbin, which felt to be just
stapled onto the plot.
but that monkey makes up for every
slight mistake of the game
but what i really wanted to tell u is,
that during my first play-through, when
raiden called for the first time i
had to laugh so hard, cause i
immediately thought “god! how does
everybody know my phonenumber!”
btw. great to see u worked on your
webspace, since it constantly deleted
all my comments …. or … u did.
nah i guess not
farewell.
PS: did u mean MGS4 in line 6?
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Yea I enjoyed the game a lot. I’m on my 2nd playthrough. My first playthrough was to watch every codec and every cutscene.
Second playthrough i wanted to see how quickly i could play it (7 hours) Im now doing my third playthrough to get the Stealth device.
And im trying to gain enough skill to efficently kill a gekko.
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Yeah I agree the cutscenes are longer than the time you actually play the game.
June 22nd, 2008 at 1:52 pm
im sad i have ben a fan of metle gear solid but i dont have a ps3 i got xbox 360 i played metle gear since i was 4 i just want to play #4 oh yeah i watched all your movies u rock
June 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 pm
wow.i also liked your thoughts on the game.it true , the cut scenes do “drag on”…ok they are a long as shit but still, this is my first mgs game and i knew a little of the game history, but they helped clear the entire story up for me which was good. raiden scenes should have been playable like the last time you fight vamp
(face when you unload a rail gun through the 7th suicidal gekko it gets boring) but still i loved it. the b and b unit did feel tacked on though so i wish they went more into that part. over all im on my second play through and plan on beating it on the hardest lvl.
p.s. when or if you decide to play online, always aim for the head, cuz everyone else does
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:39 pm
-Spoiler-
MGS 4 contained one of the most touching scenes in any video game. It was the part when Snake was trying to get through the microwave chamber. It was just so sad, the music and Snake struggling to get through it and at the same time, it was cool…
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Etackett2010: That is the scene I was talking about!
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I’ve been a huge MGS fan ever since the first one on PSX, and it makes me sad that I don’t have the money to buy a PS3 so that I can play this newest installment. Still waiting for my chance to finally get to play the game, even though I’ll end up being a moocher and playing it at a friends house, and all this positive feedback that I’ve been hearing about the game will make the experience all the better.
June 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
That microwave scene was Fuckin intense man.. My Head was half-way Trough the TV..holy shit.
June 22nd, 2008 at 10:17 pm
The whole chapter 3 was a giant MGS3 reference and reviled so much, and as soon as I saw big momma, *spoiler…kinda* EVA fly through air, in my head I was like, oh plz don’t tell me there gonna do what I think there gonna do…and kojima did. AND I’m not up to it yet, but my buddy said the Snake Eater song is in the game at one point. Which is one of the most awesome videogame theme songs ever.
June 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
-Spoilers-
Hmm…I thought you hated emo characters? Raiden was quite emo in the game IMO. Let’s see:
-He had a troubled past, which drove him to insanity after MGS2
-Kept talking about how he no longer had a will to live
-Boo hoo Colonel Campbell stole my wife and had a baby with him
-Oh noes I hate my life so I’m gonna be all suicidal now.
Needless to say, I thought he was awesome. I just think he shared many similarities to Cloud, who you seem to hate so much. I hope you make an MGS4 Awesome!
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 am
Kenji:
It’s all about motivation.
Cloud is retarded because he whines and whines about ONE thing which is completely unjustified considering Aeris comes to him in visions telling him explicitly to shut the fuck up. He then uses this ONE incident which is completely and obviously not his fault to justify his entire lifestyle, including being a coldhearted asshole to his friends who are undeniable loyal to him and saying about how he’s “not strong enough” regardless of how he’s completely kicking ass left and right.
Raiden on the other hand realized his heritage and abandoned the rest of his life to fulfill it, although still ashamed of what he had done and having that emotion further twisted by the fact that Rose has gotten with Colonel Campbell. He wasn’t aware of the true nature of the situation, but I’m sure if there was a woman in your life you still had feelings for who suddenly ran to some old dude for companionship you’d be a little disappointed and pissed off yourself. What a mistake, to leave your love for your self-proclaimed duty in life, and then have her run to some old guy. It would kind of make you hate yourself, wouldn’t it?
Not that I’m saying Raiden’s actions are totally justified, he is selfish character but as the game progresses he learns about himself, his REAL duty, and finally that his self-loathing wasn’t totally justified because he wasn’t aware of certain circumstances. Raiden is a character, not a stoic piece of cardboard like Cloud is.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:26 am
Yeah, the part where you had to fight while Raiden fought was infuriating. My girlfriend was nice enough to sit and watch for me while I had to (SPOILER?) fight off the Gekkos.
SERIOUS SPOILERNESS
I also liked the ending. I mean, you know that Snake is going to die, but rather than having him kill himself or die in battle, he’s just like “Fuck it, I only have this much time to live so I might as well go live it” and Kojima is awesome for that.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 am
so ur gonna make an awesome of that also lol
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 am
OMG i loved this game. Got it a day early too because i preorderd it ^^.
After 9-10 years of mgs gameplay, i felt this closed the series perfectly and left my gaming mind at peace.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 am
and Rose didn’t have a kid with the Colonel, that would just be sick, she was pregnate at the end of 2 and it was Raiden’s kid, and since Raiden’s dad is Soildous, who is a perfect clone of Naked Snake aka Big Boss, that kid is going to pwn.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Dominator:
I know that. I was just saying that Raiden mistakingly assumed that Rose and the Colonel had a kid together. Of course, we find out what really happened in the ending. Btw, Solidus isn’t Raiden’s biological father…he adopted him.
Ego:
Heh, fair enough. Cloud doesn’t annoy me too much. Whenever he whines about not being strong enough, I kinda see it as a way of him being humble, and not all showoff-y. Come on, at least he doesn’t cry about it like a little pussy. He clearly has a lot of self esteem issues (due to his past childhood and whatnot), so he probably didn’t think he would be qualified to lead the party. It was pretty much the party that pushed for it. The only reason why he’s strong is because of the Jenova cells injected into him; unfortunately that won’t help his self esteem. He COULD be a showoff and a jackass like Squall, but thankfully, he’s not…which is why I like him more than Squall.
I also never understood why you don’t like Dante from DMC. Nero was a lot more emo than him xD
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I don’t dislike Dante because he’s “emo.” He isn’t even emo in the first place. I hate him because he’s the perfect exemplification of a forced badass. It’s like okay here’s a character who just completely responds to situations in the most smarmy cocky way possible and it’s like, Jesus get over yourself. Show some human quality for christ sake.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Ok, this in gonna be kinda lengthy lol, and even if you don’t read it Ego, just wanted to put it out there.
SPOILERS the whole way through!
MGS4. It owns. I always tend to put myself into games, which is why I suck at horror games, anyway… I couldn’t help but go “no way” all the time when Kojima threw in a twist. Right till the very end. The cutscenes for me were just amazing. Not sure if you’ve seen them, but I’m assuming you have, you gotta watch the Metal Gear Saga Vol.1 and Vol.2.
For me the B&B’s were a bit too empty. I didn’t like how Drebin explained how they came to be, woulda been interesting to watch it through a cutscene instead of just hearing/reading it over the codec. I did like the way there are 2 ways of killing them, added a bit more humanity into the game… Granted I killed them all, Muhahaha! Then realised I coulda got their masks and was like DAMN! lol
As for DMC, I love Dante. I love how hes such a cocky badass. Moreso in 4 and 2. DMC3 was kinda too far, cause he was just young and cocky which kinda spoilt it a bit. I also LOVE your Awesome May Cry! PERFECT portrayal of Dante. Props to you.
Hope you keep making more and also wanna know if the DVD is coming to Europe.
All the best,
Chunk.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
So will you make a movie of any kind about this? (like your PG product)
June 23rd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Ya know who is a badass and knows it? Altaïr, he owns so hard that you can get his costume in MGS4.
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 pm
this is the best game ever!
June 24th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Ego:
LoL, I see…xD
June 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
MGS4 does indeed look awesome, but I will not be dropping half a thousand dollars on a PS3 just to get it. Instead, I can just watch videos of it online. =P
-SPOILERS AHOY!-
Two things I felt were great.
The one scene that I felt gave Naomi a lot of props was how she taught Sunny how to make eggs properly. Sunny, to me, isn’t just some plot object to make Otacon be a father figure, but she is there to show that the future (in the MGS series) will have a rising sun. Also, *I think* she named the fucking chickens on the Nomad. I spotted Solidus on one of the cages. XD
Snake meeting Big Mama. It’s nice to see that EVA always saw Snake, and to a lesser extent Liquid, as her own children, even if Big Boss never agreed with it. EVA and Ocelot were working against Zero the entire time during Shadow Moses, and the whole Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land was Big Boss rebelling against Zero justs makes you wonder how much of a villain Big Boss really was.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Same question on Newgrounds…
will you be getting a ps3 Ego?
June 25th, 2008 at 9:09 am
Im just sayin this (EARLY SPOILER)is anybody surprised about the return of Meryl – if this isent how u spell her name srry forgot
MGS4 ROCKS!
June 25th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
*Spoil just incase*
Am I the only person who got a Chuck Norris vibe when Liquid was killing people by pointing and shouting “Bang”? Because I think, somewhere, theres a Chuck Norris fact about that.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:47 am
haha yeah MGS4 is one heck of a game….never played it, but it looks awesome.
I’m no Egoraptor, but I drew this on my computer, in Ego’s “Awesome” style
June 26th, 2008 at 3:47 am
oh lol nevermind it won’t post
June 26th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I loved the humor they decided to add into the game. Some of the situations were things you just NEVER expected. Like the whole sequence with Sunny and Snake the first time and he turns to otacon after he says “I think you hurt her feelings” and goes “Why don’t you teach her to cook eggs then!?”
It really emphasizes the human aspect of the characters. Although the most tearing scene was definitely act III. Just simply amazing if you’re into the interactions between all these characters.
June 27th, 2008 at 5:09 am
me and my brothers love your awseome cartoons, we’ve watched every single one of them, we also love metal gear solid we own an xbox 360 but bought a ps3 just to get it, the nostalgia from shadow moses was awseome, the music went really well with wat was goin on around snake and all the flashbacks were intense, u should make a metal gear awseome 4, keep up the good work
P.S have you seen grand theft awseome 4
June 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
the only problem is the octocamo takes the stealth out of the game and the storyline is a little too short have you beaten the game yet? that last boss battle is irritating
June 29th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I must say I was rather disappointed with MGS4. The story telling is awesome, but I thought it laked the traditional metal gear solid gameplay that I love.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Who agrees we never speak of Cloud Strife again?
July 1st, 2008 at 1:18 am
I think MGS4 was incredible, even though it strayed away from the old gameplay a bit. The drebin system was nice though.
I agree with Ego when he says the “:B and B’s” were a great part of the game, but I think they couold have somehow tied their pasts to the other games…. and so I don’t spoil anything, the “microwave” (You should know the part, mash triangle O.o ) part had me in tears (Don’t freak out, Im a girl…)
I didn’t really notice that the cutscenes were all that long, but that’s just me. And I mean give Kojima a break, he has to tie up ALL the loose ends in the storyline, OF COURSE the cutscenes are going to be long!!!! No complaints here though
SPOILERS!!!!
————-
I was happy/sad when Naomi died, but hiding CANCER?? (That’s a little corny to me…) And I was SO HAPPY when I saw Big Boss!!!
And I loved the codec in Shadow Moses: “Insert disc 2 Snake. Do you see the disc labeled “2″?”
“…..no…”
:Thats right, we’re on the PS3!”
XD
In Shadiow Moses, I spent most of the time seaching the area for the old audio clips to play and seeing S.M. re-made.
Raiden also redeemed himself in this game, I dont think he was all that greal in MGS 2 XD
Dont worry, Im done now
If you dont have this game, GET IT NOW!!!!!!!
And tut909, now every time I see that cutscene I’m going to see Chuck Norris. Thanks for that… -.-’ XD
Keep making awesome videos Ego!!!!
July 1st, 2008 at 1:21 am
whoops, typo, I added and “i” in “Shadow Moses” by accident. XD what a n00bish typo sorry -.-’
I had to correct it becuase I feel ashamed…forgive me :’(
July 1st, 2008 at 2:03 am
wow…that game is just WOW. Loved every bit of it and the ever so dramatic scenes. but im surprised no one mentioned AKIBA yet that kid is m new favorite secondary charector.
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
=SPOILER WARNING=
i agree Ego the game is so F****** GREAT !!!!!!!
I just think that Meryl ending up marrying a guy who shits himself in the middle of a god damn battle is kinda stupid isn’it ??? Ego, do you play Metal Gear Online ?????
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Egoraptor, is there a chance you might make another Metal Gear Awesome based on MGS4?
July 4th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
R.I.P BIG BOSS and OCELOT.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:24 am
Well, when you’re standing there in your underwear, there’s only one or two ways people can look at you. [laughs] I knew what I was onto. I knew that not just girls were gonna look. But I was comfortable with that because, like I always said, Everybody’s got their own thing. And I was flattered by all the attention, even though I got a lot of flak. My image went from being this hard-core street kid to me covering up the street image by trying to get a gay following, to people thinking I was gay, to people thinking I was antigay so I didn’t have to worry about them thinking I was gay. Finally, I was like, What the fuck? I’m just entertaining people who want me to entertain them. There was always somebody telling me, “You gotta do this to cover up this or that about yourself.” People thrive on image and hype and talk. But I know what I am, and that’s why it’s so good to talk to you again, man, ’cause you seen the shit . . .
July 15th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
I bought this game without owning a PS3, simply for the sake of owning it- then I managed to blag a lend of the console from a friend of mine, so that’s fantastic.
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.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Damn man, I didn’t realise it was that big- sorry about that!! :S
July 18th, 2008 at 8:59 am
That is so true in every way, you reakky do feel connected to snake in the game, especially in that damn microwave
July 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
lyke omg, mgs4 iz lyke frizeeking awexsome
July 26th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
yea, i completely agree with you about the whole beauty and the beast thing, in the other ones, all the bosses had such connection depth with everything that was going on and the people that were involved. but in mgs4, it was like they were just little side notes that nobody even knew about except for snake, drebin, and vamp. but other than that, this was definitly one of the best games i’ve playing in a LONG time. mgs3 is still my favorite though
July 28th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
lol uring the microwave scene i got a cramp in my hand and then was like, “i have the will to succeed and im feeling snakes pain” and i finished it and it hurt like hell.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:55 am
sad thing is once u beat MGS4 in 2 days its boring because then u realize that MGS4 is not much of a sneaking game );
August 11th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Metal Gear Solid 4 was a great game, and I know exactly what part you were talking about when you were in that desperate situation where Snake was struggling to succeed. It was a very clever idea by Kojima to add that into the game.
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.