Review scores don't matter because Metal Gear Solid 4 was terrible... for me

I agree personal taste trumps review scores. They act more as a judge of quality. Last of Us is an amazing high quality game but not really my favorite kind of experience, so I didn't really enjoy it that much. But I loved Bioshock Infinite a lot. Both essentially 10/10 experiences but only one that I enjoyed.

Also MGS4 was a bit of a let down and dragged on in those long winded scenes but I enjoyed it. MGS3 though is fuckin awesome!

MGS4 was okay. I personally wouldn't give it all that praise it was getting though. Entertaining game.

The reviews are positive towards MGS4 and you are not. Therefore the reviews are useless and podcast discussion is better. Even though the podcast discussion is also positive towards MGS4 and you are not.

I agree with you that reviews do not matter. Thumbs Up

To be honest, someone who hasn't played the previous games in the series is not really the best person to judge MGS4. Metal Gear is one of the most plot driven game franchises out there, so prior knowledge of the plot is essential to understanding the games.

However, as a huge and long time Metal Gear fan myself, I think that MGS4 is the weakest numbered title by far, in both plot and even gameplay. MGS3, MGS2 & MGS1 are much better. For a start, there was never supposed to be a Metal Gear game set after MGS2 (my second favourite & the most misunderstood and underrated game in the series IMO), it was actually meant to be the final game. The whole point of the ending in MGS2 was that the player decided for themselves what happened, it was an ambiguous ending which allowed for a sequel - yet didn't demand one. This is exactly the reason Kojima made MGS3 (my personal favourite in the series) a prequel set in the 1960s, but unfortunately there was fan & corporate pressure for another Solid Snake game and a game set after MGS2, so Kojima was pretty much forced into MGS4 - and that's where it all goes wrong. The plot in MGS4 is a big contrived, incoherent mess - rather than continuing the excellent themes & narrative from MGS2, they forced the relevance of MGS3, the prequel made after MGS2, into the game when really it should have had no - or very, very little - bearing on the plot. Some of the narrative and characters that appear in the game shamelessly retcon the events established in the older games. As I said, it's a mess. It is not a bad game and the plot is better than a lot of games out there (in the gaming industry this isn't saying much, unfortunately), but for a Metal Gear game, it is definitely weak. I get the impression while playing it that Kojima's heart was just not in the plot, hence all the fan service and contrivances.

I'm excited for MGSV because it is a game Kojima is excited about making it and the trailers and what we know of the narrative so far seems very promising, with the whole "race" & "revenge" themes - and child soldiers - and open world gameplay - and Kiefer Sutherland - and the possibility of playing an Evil Big Boss, it remains to be seen if it'll recapture the narrative magic of MGS1,2,3 though.

I've had serious critiques against MGS4, andt that's my own opinion. I don't regret buying it and keeping it in my library.

@phoenix654: I am a MGS fanatic, I've spent more time than I'd like to admit playing the games and learning the lore. I've played every MGS game multiple times....except for MGS4.

It's the weakest game in the franchise (People who don't like MGS2 are silly, it's actually really good)

I have no idea why it got so many perfect scores, I tend to ignore review scores anyway, unless they're VERY mixed, then it gets me interested.

@viciousbearmauling: Beyond: Two Souls must be the next big thing for you then, huh? I feel the same way about mixed scores, but when something is that mixed, I tend to wait for it to drop in price a bit before checking it out. Having heard some interesting and conflicting points about the writing on it from two podcasts I listen to so far (Joystiq's and Weekend Confirmed), I'm intrigued but cautious about spending $60 on it. Especially when I just met Trevor in GTA V and... holy shit is this guy crazier than The Dark Knight's Joker on crank.

For the record, I have since tried the GameCube version of the original MGS (Twin Snakes) and had about the same reaction to it as I did to MGS4. It's just not my kind of franchise. Too much incomprehensible babble interspersed with a genre I'm not good at or get much pleasure out of; ie, trial & error stealth. All the best to the fans who enjoy it, because I just don't get it.

@phoenix654: I'm interested in Beyond, but I hated Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain, so I'll wait for a price drop.

Well no shit if madden gets a 5 out 5 and you don't like football. That 5/5 is a zero out of five.

This