I dislike MGS 4 - a lot!
- -clunky controls (every action takes at least one buttonpush too much)
- -bad controls (no separate horizontal/vertical sensitivity options, aiming feels sluggish, first person view sub-par)
- -bad taste (the guy, who constantly shits his pants, for example)
- -voice acting horrible (ridiculously gravelly voices, wierd intonation and timing)
- -bad pacing (30sec gameplay on 5min cutscene anyone?)
- -non-interactive environments (no physics, tons of invisible walls - like doors, that won't open. Boxes, that won't move. Lot's of stuff, that anybody could get past, but Snake can't)
- -silly leveldesign ( often one single convoluted way to get to the next 'cutscene' triggerpoint, feels more like an artificial maze, than a battlefield, monster closets etc.)
- -complexity, which doesn't add to the fun (tons of silly items, stress mechanic, the whole Drebin ID-weapons thing - it's almost as bad as snake eating and rotting food was in MGS 3)
I loved the first Metal Gear Solid on the PS1. Played through twice. The second one on PS2, I liked less - the general cluckiness of the series, as well as the camera perspective, began to disturb me. Raiden didn't help either. Finished the game though. Snake Eater more or less killed it for me. The clunkiness and camera where no longer acceptable. I stopped playing 3/4 through the game and never looked back.
I recently picked up a PS3 with a couple of games, amongst them, MGS 4. I hoped, that the MGS franchise finally catched up with the times in terms of controls and camera - and it did mostly. In execution though, it's still lightyears behind the best 3rd and 1st person games in that respective. The clunkiness of this behemoth of gaming culture knows no equal. The crude story and odd pacing don't help it either.
I will try to force myself through the entierty of the game. So many people still love the MGS franchise, that there has to be something to it. After chapter 1, MGS 4 seems like one of the most overrated games of all time to me. There's nothing there, which I haven't seen done better in other games. It relies heavily on Nostalgia. The gameplay itself is loathsome. From stealth gameplay to shooting action. From voiceacting to storytelling. Everything feels odd, dated and out of place. The music, graphics and the mythology of the franchise are a saving grace, but ultimatly I don't expect to find anything more than disappointment.
Help me see the light! I'm only past chapter 1 and feel like giving up on this game.
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