Finally got to play it. From the first 2 hours of play (which i understand isn't much), it's the most unpleasant game i currently own for the PS3. The previous titles were retarded, but endearingly. MGS4 is the bad kind of retarded. At some point, the use of barely altered cow moos as the Gecko "roar" was greenlighted, and that's fucking emblematic of the whole experience. 
 
Kid with the keys to his dad's Ferrari. That's the vibe i get from this game. People have GOT to stop apologizing for Kojima's bullshit, because he has consistently had his hands on something good for years but has always managed to make those things stupider than they need be. That isn't the sign of a master of his field. It's the sign of someone who needs to be told no.

Finally got to play it. From the first 2 hours of play (which i understand isn't much), it's the most unpleasant game i currently own for the PS3. The previous titles were retarded, but endearingly. MGS4 is the bad kind of retarded. At some point, the use of barely altered cow moos as the Gecko "roar" was greenlighted, and that's fucking emblematic of the whole experience. 
 
Kid with the keys to his dad's Ferrari. That's the vibe i get from this game. People have GOT to stop apologizing for Kojima's bullshit, because he has consistently had his hands on something good for years but has always managed to make those things stupider than they need be. That isn't the sign of a master of his field. It's the sign of someone who needs to be told no.

Keep playing, it gets better. I do warn you, however, there is likely going to be more cutscene then gameplay.

Yup. Cutscenes between each chapter are really long. I made (and ate) dinner all while it was playing in the background. Play a little more though. It does get a little more interesting. Personally I didn't like MGS4 a whole lot in comparison to the previous titles but I do admit the quality of the game is great.

The fact that you hate makes me love it even more. ^_^

@Sunjammer: I don't think it's apologizing for Kojima. I think it's pretty obvious and blatant to say that MGS games require a huge amount of suspension of disbelief and love to the style in general.

Personally, I don't find Kojima's shenanigans more insulting to my intelligence than this shit they did to Dante's poetry recently.

"It's not for you" is bullshit. I loved the original MG's i still think Metal Gear Solid is one of the modern masterpieces of videogames, and a truly revolutionary experience. I was as excited about MGS2 as anyone, and i was as weirded out and alienated by it as anyone. MGS3 was a big step up from MGS2, but this is just freaking bananas. 
 
Now I've played a LOT longer than last time, and I am still ice cold on it. The wac-a-mole "firefights" with infinitely respawning enemies cuing up from the same door, the absolutely DEAD AI... The "chase sequences" that drop to a loading screen every moment you turn a corner.. The EPICALLY boring plot. 
Old Snake: "Boring plot..?"
Yes, Snake, the plot is boring, but worse it is told boringly. The camera rests on a weary snake fidgeting with his cigarette, while another character wanders back and forth, droning on and on through an unabridged manuscript that never ends. Characters make their point within the first few paragraphs, but drone on through another 8 to say the same things three times in a row, blended in with technobabble, as Snake chimes in with repetitions of the last thing said. 
Old Snake: "The last thing said.."    

My favorite bits, which i understand are par for the course, are when Snake has just killed a dozen men, and then drops to his knees to talk about his boss's marriage on the codec. This is new shit that is absolutely pandering to its own cosmology. The game tries its hardest to crossreference all the previous titles
 
The game takes its sweet ass time trying to tell me very simple things, and tells those things awkwardly and in poor style. When it's a GAME it looks and plays average, with Snake's awkward constipated "run" being a constant eyesore, and such odd contrivances as firing from cover only being available to single-handed weapons, and having to drop in and out of the start menu to equip items for the inventory "slots".  
 
I dunno what else to say guys. I think the pacing and rhythm is a complete abomination. It pauses jumps, pops, speeds up and slows down at absolutely random moments. Characters are uniformly uninteresting with little to say other than You Are Old and You Might Die and Battlefield Battlefield Battlefield on the Battlefield, Snake's voice acting is consistently cringeworthy, and the gameplay veers between being oddly nice and tight and completely out of its league.  
 
I'll stick with it for a while longer, but it really seems to be trying its hardest to turn me off. Can someone give me a hint for a moment where it's supposed to turn good? 

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calling mgs4's plot "epically boring" is just a little bit naive. sure, it may have a bit of a slow start and it may take the majority of the first act to pick up momentum, but the plot for mgs4 is near impeccable. it's also snake's last chapter in the official mgs canon, so obviously there is going to be some name dropping here and there. if you don't like the way mgs4 was put together and you don't like the interactive media influences, then i have no idea what you are doing playing kojima games.
 
besides, the rest of the world seems to disagree with you. :P i'm not saying that i follow whatever the majority says, but it is pretty hard to argue with those scores.