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Alphazero

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MGS4 - In which we are told about *spoilers* and *spoilers*.

By Alphazero 14 Comments


Please don't look. Please don't look. Please don't look.
Please don't look. Please don't look. Please don't look.
Writing expository dialogue isn't easy. When you have a list of data points you want your viewers to understand, a possible solution is to have one character in your movie tell it to another. The problem is, is most situations, people don't just relay lists of information. Now, say, you have twenty years worth of a batshit crazy bananas video game story line to wrap up and tie together. It's a story involviing clones, world domination, deus ex machina nano-machines, and three or four versions of a guy named Big Boss, who was trying to fulfill the will of Boss, but then so was another guy named Zero and... see, it gets complicated.
 
The game play in Metal Gear Solid 4 is really fun. I've always enjoyed sneaking around in video games. Assassin's Creed (the first one) for all of its faults, is still one of my all time favorites. MGS4 does an excellent job of giving you discoverable paths to sneak down, while still keeping the tension high with occasionally observant enemies. A few times in the game one of the mooing, AT-ST-like autonomous enemy robot walkers would stomp right past where I was crawling on the ground and I found myself, in real life, holding my breath. That's some good tension, right there. When the sneaking goes bad, the shooting is fun as well, with a ridiculous number of guns and modifications to choose from.
 
Part of my problem with the story has got to stem from the fact that I've never played a Metal Gear game before. Coming in with no connection to any of these characters
Has Abandonment Issues
Has Abandonment Issues
leaves their big reveals a little flat. Hey, it's Meryl. I guess Snake used to know her. She sure is all grown up now. Who is she again? You can't fault the fourth version of a game for not lingering on character re-introductions, so I don't. Other characters like Liquid and his awesome sunglasses, Vamp and the stylish forehead bullet scar, Naomi and her improbable shirt, and Otacon and his sweater all are returning from previous games, and are explained enough to understand their function. 
 
Otacon in particular is an interesting character type. Coming off of games like Gears of War in which the stars range from thick-necked bad-ass to thickest-necked bad-ass, it's nice to have someone a bit more human. Toward the end of the story, though, I wanted to slap him. Yes, Otacon, you will never sleep with anyone as hot as Naomi ever again. You have bigger fish to fry. Get over it. You suck, Otacon.
 
It's often funny -- Screaming Mantis and her ghost friend in particular had me laughing out loud. It's occasionally sad -- poor Snake. It's even straight up awesome. From reading about the back story I get the impression people don't like Raiden, but in this one he's great. Given the choice, be a cyber ninja. What's the downside?
 Hair by AnimeCuts, Body by Black & Decker
 Hair by AnimeCuts, Body by Black & Decker
Mostly, though it's long. Long, long cutscenes in which characters tell each other things, stopping to load, and then they tell more. Movies over the years have by and large learned its better to show than tell. Consider the opening to Back to the Future, where you get a primer on the entire story just by panning over some pictures. The big surprise at the end of this one is that Big Boss is alive and well, then he's dying, then he's dead. In between, he talks and talks and talks. It's some classic soap opera melodrama.
 
This sounds harsh, and the storytelling is pretty terrible in parts, but I did love the game. It's crazy in all the right ways, and when you are given the opportunity to play, it's uniquely fun. I've never played anything like it, and want to play more. I recently acquired the very first Metal Gear for the NES. Maybe after meeting the 8-bit Big Boss I'll feel differently about his extended -- and pretty unmotivated -- death scene.
 
But I bet Otacon will still suck. 
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14 Comments

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Alphazero

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Edited By Alphazero

Please don't look. Please don't look. Please don't look.
Please don't look. Please don't look. Please don't look.
Writing expository dialogue isn't easy. When you have a list of data points you want your viewers to understand, a possible solution is to have one character in your movie tell it to another. The problem is, is most situations, people don't just relay lists of information. Now, say, you have twenty years worth of a batshit crazy bananas video game story line to wrap up and tie together. It's a story involviing clones, world domination, deus ex machina nano-machines, and three or four versions of a guy named Big Boss, who was trying to fulfill the will of Boss, but then so was another guy named Zero and... see, it gets complicated.
 
The game play in Metal Gear Solid 4 is really fun. I've always enjoyed sneaking around in video games. Assassin's Creed (the first one) for all of its faults, is still one of my all time favorites. MGS4 does an excellent job of giving you discoverable paths to sneak down, while still keeping the tension high with occasionally observant enemies. A few times in the game one of the mooing, AT-ST-like autonomous enemy robot walkers would stomp right past where I was crawling on the ground and I found myself, in real life, holding my breath. That's some good tension, right there. When the sneaking goes bad, the shooting is fun as well, with a ridiculous number of guns and modifications to choose from.
 
Part of my problem with the story has got to stem from the fact that I've never played a Metal Gear game before. Coming in with no connection to any of these characters
Has Abandonment Issues
Has Abandonment Issues
leaves their big reveals a little flat. Hey, it's Meryl. I guess Snake used to know her. She sure is all grown up now. Who is she again? You can't fault the fourth version of a game for not lingering on character re-introductions, so I don't. Other characters like Liquid and his awesome sunglasses, Vamp and the stylish forehead bullet scar, Naomi and her improbable shirt, and Otacon and his sweater all are returning from previous games, and are explained enough to understand their function. 
 
Otacon in particular is an interesting character type. Coming off of games like Gears of War in which the stars range from thick-necked bad-ass to thickest-necked bad-ass, it's nice to have someone a bit more human. Toward the end of the story, though, I wanted to slap him. Yes, Otacon, you will never sleep with anyone as hot as Naomi ever again. You have bigger fish to fry. Get over it. You suck, Otacon.
 
It's often funny -- Screaming Mantis and her ghost friend in particular had me laughing out loud. It's occasionally sad -- poor Snake. It's even straight up awesome. From reading about the back story I get the impression people don't like Raiden, but in this one he's great. Given the choice, be a cyber ninja. What's the downside?
 Hair by AnimeCuts, Body by Black & Decker
 Hair by AnimeCuts, Body by Black & Decker
Mostly, though it's long. Long, long cutscenes in which characters tell each other things, stopping to load, and then they tell more. Movies over the years have by and large learned its better to show than tell. Consider the opening to Back to the Future, where you get a primer on the entire story just by panning over some pictures. The big surprise at the end of this one is that Big Boss is alive and well, then he's dying, then he's dead. In between, he talks and talks and talks. It's some classic soap opera melodrama.
 
This sounds harsh, and the storytelling is pretty terrible in parts, but I did love the game. It's crazy in all the right ways, and when you are given the opportunity to play, it's uniquely fun. I've never played anything like it, and want to play more. I recently acquired the very first Metal Gear for the NES. Maybe after meeting the 8-bit Big Boss I'll feel differently about his extended -- and pretty unmotivated -- death scene.
 
But I bet Otacon will still suck. 
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cancerdancer

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Edited By cancerdancer

NES Metal Gear is the disowned child of the franchise. Nothing like the REAL original MG.

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Alphazero

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Edited By Alphazero
@cancerdancer said:
" NES Metal Gear is the disowned child of the franchise. Nothing like the REAL original MG. "
Having played a bunch of it now, I can see why. Which one is considered the real original MG? 
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FlyingRat

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Edited By FlyingRat

Dude.... you don't play Metal Gear Solid 4 without having played any of the other ones.... what are you doing...? That is like the main point of the game, all these characters and all these plot threads that have been created over the years finally coming together. Anyway, suppose it's too late now, since you finished it.
 
Oh and the original Metal Gear is the one for the MSX.

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cancerdancer

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Edited By cancerdancer
@Alphazero: It's called Metal Gear but for the MSX2, a Japanese computer console. So maybe you can find something to emulate it?
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deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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Edited By deactivated-5e49e9175da37

Basically, play Metal Gear Solid for the PS1 (often called the greatest game of all time)... and then read a plot summary of MGS2 and 3.  And then replay MGS4.  You might realize why Chapter 4 in Metal Gear Solid 4 is asshole-squinchingly awesome.

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Edited By Videogames

It's impossible to really get the full effect from MGS 4 without experiencing each of the previous games when they were in their prime. Granted I was too young to completely understand the story for the first MGS for the PS1 when it came out, but I replayed it so many times afterwards that most of the story stuff developed easier overtime. 
 
The real impact came from answering all of those lingering questions from the previous games.  
To be quite honest, it's the crazy ass story that has stuck with me longer than it's roots of innovative stealth game play.

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SpiralStairs

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Edited By SpiralStairs

Why would you play MGS4 without playing the first three? Each Metal Gear Solid game is great in its own way, and they all complement each other very well. 

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Alphazero

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Edited By Alphazero
@SpiralStairs said:
" Why would you play MGS4 without playing the first three? Each Metal Gear Solid game is great in its own way, and they all complement each other very well.  "
I heard it was bananas, and I like crazy stuff. It was definitely that. I really liked it, but I definitely didn't have the connection to story that real fans of the series did, which is my loss. I want to go back and play the previous three Solid games when I get the chance.
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hibikino

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Edited By hibikino
@Alphazero said:
" @SpiralStairs said:
" Why would you play MGS4 without playing the first three? Each Metal Gear Solid game is great in its own way, and they all complement each other very well.  "
I heard it was bananas, and I like crazy stuff. It was definitely that. I really liked it, but I definitely didn't have the connection to story that real fans of the series did, which is my loss. I want to go back and play the previous three Solid games when I get the chance. "
You could try starting from MGS 3 Snake Eater > MGS 1: Twin Snakes > MGS 2.... If you own a PSP you might wanna play Peace Walker after you finished MGS 3.
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Edited By JamesBoyce
@Alphazero:  That would be, as previously state, Metal Gear on the MSX.  If you buy Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, on the second disc both Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake are included.  If you don't already have MGS3, I seriously recommend the Subsistence package, it is more than worth your money!
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Edited By DaSmart1
@JamesBoyce said:
" @Alphazero:  That would be, as previously state, Metal Gear on the MSX.  If you buy Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, on the second disc both Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake are included.  If you don't already have MGS3, I seriously recommend the Subsistence package, it is more than worth your money! "
If only because you don't have to use the incredibly terrible fixed camera angles.
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xaLieNxGrEyx

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Edited By xaLieNxGrEyx

 

I feel for you, you may have just slightly ruined MGS for yourself.

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SethPhotopoulos

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Edited By SethPhotopoulos
@hibikino said:
" @Alphazero said:
" @SpiralStairs said:
" Why would you play MGS4 without playing the first three? Each Metal Gear Solid game is great in its own way, and they all complement each other very well.  "
I heard it was bananas, and I like crazy stuff. It was definitely that. I really liked it, but I definitely didn't have the connection to story that real fans of the series did, which is my loss. I want to go back and play the previous three Solid games when I get the chance. "
You could try starting from MGS 3 Snake Eater > MGS 1: Twin Snakes > MGS 2.... If you own a PSP you might wanna play Peace Walker after you finished MGS 3. "
I'd argue play it in the order of release.  MGS1 will seem archaic if you played three first.