Balancing act done right.
Seeing as this is my first review I will probably sound overly critical, its how I am and how I view anything when I first come into it.
I will throw my personal opinions in first, the one thing that stresses me during a review is people saying I and me.
Personal Opinion
My personal first impression of the game was how complete it felt, when you started it didn't feel as if any of the idea's where half done or unpolished and everything worked how you would expect. I was surprised at the change in controls for the first few minutes but as I got used to them I found out how much stronger they where, it certainly gave the game a smooth combat control whilst also feeling as it if hadn't deviated from its predicessors designs.
Personally I considered the controls and overall polish of the game to be nearly perfect, there isn't any room for improvement single player wise (although multiplayer is another deal all together.) I have been a lover of the length and style of the cutscenes since MGS so the length didn't bother me, I found they flowed extreamly well and never felt too long (but then again if you didn't like them before, you won't now.)
Gameplay
Gameplay wise MGS4 can only be compared to the second and third in the series, the cutscenes are just as long if not longer whilst having mostly the same pace and dialoge. If you where not a fan of the previous cutscene lengths and styles you won't find anything different here, although this time around you can press L1 or X at specific times to see through or snakes eyes or get small flashbacks of characters respectively.
The first half of the game snake has been put in the middle of a war zone, basically for the first half of the game you are in generally sneaking through crossfire from either side. Without giving too much away, this gives a real sense of danger to the battlefields whilst also making them more interesting than your usual jaunt through barely manned tunnels and underground area's.
The octo cammo suit you get only proves to be an auto camo index, saving you from menu fumbling to find the perfect cammo. This sytem works surprisngly well, littearly every surface you can press against has its own cammo although you don't perfectly meld with the texture it still looks very impressive. When you get more skilled in the game you can move from cammo to cammo with ease, learning exactually how long to stay still to make the cammo change and keep moving without much of a hold up.
Plot
Nothing much can really be said here, if too much is said (which is easy) it can ruin the entire game in an instant. All that can be said is, if you have watched the video's on the net (released by konami) and think you have an idea of what the story is about you are completely wrong. The plot will twist and turn quite a bit but the end result is a very complete story, nearly every loose thread in the plot was somewhat tied together and explained a few times over. The voice work is top notch and every cutscene is as well directed as a movie, not watching the cutscenes in this game should be considered a crime. It should also be mentioned that if you havened played the other MGS's or don't know many of the plot points, you will be lost and confused in many of the cut scenes. MGS4 considers you know the long and twisted story kojima has come up with in detail, it does all get explained eventually but for most of the game you will be confused and may get bored because of it.
Sound
The sound is perfect, each voice is done perfectly with each voice acter actually sounding like they wanted to be in the game. Gun sounds are nearly perfect (with the M4 easily being the best) and bring along a nice feeling to every gune, very surprising considering how disjointed guns in 3rd person games generally are.
Graphics
The graphics are top notch for the system, I can't imagine the PS3 pulling off much more than what is done here. The frame rate in cutscenes can drop a bit and during game play when lots is going on you can see slight drops, each and every FPS hit is easily ignored as they are not horrible just noticable. Character faces and textures are possibly the highlight here, the textures are high res and the faces are smooth and detailed. The usual blocky look of ears and faces has also been removed, lines and curves on the face look smooth and natural although the ears can still look a little blocky at some angles.
Metal gear online
I will come back and review this at another time or edit this review as I havent had a long enough play of this yet, regardless to say its a standard jaunt through mediocrety. Nothing really that new here although its still fairly entertaining, given the free price tag.
Conclusion
What it comes down to is a simple yes or no, I cannot recommend this to anyone who hated MGS2 or 3. You will not find anything to like here as the cutscenes are just as pretentious and lengthy, the gameplay is much the same with a slight bit of emphesis on action over stealth.
If you liked MGS1-2-3 then you will like this, if you kept up with the story you will also find this to be a perfect completetion to the story. When I say complete I mean complete, other than the lingering stench of maybe a new hero and a sequal game the series is basically complete. Snake deserves it too, he has entertained me for years and thankfully has finished before he got stale.
So
Yes or No
Yes - If you have played MGS 1-2-3 and liked them, then yes.
No - If you played MGS 1-2-3 and didn't like them at all, then no.
Potatoes arn't for everyone.
