Twenty Years Later, It Was Over
I wish I could say I've been on Metal Gear since day 1, but I would've been around 3 when the first game came out on a system America had never heard of, so no, I'm not. I can say that I played the demo for Metal Gear Solid enough times that I'd memorized the lay-out of Shadow Moses' exterior and could probably replicate it to a sketch artist, so when that first game was finally released, I ravenously consumed it. Then came #2 and the flood of controversy over the fact that you weren't Solid Snake and the ending made about as much sense as sneakers for a snake...I apologize for nothing, and I stood by that game as an excellent addition to the series, and more importantly a character piece of Solid Snake. 3 came, and the controversy of that was, of course, that it was Big Boss' origin and wouldn't resolve the cliffhanger ending of 2. This was washed aside when the game turned out to be really, really, REALLY good and even revolutionary with the "survival" addition and one of the most epic sniper battles in videogame history. Finally 4 comes out, promising to answer all the questions, resolve all the issues, heal the sick, feed the hungry, and deliver us to a new age of video gaming. 3/5 ain't bad.
The graphics on this game are better than just about anything I've ever seen anywhere, this includes film where the models only need to do exactly what they're animated to. The facial expressions allow for emotion to be communicated through more than just voice (compare this to the first MGS where the lips didn't even move in-game for a real shock to the system) and let characters express themselves with a subtlty and grace normally reserved for live-action actors. Below the neck things are just as good, the game somehow side-steps the usual CG hurdle of everything looking weightless and inhuman, creating a world that feels like people are actually occupying and changing it. The characters feel heavy, and most of them convey exhaustion with their bodies with gestures like slouching, slumping shoulders, and other myriads of things that probably took years to animate.
The sound is par for the MGS course, which means brilliant. Metal Gear Solid was one of the first American released games with a really, really great voice cast (made up of, surprise surprise, VOICE-ACTORS instead of game producers), realistic weapon reports, and even footsteps, and MGS4 is superbly acted (if not always perfectly written) by an all-star cast of voice actors, all returning characters voiced by their returning actors, and the weapons all sound completely real. This has the effect of also immersing you in the frantic battles that Snake finds himself smack dab in the middle of.
The gameplay is shockingly playable, finally addressing the biggest point (valid as it usually was) that detractors had about the game: the controls were so oddly specific and often restrictive that the game was a chore to play. Those complaints have been addressed by a camera system that you control, the ability to walk in first-person mode, something other shooters should take heed of, and a stealth system that isn't dependent on an oddly limited cone of vision that otherwise blind and deaf soldiers have.
In addition to all this is one of the most melodramatic, epic, sweeping plots every put to gaming. I happen to be a fan of melodrama in games, I think it's one of the few mediums that can really get away with it and make it work, and this game does. You've got all the points of a good melodrama: the "DON'T YOU DIE ON ME!!" cradling your comrade in your arms, the monologing villain, friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming friends, an old man staggering down a hallway while the player smashes a button forcing him forward, all culminating with a "no weapons" duel to the death at the conclusion. All with a shocking amount of emotional resonance.
At the end of the day I didn't agree with all the plot points, some of the lines were too hammy for even me to accept, some characters grated on my nerves, but the game taken as a whole is, in my humble opinion, the single greatest game ever made. Perhaps not my favorite, but it truly is the greatest achievement in the medium.
