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IndianVideoGamer Review: Metal Gear Solid 4

KnackChap

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KnackChap

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In the not too distant future, On a tired battlefield, War has become routine.

 

“War has changed” says snake As a scene of the rebel forces being carried to an unnamed middle eastern city by a caravan of trucks opens Hideo Kojima’s latest magnum opus metal gear solid 4: guns of the patriots. MGS4 the swansong to Hideo Kojima’s 21 year old metal gear solid has a lot of hype to live up to from both the fans and the media. Not only is this the final chapter in the solid snake saga, it was also billed as the messiah of the Playstation 3, the return of the PS3, its 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th coming.

Finally after a few delays, numerous coming to Xbox 360 rumors and a dozen or so trailers later, MGS4 is finally here and just like the previous games in the series MGS4 is not only a showcase for the Playstation brand but is a showcase for the whole HD gaming. MGS4 is not only Hideo Kojima best game or the best metal gear game it is also one of the finest action game ever made.

 

Set in 2014, 5 years after the big shell incident, the world is now ravaged by proxy wars fought between various groups. War is the new pillar that holds the global economy, it’s not between nations or ideologies, war is business and is refereed as the war economy throughout the game. This rise in proxy wars fuels the need for more and more mercenaries leading to increase in private military companies (PMC’s). to keep the PMC’s in check the US or rather the patriots the shadowy organization running the US requires all PMC’s and official military personal to be injected with a new type of nanomachine called the SOP (sons of the patriots), the system helps in maintaining balance among the various PMC groups as well as monitoring their actions giving the patriots total control over the battlefield. As the UN soon finds out the top 5 PMC’s in the world are all controlled by a single mother company called outer haven led by liquid snake who plans on plans on hijacking the SOP system and plans his insurrection.

Acting on a private request by his old friend and UN official Roy Campbell snake goes on a mission to assassinate the outer haven leader and his twin brother liquid. Needless to say this is just tip of the iceberg and as with any Hideo Kojima game the themes of loyalty, friendship etc etc run parallels to the main plot.

 

The gameplay is very similar to the past metal gear solid game’s with a few changes, the biggest being the revamped and more user friendly control scheme. The new shooter friendly control makes engaging the enemy head on extremely fun and satisfying. Another new system introduced is the Drebin points system. Since the guns dropped by the PMC soldiers are ID locked you cannot use them without unlocking, a gun launderer called Drebin whom you meet fairly early in the game unlocks them for you and also customizes your weapons, speaking of which MGS4 provides you with over 70 different weapons each of which can be customized in its own unique way. IT might be a stealth game MGS4 still provides you with one of the largest arsenal of guns ever seen in any game. Snake also get his fair share of new toys to play around with including the chameleon type Octocamo suit, a much needed and streamlined version of Snake Eater’s camouflage system, once snake sticks to a surface the Octocamo suit automatically copies the textures around it making snake blend with the environment, other gadgets include the Solid eye system the all purpose NV/binocular eye patch that snake wears throughout the game and the metal gear mark II, a stealth recon droid, extremely useful for scouting unknown areas. One of the major strong points about the gameplay is the the game hardly repeats a scenario through the whole game. the first two chapters will provide you with the battlefield scenarios with 2 groups fighting against each other, you can either choose to help the rebels or just ignore them and reach your objective, its an excellent system which provides incredible replay value and is an fine example of a providing a sandbox style of gameplay without actually being one. As you move towards acts 3 and further the battlefield will be replaced by one set piece after another which may disappoint some people. To kojima’s credit though he fills these sections with some of the most incredible sequences ever witnessed in games including a couple of classic boss battles and one amazing on rails sequence.

 

Graphically MGS4 is a beast, sure the textures are a bit weak at places and the frame rate occasionally dips(it also jumps to 60fps at some sections) but you wont find a better looking game on any console. The character models, gun models, the various effects etc used throughout the game are simple spectacular. It is also a great example of how once you master the PS3 you can squeeze more out of it as some of the later parts in the game look incredibly unbelievable. Except for a few fried eggs the cutscenes which are completely real-time make you wonder whether you are actually watching a pre rendered movie. It is also one of, if not the most polished game to ever grace a console. Even more impressive than the visuals is the sound, the sound of the battlefield, the deserted base, etc captured amazing well. Whether it’s the mooing of the gekko’s or different guns firing at different objects each makes it own unique noise. Voice work as always remains top notch with David Hayter and Christopher Randolph as snake and Otacon delivering standout performances. Harry gregson Williams returns as the composer and provides the best score he’s ever done for an MGS game.

 

As you can see the review has just skims the surface of what you’ll get to play in the game, I haven’t even talked about snake’s new moves, his new items including an ipod or other items such as the drum can, emotion magazines/bullets etc and let’s not forget MGO. 5 different difficulty levels and tons of easter eggs will make sure that you will play this game for a long long time.

 

Finally, MGS4 is a game for the fans, despite what others say the game can be fully enjoyed only if you played and followed the series. For the fans though this is a game without an equal, with some unmatchable levels of fan-service thrown in. In order to provide snake with an epic sendoff kojima and his team have gone all out to make this the best metal gear game including one major twist during the ending credits. The game has its moments of brilliance, it has its moments of madness and then it also has moments that only hideo kojima can come up. An epic finale to one of gaming’s landmark series and an incredible sendoff to solid snake one of gaming’s iconic character.

Goodbye old friend we (and the Playstation brand) will miss you.

 

Graphics: 9

Sound: 10

Gameplay: 9.5

 

Final score: metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots--20060509075616415_640w.jpg

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