Metal Gear Solid 4 Review
Playing Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots begs a question: are we playing a game, or watching a movie? Practically half the game is enriched with visually stunning cinematics. Yet, to say that the game is half as entertaining as a result would be a mistake, as the game and the story works hand in hand to produce an amazing result. Anyone who has played a game in the Metal Gear Solid series would chide you to not expect this.
The plot of the game is so rich that to speak even a little about it would risk giving away spoilers. Nevertheless, Snakes’s rapidly aging body is pulling him back from revealing his potential in his younger years, as he tries to stop Liquid Ocelot’s newest threats. Gamers will be pleased to see reunions of old faces, friends and enemies alike.
Gameplay will be familiar to old gamers, but it’s been given a nice spruce up and feels cleaner to use. Melee combat has been given a more streamlined touch, making grabbing an enemy from behind and finishing him with a blade much easier. Shooting has also been tuned up a notch, so that playing behind a gun will give you just as much of a kick as sneaking around your enemies. The game can be played in a third person or first person perspective. Snake has all the basic tools for espionage, like wall-hugging and floor-crawling, plus the nifty OctoCamo suit, which allows you to blend into the background just by pressing yourself against it. Your other helpful tool is the SolidEye, a device which gives you night-vision capabilities in first person perspective. You’ll also have portable hiding places like cardboard boxes and rusty barrels to hide in when the situation call for it. But if you’re stuck in a jam, you can always pull out yours trusty gun and fire in the hole. There’s also a psyche meter and stress meter in the game. Basically, if Snake gets too stressed he’s psyche level will fall, and if it gets too low he won’t be able to hold his gun up and his health refills slowly. In short, keep your psyche meter in sight, but don’t get too worried over it.
Enemies are relatively smart, and if you hide in barrels or boxes, they tend are know to kick it a bit to blow your cover. You’ll also come face to face with nasty bosses, so keep your health up before you engage them .The levels are beautiful works of art, and the sounds blend seamlessly to provide that good game experience. On top of that, MGS 4 offers multiplayer support of up to 16 players, so have fun taking your friends down in a Deathmatch.
Ratings: 4 out of 5
Overall, Metal Gear Solid 4 wins in storyline presenting and good gameplay. If you’re looking for a game that you won’t soon forget, don’t forget this one.