Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Review from Matt - Monday, 07 July 2008 @ 10:59pm

I had a lot of options for how I was going to review Metal Gear Solid 4. There were a bunch of crazy ideas, special interfaces, tricks, strange javavascript dynamic tricks, etc, that I seriously considered. But in the end I felt that Metal Gear Solid 4, and more importantly our readers, deserve this: a serious, straight and objective review of one of the biggest titles this year.

Metal Gear Solid 4 has been one of the few long established exclusives for the Playstation 3, and in a console war where sales can rise and fall based on exclusives MGS4 has been one of the few big guns that has stayed in Sony's arsenal.

For a start I should probably just give my MGS background. I loved Metal Gear Solid. I bought the special edition, and the end theme (The best is Yet To Come) still regularly features in my playlists while I listen to music. I bought a Sniper Wolf action figure that's still in its box, and pristine. At least once you wipe clean the plastic over her chest area. I loved the game. The jaw-dropping (for a PSX) graphics, the sense of cinema, of scope, the use of meaningful story, etc. I loved it. It ranks up among my favourite Playstation games, and among my all up favourites.

I was exhuberant for MGS2. I quivered with delight at the E3 videos that revealed to the world the level of rockitude that Hideo would bestow upon us. It looked amazing. The gameplay looked fantastic and those cinematics! And waited and waited.

Then I played it. And I hated it. I don't know why, but somehow it felt cramped, stilted. I couldn't see what was in front of me as I moved around thanks to the fixed camera angles, and I couldn't shoot while moving. I couldn't jump over a cardboard box. Everything about the gameplay was the same as the previous game, but somehow... I didn't like it.

So I skipped it. And then MGS3 as well. And Portable Ops. And the less said about Metal Gear Acid the better. Seriously, a card game?



I didn't want to hate on MGS, I really didn't, but I just couldn't get into it, and I saw no reason to assume that would change in later games. In fact, when MGS4 was announced my feelings of “meh” continued. Even with the shiny cinematics that came out featuring the Beauty and Beast team I felt it was a little overdone. I thought the character design was somewhat juvenile, and the yelling of “RAAAGE!” really got on my nerves. But then the game got close to release and did a Nadia Comaneci and I started to get interested.

And what did I think? Well, that's what a review is for.

Defining Metal Gear Solid 4 is a difficult thing. It's a highly cinematic story-driven action stealth game.

And I'm honestly not sure what I think about it.

There's a lot to love about Metal Gear Solid 4. For a start I have to talk about the graphics. I honestly don't think I've seen a better looking console game. The detail and depth of the game graphics is truly startling, it looks and plays almost like it's rendered. I'm honestly not really sure if it could actually be done as well on a 360. I could be wrong here, but I really think that MGS4 may mark a turning point of games actually starting to look a bit better on the theoretically more powerful PS3 than the lesser (but vastly easier to program for) Xbox 360. And while we're on the subject the advantages of Bluray are also made abundantly clear by the sheer amount of music, dialogue and video held on the disk, storage not available to the 360.

Graphics are good overall, but some of the small touches are especially impressive. The details are often where games (and everything else) live or die, and MGS4 renders everything from smoke to fabrics, dust and stone, water and snow like real objects, clear and sharp. Or dirty and pitted. Whatever it should be.

Solid Snake is the new Michelle Pfeiffer, a creation of stunning beauty despite advancing age. With his grizzled old moustache he introduces the game by smoking through the install process, allowing you to marvel at the impressive detail to his clothes, skin, equipment... His movement is as well realised as his look, to the point where he even moves slightly grumpy. You get the feeling he's about to start rambling about how tickets to the theatre only used to cost thrippence, and the movies were better in the old days anyway, when they had to rely on stories and good actors instead of relying on sex and special effects and computer graphics. He looks a bit annoyed to have to go on this mission. He probably just wants to be at home with a Bovril.



The important thing about a game like this is how it plays, and it's there that MGS4 really shines. It's subtitled “tactical espionage action”, which should give you some idea of how it plays. But your overall tactics are pretty much limited to “shoot in head” or “go around”, so I guess that covers espionage and action.

MGS4 handles espionage nicely, and it's a lot of fun. Initially I sucked at it, but given a bit of practise (and reading a strategy guide to realise I was doing it all wrong) I started to really get it. MGS4 plays and looks much like a third person shooter, but unlike the traditional 3rd person shooter you're actually not especially good at combat, and really can't rely on blasting your way through baddies. To help ensure your survival you need to be a sneaky bastard, avoiding enemies where possible, and taking them out silently where it's not.

MGS4 provides a range of options to allow you to do both. In fact... too many options. Some of them are invaluable and some of them you'll never need to use. The first thing for sneakening is Snake himself. Despite his arthritis, Snake is still pretty spry, and can crouch to be slightly less visible (and slower), or flatten himself to the ground completely. You can move in an analogue manner from a full run standing down to a very slow crawl. The slowest crawl, while completely flattened results in Snake writhing his latex covered bottom up and down in a very odd way, which may well be technically accurate but just comes across as a bit homo-erotic. Snake can also if standing or crouched press himself up against walls. It's around this point where you'll start to notice your OctoCamo. OctoCamo continues the strange and strangely meaningless Octopus theme that randomly appears through the game (right from the intro cutscenes) and is a nanotech body armour that moulds its shape and colour to its surroundings. This means if Snake is on dirt it takes on a dirt texture, if you're on tiles it takes on a checker pattern, increasing the stealth rating (shown in the top right).

The point is to increase your camoflauge but as a visual effect it's very impressive. Even if it's just a simple “swap textures” trick it's something I've never seen done before and it is very well implemented. As a side note the first boss you fight gives you a “face camo” that covers your face as well as your body, further improving your camo rating and as a bonus allowing it to take on the complete face of other characters, including the “beauty” version of the bosses you fight, other characters, and even earlier incarnations of Snake, including a pixelated MGS original Snake!

There are also weapons for stealth, specifically the stun knife and the anaesthetic pistol, which somehow fires anaesthetic .22 cal bullets. Both of these are available right from the beginning, and the anaesthetic gun is useful from the first guy to the very end. In fact, it's probably your main gun, which is kind of a pity.

Another nice feature that will be well used is CQC, Close Quarters Fighting. CQC is nicely implemented in MGS4, with the R1 grabbing an opponent and allowing several choices. The victim can now be used as a human shield, which forces enemies to stop returning (or at least lessen) fire, but Snake can still fire merrily. You can also throw them by flicking the L stick back, which slams them to the ground, knocking them firmly unconcious. This can be done very quickly in a smooth motion with grabbing them, making it a very effective way to speedily and silently disable an enemy. For the more bloodthirsty, the triangle will simply slit their throat. Dead men don't wake up.

Not every part of the stealth is well done, though. There are way too many options, and few of them are really useful. For that non-lethal player you also have stun grenades, stun mines, stun satchel bombs , and so on, but they're really not that useful, because the sleepy pistol is simply so effective. Not only does it always work on them (instantly for a headshot) but there seems to be infinite ammo. There are also ways to distract guards, either so they move away so you can get past them, or to open them up for a CQC or a shot. The strangest option is to leave a magazine for them, specifically a Playboy. Apparently soldiers cannot resist the allure of soft porn. I know I can't. There's only one thing better than softcore porn. I think you can guess what that is. Anyway the soldiers, being men, will wander over to take a look, their evil lusts making them ripe pickings for a sin-punishing tranquiliser to the head. You can also throw a magazine. By which I mean a clip, a casing of bullets, not a paper magazine. A little bit ambiguous there. The sound will distract them. You can tap a wall, luring an enemy to the tap while you circle around, etc. You can also use the Mk. II, a robot designed by Otocon to tap walls for you.

You won't do any of the above, because there's no reason to. But you can. What you will do is lie on the ground waiting for the guys to get relatively close, shoot them in the face with the sleepy gun, then wander past. Possibly teabagging them on the way. Don't let me tell you what you can and can't do.



Action is a bit more hit and miss... literally, actually. Action in MGS4 is very different to earlier incarnations. Viagra Snake can handle a gun a lot better than the previous versions, meaning alerts usually don't spell death, and a pants-down, balls-out, guns-blazing firefight can be a legitimate strategic option, especially for the impatient. Or alternatively if you screw up a shot and alert every mofo in the level.

Snake has access to a lot of guns. Some of them share bullets and some of them don't, so you end up picking up a lot of ammo with no idea whether you need it or want it, but hey, it's all free, right? I found the best weapon to be the Sleepy Pistol (my term). Seriously. Shoot once. Run away. Come back when he's asleep. Teabag. The M4 Custom is another handy thing to have around. It's one of the most upgradeable weapons, so it can take a suppressor, scope, and even underslung grenade launcher. You know you want to. There's also a range of sub-machine guns. I pretty much consider those an effective weapon only in that you get a lot of bullets for them and they're generally good enough for government work. The P90 is the pick, despite looking remarkably stupid. The heavy machine guns are also fun, with a few shots into the face being an excellent way to resolve a conflict.

There are two places you can get weapons from. Most of them you pick up, but if they're from baddie soldiers they're almost always ID tagged. The ID tagging is a major feature in the storyline, basically connected to how all the nanomachines in soldiers allow weapons to be locked unless they're assigned to you. They can be unlocked, and the gentleman who unlocks them is also the source of many other guns and weapons.

That man is called Sisqo. Joking, he's actually Dennis Rodman. Seriously, though, his name is Drebbin. He's an annoying prat with an annoying monkey and an addiction to cola (which I can relate to) and pointlessly long overdramatic exposition (which I can't). Sisqo is an arms dealer, making his living trading on the death and carnage that the new “war economy” has created. Your relationship with him is strictly business, though. Sisqo/Drebbin takes the guns that you find and for a small (and it really is pointlessly small) will unlock them for you so you can use them. He will also take any other guns you pick up and pay you for them. He basically pays you in credit, though, meaning that he makes actual money and you get DP (double penetration, or Drebbin Points, depending on the context).

As well as guns, Sisqo sells you ammunition and a few other things, like explosives, grenades, magazines (of both the bullet and paper variety), and other random useless stuff. The weird thing is that he sells absolutely no health items. Strange.

Drebbin is an odd character in terms of “game balance”. He's introduced very early on and from then on you can buy infinite ammo at any time literally from the pause menu. Sure they cost you “Drebbin Points” but DP is so easily obtained that the ammo might as well be free. In fact, ammo becomes utterly meaningless. Running low on bullets for your favourite rifle? Don't switch to a lesser one, just fill up at Drebbins. Rockets, grenades, sniper bullets, etc, pretty much infinite and free.

Oh and Drebbin... eye have you too. What the fuck are you talking about?

The whole Drebbin thing is also a bit strange in terms of “suspension of disbelief”. The understanding is that you contact Drebbin (after your initial overly long cutscene introduction) via the robotical Mk II, and the Mk II carries guns and ammo to and from Drebbin on your behalf. But I'm surrounded by soldiers in an underground base on an isolated arctic island. I got here by helicopter under cover of darkness, and crawled through a blizzard to get here. How the fuck is the Mk II getting to and from Drebbin instantly? Contiki tour?

For everything Metal Gear Solid 4 does awesomely there is at least one that it lovingly crafts from refined suck. This wouldn't normally worry me. I don't think I've seen a game before that didn't have some flaws here and there. You expect that with any product. What does bother me is the sycophantic ranting of the fanboys that declare the game a perfect title and the pinnacle of gaming, dismissing criticisms as either “not getting it” or even suggesting they're features.

And boy does it have some flaws. There are four major ones, the story, the writing, the cutscenes, and the women.



The first one I want to talk about is women. The women in Metal Gear Solid 4 are so overtly sexualised that it becomes uncomfortable and incongruous. For a start there's the more obvious things, such as the fact that certain characters (Naomi, most often) spend 90% of their on-screen time with their tits hanging out. In a game like, say, DOA Extreme 2, it makes sense, it fits. But in a game as serious and dramatic as this, and with characters who are supposed to be world-leading scientists, it just seems very jarring. Even a middle aged woman revealed to be ostensibly Snake's mum gets the same boob-baring treatment, making for a decidedly Oedipan and personally distasteful focus on her wrinkly old cleavage.

Aside from the obvious stuff there's some more hidden “easter eggs” most of which involve breasts. Using the codec to call the psychologist Rose, for example, allows you to shake the sixaxis controller to make her breasts bounce. This is at best childish and tawdry, and has no place in a game attempting the epic scope and depth that MGS4 is going for.

It's also frequently inappropriate. There is a series of battles with the “Beauty And The Beast” group. A lot of attention is paid to these fighters. They are armoured female warriors of stunning beauty. Each of them has endured the worst horrors of war, and been driven made by their pain, rage, and fear. Yet every one of them when damaged badly enough is stripped of her armour, leaving her writhing orgasmically for no apparent reason, dripping fluids and clad only in a latex suit of some kind. The camera at this point invariably focuses on her more salient points, ass, crotch, breasts, specifically. If you happen to enjoy sexually objectifying women in psychological anguish, it might be your thing. And stay away from me, you freak. Oh, and as added bonus, after a cutscene featuring sexualised pain you have to fight the poor girl in “broken” form. (Side note: use your tranquilisers, not a gun, and you get her face as a face camo.) During the “broken” form if you take out a camera she'll pose seductively for you. Nice. And not at all creepy.

I think this is a cultural thing, coming from a culture (Japanese, specifically) that seem to sexualise things that aren't considered appropriate or interesting here. 14 year old Rei Ayanami in bandages anyone? With the levels of “fan service” (an actual term meaning gratitous T & A in anime) that's not only accepted but required, it's no wonder that what's normal to one culture seems weird and creepy to another. But weird and creepy it does seem indeed.

The remaining three flaws are interwoven: Writing, Cutscenes and Story.

Everyone goes on about the story, but really is it that crash hot? I mean, if it was... the plot of the latest James Bond movie what would people say? Overly complicated, melodramatic, and slightly juvenile. But as a video game people seem to think it's Shakespeare. It's also worth pointing out that Metal Gear Solid 4's story has a pretty big barrier to entry – it basically requires you to have played three other games on two previous consoles, spanning over 10 years. If you haven't played MGS (and to a lesser extent MGS2) you'll be left twisting in the wind. Of course, the story is so convoluted that you'll probably be relatively twisty either way. One thing that bugs me about video game plots is that “twists” are frequently seen as some sort of synonym for “story” which couldn't be further from the truth. Compelling narrative, interesting characters, and good structure cannot be replaced by going “Oh my god, the goodie is a baddie”. I call it that the Shymalan Approach.

Cutscenes and Writing... specifically the writing in the cutscenes.

I consider myself a writer. I don't write professionally, but with AG I write pretty regularly, and I do other writing besides. In fact, my only tertiary training is in writing, creative writing specifically. I actually was quite accomplished in poetry, though nowadays I stick to things like limmericks that start “There was a young lady from Punt”. In any case, I'm not big noting myself (I dropped out of an Arts degree, this is not an achievement) but I'd like to think I know good writing. And Metal Gear Solid 4 does not have good writing.

It's overdramatic, and redundant. As well as redundant much of it simply doesn't need to be there and a lot of the rest is unneccessary. Did I mention it's redundant? It's vastly overwritten, squeezing drama and emotion from even the most trivial comments, blowing out dialogue from the seconds taken by actual humans to tens of minutes of pretentious waffle. Which is usually both redundant and unnecessary.

Nowhere is this more obvious than cutscenes. Cutscenes should be sections of story to flesh out and join together the action of the gameplay, not long waffling diatribes that I have to sit and listen to. Bring a book. Make sure Dan Brown didn't write it, while we're on the subject of bad writing.

Watching through 15 minutes of cutscene to see a loading screen which then says “Press Start”, only to sit through ANOTHER 15 minute cutscene... this is not my idea of awesome game design. MGS has always been an “interactive movie” and the first one set a standard for “cinematic” feel and use of movie style constructs like credits and music. But MGS4 takes it too far, turning the experience into an overly passive one, and for the most part, not an enjoyable one.



What makes this even more unfortunate is that the cutscenes are one of the best features of the game. I know... I contradict myself. So I'll clarify. A few of the cutscenes are some of the best features in the game. While there is an abundance of tedious self-important expositionary cutscenes that could have been cut down to something like “get to the boat” there are a few isolated scenes that are done at such a high standard and with such exceptional detail and choreography that they set a high standard not just for game cutscenes but for movies in general.

One specific scene features a battle between a cyborg ninja with a katana and a bunch of giant robots. This is so awesome that it defies words, and can only be expressed in childish leet phrases. The only way that could get more awesome is if his best friend the pirate jumped in on a speed boat full of knives. It really is a spectacular scene. What makes the whole thing weird, though, is that you can't get back to that cutscene. There's no way to re-visit a cutscene except to load a save that's before it, and then get through that level. This means that while you can TELL people how awesome that scene is, actually showing them is a much greater challenge.

Aside from the action cutscenes themselve, the way they're implemented occasionally touches on genius. There's a specific battle that you have to hold off a series of the aforementioned giant robots with a large and angry railgun. But the game flicks into splitscreen for the first time ever, and while the left side shows your battle the right side shows an epic knife duel which is both brutal and brilliant. At least, I'm told so. I was busy popping giant robots in the head. I suppose I could be annoyed that an awesome cutscene was on display at a time I couldn't even watch it. But I'm not. Somehow it was enough for me to know that it was happening, that there was a battle occurring, and that it was good.

A later cutscene does a similar thing. Snake crawls awkwardly down a corridor, and while you control him you don't really have to do anything but go forward. In the meantime the top half displays a cutscene of your friends and their own battles, all of which are desperately suicidal fights to cover you as you progress to your goal. The cutscene is genuinely moving, and wordlessly adds drama, tension and poigniancy that the overdone wordy scenes fail at so thoroughly.

One final cutscene does deserve special mention and that is...well.. the final cutscene. The final cutscene, including the credits that divide its sections, runs for a total of 70 minutes. This is close to the running time of some movies. Unfortunately it's not of the high standard of some of the earlier action scenes, being basically 50 minutes of redunant and uninteresting exposition and melodrama, about the value of family and freedom and so on. There is a wedding. And a man hugs his child. Honestly, it's like Steel Magnolias, but without the wry humour. No developer, even one as self-absorbed as Hideo Kojima has the right to end an action game with a chick flick.

Let me finish this by saying that reviews are subjective. There will be a lot of people reading this and shaking their heads in disbelief. There will be a lot of others nodding along. Most people will be agreeing with some parts, and disagreeing with other parts, leading to a confused diagonal head motion. An experience like Metal Gear Solid 4 is going to be a very individual one.

There is one real goal to a review, to help you decide whether you should buy this game or not. Most people have already made that decision and are pretty much just reading to either justify their own opinions or because they want someone new to hate.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is overdramatic and poorly written. The cutscenes are overblown and get in the way of actually playing the game. The story, despite its pretentions to high art, are at best overly elaborate and muddled, with character motivation in many cases being shruggably unclear. Is Naomi a goodie or a baddie? I don't even know anymore.

There are a lot of excuses given. Metal Gear Solid 4 is repeatedly justified by its fans, and the fact that the fans are so dedicated speaks well of it. But for all the dismissal of the flaws those flaws are there. The argument that MGS4 is providing what it always has doesn't hold water. It's always been overwritten and self-indulgent and the fact that it still is shouldn't be ignored - it's not a feature of the series, it's a deepening flaw.

Another excuse given is that you can skip the cutscenes if you want. But how are you supposed to know which cutscenes contain essential information and which are just pointless filler BS?

Now comes the Metal Gear Solidesque twist – You definitely should buy it. Despite its flaws the core gameplay (when you're permitted to experience it) is rock solid and very enjoyable. The graphics, the detail, and the feeling of reality to the place are an achievement I've rarely seen. If you have a Playstation 3 you owe it to yourself to at least experience. For every cutscene built on maudlin exposition there is an action packed fight that will blow your mind. Ok, not for every one. Maybe 1:10. But they're that good it actually balances out.

Because here's the thing - Metal Gear Solid fails in so many of the things it tries to achieve. But it tries so hard. It's such an ambitious title, trying to achieve something truly great, and - dare I say it? - art. In an industry littered with mindless shooter after mindless shooter even pseudo-intellectual waffle is a step up. In a market where gratuitous and explicit violence is the standard Metal Gear Solid 4 deserves credit for attempting to set a higher standard, and while note should be taken of its failures, respect is deserved for the attempt.

For all the waffle, for all the overdone cutscenes and overwritten dialogue, for all the gaudy pop-psychology, Metal Gear Solid 4 is an attempt to bring intelligence, beauty and art to an medium that doesn't realise how desperately such things are needed. If it doesn't achieve everything it sets out to do, then it at least deserves respect for reaching so high that where it falls short is still impressive.

Summary

What's good is amazing, but it's really uneven, with pacing jumping around. MGS4 is an impressive experience and one you really should play, but be prepared for some impatience and some frustration.

Pros

Very enjoyable gameplay (when you're allowed). Impressive graphics. Level of attention to detail unsurpassed in any other title to date. Some cutscenes that will blow your mind

Cons

Long, overdramatic rambling story. Bizarre and inappropriate levels of "fan service". Drebbin - everything to do with him.