REVIEW - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

Games....games have changed. In the last 14 years, it's become less about being unique and having an amazing gameplay concept and more about seeing which game can draw in the most money by being as generic as possible ( See Every Call of Duty game released after 2010). It's an endless cycle, and sure as sure can be, gaming is slowly becoming more mainstream in the wrong kind of way in my opinion. However, This past generation has produced three amazingly good and unique games. The already reviewed and stunning Tales of Xillia, today's game and a game I'll review next time. What am I reviewing today you may ask?

Konami's final chapter (chronologically) of Solid Snake's life, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

It is the year 2014, five years after the Big Shell went under in New York City during Sons of Liberty. Due to his status as a clone, Solid Snake - at the Age of 42 - has begun rapid age acceleration. Since the events of MGS2, things, specifically the way the world works, are different. In the opening scene, Solid Snake gives us a monologue describing the situation: 

"War has changed. It's no longer about nations, ideologies or ethnicity. It's an endless series of proxy battles, fought by mercenaries and machines. War, and its consumption of life, has become a well-oiled machine. War has changed. ID tagged soldiers carry ID tagged weapons, use ID tagged gear. Nanomachines inside their bodies enhance and regulate their abilities. Genetic control. Information control. Emotion control. Battlefield control. Everything is monitored, and kept under control. War has changed. The age of deterrence has become the age of control. All in the name of averting catastrophe from weapons of mass destruction. And he who controls the battlefield, controls history. War has changed. When the battlefield is under total control, war... becomes routine." - Old Snake

This is all the doing of the Patriots, the organization bent on ruling the world by "creating context" and censoring the world. Someone who wants to get rid of the System the Patriots run is none other than General Pain-in-the-ass Liquid Ocelot, who wants to take over the world by destroying their AI's. Snake is sent out on a mission by the United Nations to stop Liquid at all costs, and as secondary objectives from Otacon and Raiden (who has now become a Ninja) he must destroy the System with a virus and take care of a former friends daughter. The story...is truly something else. I've commented before on how game narratives can be about true struggle, but nothing quite on the level as this. You're an old tired war dog, who's final mission is the task of saving the world. The game's final act actually portray's this in a brutal and tortuous way, but it's also fulfilling too. It brings everything full circle with every character in the Metal Gear Universe, even people who were minor before this game have some significance now like Mei Ling. It's an amazing story and a fine conclusion o one of the most confusing yet astounding game stories since the industry began.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is similar to Snake Eater in terms of it's gameplay, although of course there are differences. While stealth is still a viable option and the game encourages you to use stealth, the gameplay is actually a bit more action based than anything. This is due to the gun launderer, Drebin. Due to the way that the economy works, Guns are I.D tagged to a soldier via nanomachines. When Snake picks up an I.D Tagged weapon, he sells it to Drebin who unlocks the gun for Snake to use. Drebin also sells a bunch of after market guns and ammo too, and since points are extremely easy to accumulate, you're going to spend the majority of your time shooting enemies in the face for the lols. It's this more action-oriented style of play that kinda makes MGS 4 Lose a bit of it's nostalgic charm, but at around Act 3 Stealth starts to become more needed although the action still drowns it out. The camouflage system has been updated thanks to the OctoCamo system. The suit automatically detects environment patterns and shapes and changes it's design to match that of the surface it's touching. With that said, Stealth is again dumbed down a bit in order to encourage more action oriented gameplay. One thing I do love about this game however is it's customizability. You can customize most guns wdown to everything minus the colour and gun performance. You can attach a Shotgun to the bottom of your M4, with a Laser Sight, Suppressor and an ACOG sight to boot. There is so much depth to this system that you'll be economizing for ages trying to save up for that one part you need to increase your accuracy with a weapon or trying to see which attachments you prefer on your gun. You also can download songs, Camo and guns off of the MGS 4 Extras menu for free, which is Konami's way of saying thanks for playing. I love it when developers do that in their games. Overall, I think it's extremely fun, but the stealth is a bit too muted for a Metal Gear game.

I think it's hard to say that this game looks anything butt stunning. Until this game came out, people were doubting he power of the PlayStation 3. Sure, Uncharted looked nice and all but there was nothing really impressive until this beast came along. it's a similar story to Metal Gear Solid 2: it's the attention to detail that matters the most here. You'll be walking around and one minute you walk on top of a counter and then a glass bottle smashes and alerts a nearby guard. Meanwhile, the glass bottles contents are leaking out everywhere, staining the carpets and walls. The environments look simply beautiful, from the dreary and drab Middle East, to the lush South American Jungle to the harsh snowfields of Shadow Moses Island (which makes a glorious HD Comeback), Metal Gear Solid 4 is simply a technical triumph.

One of the ingenious ways that the soundtrack works is the implementation of the Apple iPod, a Gadget that allows you to play music you've acquired via download or on the battlefield. Containing classic tracks from previous games and one of the all time, if not THE all time best Final Boss theme song, there is no other word that can describe this games soundtrack quite like the word masterful. I give full credit to the composer and Sound Director and the terrific job they did here.

As the finale to the greatest over-arching gaming plot in history....how does MGS 4 fare? Well, simply put it has to be one of the greatest games ever made. A plot worthy of the silver screen with identifiable and relatable characters, intense although at times misguided gameplay, AMAZING graphics and sound....MGS 4 has it all. While not perfect, it's damn close to being perfect.

Story: 10

Gameplay: 8

Graphics: 10

Sound: 9.2

Personal Enjoyment: 9.5

FINAL SCORE FOR METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS: 9.34/10