I completed Metal Gear Solid 4 for the first time several months ago, and recently came back to it not too long ago. My initial thoughts after completion were that of awe and dumbstrucked-ness, not so much from the plot- which seems to have found that balance between Metal Gear Solid 2's philosophical foray, with the plain espionage-thriller plotline of Snake-Eater- but from the severe tour-de-force the game sends you through. It packs references from the previous 3 games, the hand-held games and even a hidden reference to the not-so-well-known GBC Ghost Babel.
Guns of the Patriots concludes the series 5 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2. Snake, the protagonist's, artificial birth and genetic makeup has begun to take his toll as he has aged rapidly between the 5 years of the Big Shell Incident and the current plot, causing him to have the looks and condition of a decrepified old man. It is only the intervention of his octo-camo suit and his will pushing him through in this final mission. Throughout the game, Snake travels throughout the world in order to discover where his nemesis, Liquid Ocelot, introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2, is. Ocelot's intention is to take control of the PMCs, privately owned armies who fight for the highest bidder in a number of global proximity wars. Like the previous games however, the story approaches deeper themes, this time from the start, as the player is (in perhaps the biggest 4th wall breaking introduction I've ever seen) treated to watching an interactive television, seeing the shape of the game world all within a montage of advertisements, talk shows and game shows. It is a thinly veiled commentary on the technology surge which has further assimilated itself into human society- a theme which continues to play throughout the plot in addition to the idea of free-will, the definitions of the new globalized society and genetics and the new economics of a world where behavior and emotions are controlled through artificial means. In other words, a dystopia which hits home harder than most other stories could.
Thanks to the rapid cellular degradation Snake experiences, he is a lot more fragile in this game than the previous ones. This is easily noticable in the Laughing Octopus boss fight, where a mere two body hits from Octopus's rolling attack can down Snake in a Normal difficulty setting. Gone away is the stamina gague introduced in MGS3, replaced by the Psyche gague, which for all intents and purposes plays the same role as the stamina gauge, with the exception that the bar refills when Snake is in a non-combat state or while hiding, and increases when Snake is discovered. CQC also makes a come-back (including a very convincing conversation explaining why Snake has not been seen using CQC in his earlier roles) providing more depth in combat. In a departure from the normally stealth-based gameplay, Snake can not only collect over 50 different types of weapons, but meets a questionable character named Drebin, who exchanges any extra weapons Snake may acquire for points to purchase ammo or other weapons from his shop. Thankfully, the camoflauge system has been reworked. With the exception of a few times, Snake no longer has to go into 'Survival Viewer' mode to change his camoflauge, thanks to the real-time operations of the OctoCamo suit. Described as new state-of-the-art technology, it allows Snake to hide against a wall or floor and acquire the pattern of the surface, improving his hiding capabilities. This addition certainly streamlines the game much more as we no longer have breaks in action to switch our camoflauge when we attempt a foray into a grassy area for no more than several seconds. With this, also finally comes the player's ability to skip through sections of cutscenes, allowing us to decide what we want to watch as we see fit. The other major addition is the factions loyalty system. When Snake is normally noticed by the faction troops, he might be pursued as an enemy. However, if Snake kills or defeats a number of PMCs or provides items to the faction soldiers, their loyalty improves. Sufficiently high loyalty allows Snake to request help from them, either by providing items or diverting enemy troops to clear a path forward. This is most noticable in Act 2, where right from the start, Snake has an opportunity to get some erst-while allies. This layer adds to the gameplay in significant ways, providing players alternatives to the run-and-gun and hide-from-sight options.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the game is it makes easier for trigger happy players to get through the game. I always imagined the mainstay of the series was the fact that it was a stealth-action game- emphasis on the stealth, mind you. Something seems a little off when you can rush through an area cutting down through an enemy fortification with an unsilenced M4 and a couple of grenades. Granted, it falls within Kojima's vision- offering the player a number of solutions to a given scenario. I don't have a significant problem with this. But it seems that the player is rewarded more for a violent solution at times, rather than relying on wits and sound stealth tactics.
As much as this minor misforgiving acts on my impressions, I still have to agree with GameSpot's assessment of the game as "Technically flawless". The graphics are top-notch as is the sound, music, and cutscenes. The plot is brilliant, though to be fair, this game won't make any new fans of the series. To hardcore gamers who have purused the Metal Gear franchise from start-to-finish, the 4th game is a combined homage to the entire game universe. With so many cross-references to the previous games, this would more than easily deter first time players, who would want to know what things are from the start. However, to the rest of us, who've followed Metal Gear either from its heyday in the 80s, or from its first 3d entrance in 1998, this is a fitting conclusion to what will be a beloved series in all video-game history. On behalf of the fans and gamers alike- thank you.
