Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review - PS3

9.5

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 9
Audio: 9
Multiplayer: 9
Innovation: 9

Introduction

One of the PS3’s most anticipated exclusives has finally been released. Metal Gear Solid 4 continues the story of the popular Metal Gear Solid series, and unlike Metal Gear Solid 3, it continues the story of Solid Snake, following on from the events of Metal Gear Solid 2. The series has made an impressive transition from the PS2 to the PS3, and in this review you’ll find out why.

Gameplay

The gameplay is much the same as the other games in the series, with stealth being an important factor as always. Not being seen is one of the big factors in the Metal Gear series, the games generally aren’t designed for fast paced action, and you’ll often find yourself quickly being swarmed by enemy soldiers/guards upon being sighted. Therefore, you have to be strategic, if you are spotted, then neutralise whoever, or whatever, spotted you quickly before they raise an alert. You’re generally given a small range of weapons, including a tranquiliser gun which is useful for taking out enemies quietly at a distance, with which to defend yourself in times of need, as well as take down the series’ many bosses.

As stated earlier, MGS4 doesn’t change a lot in these regards, but it does do some things a little differently. Whereas some would agree that MGS2 had a stronger emphasis on stealth, with MGS3 being a bit more balanced, MGS4 becomes a little more action orientated. The game easily has the largest arsenal of weapons on offer so far in the series, which seems almost at odds with the previous games, and you’ll need to use more than a few of them if you’re going to survive. These range from your basic pistols and grenades to submachine guns and various rocket launchers.

One of the Metal Gear series’ biggest features has always been the fact that the games are highly story based, with parts of a much larger overall story being told throughout all of them. This is helped by the fact that the story is on a very large, epic scale, with the very fate of humanity hanging in the balance, and has many, many twists and turns, with plenty of interesting characters to meet and interact with along the way. Solid Snake is the series’ main protagonist, and Metal Gear Solid 4 continues the story of Metal Gear Solid 2 (as Metal Gear Solid 3 was a prequel to the series which filled in some holes in the established story) by fast forwarding to a time 5 years after the events of MGS2 where we see how the world has become, and how even Snake himself has changed dramatically.

Snake, as players left him at the end of MGS2, is an athletic, impressive soldier in his prime, a formidable opponent for any villain. The Snake that players are presented with in Metal Gear Solid 4 couldn’t be more of a contrast. Due to inexplicable rapid ageing, Snake is now a grey haired, yet still fairly (continued next page)