Yesterday I finished playing MGS4: Guns of the Patriots, and I have to say that Kojima provided the fans of the series with an ending that was deserving of the epic saga that he created. The ending really did give me a feeling of being an age old veteran who finally came at the end of his career.
From reading other blogs and listening to some podcasts that discussed the game though I found that not everyone shares the same views as me, a fan since the first MGS for PS One ( I have to admit that I have not played any of the original NES games). This post is not necessarily to argue any of those points, though I certainly disagree with them, its really just to express my own opinion on the topic as is usually the point of a blog in the first place.
One of the main shortcomings people found with the game is that the cut-scenes were way too long inhibiting on the gameplay. Though it is true that the cut-scenes were quite long (I am pretty sure the longest in the series), if one is at all familiar with the previous Metal Gear Solid games is that Kojima likes to tell heavily complex stories, and usually expresses this between the interaction of Snake/Raiden and the rest of the cast, which usually results in long conversations. This is, I feel, a necessity to a certain extent because the complex web of espionage opera that Kojima created, to flesh out characters and concepts essentially creating a sort of interactive movie. Although this might not be everyone’s cup of tea, if one accepts it and goes in to play the MGS series with this kind of mindset the games’ enjoyment elevates.
Another factors of the game which on a certain podcast was claimed to be gimicky, though not exactly expressed as a negative aspect, was the fact that Snake was old for MGS4 as to create a sense of logning for the original games and the advancements of video game technology throughout the years, all the while within the game the age factor was given an “irrational” explenation that *SPOILER WARNING* Snakes genetic code had been tempered with as an infant increasing his aging as to stop the possibilty of him turning against those who created him *END OF SPOILER*. I have to admit that I can see the argument of the old Snake being tied in with the fond memories of the original MGS, as it was expressed by the game at the beginning of Act 4 I think it was, but I am totaly fine with that.
Reminissing upon a video game, brought through the developers’ machinations, although arguably a gimicky thing to do, I feel is an excelent way for old fans of a series to think of the time spent in that particular game, bringing forth a nostalgia that might even lead to replaying that game. This was the case for me recently about some other games as well, such as Diablo 3, and even before that Starcraft 2, when after hearing the announcements for these games I almost went out immidiately and bought the Battlechest bundles for those two franchises ( and propably will for Diablo 3). The aged graphics might be somewhat of a shock at first, but for me at least that goes away fast and I remeber what got me hooked on the games in the first place. Very rarely some games are re-released with updated graphics, as was the case with the original Metal Gear Solid being released for the Game Cube under the title of Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, with textures that mimiced those of Sons of Liberty for the PS2.
Regardless even though those are but two disagreemnts I had with some of the comments made about the game, they are the ones that stood out to me the most. All in all I think its an awesome game especially for gamers who are into espionage, and I think it did justice to the fans of the series, at least it did for me.
