Ah, yes, Solid Snake, his aging version and the game that was always meant to be the Sony PS3’s killer app: Metal Gear Solid - Guns of the Patriots. The great finale to the vastly overrated Metal Gear series of games that started life on the MSX, moved to Nintendo’s Famicom, and ended up supporting the PlayStation. The first PS3 game to truly try and use all of the space provided by them Blu-Ray discs. A properly mainstream, all singing, all dancing, highly anticipated, major release. So, uhm, how is it?

Well, for starters it’s got a distinctly unattractive title and an obvious obsession with all things militaristic, but that you knew, didn’t you? Other than that, MGS4 seems (only played -and watched- it for a few hours mind you) like a fine -if flawed- game with some amazing production values. The graphics are fantastic, the soundtrack is okay and the plot decent enough for games of this sort. Gameplay-wise MGS4 is an enjoyable shooter/stealther with overcomplicated controls that’s constantly being interrupted by B-movie quality cutscenes; a fact that seems to have been ignored by most reviewers, who apparently loved the thing to death. Oh, and if you’re a fan of the series you absolutely have to grab it apparently. If not, but still want to see what Hideo Kojima is capable of, give the excellent and quite retro Snatcher a go.

Posted on June 30th, 2008 by admin