Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Game Description:

Metal Gear is the 4th instalment in the Metal gear series after it's initial release on the PlayStation. The Metal gear series is iconic for is cinematic sequences and redefining the stealth action genre. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of the Patriots is set 6 years after the events in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty and you discover the world has become consumed by war as war has become an industry in which governments now follow to sustain their countries. The Private Military Companies benefit massively from the constant battle and rival PMCs engage in spontaneous battles which leave the world in ruins. The Villain in the series is "Ocelot" who has become the leader of 5 largest PMCs in the world and it's the job of your character "Solid Snake" to assassinate him.

Gameplay

The gameplay in MGS4 has remained very much the same as it has in the previous instalments in the series but has implemented some new features such as the introduction of a stress bar which is located beneath you characters health. The stress bar has various effects on your character such as if the stress bar is full you character becomes a lot more accurate when aiming in first person view and your health will restore a lot faster. The bar also has an influence on how concealed you are when trying to remain hidden from enemies. The stress bar will rapidly increase when in fire fights and will decrease when out of combat or listening to the in game “”I-Pod”. In MGS4 there are various ways in which you can play the game for example although the game is primarily a stealth action game you very easily play the game in constant fire fights. You also have the choice to play the whole game in 1^st person view while previously you were restricted to 3^rd person. The boss battles are fun and dynamic and require their own unique strategy to beat them. Players are rewarded for not killing bosses which can be done by using tranquilizer ammunition rather than live ammo. The rewards include camouflage and weapons and you will be rewarded a better rank when completing the game.  

9/10

Graphics

The visuals in MGS4 are unmatched in quality as the in game locations and characters are textured in great detail. The in game cinematic sequences are visually stunning and the action sequences are better than most movies. The game does suffer from random drops in the frame rate but only for a very short duration but personally I believe it holds up pretty well considering the scale of some scenarios and the graphics still look amazing considering it was released back in 2008. The interface you use is unique to the Metal gear series such as the use of holding down the L2 and R2 buttons to activate a dropdown box which you use to equip items and weapons.   10/10

Story

The story in MGS4 doesn’t disappoint the previous instalments in the series and the story which is tied together by the amazing cinematic sequences which never become boring. You do sometimes feel the game is more like movie than a game as some cinematic sequences can be as long as 15 mins long. The games story smartly influences the increase in difficulty as you can dispatched to more dangerous location around the world. Every action in the game feels like is has a consequence on how the game will end and the cinematic sequences can vary depending on if you decided to play the game stealthy or “All Guns blazing “.

10/10

Lifespan

The introduction to a PVP multiplayer to the metal gear series substantially increases it’s lifespan as it implements a character progression system where you can improve various skills of you character as well as your characters appearance which causes players to play it again and again. The Campaign mode enables players who have completed the game to redo the campaign with special equipment which enable you to play the game differently then you initially did.

8/10

Overall

10/10