Metal Gear Solid 4 Pushes the Envelope
Solid Snake's Final Adventure Takes Gaming to New Heights
Jul 3, 2008
The Playstation 3 had yet to find its killer app, its Halo. And then Metal Gear Solid 4 came out. Boasting some of the best graphics currently available, fine tuned gameplay and an epic story, PS3 fans finally had something to cheer about.
Dynamic Battlefield
Players control Solid Snake (who, having aged prematurely is called 'Old Snake') through a futuristic battlefield in wars waged by PMCs, or Private Military Corporations. In the future of Metal Gear Solid 4, wars are not waged by militaries, but by these corporations.
It's the game's setting that makes it stand out from the rest of the series. In previous games you controled Snake as he infiltrated enemy bases that were guarded. There was rarely an occassion where you saw the NPCs engaged in combat. In some instances, sneaking by on these battlefields makes life easier, but in others it makes it harder. It all has to do with whether you're helping one side or the other.
If you help one faction by killing or tranqulizing members of the other, they'll begin to cautiously consider you a friend, and won't sound an alert or shoot at you on sight. This makes for a pretty cool experience as NPCs thank you and compliment your skills as you take out their opposition for them.
Impressive Technology
Many wondered if Metal Gear Solid 4's graphics could stand up to the screenshots and trailers shown for it. Far too often developers show dolled up, pre-rendered cutscenes to mislead the public into thinking they have discovered some secret graphics technology. That's not the case with Metal Gear Solid 4, there are no pre-rendered cutscenes...every second of them is rendered on the fly by the PS3. The game is a showcase for the system, and evidence that in the right developer's hands, magic can be made with it.
Frost appears on the screen in cold areas, blood spatters on it, snow lands on it and melts, the little visual touches go a long way to adding to the immersion, which is something a lot of developers overlook.
The Saga's Conclusion
The gameplay in a Metal Gear game is always nice, but it's also always second to the story. Every one of the series' loose ends is addressed, so if you've been confused as to what exactly was up with The Patriots, or Ocelot, or Raiden, or anything, you will get an answer in one form or another. Hideo Kojima has said the latest Metal Gear game he makes would be the final one, but it seems at long last he was being genuine.
And you know what? For gamers who have been there since the series' beginning, it's one hell of a satisfying ride.
