MGS4 Talk time, Spoilers after the first post. Options

[AC9breaker]

A topic where we can discuss the game. There will eventually be many spoilers in this thread after this post so I caution anyone who reads this sentence. First though I will post my first impessions of the game after playing it for 3 hours straight. My first impression is spoiler free so feel free to read it, but assume spoilers to be read after every post following this.

Okay so my room is getting real hot from playing for 3 hours straight. Decided I'd wait and get some eats/drinks then come back and go for a marathon session with the AC on.

First off, I got the limited Edition. It comes with 3 Discs the game, a Blu-ray DVD making of MGS4 and the Soundtrack for the game. Music is pretty cool, not exactly something you can bump in a car or club but still pretty poignant. Ambiance stuff you know? Anyway, there are two cases. One for the game and one with the Soundtrack/B-DvD. They where thoughtful enough to include a spoiler warning with the dvd. So I'm not planning on watching it until I beat the game. The cover art for the LE is awesome, old Snake and Liquid Ocelot.

Now onto the game. Looks fucking awesome! especially on an HDTV.
They've taken everything that was awesome with MGS3 an expanded on it.
Interactive cutscenes. Just like MGS3 where there would be que's during cutscenes to view it from an alternate angle ie: Snakes POV. Definitely makes for a much more immersible approach to the games cut scenes. Some also include your input to progress the scene, think the ending sequence in MGS3 with Snake and the Boss. The game maintains its awesome cinematic introduction style where credits scroll while you make your way to the starting point of the game. Also there are real life cut scenes at the beginning of the game. Starts out with one of the ads for the Private Military Corporations and what appears would be a clip from a cooking show in this nihilistic future in which the game takes place in. I thought it was totally funny and awesome at the same time.

Now gameplay, holy shit I forgot how complicated these games are to play. I easily spent the first hour and a half of the game dying trying to remember how to play/ figuring out the nuances of the game and such forth, didn't help that I started the game on the Hard difficulty mode (Big Boss Mode) as they call it. Once you figure things out the new changes are an awesome addition to the universe. Especially awesome is the stress/mental health gauge. Your aim becomes much more shaky as your stress levels increase and you take more damage. Forces you to focus a lot more on stealth where as in previous games you could Rambo things without too much care.
Cardboard box makes a return, Oil Drum is fucking awesome. An equipable Ipod item, appearantly you can download music to it too. :O I think its suppose to help in decreasing your stress levels too. The weight of the items you carry in your inventory also have an impact on your stress gauge too. Weapon customization is fucking awesome. I was really impressed by Call of Duty 4's custom perk system, but this one blows it out of the water. I can only imagine how awesome it will be once I play MGO. Although there aren't as many weapon types in MGO as there are in COD4, the many modifications you can make to the weapons are sweet as hell to mess around with. In total I think I've only really playe 20 minutes worth of the game, but its been an awesome 20 minutes. Final thoughts after I beat the game.

[AC9breaker]

My final impressions of the game. Spoiler free.

I have to say, Hideo is a genius. With that said I will say that MGS:3 Subsistence is still my favorite Metal Gear game in the Solid series. I've read a bit of reviews out there and one thing I've noticed is that they say, "even newcomers to series can pick up on things." This is totally untrue. MGS4 is for the fans that have been with the series since MGS1 on the PS1. Only the most astute of gamers will pick up on the throwbacks to previous games and even then there will still be things that they won't get. Everything in this game reaffirm these notions of my, from the controls, to the long winded cut scenes and dialogue, even down to the hidden undertones and subplots.

Gameplay:
First off lets start with this, if you've never been able to really get the hang of the controls for an MGS game or had a hard time picking them up then this one is gonna be even harder or impossible for some of you guys. Quite a few small but significant changes where made in order to keep the game balanced. In MGS3 CQC was over powering and too strong and could be executed with most weapons. Now certain actions can only be performs with only certain weapons, but you can do a lot more once in a grabbed position which can make for confusing times. Also FPS Knife mode has been done with, this was an extremely cheap way of killing players online. Knock them down with a roll, then stand close to them and wait in FPS mode to gouge their balls out which was an instant kill. Actually I was messing around a bit online and its still possible do that but thanks to the ability to roll on the ground, and move while on your back, its harder to get ball knife kills in that manner now. Octocamo is sweet and when used right makes you damn near invisible. Even fooling infrared sensors. Gunplay, freaking awesome. Gunplay has been improved so much that its really hard to play the game like its a sneaking mission. Especially when you can customize so many of your weapons, its hard not to want to test them out. You could even play the game like a straight up action game and be very satisfied thanks to all the new changes. Switching from third person view to first person is great fun as well as being able to shoulder you weapon on either side. Of course the real meat of this game is sneaking and if you can successfully sneak in this game without going rambo you'll find it that much more rewarding. I also feel that this is really the best way to get the optimal MGS4 experience since the game has huge amounts of intense scripted action sequences where you do have to play rambo the sneaking balances that. Assuming of course you sneak. No act in this game proves this better then Act 3 where the First half is totally stealth gameplay while the second half is balls to the wall action. Plus there are plenty of scripted events in the game that will keep you on your toes. You gain better appreciation of these events though if you do sneak. Of course its only thanks to the complex controls of this game that you're able to enjoy your actions. Even now I still find myself trying to figure out how to do certain actions I want. After I've already beaten the game on Hard mode.

Story:
What an epic tale. The game has a real foreboding melancholy feeling as Snake is on his last legs. He's aged at an alarming rate and his end is coming. Of course Hideo manages to balance this out with his humor at the right times. Johnny/aka Akiba is such an awesome comic relief character. As well as the running gags of Snake being a senior citizen and various other stuff. Just about every character who's made an appearance in the MGS universe literally comes back almost as if to send snake off. All loose ends are tied and the game has an incredibly satisfying ending. However this comes at the price of extremely long, tempo breaking, exposition. However at the same time they're done so well, so seamless that you forget that you yourself are playing the game and you really do get drawn into the experience. Still though I'm sure these sequences are sure to turn off many but they're a necessary element. As this is the final chapter of Snake, the Solid time line is quite a complex thing and it is necessary that all questions be laid to rest for the sake of the fans as well as the sake of Hideo. Your journey as Snake will take you across the world and as well as take fans from this franchise to their youth. Like I said before though, there is no doubt that this is the last mission for snake, but it doesn't mean its the last Metal Gear game for Hideo, although personally I think it is. However what I think is greater is that he's managed to put an end to this saga while still leaving plenty of room for a future for this franchise that can begin a new saga.

Retrospect:
Like I've said before this is really a game for the fans. The things that I've found most enjoyable about this game where the references to the old games. The game plays heavily on nostalgia but it doesn't rely on it. Just that these nostalgic moments are incorporated at such key times that newcomers may not really understand their significance. Then there are the intelligent sub tones of the game. An article on] Kotaku discusses some of these theme and the one I immediately pick up on was the games critique on the gaming industry and on us, the gamers. How we gamers have facilitated in the propagation of an industry that has capitalized on the success on samey shooters and little imagination. Which was made quite evident to me in Act 3 in the dialogue between Big Mama and Snake. Of course even a fan of the series may not pick these up as they're very subtle. Its something I myself have always enjoyed about the MGS games and still do. Crusinator and myself discussed this before and have come to agreement, people think MGS4 is the game that will save the PS3. But its not, its a game for the MGS fans. So while MGS3: Subsistence is my favorite in the series, this game certainly comes in at a close second.