Metal Gear Solid 4

[Matt]

May I echo what Concept wrote about LOD popping. It drives me MAD in games. I don't see the point in having a shrub that appears 5 feet away from the player, or a rock that becomes geometrically more complex according to the proximity of the player. I'd prefer lower complexity models all around - sure, have a low 30 poly rock 200 feet away, then 70 polys 100 feet, but after that, KEEP it 70 polys.

I find it really distracting, and thankfully I've not noticed it in MGS4 yet

[Dogg Thang]

when connected, the position Snake takes, I can't really tell if he is connected or not. His head tilts one way, that's not enough visual confirmation for me

I had this exact same problem. For the first while, I didn't think the button was working. Odd as it wasn't like that in the previous ones. And I suspect they knew it, hence the need for a big icon on screen (yes, that should have been a giveaway for me the first few times).

[Matt]

I had this exact same problem. For the first while, I didn't think the button was working. Odd as it wasn't like that in the previous ones. And I suspect they knew it, hence the need for a big icon on screen (yes, that should have been a giveaway for me the first few times).

The icons look too similar for me. Maybe if they were a different colour that would help. You need immediate visual cues.

I said it about GTA4 as well: if this game had the Gears style cover system it'd be better

[saturn-gamer]

I agree with most of Concept's article. The way Snake moves around feels a bit Subsistence ish, its not truly breathtaking. Influence on the battlefield is extremely limited, and indeed, after the Middle east it becomes kind of... just MGS again. I also think the in game action is not all that epic, set pieces are, but if you play this run 'n gun style (which is possible, seeing as you can also buy loads of ammo and weaps) it lacks oomph. Most Enemies are not really smart and menacing. Its forgiven; the game is a tactical espionage game at heart. Not some sort of CoD.

What I miss about this game is being said above; this game needs more dynamic gameplay. A cam thats closer to the character, Gears style cover, RE style QTE's... SC style grabs and holdups. Just think: you are behind cover... someone walks by, X pops on screen and you disarm the guy.. then Triangle pops up and you can knock him out.

Sounds like a lot of stealing, but it would make this probably the finest game of this generation for me. Because at it stands now, its already my favourite Ps3 game so far.

At some places this is easily the best looking Ps3 game, such as the tank ride in Act 2. That looks extremely polished and unrivaled. This game kind of screams 'won't ever be on 360 for sure'.

[Rossco]

Wow, have just finished Act 4 and it was just RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!! Probably the best 4 or 5 hours I've ever had playing a videogame. So much fun, so much action, so much variety too!

ACT 4 SPOILERS!!! Don't read, first sentence will ruin it for you!

->Open Spoiler<-

I thought previously that going to Shadow Moses was a possibility due to what was happening and thought to myself, "ah it would be cool if they remade Shadow Moses in this, but it'll never happen!" Then it happened and I was just amazed and couldn't help smiling! And the intro to it, where Snake is dreaming and you are playing MGS1, touch of genius from Kojima. Then the fight with Vamp, took me ages to work out what to do, I was killing him over and over and over again then eventually realised, THE SYRINGE!! So I tried for ages to get him with it but had no luck grabbing him, he just kept kicking n punching me away when I got close. So I eventually realised, TRANQ GUN!!! Bit of tranquilizer, bit of syringe anti-nanomachine action and he's down! Then Raider comes to save the day with some more ninja action, kills vamp as I defend him using the rail gun against the Gekko's which was crazy!

AND THEN on top of all that, escaping in Rex, getting outside and then the cutscene clicked on, as soon as it did, I thought "Ohhh no RAY!!" and sure enough, Ray blasts out the water for an epic Metal Gear vs Metal Gear battle! Classic!

Can't get over how enjoyable that whole Act was, just stunning!

[ezee ryder]

Wow, have just finished Act 4 and it was just RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!! Probably the best 4 or 5 hours I've ever had playing a videogame. So much fun, so much action, so much variety too!

Totally agree! I loved the

->Open Spoiler<-

music in the background and the soundbites from MGS1 that played so it is like Snake is thinking about the past

. Absolutely brilliant! Am on act 5 now and just about nearing the end I think, I don't want it to end though

[Concept]

I'd prefer lower complexity models all around - sure, have a low 30 poly rock 200 feet away, then 70 polys 100 feet, but after that, KEEP it 70 polys.

I find it really distracting, and thankfully I've not noticed it in MGS4 yet

I prefer solidity to games which end up failing when they over reach as well. To be fair, the situation will hopefully improve with UE3 games later this year with the modified engine. Let's hope the texture streaming system has been improved (or that Microsoft have allowed developers to start using the HD for streaming if they haven't already on the 360).

What I miss about this game is being said above; this game needs more dynamic gameplay. A cam thats closer to the character, Gears style cover, RE style QTE's... SC style grabs and holdups. Just think: you are behind cover... someone walks by, X pops on screen and you disarm the guy.. then Triangle pops up and you can knock him out.

Sounds like a lot of stealing, but it would make this probably the finest game of this generation for me. Because at it stands now, its already my favourite Ps3 game so far.

Yeah, the controls could have certainly benefited from even more westernisation (if you can call it that) from my point of view. I think time was clearly an issue going from the making of DVD. When you think about the content (and not just the amount but the quality of it) and that the game is generally three times as large as many current-gen single player titles then you realise the ridiculous amount of man hours the team must have put in. I got the vibe from the Japanese documentary that Kojima wanted to hold the game back until the fall but the release target wasn't something they could avoid after they announced it. I wouldn't be surprised if Kojima Productions re-release another tweaked special edition of MGS4 (in the vein of Substance and Subsistence) with a few of those things you mention added a year or two down the road.

Wow, have just finished Act 4 and it was just RIDICULOUSLY GOOD!! Probably the best 4 or 5 hours I've ever had playing a videogame. So much fun, so much action, so much variety too!

What I love about the end of act 4 is

->Open Spoiler<-

not just all the weapons you have at your disposal with Ray, but the insane combat moves you can pull off on Liquid's Ray once you're out of the tunnel. For the first half of the battle I was truly owning him, then he came at me and damaged me to one hit from death until I came back at him with another couple of swinging counters. It's moments like that, when you're tense and you just pull a battle out of the fire (first time) with the camera angle veering as cinematically as it can... that makes gaming so completely satisfying.

Totally agree! I loved the

->Open Spoiler<-

music in the background and the soundbites from MGS1 that played so it is like Snake is thinking about the past

. Absolutely brilliant! Am on act 5 now and just about nearing the end I think, I don't want it to end though

The

->Open Spoiler<-

return of MGS1's underground base music just reminded me how good the sense of momentum was in the soundtrack for that game.

[Rossco]

More act 4 spoilers:

->Open Spoiler<-

Oh yeh the music as you say ezee was great, cool to hear the old classics while playing the new game.

Yeh the moves you had as Rex were awesome, I didn't realise straight away you could use that rush forward movement as an attack, and when I first done it, then got the triangle button to press when it came on screen to combo it up with more attacks was ace, looked so good. And so cinematically done!


I totally forgot another bit of Act 4 that I loved! The battle with Crying Wolf was outstanding, at first I was clueless as what to do to kill her, and was aimlessly running about shooting any bad guys I seen and waiting, scared for her to attack me, then I start sneaking more and treated it like The End from MGS3. Just lying in the snow, using your radar to look all around, then using the NV on the Solid Eye and zooming in with my sniper, I would take pot shots at her like that. Then I would try and sneak up on her when she was crying and smack her with an RPG. It was great fun, so atmospheric doing it in the snow storm too! Great battle.

[angelox]

As per norm - highlight to see spoilers. Only look if you have completed Act4.

Well its over - It is completed. Well, as a finale of a game (or a film), it touches on every single question I ever had. The Ending is LONG - but Awesome. I cant really say anything bad about the game - I mean its blown me away so maybe im suffering some kind of shock because of it.

Guess its time to move on and play MGO - Sigh - its well and truely over.

Rossco: I love that fight as well - but I did it differently. Initally I was in one of the buildings trying to sniper her, but it didnt work. So I just equiped the P90 and charged at her. Every time I would damage her she would run off and try and shoot me while I dodged the sniper fire and got to her.

I can imagine this is a game where a lot of people handled some parts differently, its also a very good spectator game - a fair few split screen moments ( Snake vs Metal Gears and Raiden vs Vamp to name one)

[Myth]

What are the sort of playing times people are getting when they complete this? I'm trying to really pace myself and am still in Act 2 (Nearing the end the act I think) and just clocked 10 hours on the save.

[angelox]

I completed the game in about 15hrs - and this will be a first for me - will be deffinatly re-playing this game multiple times to find secrets and the such.

[Rossco]

Well I've pretty much averaged 4 hours an Act the whole way, I'm now on 16 hours and haven't started Act 5 yet. Leaving it until tomorrow.

[spikecast]

Just bagged the last copy in Tesco and I have to say the graphics look excellent on my g/f's 23" Samsung HDTV. Can't wait to get my 40" Sammy back to see this in all of it's glory. Definately one of the most stunning games I've seen in a long time. Can't wait to get into it a bit more.

[dcmk]

i don't think i want to complete this.

knowing this is the last one i adore it so far. just finished act 2

[Dogg Thang]

I'm only in Act 2 now and it's up and down. I hated the bit

->Open Spoiler<-

where you hd to fight your way out of the building. Dull, repetitive, frustrating. Overall in the first act, this game has tried to be a war game and it is simply not equipped to be that.

Chain is right. If that is the kind of game they wanted to make, it needs a far better, smoother control system like Gears or something. Having just played Uncharted, which also contains dull repetitive gunfights, that game at least had a control system to match.

Anyone notice some really nasty textures? Overuse of the Photoshop emboss filter I think.

But I'm enjoying the music and the cut scenes.