Metal Gear Solid 4 Afterthoughts

**This article is spoiler free**

Upon completing Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, I said this to myself without completely realizing it:

"Wow. This was a great movie."

Did I mean to say, "this was a great game."? Probably. Nonetheless, I found it quite amusing that I mixed up these two words, considering that I honestly felt like I was watching more cut-scenes than sneaking around and snapping necks while playing MGS4.

I digress.

MGS4 was an amazing game. I honestly think the way the game actually plays is, up to this point, unmatched. The refined controls are a few ticks away from flawless, the animation is crisp, smooth and realistic, and all of the new (one being not-so-new) environments are masterfully designed.

I can assure you that everything I just stated is not the speech of a blinded Metal Gear fanboy that praises anything Hideo Kojima's cat pees on. The actual gameplay really is perfect. That being said, I am downright disappointed that there just wasn't more of it. I've never felt so desperate for a cut-scene to end during a Metal Gear game -- and that isn't to knock the cut-scenes at all. The movie sequences are about as expertly directed as the gameplay is constructed, but to put things summarily...

they're just too long.

Apparently, Kojima Productions agrees with me on that note. During the prolonged mission briefings, the team decided to let players use the Metal Gear Mk. II/III while Snake and company talked it up. You can use the Mk. II/III to snoop around the Nomad (the plane that Otacon and Snake use to get around) and find items that'll aid you on your next mission. You can also take a look at the security cameras inside the Nomad instead of watch the cut-scene, but rolling around in the Mk. II/III is a lot more entertaining. I think the plot points that I still don't understand can be blamed on the fact that I was too busy ramming my Mk. II/III into Snake during the mission briefings instead of actually paying attention to all the talk about nanomachines and viruses.

Which brings up my second and final gripe about MGS4: I'm not a biomedical engineer or a rocket scientist, and therefore, I do not immediately grasp all the nanomachine hullabaloo. Sadly, that is a bit detrimental to my overall experience, especially since I've been such a huge fan of the story since I played the original. The original MGS had a story that kind of went in that direction, but still remained relatively easy to follow because genes, memes, zenes and wenes were not as prominent as they are in MGS4. The original probably has one of the greatest stories ever told on any video game platform. Metal Gear Solid 3 was similar in that sense, due to the fact that it took place in the 1960's, and nanomachine technology was not around at that time (thank God).

Besides these two hiccups in my experience, this game was simply stunning. It's one of the few titles I encounter every now and then that actually compell me to continue playing even after completing it. There are so many ways to conquer a level that I find myself constantly beating, then reloading a stage just to try and best it in a different way.

Perhaps I'm disappointed by the lack of more gameplay because I know that Solid Snake's tenure as the protagonist of Metal Gear games is finally over (Kojima stated this is the last game in the Solid series). Either way, Snake goes out with a bang. Guns of the Patriots is a masterpiece from the frenetic introduction that takes place on a Middle-Eastern battlefield, to the epic final boss fight against ______ that takes place on top of ___________.

I bought a PlayStation3 for this game. If you don't have one, I suggest you do the same.

Cheerio!