Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Post by Dan @ 06:09pm 03/07/08 | 46 Comments

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has been long championed by the PlayStation loyal as one sure-fire must-have title that would help the undecided justify the expense of Sony's shiny lounge-room monolith. Now it's here, does it live up to those highest of expectations?

We think it definitely will for some, but others should exercise caution. Find out why in AusGamers in-depth review.

metal gear solid 4 review

Latest Comments

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Scooter
Posted 06:12pm 03/7/08

Why are you always reviewing MGS4/PS3 stuff!?!?!?! Why not some Xbox 360 stuff!

Have yet to buy my own copy but a mate has and as he works alot I get to play it, very cool. Didn't really get into MGS much |(After the first) but this brought me right back.

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Spook
Posted 06:22pm 03/7/08

i hate games that go nuts for the cutscene (ff series)

surely they require a lot more work form the developer doing all that animation, that would be better spent coming up with fun gaming ideas . . ..

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ctd
Posted 06:52pm 03/7/08

well I have almost finished the game and i have easily enjoyed it more than gta4. best SP game in a fair f***en while. I love MG though.

I reckon you needed to have played and liked the other games to have enjoyed this. So many inside jokes and stories, plus they remade the shadow moses base from MGS1 which was awesome.

last edited by ctd at 18:52:58 03/Jul/08

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BassMan
Posted 07:01pm 03/7/08

It must be a hard life Dan - getting paid to play all these games? :)

Good review mate.

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Twisted
Posted 08:50pm 03/7/08

Imagine having to force yourself to play crap like this though...

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Bah
Posted 09:34pm 03/7/08

8.9, hang your heads in shame ausgamers, this game is a perfect 10.

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Midda
Posted 09:55pm 03/7/08

^^ Get f***ed.

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B.Hardball
Posted 10:10pm 03/7/08

Interesting review. I personally HATE long cut scenes... Just tell me my mission objectives and let's go.

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ara
Posted 10:30pm 03/7/08

men0, whY i5 th1s call3D ausGamers wh3n a11 yoi d0 is review c-0nsl0e gAmEs? were are tghe PeeCee gam4e reviewz? y0 shuld call it ausConsolelovergamerz.com or s0met1ng.

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Fish
Posted 11:08pm 03/7/08

hide in plain site

needs more proof reading i say :)

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Khel
Posted 12:17am 04/7/08

Yeah, I'm about halfway through this, and absolutely loving it. I expected to enjoy it, cos I'm a fan of the other MGS games, but it surpassed my expectations. But yeah, if you're not a fan of Metal Gear Solid then this isn't going to convert you.

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trog
Posted 11:02am 04/7/08

8.9, hang your heads in shame ausgamers, this game is a perfect 10.

haha I watched Dan play it for a little bit and I was bored s***less by what I saw. Pretty much agree with Khel, if you're not an MGS fan you're probably not going to enjoy it as much.

It looked like it had a bunch of cool stuff, but I don't have the patience for sneaking around; in one scene I happened to see he was outside in a blizzard and I remarked upon the slow movement speed - there's no run or sprint, only a crouching shuffle that is pretty slow. Dan mentioned it was a rare moment in the game when you were in a fairly big open space, but it's like the Doom 3 flashlight/gun thing - a sort of weak gameplay mechanic just to force a style of gameplay that I for one don't want to play.

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Resonate
Posted 03:44pm 04/7/08

Just finished the game and i thought it was absolutely fantastic.

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Crizane Tribal
Posted 05:34pm 04/7/08

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Midda
Posted 07:01pm 04/7/08

^^I think the actual dirty hobos are the people who can't comprehend that it's possible to enjoy both.

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Crizane Tribal
Posted 09:07pm 04/7/08

^^I think the actual dirty hobos are the people who can't comprehend that it's possible to enjoy both.

Agreed. For me it's more sort of 'PC=one player, alone type stuff. Consoles = Multiplayer fun when friends are over'. Although I prefer PC for single player experience, both platforms have their merits and I appreciate having both. But then, having reasonable, rational and logical discussions on the internet defeats the purpose.

So, yeah, lol@consolef***.

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Midda
Posted 01:01pm 05/7/08

Okay, for the people who have played this, I'm considering whether I should get this or not. I played the first one on Playstation back in the day, and enjoyed it. I watched my housemate play through MGS2 not too long ago, and though it was a little crap. I haven't played or watched MGS3.

Does anyone here think I'd enjoy it?

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ctd
Posted 03:42pm 05/7/08

If I was to say it was the best console game since MGS1, is that something you might be interested in?

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Bah
Posted 04:47pm 05/7/08

If that statement were true, why the f*** have people bothered with consoles since mgs1?

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Resonate
Posted 04:55pm 05/7/08

If you enjoyed mgs1 then you will love mgs4. Besides, there's some sort of misconception about having to be stealthy. I shot the s*** out of everything that moved and with over 77+ weapons in the game, i had a lot of fun doing it.

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Khel
Posted 07:00pm 05/7/08

Yeah, I didn't really use the stealth to sneak past people, so much as get in a good position from which I could kill them :P And then their buddy would come running over when he realised his mate had been shot, so I'd shoot him too.

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Crizane Tribal
Posted 07:05pm 05/7/08

*knock knock* "What was that?.... URGH URGH" *CRUNCH*

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Twisted
Posted 07:31pm 05/7/08

Agreed. For me it's more sort of 'PC=one player, alone type stuff. Consoles = Multiplayer fun when friends are over'. Although I prefer PC for single player experience, both platforms have their merits and I appreciate having both. But then, having reasonable, rational and logical discussions on the internet defeats the purpose.

For me...

Console = Single player
PC = MP
Going outside and/or beer = Friends

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Bloodhound
Posted 11:25am 06/7/08

Im a PC gamer myself. Single player and multiplayer are both best on PC. The keyboard/mouse controls are more accurate and fluid when it comes to your 3rd and 1st person shooters. Consoles just pale in comparison. That said MGS4 is utterly amazing. I purchased it hesitantly, and was very happy after an hour of play. Yes the cut scenes did get a little tedious though. Good review Dan. Honest and precise.

Long live PC, lets hope for a resurrection soon!

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Scooter
Posted 12:25pm 06/7/08

Depends on the game and how well the controls were programed. I like RPG's better on console, because I lie down on the couch to play them.

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Midda
Posted 07:49pm 06/7/08

I bought it yesterday. Yes, it's a very good game, but anyone who thinks it's worth more than 8.9 is either seeing something I'm not seeing, or seeing something that simply isn't there. It's got more than it's fair share of problems and irritating perks. I've been amazed on many occasions at just how stupid the AI can be.

I am still enjoying it quite a bit, and despite their unbelievable length and frequency, I've found the cutscenes entertaining enough to watch too. I'll more than likely skip through most of them if I were to play through it a second time though.

And what the f*** was up with that interview when you start a new game? That one with the creepy old lady and the dude with the Solid Eye?

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ctd
Posted 08:12pm 06/7/08

And what the f*** was up with that interview when you start a new game? That one with the creepy old lady and the dude with the Solid Eye?

There is a couple of variations. One time I started it was an interview with david hayer (voice of snake) and another time it was doco about a type of octopus.

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Khel
Posted 08:44pm 06/7/08

I've had an ad for one of the PMC's and an "exercise with a personal trainer over the internet" infomercial.

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Resonate
Posted 09:24pm 06/7/08

Hahaha yeah, when i first started the game and saw it i was like wtf is this? You can actually change channels using the controller.

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DarkTreader
Posted 02:22pm 07/7/08

The ads at the start of the game are all based in the Metal Gear world -- there are 6 or 7 of them that I can recall, all dealing with aspects of the game. There's the interview with David Hayter (as stated, the voice of Solid Snake), the '7 Levels of Hell' which gives some random background info on the makeup of the PMCs, the 'personal trainer' ad which shows the level of nanotechnology that's throughout the MG universe, ads for various equipment in the game: OctoCamo, the target lock system, etc..., and then there's one that's an ad for a PMC itself IIRC, the one with the guy in black/girl in white and the aerial gun/CQC battle.

As was stated, this game is NOT for those who have not played the previous MG games. If you pick this up as a 'first time introduction' the the MG story, you'll be completely confused. But for those of us who recognize the sheer awesomeness that is Solid Snake, you'll appreciate how thoroughly Kojima wraps up all of the loose ends. I'd also recommend paying particular attention to the Gregson-Williams soundtrack, as it may possibly be his best work to date.

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Midda
Posted 02:34pm 07/7/08

If you pick this up as a 'first time introduction' the the MG story, you'll be completely confused.

I've kept up with the story in the first and second games, and I still end up occasionally saying to myself "what the f*** are they talking about?". I've had to jump onto Wikipedia to try and get up to speed on all the different crap they babble about, while trying to avoid the MGS4 info I haven't encountered in the game yet.

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ctd
Posted 03:59pm 07/7/08

You can download this database off the PSN which links up with your savegames so you don't get spoiled.

SPOILERSSS******* (whats the code again for it)
Spoiler:

I wish the game ended with snake killing himself, instead of that extra stuff it had after the credits

last edited by ctd at 15:59:05 07/Jul/08

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Midda
Posted 04:10pm 07/7/08

Oh cool, I wanted to get that, but I read that it wasn't available outside of the USA and Japan. Is it available here now, or do I need to make a US/Japanese PSN account?

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ctd
Posted 04:18pm 07/7/08

available with an AUS PSN-ID

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BassMan
Posted 06:42pm 07/7/08

As was stated, this game is NOT for those who have not played the previous MG games.

You're not kidding - back to EB straight away. Just not my cup of tea. :(

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blahrat
Posted 02:42pm 08/7/08

Never really got into MGS, but I'm not a patient player.

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Dm
Posted 11:15am 13/7/08

Never got into the MGS series. I've always found that when I want to play a stealth game, i'll boot up a GOOD one like any of the thief series (even 3, although that was'nt as good as 2)

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Midda
Posted 07:52pm 13/7/08

I think it's pretty silly that they write "tactical action espionage" on the front cover of this game. After having played it this week, I went back and played the CoD4. I think the ghillie suit mission in that game is more tactical than anything in MGS4. It's still fun, but I wouldn't really say it's particularly tactical.

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ctd
Posted 10:24am 19/7/08

Spoiler: This is SP steven farrelly game of the year

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Midda
Posted 01:25pm 19/7/08

I'll be disappointed if this game gets Game of the Year.

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LOLOMGWTF
Posted 09:31am 22/7/08

MGS 4 deserves a perfect 10. They have long cut scenes because its the last game and they need to explain a lot of secrets. Just respect it and dont talk bulls*** about it thx ^^

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TiT
Posted 10:14am 22/7/08

Is it coming out on PC... WTF is with games that arent coming to PC... FPS are made for PC not gamepads...

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Midda
Posted 10:50am 22/7/08

MGS 4 deserves a perfect 10. They have long cut scenes because its the last game and they need to explain a lot of secrets. Just respect it and dont talk bulls*** about it thx ^^

Pumpkin_pete was a much better troll account.

Is it coming out on PC... WTF is with games that arent coming to PC... FPS are made for PC not gamepads...

It's not an FPS. MGS1 and 2 (the only ones that were on PC) weren't really any easier on PC than on the console, imo. It's not a twitch game by any means, so there's not really any benefit to be had from a keyboard and mouse.

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Midda
Posted 02:31pm 31/7/08

Why advertise WoW services in a thread about MGS4? F*****g fail.

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Donovanonfire
Posted 11:35am 24/6/09

This is the most honest online MGS 4 review I've read. I've tried to get into every game MGS game since the revamp of the series forthe original Playstation, but I can never get into them, and MGS 4 was no different. This game is practically unplayable unless you're a MGS fan already.

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