Metal Gear Solid 4 Wins

Post by **Anayo** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:24 am

Personally I don't so much disagree with Metal Gear Solid 4 getting a 10/10. Maybe I'm just biased since I've been tracking this game for a long, long time and get really psyched about it every time I see trailers. However, I feel like the value of a 10/10 score on mainstream review sites has been significantly cheapened since they awarded it to Grand Theft Auto 4, especially with how IGN said "this is the best game since Zelda Ocarina of Time." I want to believe MGS4 is a 10/10 game, but that's hard to swallow when it's coming from them these days.

Post by **D.D.D.** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:39 am

Anayo wrote:However, I feel like the value of a 10/10 score on mainstream review sites has been significantly cheapened since they awarded it to Grand Theft Auto 4, especially with how IGN said "this is the best game since Zelda Ocarina of Time." I want to believe MGS4 is a 10/10 game, but that's hard to swallow when it's coming from them these days.

Wait, let me get this straight... An IGN review said GTAIV is the best game since Z:OoT?
If that's what they said, to me that's like saying "If you really enjoyed Burnout 3, you'll love Kirby's Canvas Curse... To the Xtreme!"
I might just be out of it...

Post by **Kevman** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 12:55 pm

General Chaos wrote:
RyaNtheSlayA wrote: Im a 14 year old on summer break and am waiting to see if i get the job offer. What am I gonna do in my spare time? Play Metal Gear.
Speaking of accusations, didn't you mention in a previous thread just a day or two ago that you work at your dad's friend's game shop doing some sort of repairs or something in the back room?

And isn't it a 30 minute ride to your work and aren't you also in the process of moving?

Post by **AwesomeMonstar** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:48 am

I'm what I assume is halfway through (fighting crying wolf right now) and honestly, this could be my LEAST favorite of the series. Gone is the fast and frenetic stealth action in favor of... well... crawling. You spend a fourth of the game crawling, a fourth actually moving... and the other half, well, kojima has really gone overboard with story telling. The cut-scenes are well done, but the rumor about 90 minutes... well yes, there are parts of the game where you actually aren't allowed to play for 90 minutes. Loading times also suck, 15 to 20 seconds per area, and a mandatory install period around every three hours really breaks the whole immersion feel (that and the fact that I actually played the game less than watched it in act III... you can have plot events happen during game play you know kojima). Lastly, I never thought I would have to deal with product placement in a damn game. How much did apple pay them?

Anyways whats good so far is the combat is fun and fluid. A plethora of guns supplied from the get go, almost all of which are customizable to a good degree. The cqc system is more fun than ever (I love throwing an enemy to the ground by his face). Kojima also took the chaos theory route and became much more flexible to the action gamer, the shoot em up route works just fine now. That doesn't mean us stealthy types are neglected as I have spent half the game with the tranq gun and can assure you that stealth is still fun and working (though it is slowed down way too much). Plots the least convoluted of the series and is well acted, directed etc.

Character models are great. Enemies are expressive, well animated and just plain gorgeous. The same can't be said of the environments.While not by any means bad, they really don't look that amazing either. The games scenery looks good from an architectural and aesthetic standpoint, but texture work is nothing all that special. Also, it suffers from the growing plague of browns and grays and bloom effects that get more and more popular all the time. The first part of act III just looks butt ugly for this reason. Frame rate wise, sorry Ryan, but 60 fps this is not. This is your standard console 30 to 45. Sure, sometimes when all we see is one polygon against the sky, the frame rate jumps up, but during combat and gameplay it never quite reaches 60, and during some cutscenes there is noticeable slowdown.

Overall, the game just isn't jelling as well as before. It's a good game, and it is a welcome addition to the series, it just isn't as good as it's predecessors. 10/10... hardly. So far, i think a reviewers 8.9, my 8 would be fitting. Who knows though, maybe it will shape up near the end for me.

Post by **AwesomeMonstar** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:52 am

lordofduct wrote:My sny comment about the big Blu-ray discs... notice yey no more disc swapping, but instead now we have to wait long "install" times each act you enter? though it is hardly an "install" as this (so I've read) has to be done every time you re enter an "act" you aren't currently on. A few discs, or a few "installs"? Not much of a difference in my book.

Exactly what i was thinking. I'd rather 4 discs than this install stuff before acts and still have to have some pretty shitty load times.

Post by **Mozgus** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:00 am

Post by **Flak Beard** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 3:49 pm

Mozgus wrote:

My thoughts exactly. I enjoyed MGS1 for it's stealth gameplay that was fresh at the time. After playing Splinter Cell though, I realized how weak the MGS was when it came to this type of gameplay. I did play MGS2 and MGS3 however, but since then my interest in the series has dropped off the map. Even if MGS4 wraps up the story nicely, I'll just take the cliff notes at this point. I don't want to sit through all the drawn out cutscenes and dialog.

It's a shame that Hideo propped up the PS3's tech so much, just to deliver a game that's more movie than game. He could of added stuff like badass fights using Raiden, but instead he opted to put all his team's energy into cutscenes to dress up the decade old gameplay. I think my biggest problem is that everyone thinks he is a genius, but to me he's the David Lynch of video games. Someone who's is a little crazy and offbeat, but just a hack in the end. All style, no substance.

*End Rant*

To each his own though. I do like the complex character web, I just don't think the gameplay matches it by any means. Buying a PS3 just for this game is not a decision I'd make lightly.

Post by **RyaNtheSlayA** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 4:02 pm

Kevman wrote:
General Chaos wrote:
RyaNtheSlayA wrote: Im a 14 year old on summer break and am waiting to see if i get the job offer. What am I gonna do in my spare time? Play Metal Gear.
Speaking of accusations, didn't you mention in a previous thread just a day or two ago that you work at your dad's friend's game shop doing some sort of repairs or something in the back room?
And isn't it a 30 minute ride to your work and aren't you also in the process of moving?

We are still debating but we have delayed it to august and its my dads friend who is no longer needing of my services. And more or less that was about a month ago.

Post by **RadarScope1** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 8:50 pm

A little late on the take here but -

It's a matter of personal interpretation but count me in the camp that does not believe in a "perfect" score. I think this stems from the common phrase "perfect 10." I know 1UP and EGM have said many times they don't consider a 10 to be perfect - just that they think this particular game is "tops" for them, whatever that may be. I personally think the 1-10 scale is shit and think either a letter grade (which 1UP uses now) or stars are much better. No one ever gripes about a "perfect" five star movie review. Actually, the very best reviews have no scale of any kind. My favorite pro reviewers now are the guys who write the Opposable Thumbs blog at Ars Technica. I love their MGS4 review that was posted today because they took Kojima to task for a number of things despite some true greatness in there. I would be interested to see what you guys who have finished the game think of the Ars review. (I don't have a PS3.)

Thought I disagree with Moz about the meaning of 10, I totally agree that user reviews are much more accurate almost every time.

EDIT: Here's that review: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/games/me ... solid4.ars

Post by **RyaNtheSlayA** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:09 pm

AwesomeMonstar wrote:I'm what I assume is halfway through (fighting crying wolf right now) and honestly, this could be my LEAST favorite of the series. Gone is the fast and frenetic stealth action in favor of... well... crawling. You spend a fourth of the game crawling, a fourth actually moving... and the other half, well, kojima has really gone overboard with story telling. The cut-scenes are well done, but the rumor about 90 minutes... well yes, there are parts of the game where you actually aren't allowed to play for 90 minutes. Loading times also suck, 15 to 20 seconds per area, and a mandatory install period around every three hours really breaks the whole immersion feel (that and the fact that I actually played the game less than watched it in act III... you can have plot events happen during game play you know kojima). Lastly, I never thought I would have to deal with product placement in a damn game. How much did apple pay them?

Anyways whats good so far is the combat is fun and fluid. A plethora of guns supplied from the get go, almost all of which are customizable to a good degree. The cqc system is more fun than ever (I love throwing an enemy to the ground by his face). Kojima also took the chaos theory route and became much more flexible to the action gamer, the shoot em up route works just fine now. That doesn't mean us stealthy types are neglected as I have spent half the game with the tranq gun and can assure you that stealth is still fun and working (though it is slowed down way too much). Plots the least convoluted of the series and is well acted, directed etc.

Character models are great. Enemies are expressive, well animated and just plain gorgeous. The same can't be said of the environments.While not by any means bad, they really don't look that amazing either. The games scenery looks good from an architectural and aesthetic standpoint, but texture work is nothing all that special. Also, it suffers from the growing plague of browns and grays and bloom effects that get more and more popular all the time. The first part of act III just looks butt ugly for this reason. Frame rate wise, sorry Ryan, but 60 fps this is not. This is your standard console 30 to 45. Sure, sometimes when all we see is one polygon against the sky, the frame rate jumps up, but during combat and gameplay it never quite reaches 60, and during some cutscenes there is noticeable slowdown.

Overall, the game just isn't jelling as well as before. It's a good game, and it is a welcome addition to the series, it just isn't as good as it's predecessors. 10/10... hardly. So far, i think a reviewers 8.9, my 8 would be fitting. Who knows though, maybe it will shape up near the end for me.

I feel this game is ment to be played how you want to play it, I played it as everybody says Metal Gear Solid should be played, im now on my second playthrough but now im taking the action route. I disaggree though, I found the color pallette quite extensive especially later in the game.