Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
PlayStation 3
Nostalgia Factor:
Any loyal readers of this blog should know that I absolutely love the Metal Gear Solid series. In fact, getting the chance to play this game was one of the deciding factors when it came to me buying a PlayStation 3 console. I didn’t have much money left after buying the system, so I ended up just renting this game instead of actually buying it. I thought the game was fantastic though, and for a short while it actually bumped Final Fantasy VII down to #2 on my list of favorite games of all time. I’d end up buying the game and replaying it a few months after this, and that is when I realized that while this was a good game, it had no business being ranked as my favorite game of all time. Heck, it probably shouldn’t even have been in my top ten!
All of this took place a good ten plus years ago. I haven’t touched Metal Gear Solid 4 since then.
Enter 2021. How would I feel about this game after so much time had passed? Let’s find out.
Story:
There’s a lot to unpack here, almost too much to unpack. I’ll give you the Cliff's Notes version instead.
Several years have passed between the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 and this game. Solid Snake has started to rapidly age to the point where he now looks like an old man. Snake is working closely with Otacon to track down Liquid/Ocelot and put an end to him and his terrorist ways once and for all. When Snake finds out he doesn’t have much longer to live before he becomes a Fox Die spreading bio weapon, he lays it all on the line to take down his arch nemesis.
Liquid has become a mercenary with a vast group of soldiers under his command. In the not too distant future, war fuels the global economy. Liquid has used his soldiers and his expertise on the battlefield to get rich fast. Liquid seems intent on using this power and this money to wipe out the Patriots, the mysterious shadow organization that was revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2.
Snake’s journey to take down Liquid takes him all over the globe, including a surprise return to Shadow Moses Island. I won’t dive too much into spoiler territory, but the game wraps up in a satisfactory manner, with nearly all loose ends from the series tied up. And boy, were there a lot of loose ends.
Meryl comes back. Naomi, Mei-Ling. Vamp from Metal Gear 2 returns, as do Raiden and Rose. Olga Gurlukovich’s daughter Sunny plays a prominent role in this game. Almost all of the cast of Snake Eater returns in some form or another. Even the pooping soldier from previous entries in the series makes a return!
All in all, story-wise this game was a fitting end to an epic series.
Gameplay:
This is where I had my biggest issue with this game. Metal Gear Solid is at its finest when you are investigating an open world, Blaster Master-like environment – such as Shadow Moses Island from the first game or the Big Shell from its sequel. This game is as linear as they come, where you rarely (if ever) explore game environments or backtrack to find items. You just move from one screen to another, either shooting your enemies or sneaking by them. And honestly it doesn’t really matter how you play because as soon as you move from one area to another – your alert status goes away.
I found the whole first half of the game to be really repetitive. You can just run through each level without engaging or fighting enemies and pass with flying colors. Midway through the game they try to spice things up by adding some sneaking spy elements into the mix, but honestly I found this to be my least favorite part of the whole game. My favorite chapters were the Shadow Moses one (of course) and the game’s final chapter. It took more than half of the game to do it, but eventually it found its footing with me.
Where this game excels is in its boss fights and predetermined big battle set pieces. Metal Gear has always had great, imaginative boss battles and this game is no exception. Some of these fights are supremely epic, rivaling in scale what you would see in a big budget Hollywood movie. They are a lot of fun to play through too, and make you use your brain to determine proper strategies that will lead you to victory.
Graphics:
I thought this game looked stunning when it first came out, but honestly it has already started to show its age a bit. Some of the early game environments, like the Middle East, are dull and bland to look at. Things become more interesting visually as you get deeper into the game, but honestly nothing stands out to me as gorgeous or jaw dropping. The most interesting things visually in this game are the big, epic fight sequences which I touched upon earlier.
The characters in the game look pretty good. It is interesting to look at Snake from the first Metal Gear Solid game and compare him to where he is now. We’ve come such a long way! A fun flashback moment in the game even alludes to this very statement.
Sound:
The game’s visuals may not have aged too horribly well, but its sound does not have that problem. Everything sounds fantastic, from the music to the sound effects to the voice acting. The music is everything you’ve come to expect from the Metal Gear series. I think the word epic describes it pretty well. One of my favorite Metal Gear tracks, The Best is Yet to Come, is playable on Snake's in-game Ipod. Did I listen to this song on repeat over and over again as I played through the Shadow Moses stage? You bet your sweet behind I did!
But the heart of the series has always been its voice acting, starting with Solid Snake. David Hayter is back in action and better than ever before. The supporting cast sounds fantastic too. Liquid, Raiden, Naomi, Campbell, Otacon – everyone. Spot on voice acting. The classic alert noise makes its return as well.
One of my favorite moments in the game is the music montage during the final battle with Liquid. It pays homage to so many different musical memories from the series. It is as close to perfection as you can get.
Overall:
There is a lot to love about this game. The story, the characters, the music, the voice acting, the big action scenes. I just wish it was more fun to play. Too much of this game consists of simply running from one screen to the next. You can simply run right by a bunch of enemies and go on alert status. It doesn’t matter. The second you leave the area, a cut scene or a Codec conversation will start playing and your alert status will go away.
It often seems like you can’t walk five steps without a cut scene interrupting you. This isn’t new to the Metal Gear series. It’s always been very heavily story-oriented, with lots of talking and Codec conversations. But this game takes things to a whole new level. I think there is one cutscene in particular that is more than 45 minutes long. Seriously! You definitely do more watching than playing with this game. And when you do play, it really isn’t as fun as you want it to be.
I think I was spoiled by having Metal Gear Solid one as my introduction to the series. It is an amazing A+ game, and every game in the series has been judged by the standards this game has set. Is Metal Gear 4 a bad game? No, not at all. But if we are looking at the gameplay and JUST the gameplay, this is a C title at best. The only things elevating it for me are the story, the voice acting, and the game’s overall presentation. The fact that this game ties up so many loose ends, and does it effortlessly as well, is amazing. It was a real treat seeing Snake’s story, which began on the PS1, fully wrapped up here on the PS3.
But like I said, if ONLY this game was more fun to play. It could have been a masterpiece. Instead, it stands as a slightly above average 3rd person shooter.
Final Score:
B-
If you liked this review, check out my other Metal Gear reviews:
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