On Metal Gear Solid 4

           Metal Gear Solid 4 is a strange beast, but then, Metal Gear games usually are. In a lot of ways, it feels like a game designed for people who have been fans of the series at least since the first Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation. On the other hand, several changes have been made to the gameplay that feel as though they're geared toward a more general audience. Then there are those moments when it feels as though the game has been made with little regard for anything but Hideo Kojima's own creative needs. A game that's seemingly being pulled in so many different directions really shouldn't work as well as this one does.

          

          The gameplay is mostly an evolution of the systems found in MGS3. While you'll certainly encounter the occasionally hallway or corridor, much of your time will be spent outdoors in wide open areas. In order to remain undetected, you'll have to hide in plain sight with the use of camouflage. Players who remember and cringe at the thought of navigating MGS3's clunky camouflage menus need not worry here, though, as you've been given a suit that does all the heavy lifting for you. Simply press up against a surface or lay down on the ground and your suit will automatically adopt the appropriate camo pattern. It's one of a few changes that have been implemented in order to make sneaking about a simpler, less exhausting process than it's been in the past.

     

           Another addition is the Solid Eye system. The Solid Eye is essentially a convenient way for the developers to package a bunch of different functions into one device and also give Snake an eye patch, just in case everyone forgot about his connection to Big Boss. That said, the Solid Eye is an incredibly helpful piece of equipment, which features a zoom function, night vision, and the ability to display information about items of interest on the battlefield. I never found any thermal goggles in the game, but it didn't really matter since the night vision function works perfectly well as a kind of “FIND ENEMIES” button; anytime you turn it on, you'll immediately notice any enemies' bright green outlines.

      

             Moving about and shooting has always been one of the clumsier aspects of the gameplay in Metal Gear games, it's it's thankfully something that's been pretty drastically improved in this installment. The change to an over-the-shoulder camera system has been accompanied by a complete reworking of the controls, allowing you to move, aim and shoot just as you would in any modern third-person shooter. It's all pretty smooth, and my only real gripe is that it seems to take forever to reload your weapon. You're given access to a wide variety of guns, probably the most in any Metal Gear game, and you'll be able to customize several of them to some degree. I personally ended up relying on just a few of the same pieces over the course of the game, though. Near the beginning, you'll be given a gun by Drebin, the game's resident gun launderer, that's so customizable it'll probably be what you're using as long as you've got ammo for it. It's just impossible to argue with a long-range assault rifle that is also a shotgun.

          For the most part, the game is pretty good about accommodating multiple play styles. On my first playthrough, I was pretty paranoid about being caught, and spent a lot of time crawling around and trying to quietly sneak past people. The second time through, however, I was a lot more aggressive, and found it to be an equally viable tactic, especially in the earlier parts of the game. There are a lot of sections early on where you'll be caught in the middle of a fight between Liquid's troops and some local PMC. What this means for you is that you can pretty much walk around in the open with little fear of reprisal. Liquid's troops may notice you, but it's likely they'll be too busy with their current firefight to send someone to deal with you personally. Even when you're not in the middle of a heated battle, though, it's not difficult to pick off enemies with a sniper rifle or pistol before they catch wind of you.

         

          These basic gameplay systems are really mostly a jumping-off point, though. The game is divided into separate acts, and every one presents you with not just a new setting, but unique challenges as well. In fact, it's not really the standard gameplay that's appealing about MGS4 so much as the several interesting ways the game finds to deviate from it. Strange and unique boss battles are a given in just about any Metal Gear game, and this one certainly doesn't disappoint, but these are accompanied by high energy rail-shooting sequences, split-screen segments that combine gameplay with cinematics, and a sequence where the gameplay consists solely of hammering on a single button. I know that sounds a lot like the dreaded quicktime events that everyone seems to hate nowadays, but it's framed in such a way that there's a great sense of urgency to it, and it actually makes that part of the game incredibly tense and nerve-wracking. One of my favorite things about the Metal Gear series over the years has been the ways in which it experiments with the player's expectations for gameplay and interactivity, and MGS4 brings that kind of playful weirdness in spades.

          The other thing about Metal Gear that's always set it apart from other stealth and action games is its story and proclivity for cutscenes. For its part, the story in this game is far less convoluted than that of MGS2, but that doesn't mean you won't find yourself scratching your head from time to time. The Metal Gear storyline draws from several cultural influences, from American action movies to Japanese anime, and when you mix them all together you can't help but get something pretty bizarre. Kojima Productions has created a world in which grizzled old soldiers can team up with little girls and emo cyber-ninjas to save the day.

        

           This works to varying degrees. The English translation of the Japanese dialogue is chock-full of awkward and occasionally nonsensical lines, and on more than one occasion you'll find yourself looking at a screen full of pictures and diagrams as a character explains some needlessly complicated piece of backstory, or needlessly explains some very simple concept. While these segments do drag, when the game picks up it really picks up, and for every boring scene you're made to endure, there's another designed to show you something ridiculous, awesome, or ridiculously awesome. While this all might sound like kind of a mess, I'd say it's a testament to the game's presentation that Solid Snake's story manages to be pretty compelling in spite of all the craziness that surrounds him.

          Like I said earlier, MGS4 is strange. For as many things as it does, as many directions it tries to go in, it doesn't do anything halfway, and for that reason it doesn't feel like a game anyone could be ambivalent about, either. You may love it, you may hate it, but it will get a reaction out of you.