Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Review

More than two decades ago, Solid Snake was introduced to this world. Today, he is still as badass and ready to kill anything standing in his way. This game is set in the date of 2014, five years after the Big Shell incident (which is from MGS2: Sons of Liberty.) The world economies strive on the fact that there are continuous wars being fought. These wars are fought by PMC’s (Private Military Company.) These PMC’s outnumber the government military forces, and the PMC are armed with nanomachines to give them an extra edge on the battlefield. The Sons of the Patriots created the nanomachines, and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the whole system. Oh that Liquid. You play as Old Snake so it’s your duty to stop him, with the help of Octacon and Sunny providing mission support from the Nomad aircraft.

This game is “supposed” to be Snake’s final mission. After more than 20 years of faithful service, Snake has become a legend, and is finally receiving an honorable discharge. But Snake is not going on some joy ride. Oh, no. He is out to stop the infamous Liquid Ocelot.

The villains in this game are just straight up crazy. SERIOUSLY. THEY ARE CRAZY. The villains include Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming Mantis. They are all very beautiful women that are drugged up and put in some sort of a bionic suit. Each bionic suit is different from the last in both style and ability. Once you defeat these villains, they come out of their suits, and try to “attack” you without any protection. I put quotations over the attack because they just walk toward you, unarmed, just laughing. You have a pistol, you shoot them a couple times, and they die. Poor girls…. Don’t you hate it when beautiful women are drugged up and put in bionic suits and are just so crazy that all they want to do is kill you?!? Ummmm…… ok….. On with the review!

You will spend most of your time watching really long cinematics. I’m talking about REALLY long. But anyone who has ever played through any MGS game knows that this is just the way it is. I’m not complaining. This game was beautiful. The graphics are so amazing, you feel like your watching an animated movie. The scenes where Raiden fights Vamp is one of the most incredible animated action sequences I have ever seen in my life. Then the cinematic is over, and you realize, “OH $H!7 I’m still playing a video game!”

Since you are Solid Snake, you can pretty much play the whole game avoiding almost all enemies. There is still the cardboard box and a barrel that you can acquire and equip to roll around without being detected. This game is pretty awesome for the simple fact that you can seriously do some damage while not being all sneaky. You can honestly play through this game a variety of ways. You can play it “run and gun” style, or you can use the old MGS style and sneak around everything. Everything in this game is integrated so well. You will not feel that the guns are uncomfortable to use and won’t think that these guns shouldn’t be in a stealth game.

The iPod is a great addition to the equipment you are able to receive. You can collect iPods throughout the game that contain music from previous Metal Gear games. My only issue with the iPod though is the fact that you are not able to use any other item while it’s equipped. So it’s cool for about 10 minutes, or at least until you completely forget about it and never use it again. Otacon also provides you with the Mk. II droid that allows you to go spy on people or go around corners via a little droid with wheels.

There is not actually much I can say about his game without ruining major plot points in the story. So play the game. It’s a great game. A MUST HAVE! Oh yeah, and Raiden is a bad ass……

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