Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Old Snake
Since I’m close to political burnout, I thought I’d blog about something completely different. Namely, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for Playstation 3, which I just finished.
I haven’t played a Metal Gear game since the demo for Metal Gear Solid on PSOne. I have, however, been a big follower of the Splinter Cell series, blissfully unaware at how bad of a ripoff Splinter Cell is of Metal Gear. Sam Fisher is a two-bit Solid Snake. Maybe a three-bit Solid Snake (what’s a bit, anyway?).
Metal Gear Solid 4 is quite simply the best looking game available on any system. Anyone doubting the Playstation 3 should give this one a shot — visually, it’s incredibly stunning, easily besting its XBOX 360 competitors. And this from an adoring XBOX fan. The high resolution textures, made possible by the high-capacity Blu-Ray format are head and shoulders above the mid-resolution textures found on 360 games.
Although I’m relatively new to the series, I knew enough going in to follow the plot. Solid Snake’s “brother,” Liquid is in the process of trying to hijack the AI system that runs the world’s “War Economy.” Lots of stealthy action, hour-long cut scenes, and assorted Japanese storytelling insanity ensues.
At the end, I felt genuinely sad to be leaving the world and its characters behind. Snake, Otacon, Sunny, Raiden, Naomi, Meryl, Johnny, etc. are a great cast. And nothing beats some of the exhilarating set pieces and story beats. Quite frankly, no single game on console came close to this experience.
