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Underground > Games & Gameplay >

Metal Gear Solid 4: The Quest for the Perfect Fried Egg

09:35 / 18.06.08

(No Spoilers in this post)

So, the supposedly final instalment is out... I've always felt that the MGS series is one of the weirder and artistically leaning series of games out there, and the fourth and final in the series seems to be the creator, Hideo Kojima's magnum opus.

MGS4 is a very strange game, in a very strange series. As usual, the game mixes high-concept technological themes, extensive philosophising on the nature of heroes, war and duty, psychic and magical enemies and repeated jokes about a particular soldier shitting his pants. It does this through numerous and LONG cutscenes (one approaching 80 minutes!), interspersed with 'Tactical Espionage Action'.

It completes the story of the Metal Gear series, which began with 'Metal Gear' (MSX, 1987) and has continued on up through the console generations finally winding up on the PS3. In retrospect it's pretty clear that, at least up until 'Metal Gear Solid 2' (PS2, 2001), Kojima was making up the story as he went along, so the challenge of joining together all the bizarre elements is huge.

The story itself is a fantastic kludge of hyper-controlling AIs, vampires, robot ninjas, clones, people coming back from the dead, guys covered in bees and numerous double, triple and quadruple agents. It's gotten to the point where anyone who begins playing the series with this game will find themselves very confused, very fast. You not only need to have played the entire series to get the most out of this game, you need to have really been taking notes to understand it.

I completed the game last night, and I'm still collecting my thoughts on it, which hopefully I'll be able to crystallise with a bit of discussion here. However, I will say that playing through this game was rarely less than thrilling, coming closer than any game before it to the feeling of 'playing a film', and the conclusion to the story was deeply satisfying.

Anyone else have any thoughts?

19:15 / 18.06.08

Just going to whack a massive USE THE SPOILER TAGS WHERE NECESSARY warning in here, before shenanigans ensue.

11:24 / 21.06.08

It does this through numerous and LONG cutscenes (one approaching 80 minutes!)

The fuck? Wow that's long. Okay, I haven't played many computer games over the last few years so I have no idea how long the average cutscene is these days, but that's gotta be an aberration, surely?

12:31 / 21.06.08

'Tis indeed. And though it's a bit ridiculous, it's not entirely unexpected for a MGS game, which are known for their lengthy and ever-expanding cutscenes. I just hope it flags it up five minutes in advance sos you can get the microwave popcorn ready.

14:02 / 23.06.08

Well, fortunately the cutscenes are pausable this time round. The cutscenes are frequent, and often - but that's Metal Gear style gameplay right?

The more I play this game, the more I'm amused that a presumably vast amount of money can be spent on a game that is, at it's core, eccentrically daft. More than the vast majority of games in this (and for that matter the last generation), you feel the notion that this is one man's vision. A vision that staggers in a tripped out state between the hilariously absurd and extraordinarily po-faced philosophy without missing a beat.

Have any other posters played through it? There's some fascinating themes of identity, control and the function of war throughout the game, and it'd be nice to have a discussion on it.

16:57 / 23.06.08

I do want to talk about MGS4, as there are some really clever moments in it. I was left with a feeling that can only be described as overwhelming ennui during the middle act [+] [-] Spoiler , but it picks up enormously towards the end. The opening, more free-form levels are a joy to play through and the combat mirrors some of the themes presented. The theme, "War has changed," is frequently bellowed at the player and it certainly has as far as the rules of MGS4's comabat is concerned. Non-lethal weapons are now enormously expensive to buy and instead of starting with a tranq-pistol, you're given a more lethal weapon at the beginning. It's an easily overlooked detail (well, I overlooked it at the time) but it really chimes with that oft-repeated mantra.

I haven't had time to fully parse what's happened in the game, but I was certainly swept up in the emotion and plot revelations of the closing scenes of the game (which felt very close to two hours). So, yeah, the cutscenes occasionally left me feeling alienated, but the game itself is a joy to play.