Metal Gear Solid 4(Playstation 5) Review

The common joke when discussing MGS4 for the longest time was whether or not it would ever leave the PS3. It finally did and with a solid functioning port too. I have a weird relationship with this title. I have beaten the game multiple times over the years but the more I start to play it, the more I start to realize that the game's strengths in terms of gameplay and even story comes Acts 1 and 2. Everything after the Act 3 tailing mission is where the game become diminishing returns and that's what sums up MGS4. It's the personfication of that very term.

I often start these write ups with story first but I have to here since you'll be engaging with that more than any other aspect of this game. It's been said and mocked to death how you'll spending more time watching cutscenes than actually playing the game. This has always been the case with the prior Solid games but MGS4 really wants to sell you on it's story.

It's easy to point out the issues like exposition that go on for ages, characters constantly reminding the audience of things they already know, the overuse of nostalgia baiting or mention of characters who weren't in the Solid games like Dr. Madnar, the constant retconning especially with many of them involving nanmachines, the rewrites or nothing changing for established characters, the open ended ideas MGS2 established being barely touched on or contradicted or how characters taking an excuriatingly long time trying to figuring things out. Two eregious examples is Meryl taking a long time to figure out that Johnny wasn't hooked on nanomachines or Otacon taking a few minutes to figure out Liquid Ocelot needed Rex even though it was already mentioned in the MK2 recording before getting destroyed.

What destroyed the story fundamentally was just how much of a disinterested and lifeless bore Old Snake is. The story never feels like you are going on a self discovering journey with him. Most of it is hearing other characters talk on and on and Snake just listens to them even him taking what someone just said and turning it into a question is gone. Now it's just replaced with awkward silence and cold indifference as characters around him keep on talking. Solid Snake at least showed enthusiasim in MGS1 and 2 but here he just wants to kill Liquid Ocelot and stop his insurrection because Campbell told him too.

Speaking of Campbell, this transitions me to the good. He and Raiden are some of the better characters in the game. Campbell in this game is in line with MGS1 where he witholds information from his friends and loved ones even if it means he'll hurt them for the greater good. Raiden also is one of the few characters Old Snake cares about and shows any conviction in saving. Him bringing out the best in Old Snake makes the former one of the better characters by proxy.

The cutscenes are beautifully rendered and are mostly very directed and the music, man the music it does so much of the heavy lifting where the story is unable to. It's a good thing these two aspects are top notch since without them, the game would be very insufferable to go through especially the ending that is as long as a feature length film.

This now transitions to gameplay and well thing is there's aspects about it I do enjoy. Act 1 and 2 feel like a streamlined version of MGS3. Octocamo is far better than the camo system in that game. The environments are more open and the psyche meter keeps the surivival system of that game without adding needless bloat. The controls are better now with crouch walking and there's actual third person grass crawling animations. CQC is more refined although it didn't get much use this playthrough.

There is also an encouragement to use the tranq pistol since in Act 1 and 2 it's about all out avoidance or you could help either side. Enemy gunfire can also tear thorough Snake's health quick on Solid Normal and it goes back to the ration system and no very slow regen health from MGS3.

If MGS4's was just this with occasional shakeups(notable one in Act 2 when tracking Naomi), I would be much more positive on the game but it isn't. Remember when I said it was diminishing returns? This is what I meant. Act 3 at the start has a decent tailing mission but it's divorced from the kind of stealth earlier. After that? It's just set pieces, boss fights and the stealth gameplay itself starts to dwindle the more the game goes on. You go back to Shadow Moses in Act 4 but since it is that level it has that more linear cramped block designs of MGS1 with annoying enemy placements for the Dwarf Gekko. You could cheese these with chaff grenades and I wouldn't blame you then it's setpieces and boss fights.

Act 5 has one very brief sneaking section and it's bosses and long cutscenes after.

Overall, MGS4 is mostly cutscenes and the story isn't very good with only Act 1 and 2 having decent writing. Same can be said for the gameplay. It can be easy to dislike despite not being bad on a technical level.