Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

(PS3; $59.99; Rated M for Blood/Crude Humor/Strong Language/Suggestive Themes/Violence; www.konomi.com)



How do you sum up twenty years of franchise history with more bizarre story elements than “Lost,” “Twin Peaks,” and “X-Files” combined?

I remember twenty years ago spending two weeks in the middle of the summer at Andy Phelka’s house playing the original “Metal Gear.” In a sea of shoot-everything-that-moves games on the NES, “Metal Gear” was all about stealth, about not shooting, and it was the first.

Now, twenty years later, the core element of “Metal Gear” haven’t changed: theoretically, a player could go through the entire game, and with the exception of boss battles, never actually shoot another character. Whoever does this, by the way, deserves a metal, because it’s near-impossible with all of the action and danger in the game.

I’ve played all of the “Metal Gear” titles available on consoles and completed a few of them. In the weeks preceding the release of “Metal Gear Solid 4,” I read a lot of story overviews of the franchise. As best and brief as I can sum it up, here it goes: Protagonist Solid Snake is a clone of Naked Snake, a war hero in the 60’s fighting against the Russians during the Cold War. After killing his mentor, The Boss, for defecting to the Russians (but not really defecting, more double-crossing both sides), Naked Snake becomes Big Boss who eventually defects from US service and attempts to control a walking nuclear tank known as “Metal Gear.” Solid Snake is sent on a mission to take out Big Boss. Years later, Solid Snake is sent on another mission to stop Liquid Snake from gaining control of “Metal Gear Rex.” Liquid Snake turns out to be the clone brother of Solid Snake and is killed by Solid Snake, but then Liquid’s hand is grafted onto the gunsmith, Revolver Ocelot after Ocelot’s hand is cut off by a ninja who used to be the commander of Solid Snake’s unit, Foxhound…

I think…

Liquid Snake’s hand begins to take over Revolver Ocelot’s mind and turns him into Liquid Ocelot, who attempts to control a computer system that was put in place by a clandestine group of individuals known as “The Patriots” who have overseen and pulled the strings on every geo-political event that has occurred in the past 40 years. The computer system, known as “Sons of the Patriots” controls nanomachines that are imbedded in every soldier in the world. Liquid’s control of the “Sons of the Patriots” means that he would be able to stop all soldiers in Private Military Corporations from using weapons- which would mean world peace, if not for the fact that the entire world is running on a “War Economy” and would also enable Liquid to launch an attack without anyone being able to defend against it.

Along the way, there are supermodels-turned-weapons of warfare, a vampire, and a fat guy on Rollerblades.

Yea… I don’t understand it at all either.

For those who have followed the series, “MGS4” is an incredibly directed final chapter with almost every bizarre loose end tied up. Plot twists abound between action-laden levels. The sense of world war occurring around players is astounding, and having to maintain a level of stealth in the middle of a battlefield is an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. Snake is never at a loss for weapons or gadgets to use in getting through levels; the introduction of being able to purchase weapons and ammo at any point in the game means that players can be as stealthy or as Rambo as they feel- making multiple playthroughs to see the Easter egg-laden game more enjoyable.

“MGS4” stumbles as a game by becoming less interactive as the game goes on. Initial levels see players having a fair share of sneaking and shooting time, but as the story progresses, so do the lengthy cutscenes, overly dramatic dialog, and bogged-down narrative. As the game moves closer to the end, players will watch more of “MGS4” than they will play. For those expecting traditional gameplay, this may become frustrating, especially when twenty-minutes of exposition are the rule, not the exception. However producer, Hideo Kojima, has always been candid in his desire to make an “interactive movie” rather than a traditional videogame. Kojima is certainly a frustrated Hollywood director, and its more apparent in “MGS4” than in any other game in the franchise- which is still good, because the PS3 has the power to create the visuals and the sound needed to create such a satisfying and production such as “MGS4” and Kojima has the heart and dedication to this series which makes this game so compelling.

The exhaustive (exhausting?) exposition doesn’t make this any less of a worthwhile gaming experience, but players- especially newcomers- should know what they’re getting into before playing.

Aside from the visuals and sound, which are stunning, “MGS4” doesn’t do much in terms of revolutionizing gameplay, but gameplay remains top-notch and intense- especially with revamped controls that are finally intuitive. Even with the frustrating controls of old, newcomers to the series should really start with the original “Metal Gear Solid” and play through “MGS2: Sons of Liberty,” and “MGS3: Snake Eater” to get a true appreciation for the culmination in “MGS4.”

The “Metal Gear” franchise is gaming history, everyone who owns a PS3 really ought to own this piece of history as well.