If Metal Gear Solid 4 is the reason you purchased a PS3, there’s a 50/50 chance that the game will disappoint. For long-standing Metal Gear Solid fans, it’s a creatively rich title that wraps up this exciting, one-of-a-kind series, but there’s a strong possibility that everyone else will misunderstand it. Jumping into the Metal Gear Solid saga, at this point, would be quite daunting. Even though the gameplay is progressive, varied and constantly surprising, the story will baffle the newcomer beyond belief.

Then again, we don’t sympathise with the non-Metal Gear fan. If this is the first time you’ve expressed an interest in the franchise, where the hell have you been? You’ve missed three of the best games in our lifetimes (the merits of the second, though, have inspired much debate among the Play team), as well as the one franchise that is truly synonymous with the PlayStation brand. From the original Metal Gear Solid, which showed how ambitious design could become a reality, to the stunning depth of survival in Snake Eater, this trailblazing series has never been bettered by its imitators. Splinter Cell? Not even close.

Metal Gear Solid 4 also breaks new ground, despite its minuscule drawbacks. Like every game in the series, it sees a new instalment as an opportunity to start afresh, rather than an excuse to wallow in its conventions. As we’ve reported before, the action now takes place in full third-person, rather than the traditional top-down view – if you’ve sampled the Metal Gear Online beta, you’ll know what to expect from Guns Of The Patriots.

This is tight, contemporary third-person action. Clicking the right stick alternates between shoulder positions, for aiming, while the Sixaxis is mercifully reduced to a mere cameo appearance near the end of the game. Last issue, we described the controls in such monotonous, relentless detail that we really can’t be bothered to do it all again. Take our word for it: Guns Of The Patriots is far more playable than the first three Metal Gear Solid games, simply because the camera has been sensibly reconfigured.

Admittedly, we were at a loss with the controls in the opening moments of the Middle East section. There just seemed to be far too much to get used to, at any one time, and it didn’t immediately strike us as a recognisable Metal Gear Solid-esque experience. Once we were through to the second or third area, however, things became much clearer.

We quickly adjusted to the OctoCamo, which provided us with both an innovative means of concealing Snake, as well as a rather neat visual effect. In case you haven’t already seen the videos on the web, this camouflage copies the texture of the surrounding environment, and then projects it onto Snake’s clothing. We didn’t think it was as effective or tactical as the camouflage in Snake Eater, though. Enemies tended to come across us, even if we were concealed in the most unlikely of dark corners.

This, though, is a pretty minor complaint, considering how gung ho we were in the Middle East. Sure, there are plenty of places to hide, and each environment is far bigger than anything seen in previous Metal Gear Solid games, but we almost always ended up with a ton of ammo. Why, then, would we leave this aside and attempt to jab enemies with a shock knife?

The real reason we were so reliant on weapons, however, is down to the game’s mechanics. Early on, Snake meets a character called Drebin. He’s a gun launderer, and his speciality is unlocking enemy weapons in order for Snake to use them in battle. Given the fairly sparse presence of ammo in the other Metal Gear Solid games, we initially found this questionable, but we did warm to it. Using Snake’s Solid Eye, ammo and guns can be detected on the ground, picked up, and then equipped for Snake to use – if it’s a duplicate of a gun that Snake already owns, it’s automatically sold to Drebin for points. These points enable the player to upgrade existing weapons with suppressors, larger magazines and shotgun attachments, or to merely purchase ammo for weapons that Snake already owns.

And so, Metal Gear Solid 4 almost forces the shooting aspect on you. With the militia and PMCs waging war in the streets, it’s hard to walk away from each conflict with clean hands. Helicopters often swoop overhead, for God’s sake: how could we dissuade ourselves from launching a Stinger missile at its cockpit? To be fair, it’s quite possible to avoid every encounter, and adopt the stealth approach, but this is something we’d be happier to attempt on a second playthrough. Besides, the hand-tohand combat is too crappy to be precise or useful; Snake clumsily punches enemies, and the Close Quarters Combat seems to be completely detached from the rest of the game.

We can’t get over the fact that the melee combat is so weak, especially when it’s been vital to previous instalments. In Metal Gear Solid 4, Snake accumulates an absolute ton of ammo, and, through Drebin, you can procure even more. There’s no incentive to use Snake’s meek punch, or his awkward little Stun Knife; the dart gun is far more preferable. It’s a big shame, of course, because we were massive fans of the CQC stuff in Snake Eater, but the various environments in Guns Of The Patriots seem war-centric, and more appropriate for firearms. This is almost upsetting, really: there’s no greater feeling than instantly slamming an enemy towards the ground in MGS3, but this wasn’t even hinted at in Guns Of The Patriots.

At this point, you’ve probably noticed that we’re tiptoeing around the narrative of Metal Gear Solid 4, rather than splashing out on the details. For an aspect that’s been prevalent and dominating in previous games, it is, admittedly, one thing that we really should talk about – unfortunately, revealing any specific details about the story is… impossible. First, we’re not legally allowed to talk about it, but second, almost everything in MGS4’s story will be of some importance to the fans; revealing even the slightest details will ruin something, so we’ll leave the specifics of the plot alone.

We do, however, feel obligated to criticise how nonsensical and frustrating the cutscenes can be. At first, they break up the action quite nicely. After around 15 minutes of gameplay, you get a cut-scene. Fair enough. As the game moves on, however, the story escalates into familiarly prolonged and distracting territory. Put it this way – if you weren’t a big fan of the storytelling in Metal Gear Solid 2, then Guns Of The Patriots will more than likely alienate. In the first three games, Kojima set up a lot of plot threads that just had to pay off in the fourth title; it’s only natural, then, that the story would become obstructive.

In a way, Metal Gear Solid 4’s story feels like the last hurrah of the ancient gaming storyline. After this, it’s hard to see how other developers could justify expositional, giant slices of narrative that force the gameplay aside. Guns Of The Patriots may deserve its flurry of convoluted, unrelenting cut-scenes, but we’re hoping that it’s the last we see of them. In terms of production, however, they’re hard to fault. Every cut-scene has been crafted with realistic sound effects, an outstanding score and impressive animation.

The music, in particular, is fantastic. Harry Gregson-Williams, who composed the previous two Metal Gear soundtracks, taps into the mournful tone of Guns Of The Patriots with deft precision. Compared to the surreal, hyperactive tracks of MGS2 or the deep, slow-burning music of MGS3, it’s cuttingly atmospheric. There aren’t any red herrings, like a Starsailor ballad, so every composition is appropriately matched to the context. In the later hours of the game, there are some tracks that will recall memories of older Metal Gear games. Neat touches like this ensure that the soundtrack is as well rounded as everything else in the game.

The voice acting is equally as respectable. David Hayter is now ludicrously gruff, to the point where we actually question his vocal wellbeing. He puts in a heavy, irritated performance that perfectly matches the ‘Old’ Snake idea, and it’s a noticeably different tack from the Naked Snake voice in MGS3. The other characters, like Meryl, Otacon and Naomi, are solidly performed, but we couldn’t feel anything but contempt for these players after we’d endured the monstrous storyline.

Anyway, we digress. Story and music are vital aspects of the Metal Gear Solid 4 experience, but they’re nowhere near as vital as the gameplay. More than anything, Metal Gear Solid 4 is about variety – whether this is in location, style of gameplay or objectives, a major part of MGS4’s appeal is in its ability to surprise. The game is divided into different sections, and each has a completely different environment and circumstance.

It’s been assumed, for the longest of times, that Snake’s adventure only takes place in the Middle East, but there’s far more to see than this dusty warzone. Snake’s adventure takes place in other environments, including a European town and a South American jungle. The latter is quite similar in feel to Snake Eater, but the style of gameplay is entirely different. Here, we were once again presented with the choice of helping the local rebels, or avoiding the fighting altogether. The difference, though, was in the design of it. Instead of walking into various skirmishes, as we had done in the Middle East, it was structured like a proper level.

At first, we were presented with the choice of letting the rebels die, or freeing them and moving forward through the jungle. After that, the same band of soldiers reappears in new areas as Snake progresses, but it’s more of a tactical assault, with the encounters being reduced to short bursts. Besides, there was actually more to South America than just the conflict. At various points, Snake is tracking footprints, searching buildings and also engaging in boss fights, making for a more enjoyable experience than the Middle East, overall.

We won’t go into too much detail on how each boss fight actually pans out, but they mostly entail duels with the Beauty and the Beast Unit. As revealed in past Metal Gear Solid trailers, they’re war machines that were once beautiful women, but they now run around wreaking havoc. With the absence of Dead Cell, FOXHOUND and the Cobra Unit, this insane half-machine team takes their place as Metal Gear Solid 4’s primary boss roster.

The design of them is typically sublime. Visually, they’re even more iconic than the various Metal Gear incarnations, while a double voice effect lends a chilling quality to their overall being. In terms of gameplay, the quality of each boss fight fluctuates dramatically. Our personal favourite was Laughing Octopus, but Raging Raven is equally as impressive. Admittedly, we weren’t too enchanted by the other two, but we’re still keeping details of them close to our chests. Metal Gear Solid 4 is like a box of random secrets: imagine if somebody ruined the boss battle with The End, in Metal Gear Solid 3. This is the kind of information that we don’t want to divulge, because we know how mesmerised fans will be by the majority of the boss battles (some suck).

Still, it’s not just the boss battles that impressed us. There are some on-rails shooting sequences in Metal Gear Solid 4 that are the best we’ve seen done in recent years. Compared to the face-off with Volgin’s soldiers, on the back of Eva’s bike in Metal Gear Solid 3, they’re utterly inventive and constantly thrilling. There’s an abundance of ‘oh, shit!’ moments during these, as one battle with the PMCs would often be ruined by the awful "MOOO!" noise of an angry Gekko horde. These on-rails sections have been constructed with a total recognition of how the gamer should react, in an actionpacked sequence. With that kind of design ingenuity, it’s hard to see flaws like the melee combat in a bad light.

More than anything, Metal Gear Solid 4 is a game of important details. Whenever an old character’s name is mentioned to Snake, during a cut-scene, memories of that individual can be triggered with the X button. This also applies to place names and situations, but there’s nothing like hearing the name ‘Naomi Hunter’, and pushing X to see antiquated images and art of that character. It really enriches the context of this saga, and reminds us of how much we appreciated the older games. Metal Gear Solid 4 is swarmed with brilliant touches like this, which means that it’s easily as replayable as its predecessors. Aside from the different difficulty settings, there was still a heap of weapon upgrades that we never bothered with, or battles in the Middle East that we never finished. Already, as we write this review, we’re trembling at the thought of playing it again. Metal Gear Solid 4 is just a thrilling game, in spite of its flaws.

Graphically, Guns Of The Patriots is strong, but we’re not convinced that it’s the PS3 at its strongest. Snake, although improved from early trailers, looks a little too artificial for our liking. He hasn’t got a naturally aged quality about him, but rather a waxy, polished veneer that is more Richard Gere, than Sean Connery. The other characters are similarly polished in style. Meryl, for example, is essentially a Barbie doll with ginger hair (and attractive shoulders), while Naomi is prettified to the point of lunacy. Even Otacon looks handsome, and he’s a total nerd: he should look like the kind of guy we can beat up, but he may actually be able to slap us about, in his Metal Gear Solid 4 guise. The lack of detail gives the characters a sterile appearance, despite the subtle nuances of the animation.

Like every flaw we’ve levelled at Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots, however, it’s hard to let it dampen the brilliance of everything that it achieves. The cut-scenes, admittedly, are almost game breaking, but even they contain the occasional flash of brilliance. It’s a tough game to rate, in all honesty. We’ve no doubt that Metal Gear Solid will carry on, in one form or another – this franchise is too powerful to die. What’s clear after completing Metal Gear Solid 4, however, is that the series has canonically reached its end. We may have found constant anguish in its stupid, erratic storytelling, but we saw greatness in its ability to surprise, entertain and diversify. Don’t expect Metal Gear Solid 4 to change the face of gaming, but see its flash-in-the-pan brilliance as a reason to celebrate the PlayStation 3. It’s everything that it promised to be.

Samuel Roberts