The official Metal Gear Solid 4 thread

[Chuplayer]

Well I just won an auction for a ps2 that had the Essentials Collection. I decided I'd probably enjoy 4 more if I had actually played through the other three. Also, what is the difference between Snake Eater, Subsistence, and Substance? Which is the true "3"?

The good news is that by getting the Essentials Collection, you already have the enhanced versions of the games.

Yeah, Substance is the special edition of MGS2 with a whole bunch of extra missions and stuff.

Subsistence is the special edition of MGS3. It's got a new camera system for the main game. Unfortunately, the collection is missing the second disc from Subsistence. It's got the now defunct MGO1, but it also has a bunch of cool extras like more Snake vs. Monkey missions, all of the comedy videos released online, and most importantly, the first really well done versions of the first two 2D Metal Gear games released outside of Japan. They're based on the cell phone ports which were based on the original MSX versions. The NES version of the first game was a joke, and the second game only got a fan translation patch, if that much. You don't absolutely need to play these games to understand MGS4, though. You get all the information you need from these games in MGS1 The in-game dialog recaps the storyline well, and there are even summaries in some menu. It's actually quite thorough.

Twin Snakes is the Gamecube remake of MGS1. This is perhaps the biggest overhaul of any single game the series has got to offer. It's the entire first game with enhanced graphics and gameplay elements taken from MGS2. Some people don't like it because the new gameplay elements don't really mesh with MGS1, the music was changed, the rerecorded voice acting is considered poor by many, and the cutscenes were reimagined with very much a Matrix theme in mind. I love the game, though. You don't need to play it because you've got MGS1 in the collection, but you might want to give it a ride someday.

Ouch. I hope you were joking.

No, I'm not joking. Sometimes it's mind boggling how things are explained in MGS4. However, it all does fit, and everything else in the game is so awesome the word awesome doesn't adequately describe it. We need a new word in the English language to describe MGS4. I vote for himiashsaksumiyumikulicious.

[exit]

Well I just beat the game and while I did enjoy the hell out of it, it felt like the ending was dragging on forever, but I kind of expected that anyway. The only thing that kind of felt odd was that the codec wasn't used enough, I remember in the other games I'd go through each person to get advice, this time I just had was Rose (who was no help at all) and Otacon.

So yes it was a great game, one of the "must have" games for PS3 and a great conclusion to a legendary series.

[Vectorman0]

This game is epic. Anyone who ever enjoyed any Metal Gear game will definitely love this game.

For those on the fence about this game, definitely go for it. Ignore what anyone says otherwise and just play it. However I can't stress enough how important having played the previous games is. While you could easily play through MGS4 without having played 1-3 and thoroughly enjoy it, you would be missing out on a lot. To enjoy the game you don't need to have played the past games, but if you want to be totally blown away, you need to have played through the other 3 MGS games. Trust me on this one. (watching that MGS retrospective thing would probably help, but it can't truly match playing the actual games)

Also, for those who were turned off of the MGS franchise after the insane story presented in MGS2, this game makes up for completely and should not be overlooked. The story in this game is told in a completely different way than the past two games; the first time through, you can completely grasp the story.

[Vectorman0]

Well I just beat the game and while I did enjoy the hell out of it, it felt like the ending was dragging on forever, but I kind of expected that anyway. The only thing that kind of felt odd was that the codec wasn't used enough, I remember in the other games I'd go through each person to get advice, this time I just had was Rose (who was no help at all) and Otacon.

So yes it was a great game, one of the "must have" games for PS3 and a great conclusion to a legendary series.

Yeah, the codec definitely took the the back seat in this game. The longest codec call is probably not more than a few minutes, and for the first time, it doesn't even have it's own button (by default). While I missed extended codec conversations a bit, the cutscenes balanced it out. However as you said, being able to call up any of a handful of people to chat with about a boss or a tough part was always cool and was definitely missed.

[AllSchoolGamer]

The gameplay and story are quite good, the problem being there is more story then gameplay...I even had 1 part following someone where i had 2 cutscenes in a row, got to play the game took 4 steps and had to sit through ANOTHER cutscene...as good as the story is sitting there passivly watching it instead of playing it got quite irritating. Then in most cases as soon as the cutscene finishes you end up on the phone to otocon! Definetly not a game to play before work lol. Oh and auto aim kept turning me 180 degrees in a circle facing me away from the enemy for some reason so I dont use that. other then that it was quite good. and the graphics really were quite fantastic.

[exit]

Well I've been playing MGO a bit the past two nights and while I do think it's a fun time killer, something about it just doesn't seem right. I think it might be the overall community, or at least the people I've come across on there. While I was playing Team Death Match, it seemed that nobody on either side knew what Team meant and died because someone from my team started shooting me while I was in battle with someone.

I just finished the one good match I had, people on my side actually acted as a team, especially when the other side one coming back and they ended up having someone join them that was a 1 man army. I'm sure that a lot of these people will be weeded out eventually when the next big thing comes out (probably Bad Company) and I'm actually able to play with my friends on there.

[Borman]

Well I've been playing MGO a bit the past two nights and while I do think it's a fun time killer, something about it just doesn't seem right. I think it might be the overall community, or at least the people I've come across on there. While I was playing Team Death Match, it seemed that nobody on either side knew what Team meant and died because someone from my team started shooting me while I was in battle with someone.

I just finished the one good match I had, people on my side actually acted as a team, especially when the other side one coming back and they ended up having someone join them that was a 1 man army. I'm sure that a lot of these people will be weeded out eventually when the next big thing comes out (probably Bad Company) and I'm actually able to play with my friends on there.

The problem with MGO is all the ranked servers are usually 16 players. I have much more fun 2vs2 or 4vs4, with a team of decent people :P

[Jackattack]

Well I just beat the game and while I did enjoy the hell out of it, it felt like the ending was dragging on forever, but I kind of expected that anyway. The only thing that kind of felt odd was that the codec wasn't used enough, I remember in the other games I'd go through each person to get advice, this time I just had was Rose (who was no help at all) and Otacon.

So yes it was a great game, one of the "must have" games for PS3 and a great conclusion to a legendary series.

I think I'm going to have to disagree with you about the lack of codec conversations. The codec in previous games was in place to achieve two things, progress the story and provide advice to the player. I won't argue the helpful aspects of the codec when you were stuck, but as a story medium it was severely lacking compared to the in game cut-scenes (especially in MGS4 which is the game we are discussing). Maybe it is my age (I was younger before ), but I only found myself questioning what to do next in one part of MGS4 compared to frequently in previous games. To me this completely takes out the need of the codec for assistance in MGS4 and only leaves it to progress the story... but why in the world would you want to only listen to someone talk on a mostly static screen when you could be watching some of the most entertaining and beautiful cut scenes ever found in a video game??

Want to know what's so great about this though? Kojima agrees with me.

[kentuckyfried]

To those not in the know yet,

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/18/me...morrow-on-psn/


There's going to be alot of information on the metal gear series released for free on the PSN.

[Richter Belmount]

I like how we can just label the mgs2 story convoluted and just shrug it off as that. Instead of using a much more intelligent way of criticizing the games story. Is it fair just to sum all the games story with just one word? That not a good criticism.

Anyways finally got my gunmetal ps3 with mgs4 the other day. I honestly have such a bad attention span, however its not the case with this game at all. I had the day off today and was literally playing from 10 am to 10 pm. Im literally surprised beyond any expectations or any commercial hype for this game. This game is detailed in graphics , story and dialogue and it really shows moreso than maybe any other game out on the market.

[Vectorman0]

Yesterday, the "Metal Gear Solid Database" was released on the PSN for free download. It's basically a small database with info on the Metal Gear (Solid) series. I flipped through it for a little while and learned some new tidbits of info. It's nothing comprehensive, but a welcome freebie. I'm not sure if MGS4 is required to get/play it, but I know you need a completed MGS4 save file to unlock 100% of the the database entries.

[ThoughtBomb]

I actually finished the game 2 days ago but finished watching the last movies last night. As a fan of the entire Solid series & having played all titles (save for MG2:SS & The Portable Ops Titles), I came away very happy.
With Solid 1 being my favorite, the Shadow Moses chapter was absolutely awesome to me. I don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't completed it yet, but for fans of Solid 1, while your in the old hallway near Otacon's office by the now disengaged electric floor, talk to Otacon. He has a conversation with Snake about how he took out the tanker with Vulcan Raven back then. That conversation is sure to put a smile on some faces!

[gepeto]

I passed on picking up the limited edition. to anyone who picked it up was it worth it?

[Chuplayer]

I passed on picking up the limited edition. to anyone who picked it up was it worth it?

In hindsight, I could have lived without it, but it's still nice to have. The bonus disc isn't as earth-shattering as Subsistence's bonus disc, but it's still nice.

[ThoughtBomb]

Y'know, I still haven't watched the Blu-Ray or listened to the soundtrack yet so I can't say officially, however I can say that the casing itself was not made with the best quality material. The back label is adhered to the case with nothing but a diagonal line of four of those sticky dot adhesives (that same booger-like material that's used on gift card backings and such) that I actually had to carefully remove and put back straight because that's how I recieved it. Honestly the cover illustration could have been used instead of
3d old Snake face on the regular case. It looks like it was massed produced in a hurry because the label on the side is a little off as well. This will probably be the only game I actually ever fork over this much for, seeing as how it was the last of one of my all-time favorite series.

Bottom Line: It's worth it as an MGSaholic, but for everyone else who doesn't need to know every single aspect of every little thing about MGS, then just buy the regular edition. Besides, once MGS4: Substupification comes out, that'll probably be packed with extras anyway...crap, that reminds me...damn, more money to fork over to Kojima & friends. IT NEVER ENDS!!!

I passed on picking up the limited edition. to anyone who picked it up was it worth it?

[Joker T]

What difficulty are you guys playing on?

I went with the Solid Normal difficulty but I'm afraid this is gonna bite me in the ass later since I am a MGS noob.

[G-Boobie]

I'm late to the party on this one: I picked up my LE on day one, but was busy with school, work and other more important things until this weekend. I'm just now getting into act 3 after a 9 hour marathon.

I can't tell whether I like it or not: I'm enjoying myself moment to moment, which is always good, but I don't know whether the overall experience will leave me with a positive impression when I'm done. A lot of what I found endearing and fun about the first three games is pretty tired by now. I'll have to finish it next weekend before I reach a conclusion.

While we're at it, the LE box is nice and all, but I probably could have picked up the regular edition without pain. A blu-ray and gimped soundtrack aren't much for bonus materials. And we all know the greatest hits version will have a ton of added crap anyway.....