MGS4 Boxset

[Nomad9026]

So it is june 12 already. Does anyone have the game already

Rombie, respect, that is what i call The Collection. But i haven't seen Portable Ops, without of it your collection is not complite.

[The Dude]

Yeah, I got it yesterday at noonish.
Just didn't play it till today.

[Nomad9026]

So are you IMPRESED by THE UNSTOPABLE MIGHT OF IT?!! What can you say about the game because i have no Idea when it will apper in my country.

[Umon Daisuke]

Rob, as I suspected, EB staff were bullshitting as usual. I went to pick up the standard edition today, only to find two rows of CE as well. Since I had overpaid for the thing back in Jan., it didn't cost me an extra cent.

[James]

Picked up my shitty standard edition. =(

Enjoying the game though! Pretty fun. Just finished my first proper boss battle (the FROGs don't count >_>).

Act 3 started off pretty awesome but I must give it a rest for exams are still coming =(

And plus, don't wanna finish it toooooo soon! =P

[randomwab]

Been playing since 9am this morning (it's now 11:30PM) and I'm just starting Act 5 gameplay. I think my playtime so far is about 13 hours. Gonna go get some food (I haven't eaten anything all day) and then try and finish it before I pass out.

[Rombie]

So it is june 12 already. Does anyone have the game already

Rombie, respect, that is what i call The Collection. But i haven't seen Portable Ops, without of it your collection is not complite.

Oh, I have it. I forgot to grab it and put it out with the rest for some reason. I haven't brought POPlus though. No reason to do so.



Umon - Maybe I shouldn't have ordered through GameStop (who have continued to dick me around) and got you to get it for me. They've backordered the game so I'm still waiting on confirmation.... :/

[JcFFx]

Been playing since 9am this morning (it's now 11:30PM) and I'm just starting Act 5 gameplay. I think my playtime so far is about 13 hours. Gonna go get some food (I haven't eaten anything all day) and then try and finish it before I pass out.

How the hell do you manage that?
I played for like, 2 hours after school before my eyes started hurting and I started feeling sick.

(Okay, maybe it's me having less than 4 hours of sleep last night and school, but still, I can't play games *that* long under normal conditions...)

[Stu]

No spoilers here.

Completed it this morning. My thoughts...

As a pure gaming experience, i'd give it an eight. As an interactive movie experience, i'd give it an 11 out ten!

In the pre-release build up, i was pretty much resigned to "putting up with" the huge cut scenes. Sitting down with it though, i thought i'd sit back and just enjoy whatever the game threw at me.

Result.

Amazing game, easily the best the PS3 has to offer to date. My only gripe with the gameplay is that you already need to be up against the wall before pressing triangle...would be nice if (like Gears did) you could press triangle and you'd immediately hug the nearest wall...but it's a minor gripe.

The cut scenes are phenomenal, and i don't think there'll ever be a game that could top the scale seen in this game. I do still have a problem with the five steps, cut scene, five steps cuscene monotiny in places. It's almost as if Kojima (ever the self-indulgent control freak) doesn't trust the player to make the sort of simple decisions that Snake makes in-scene anyway.

The on-rails parts are ok, the motorbike chase felt pretty empty, i'm quite sure i could've probably nailed the section without firing a single bullet. The boss fights seemed pretty uninspired about from Camo Octupus, was really enjoying that until she died!

Also, it's a shame that Kojima chose to release so many great cut scenes prior to the game's release. Raiden's entrance and Vamp fight would've hit home so much more had they been left to be discovered in game!

Oh, and let it be said, the return to Shadow Moses is in fact the most incredible moment in video gaming history. As i've said, MGS1 was my first PS1 experience and i'd never played anything like it before. Walking out into the heliport and recognising the surroundings as the old music kicked in was brilliant. Same also for the Ninja flashbacks on the way to Otacon's office. Good laughs at the "A SURVEILANCE CAMERA?" camera falling off as well!

But yeah, truly epic stuff. A good game in it's own right, an incredible interactive movie to boot as well!

(by the way, i say completed, but i'm yet to see the final cut scene, will sit down for that one tonight!)

[Gradon]

Yay, just finished it, some dissappointments but oh well.
The online mode, I wanted more inside levels...
I mean, they could've imported the lab, or base from Subsistence like they did with Grozany Grad (Yeah, I can't spell it) and the other level...

Act 4 brought me ALOT of memories, so awesome.
And the story! It maybe LOOOONG, but theres alot of things I NEVER knew answered.
Was hard to follow but in the end, I sorta get it now haha.
On a side note, 17 hours it took haha...

[Umon Daisuke]

I'm taking it slow, so I'm right there in Act 4. Switching the camera to near-overhead view in that section makes him nostalgic; lots of little touches you'd expect from the series. For fans of the series, it's really a nice trip down memory lane and a powerful one since the characters are having a similar experience.

The boss fights so far are what you expect from the series, so I haven't seen anything as original as MGS3's. Upon getting used to the engine, it really makes you want more gameplay parts.

I won't go so I won't slip a spoiler, but after the disappointing DMC4 and NGII, I'm relieved that this hit the mark in every way. MGO is there, and there are more FREE DLC's coming. The game is very polished overall the best one out there from a technical standpoint. You'd have a hard time finding something better right now (unless you don't like the art direction... weirdo). I just couldn't believe how real the blizzard looked and felt, the lighting, the character models, and the audio... I can go on for days about the audio. LPCM up to 7.1 too.

I've seen a few frame rate dips in the cutscenes, but the gameplay is solid but not consistent. It's running at 30fps but there are lots of jumps to 60fps and they're quite jarring (particularly when switching to NVG).

[Rombie]

I'm taking it slow, so I'm right there in Act 4. Switching the camera to near-overhead view in that section makes him nostalgic; lots of little touches you'd expect from the series. For fans of the series, it's really a nice trip down memory lane and a powerful one since the characters are having a similar experience.

Hopefully now you don't think it's weird what I said in MSN about Act 4. It really does impact on you thinking about, well in my case, playing the original Metal Gear Solid 10 years ago, and because of that it managed to fill me with a lot of mixed feelings.... most of which is it's hard to believe it's been that long.

[DXP]

I got this a few hours earlier than it came out and therefore completed the game on its launch day. Basically I was taken back mainly by act 4, all those old memories came flooding back. The game is an epic it has minor problems one of them been the whole having to install all the time after every act but other than that I can't fault this game. It answers all the questions fans wanted to know and ends the storyline perfectly imo.

[Umon Daisuke]

Hopefully now you don't think it's weird what I said in MSN about Act 4.

Some of the dialogue at the end of Act 3 actually, then Act 4 kick off was just brilliant. I didn't think a game would stir up thoughts about the game industry and myself as a gamer. It's quite ironic.

[randomwab]

I'm finding it really hard to express my feelings with MGS4, but they're closer to disappointment than anything else. I'll try and point out some of my main issues with the game. If you’re wondering, I’m currently on my third play through of the game.

The story feels kind of thrown together in a lot of aspects, the gameplay is nowhere near as "advanced" as they were promising, the controls are still not as fluid as many other games (Japanese or Western developed), and despite Kojima promising that he had learned from Snake Eater and they were not going to have long, heavy handed story driven cut-scenes, this title has some of the worst cases of this so far, even hard to swallow for me, a big Metal Gear fan. The cover system is also pretty horrible, something that is very noticeable now that so many games have these systems, such as Gears of War, Uncharted, GTAIV and Rainbow Six Vegas, and every one has done it better. Pretty sad, as Metal Gear did create this system in many ways.

Now, by no means do I hate this game. In fact, I am really enjoying it at times. I really like the Militia/Rebel VS PMC aspects of the gameplay, as one sided as it seems to me. The combat is a huge step-up from Snake Eater, and it is much easier to deal with action scenarios now. The Drebin Shop system is also fantastic and I love being able to choose how to handle each combat situation with my custom tailored arsenal. The camouflage system is also a large step up from Snake Eater, though to be honest, I'd rather it was taken out. Some of the acts were pretty great too. Act 3 was a particular favourite of mine, if only because it was such a change from anything the series had done before.

Overall, I kind of feel that Metal Gear Solid 4 had a lot of potential, but it can’t really shine because it’s being held back because it is a Metal Gear game. It really tries to play up the nostalgia for fans and, to be fair to the game, they did do this very well at times (such as Act 4), but at other times, it feels unnecessary and forced. Although this is a stealth game, it’s much easier at most times to just play it like a shooter. And when I do play it like a shooter, it seems clear to me that when the stealth is stripped away from the game, Metal Gear Solid 4 becomes an average third person shooter.

I’m sorry if this reads really strange. I’m just kind of throwing everything that I’m remembering from playing the game. There are more things that I like and dislike that are not here, but those are my main gripes.