"Granted, watching near-superhuman heroes and villains gloriously beat, slash, stab and shoot the living crap out of each other for 15 or 20 minutes while surrounded by exploding vehicles, decapitated bio genetic war machines, and psychotic soldiers is always entertaining. However, that willingness to be drawn through lengthy action-rich cut scenes quickly fades once characters begin repeatedly engaging in bouts of mind-numbingly preposterous exposition revolving around the horrors of war, political influences, world domination, nanotechnology, A.I. mind-control systems and the morality of genetics... that can last for upwards of 45 minutes at a time."Guess I'm back people. Wish I was in higher spirits though. I've been wondering how to put my thoughts on Metal Gear Solid 4 into the proper wording for this blog. My disappointment with the final chapter of the Solid Snake saga has me in a state of disbelief. This is a game I was truly waiting four years to play. The single reason I brought a PS3 and its an epic letdown bringing back memories of the first Spiderman movie and the recent Michael Bay Transformers. The problem is in the game design and narrative. Its dated to the point of ridicule. Anyone who's experienced any truly next generation games such as Uncharted, GTA 4, Bio Shock, Lost Planet, Rainbow Six Vegas, Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4 even the over-rated Gears of War will have a tough time defending the ham fisted story, follow the arrow level design, lengthy and do I mean LENGHTY cut scenes ( I swear some characters took nearly 30 minutes to die while spewing social political mumbo jumbo before finally taking their last breath) and uninspiring AI (who never duck for cover or work in unison when under attack). The whole experience feels archaic. This is a big step back for gaming and makes me wonder if the Japanese game companies understand that the 360 and PS3 are more than boxes for better graphics and sound. I am aghast at the reviews for the game. 9/10 reviews praise the game for all its flaws, calling them nostalgic. They go on and on calling Kojima a genius for remembering to tie all loose ends in the MGS mythos but the way this is accomplished is ridiculous. When it comes to MGS I consider myself a harcore fan. I have all the MGS games, the Twin Snakes Gamecube game, the making of MGS2 DVD, the MGS3 Subsistance game and both Metal Gear Acid and Portable Ops PSP games. Having played all the Metal Gear Solid games numerous times you'd have to be insane to think things could possibly play out the way that they do. Characters are given numerous roles some of them impossible to be true due to the characters age, location or tools at their disposal. While playing you can almost feel Kojima making sure you don't have a reason to ask for another MGS from him, making sure all questions are answered no matter how many character mythos he has to break to make everything connect. And who can blame him, its been 10 years of doing the same thing. He's tapped out and it shows. A tragic end to a series that helped shape my life. The dead horse is beaten. Trust me on this, grab Grand Theft Auto 4. That game represents everything next gen gaming should be. This is coming from a guy who never understood the GTA series popularity before 4. With GTA 4 you can at least see that Rockstar cares about you. They poured their heart into that little gem. cares. They truly made the game with you in mind trying hard to please you on all fronts. Skip MGS 4 or rent it if its just to quench your thirst or if you want to know what the hub bub's all about. I'll be waiting for Resident Evil 5 and the next game from team ICO.
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