Metal Gear Solid 4

WHAT I LIKE

1. Damn near everything. If you can handle the cut-scenes and convoluted story, this game will blow your mind. There are so many new features and ideas incorporated in this game that have never been attempted before, it truly expands the medium as an art. Metal Gear Solid 4 is interactive cinema. There were moments when I wasn’t sure if I was watching a cinematic or playing until I tried to do something and realized it was playable, and in these moments I was smitten even more than the rest of the game. Kojima has created a masterpiece here. Even the online play is really great, and feels very carefully polished.

2. This game has the best graphics I’ve seen in a console game yet. Coupled with the series’ most free-roaming camera, the game is beautiful to look at from start to finish. The cinematics are all done with the game’s engine, which makes transitions seamless, and really shows off the power of the PS3. You are even free to zoom in on anything during almost any cutscene, which really shows how great the game looks. It’s damn near impossible to find flaws in the graphics.

3. The combat system has been revamped from previous games, and now easily holds its own against other third- or first-person shooters. Similarly to GTA4, including such great shooting mechanics in a game that isn’t necessarily focused on combat really makes the game stand out even more. You have the option to go third-person or first-person at any time, with any weapon (even while piloting a certain… “vehicle”… *cough*).

4. The game is constantly changing, and the special levels (“set-piece battles”) are all done well enough to be their own game. Giving away any specifics would detract from the giddy rush you’d feel upon finding them for yourself, so I won’t say more, but you will probably only spend slightly more than half of your game time sneaking around normally.

5. The story is great, and takes you to some quite memorable locations, new and old. The emotional impact of going to locations from previous games is certainly noteworthy, unless you’ve never played the old games, in which case the awesome play features that come with some of them (no spoilers here!) will be enough for newcomers to the series to enjoy, and just might make them want to go back and check out past installments.

(I could easily go on here, but I’ll try to exercise some restraint and keep with my formatting choice of five and five)

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WHAT SUCKS

1. The game loads way too often (there was one chase scene that had the game loading literally every 20 seconds or more). This is just absurd. I don’t care how much detail goes into a scene, you’re throwing out all that possible immersion by making me stare at a loading screen every time our car goes through a gate. Also, the game features multiple installs. Yes, you read that right. Not only does it install for about ten minutes the first time you try to play, but between each act (there are five), you have to wait for the game to install again for a few minutes (though none are as long as the first). This also means that you have to install every time you load up a save from a different act. This is ludicrous and maddening enough as it is, but the designers have opted to add little life tips on the install screens such as “Please throw your trash away in proper receptacles” or “Smoking is bad for your health” and other preachy bits of wisdom, while we watch Snake smoke. If you don’t want kids to think smoking is cool, at least take the cigs out of the mouth of the coolest guy on the planet while you’re telling us not to. …Sorry, I got a little carried away.

2. Too much exposition. While it is standard in MGS games, it still drags sometimes when the characters are telling you the same things again and going into significantly more detail than anyone, anywhere cares about. The pacing of the cut scenes could be fixed greatly, as they often drag on and feel far too preachy. Whenever the screen blanks out and cuts to the slide-show format, it’s time to get a beer. The story is so insane and convoluted that many of these are simply reiterations of previous information, to try to help you piece it all together.

3. The ending… kinda sucked. I was really hoping the series would go out with a bang, not like Matrix 3. A sunset and a voiceover telling us that we need to live our lives isn’t really a fresh or interesting way to end such a monumentally insane and awesome action-game series.

4. Some bosses didn’t take any more than a stream of bullets to take out. This is odd for Metal Gear, as usually all bosses are unique and require at least some kind of thought and trial-and-error to figure out.

5. In keeping with the idea of taking forever to play, signing up for online play is an absurd process, requiring two additional usernames and passwords to play. I’m not sure why they couldn’t have just used my PSN ID, like every other PS3 game.
IN CLOSING

This game really is a work of art, and expands the medium of the videogame in new directions. This game will be studied and emulated by other games, guaranteed. Despite a ridiculously convoluted and sometimes pretentious story, the characters work and the game is a great success of storytelling in its presentation. The variety of gameplay makes it difficult to put down the controller, and the weapons, items, and characters are all just as varied and interesting. In a time of quality fourth installments, this game does not disappoint. It has its flaws, sure, but the hours of fantastic gameplay you will get from this game far outshine them, and will make you glad you own a PS3, even if sometimes it even gets a little uppity about that fact as well (and yet makes virtually no use of the Sixaxis functionality…) Overall, if you liked the other Metal Gear games (except maybe MGS2, which was mostly useless), you probably have already played this one. If not, do it now. If you haven’t played the other ones, this might not be the best place to start, as you will likely be totally lost by much of the story, but you will still love the gameplay, so I would recommend it.

Oh yeah, and Raiden is back. He’s a badass now.

Grand Theft Auto 4

WHAT I LIKE

1. Beautiful lighting system breathes life into a world that feels very ‘alive.’ The different lighting schemes for different weather help to set dramatic moods and look amazing. That’s not to mention the truly awe-inspiring explosion effects in the game.

2.The new combat system, which includes lock-on targeting and a Gears-esque cover system, holds its own against other strict shooter games. It goes way beyond what one typically expects from a game with so much else going on, and is an incredible step for the series, making combat with a number of enemies not only possible, but really fun.

3. The main character, Niko Bellic, is incredibly likable. He has a deep backstory, clever dialog, and his voice acting is superb. You want him to succeed. In fact, almost all the characters in the game are very well acted and unique. While this has been standard for the past few GTA games, 4 steps it up even more, giving you many choices which will influence the way other characters will treat you. To become friends (or stay friends) with characters, you actually have to treat them like friends, by taking them out for drinks, bowling, or a number of other activities.

4. The level of detail in the game world and its mechanics is stunning. There is a huge amount of content that many people will probably never see, and more unique gameplay mechanics than ever – you can search out criminals by stealing a cop car and using their criminal database, you can watch TV in your apartment for hours, you can surf the in-game internet and get new cell phone ring-tones, or go to a dating site… the options are really stunning.

5. The new physics engine makes carnage feel quite brutal, and adds another level to an already very ‘alive’ city. Hitting someone with a car is almost painful to watch, and will leave realistic bloody marks across your hood. The citizens have a much more believable self-preservation AI, as well. During one intense police shootout, I noticed a civilian had taken cover behind a car I was about to steal. When I drove away, he looked genuinely shocked to lose his cover and ran away in fear.

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WHAT SUCKS
1. While the lighting system looks great during the day, at night the city loses a lot of its flavor, and the graphics no longer look next-gen at all. On a purely visual level, it barely looks better than San Andreas at night. The character/car/building models alone don’t cut it, and it is only with the beautiful lighting that they truly stand out.

2. The vehicle physics feel as if they are designed for more realistic (read: slower) driving, which takes a lot of getting used to. Gone are the days of speeding through the city with the pedal to the floor. If you want to make a tight turn in this game, you have to slow down pretty far, or you’re likely to spin out entirely. While I understand the desire for more realistic driving in such a down-to-earth world, I still hate it. This is a videogame, let me live my street-racing fantasies! For those frustrated by the driving, though, the new Taxi system helps. You just tell the driver where to go, and you can skip right there if you like, for a small fee.

3. For how animated the city is, barely any of the building can be entered. It is somewhat disappointing to have this incredible world on the outside, but almost no access to interiors. I would love to be able to get in an elevator (or stairs) in a really tall building, go up to the roof, and start sniping. Now I have to get a helicopter.

4. There is no good metal station. Liberty City HardCore is as close as it gets, but is terrible. San Andreas had a good hard rock station, why not 4?

5. The god damn game corrupted my save file after 32 hours of glorious play, crippling my progress and frustrating me to no end. One day in game, I simply found I had no more available missions, and none of my contacts would answer their phone. Bah.

IN CLOSING

Overall, this game is just amazing. Notice that most of my “negative” comments are followed by positives which negate them somewhat. Aside from getting screwed really badly by corrupt data, I really can’t complain about this game, as it is one of the most incredible experiences you will have playing a game to date. All the elements of the game work very well together, from the city to the characters to the story. You will have fun playing this game. With the American Dream as such a prevalent theme, this game is just that. Buy this game.