Three years, one month. That’s how long it took for Solid Snake to proclaim that “war has changed.” You will see things on these battlefields that only Hideo Kojima could think of – beasts and vicious creatures that are haunting and intimidating. But as the fictional war changes in-game, there is also a great change taking place in our world, and Metal Gear Solid 4 is leading the charge.

Tactical Espionage Immersion

Creeping in between two walls, Snake inches closer to his destination. With two enemies in sight, he pauses for a minute. Something magical happens and, when the soldiers approach, they are unable to detect Snake’s presence. After the clueless enemies leave, he whips out a silenced weapon and shoots one in the neck. As the helpless fighter falls to the ground, exclamation marks aren’t the only things being thrown on the screen. The other enemy, currently still breathing, is now aware of your presence. But where are you?

He quickly calls for backup, hoping that others can save him. But it’s too late. Within a couple seconds of the first shot, another is fired, putting an end to his life as well as his comrade's. Snake leaves his position and continues toward the goal.

This scenario is the true beauty of Metal Gear Solid 4. Its graphics are unfathomably gorgeous. Your jaw will drop several times before the credits roll – and likely a few more times on your second play-through. But any battle can head in any direction. Every strategy has weaknesses, thus making it impossible to get through the entire game by using the exact same tactics every time. Every mission brings new challenges, and each one forces you to think differently about the way Solid Snake is controlled.

Two themes that stay consistent, however, are action and sneaking. The latter has been the cornerstone of the series since it began. And in Metal Gear Solid 4, this gameplay style is finally perfect. Yes, perfect. Not everything is. But with impeccable controls (improved since the E for All demo) and an innovative sneaking suit (see the next section, “Real-World Inspiration,” for more), this portion is flawless.

Equally impressive – and at first, much more stunning – is the newly designed and heavily refined action gameplay. Snipering aside, most of the game is played from a third-person perspective. To draw a weapon, hold L1; to fire, press R1. This simple adjustment is hardly a new concept to gamers, nor is the aspect of pressing a button to lean up against a wall (as opposed to using the left analog stick, as you did in the first MGS) anything we haven’t seen before.

But while this may fall under the category of familiarity, it’s Konami’s execution that is brand-new. For the first time, Metal Gear Solid is a true action game. That doesn’t mean it has become Gears of War or Call of Duty. Rather, it means that if you are spotted while sneaking or boldly charge straight into battle, you’re going to be blown away.

Not by rockets or missiles – those belong to Solid Snake. But by the immense level of excitement thrown onto the screen. Explosions shake and tilt the camera in ways you’ve never seen before. Dust and debris are shot everywhere and stick to the screen temporarily, almost as if you were viewing the battle from behind a camera. Dozens of soldiers and huge creatures may attack at any moment. And when they do, the gameplay (and frame rate) are consistently quick.

During my first play-through, I only experienced one moment of slowdown (during a very fast part of the game, which came right after I had left it paused for 30 minute). On my second time around, I didn’t experience any slowdown at all – just a brief pause at one point. Other than that, the game never staggered, not even with the slightest hint of a technical failure. And this, mind you, is with the game looking as beautiful as it has in every trailer since it was first unveiled.

Real-World Inspiration

OctoCamo. Solid Eye. Mk. II. These are words that often come up when Metal Gear Solid 4 is being talked about. But it’s not until you experience them for yourself that their worth becomes significant.

As you’ve likely heard by now, OctoCamo is Snake’s new sneaking suit. Inspired by an octopus, which can change the color and texture of its body to match its surroundings and evade danger, OctoCamo allows Snake to blend in with the battlefield. This is essential in the first mission where you’re dropped in the middle of a war zone – the same one from the E3 2006 trailer. Two powerful groups are battling, and neither is on your side. Fortunately, they’re not your enemy either…so long as Snake stays out of sight.

OctoCamo is brilliant in the way it conforms to every surface: grass, cement, rock, metal, dirt, snow, fences (Snake’s body takes on the look and shape of the fence pattern), and many others. The classic hide-in-a-box technique is back, and Snake can now grab a barrel for additional sneaking capabilities (and roll around the environment, a la Katamari Damacy minus the sticky ball). Great for nostalgia and good for a laugh, but they’re useless compared to OctoCamo’s modern technology.

Though not as brilliant, the Solid Eye – an electronic eye patch – is just as necessary to your success. When equipped it functions as Snake’s radar, night vision, binoculars, and provides on-screen intel with item and enemy notifications. If an item or enemy is nearby, a clear digital window will appear over it, providing vital details (health and mental status for enemies; name and type for items). It’s very similar to the menu-heavy effects in the movie Stranger Than Fiction.

If you’re playing with the Big Boss difficulty setting (technically the “hard” setting), the Mk. II is sure to come in handy. Based on the design of the Metal Gear weapons, this small device is managed by remote control. Though it appears frequently in the story, its gameplay purpose is to examine areas safely before Snake enters. Its ability to become invisible – just like the cloaking device shown during the intro of Metal Gear Solid 2 – makes it hard for enemies to detect.

 
What could this mean gamers? Whatever could this mean?

Creature Feature

You’ve seen some of them in the trailers – soldiers that can climb on walls; giant Gekko (the half-organic, half-robotic two-legged walkers) wreaking havoc in the city; and Screaming Mantis, the woman who can turn anyone into a contortionist, usually against their will. Snake has many adversaries, each with a unique trait and some with elements that draw from the series’ past.

During some of the movie sequences, one of two button icons will appear: X or L1. If X appears, press it for a flash of Snake’s past. If L1 appears, hold it to view the scene from Snake’s point of view. These elements are subtle, but the quick flashbacks were clearly handled by a man that has spent his life loving and thinking about American movies. There are also moments that were almost definitely inspired by the TV series 24. This is extremely ironic to me because, upon seeing the first season of 24, all I could think of was Metal Gear Solid. Both have a lot in common – 24 brought frequent and unexpected deaths to television. Metal Gear Solid did the same for gaming three years prior.

Moviegoers will notice hints of The Bourne Identity in Harry Gregson-Williams’ score, a surprising addition given his previous compositions. In MGS2, the music was written to enhance the stealthy feeling of the game. But now that you have “no place to hide,” as the game’s first trailer stated, the music has changed to reflect this direction. It’s beautiful and original.

Of all the elements not related to gameplay, the art direction, movie direction and cinematography are by far the most impressive. Kojima has created an entirely believable, wholly immersive world that, at one pivotal moment, made me forget I was playing a video game. The camera work is amazing, mirroring techniques used in 24 and The Bourne Identity. The story is all Kojima, with several layers of detail applied to each character.

The facial expressions, dialogue and voice work are out of this world – and out of this industry. Let’s pause for a moment and give credit to Mass Effect, BioShock, the Final Fantasy series, Parasite Eve, and a couple others. We all have our favorites. Now let’s look at the reality of what most other video game stories consist of: crap. We have been accepting it for too long because no one has shown us a better way.

When I said that a great change was taking place, it wasn’t just the incredible gameplay I was referring to. I was also referring to the story, whose presentation is nothing short of groundbreaking. From this point on, the stiff, emotionless faces that make up most games are no longer acceptable. From this point on, every game that claims to deliver an “entertaining story” will be judged by the game that defined the very meaning of those words.

 
The identity of this young woman was cleverly revealed in a trailer last year.

The Final Battle

This next section covers the pace of the game and unavoidably some specifics about the story’s presentation. If you’re the kind of gamer that wants to be surprised at every turn, skip to the scoring details below. If possible, I would have stopped my review with the last paragraph. But unfortunately, as noted before, not everything in Metal Gear Solid 4 is perfect, thus warranting further discussion.

On your first time through, you will be all the things I said before: amazed, awestruck, and completely blown away. You will feel like this is the best game and movie combo you have ever experienced, and will be eager to play through it once more.

But on your second time through, you won’t be eager to see every movie sequence – not right away, at least. You’ll want to get right down to business. And to do that, you must manually skip through several movie sequences. In the beginning alone, you’ll watch a couple of movies, walk a few steps, watch another sequence, walk a few more steps, and watch another sequence.

On your first time, it fits perfectly. The game is balanced to flow like a movie, and judging by the completion time of other gamers I’ve spoken to, it seems that most everyone is finishing it in around 18 – 20 hours. That time includes every movie sequence.

Once you know where to go and how to complete each mission, the game is even shorter than it seemed the first time around. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone – all of Kojima’s games fall under the “short but sweet” category. However, considering the three-year wait gamers have had to endure, this isn’t an easy thing to swallow.

Unless you’ve kept your eyes and ears shut, have avoided our preview coverage and will not look at the game’s box, you already know that Konami is hyping Metal Gear Solid 4 as Snake’s final mission. The trailer’s indication was that he’d kill himself – the reasons for which are revealed in the game.

Though I’m not about to give away the ending, I can tell you that this is a very solid conclusion to a series that loves to leave things open. There are hints, even jokes about the future of Metal Gear. But if it continues, its face is going to change. Not just the lead character but everything about the series will have to evolve. The ending has a few cheesy moments – it is, perhaps, too much like some of the movies playing in American theaters. It’s also very long, so get comfortable and keep the controller close. You might need it.

Regardless of these flaws, the final scenes are memorable (though not as much as the rest of the game) and are a rarity for our industry. Every character’s story comes to an end. You could theorize that they’ll send them back into the battlefield, but I don’t think that’s where the series is headed. Kojima wanted to bring some peace to the world he created. And though he may not have been able to do it as flawlessly as his battle sequences, he must still be commended for going above and beyond the stories of his competitors – and even those he previously wrote himself.