High action dominated the first couple of acts of MGS4 and not even the 1 - 3 minute inter-act installs could take away from the buzz. However, like with all highs, there will be a somber moment to reflect and contemplate. No stranger to the series, well made cutscenes play out the dramas and stories that I’ve grown to love, care and immerse myself in. I didn’t sit with a stopwatch on hand, but I don’t believe a single cutscene breaks the 30 minute mark. I could be wrong, but since I had genuine interest in what the characters had to say, the length of them didn’t phase me. Fortunately, after such gameplay droughts, memorable set pieces were then offered as if Kojima was saying: “Sorry, for making you wait so long.”.

Even if I wasn’t emotionally invested into these characters, I wasn’t left bored holding onto the controller with drool seeping from the mouth — there were things to fiddle and tinker with. Opportunities to initiate flashback slideshows and alternate camera views gave some level of interaction to these amazingly rendered story sequences. Instead of solely relying on the codec system to brief Old Snake, mission briefings were also conducted upon the Nomad, a flying command center of Otacon’s. These briefing moments reminded me of Half-Life 2’s ‘cutscenes’ where I could explore and see how the occupants lived – I found worthwhile items for Old Snake during these exploits as well.

Acts segregated MGS4 into pockets of gameplay experiences, each distinguished greatly from one another. Every act took place in a different part of the world and each delivered a different stealth gameplay style. As expected, not every act allowed the same amount of freedom shown in the 15 minute gameplay demonstration. Eventually the espionage focused segments returned with both familiar and new (for the series) stealth concepts. I thoroughly enjoyed the stealthier segments, however I know some will find it to be a jarring change of gears.

The flow of MGS4 differentiates itself from its predecessors not only through the separation into acts, but also through the lack of repetition. I also never retread ground due to the red beacon on the map beckoning me to move forward. Constant forward momentum and the lack of backtracking brewed an insatiable desire of more since I was not used to seeing areas just once in a Metal Gear game. Thankfully, in true Kojima Productions fashion, it’s impossible to catch all the nuisances and details with one pass through. It’s also no secret that the game becomes significantly different with each difficulty level. More enemies roam the battlefields, the enemy’s senses are heightened and the clamp down on certain items remove a lot of that ease and replaces it with mind numbing tension. It sounds masochistic, but I’m a sucker for it.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under PS3 Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.