“Why we love it” is a new feature which we hope to put out when a highly anticipated sequel is about to make its debut. Think of it as an effort to elaborate upon the qualities and traits fans appreciate from the franchise. It’s not aimed at swaying naysayers, but it will acknowledge the franchises’ foibles. This is predominantly aimed at those who are curious about the hype surrounding an upcoming game and have always wondered, “Why do they love it?”.

It’s a question I was asked awhile ago, which I found incredibly hard to answer. “What do people like about the Metal Gear Solid series?” It’s a difficult game to explain. Trying to justify how 20 minutes of cutscenes and codec conversation is an enthralling experience is a tough task, but I thought it was about time I tackled it. So here’s my attempt to describe the Metal Gear Solid series and share why I (and many others) regard it as one of the best videogame franchises of all time.

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I’m still working on my “Why We Love It: MGS Series” feature. There’s a lot of shaping and thinking involved with this feature. Don’t worry, though. It’ll be out by Monday. I’m also going to write a Battlefield: Bad Company PS3 demo impressions piece as well. Lots of writing.

So I finished MGS2, but instead of playing MGS3 I’m helping my brother play MGS. Mostly for his benefit, but also to help my feature piece. I’ve helped him out through the original til about the half-way point before he was able to fully grasp the game’s design.

As for my personal gaming? Pixeljunk Monsters Encore. That’s about it. Surprising? Don’t be. I’m purposely not committing to anything before MGS4. I guess Phantom Hourglass is being played out of whim as well.

That’s all for now. I’m hungry.

Is anyone surprised by this? Konami asking reviewers not to mention the install or cutscene length (amongst other things) for MGS4? It’s not uncommon, but it should be stopped. Why even ask reviewers to omit such things, you ask? They aren’t necessarily negative points for fans, but foreigners to the series may not perceive them in the same way. Asking reviewers not to spoil the story is one thing, but asking them to not mention valid points such as this? That’s crossing the line.

EGM’s July issue was supposed to contain a review of MGS4, but since they didn’t quite agree with the limitations imposed by Konami, they opted to wait until next month. That’s the way to do it, folks.  We here at QSF5 would  do the exact same. We’re in no rush.

These are common practices though. In some form or another, reviewers are being pressured into giving publishers higher scores. MTV’s Multiplayer Blog was running a week of articles involving some of the shadier practices happening in the world of reviewing games. From Metacritic scores affecting bonus royalties to publishers asking editors to hold back unsavory reviews until launch. One can only hope ‘The Game Reviewer’s Bill of Rights‘ gets taken seriously one day.

Seriously. I’m making a post about a thread and its quality. It’s actually an excellent thread (from NeoGAF) with just about everything you need to know about MGS4. It’s ridiculous how much effort was put into creating this. Written game summaries for all the previous Metal Gear games, character profiles, trailers, themes, movies — it’s all there.

Good job, BruceLeeRoy. An epic thread for an epic game.

GameTrailers is going all out with their Metal Gear Solid 4 hyping. First, Episode 22 of the Bonus Round which features N’Gai Croal, David Hayter and Rob Smith of OPM.

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Check it. Some ironic luck this week. Most of it making itself known today.

Want to play MGS2

Fortunate: Found Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection for $26.99 CAD.
Unfortunate: Received two copies of MGS3 and MGS — no MGS2
Resolution: Will exchange tomorrow.

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Lupin The 3rd was a 1970’s anime which I know very little of. Metal Gear Solid is an awesome game. Mash the two together and you get a whole lot of awesome.

As if this was fan made:

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My Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection is on its way here! What better way to hype up the game than to play through the predecessor? How about some screenshots from the previous trailers?

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GameTrailers put up part 2 of their Metal Gear Retrospective. It’s really quite excellent. Check it out for those who have no intentions of replaying or playing through the previous ones.

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Halo 3’s marketing campaign was a bit absurd, but when you sit it next to the likes of Metal Gear Solid 4’s I would consider it tame. Montain Dew has nothing on this. GameSpot dives into even greater detail.

iPods, Japanese models, T-shirts and other gimmicks were announced to celebrate this launch. As if MGS4 wasn’t a big deal enough, Konami is going out of their way to make it even bigger — especiallly in Japan. And remember that Assassin’s Solid video? Well, with the blessing of Ubisoft, Snake can strut around wearing Altair’s gear.

Check out the theatrical trailer. Hilarious if its a parody, but sad if its not. Knowing Kojima, it’s probably just fun and games.

P.S - I know about the first 10 minutes of Metal Gear Solid 4 video. I’m not touching that. It must be a surprise.