A masterpiece

In 2001, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, was being hailed as one of the most-anticipated games of all-time. However, while the game was a technical masterpiece, it didn't live up to customer expectations with the story--not for me, anyway--and many people were upset that the amount of time spent playing with the game's iconic character, Solid Snake, was kept to a minimum. Instead, we had to play most of the game as Raiden, a much-less popular character.

Solid Snake was also missing in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, as that game was set in 1964.

Since Sons of Liberty's release, and Solid Snake's less "face" time, the GTA and Halo series have passed Metal Gear as far as hype goes--so as rumors leaked about MGS 4, it seemed apparent to me that Hideo Kojima, MGS' creator, was pulling out all the stops to go out with quite a bang (he has said this will be the final MGS game) and return the series back to the top of the pack. Following Snake Eater's 2003 release, news broke quickly about MGS 4 (usually the wait for info about the new game has been longer than one year after the previous game's release). Kojima announced immediately that Solid Snake (again voiced by David Hayter) was definitely returning to 4--as well as every single character from the previous games. Clearly, Kojima's wish is for the game to return back to "number one" status with all gamers rather than "simply" top five...

...Kojima definitely succeeds.

The game is a technical masterpiece. It seems to push the PS3 to the limit in everything that it can do. The graphics in-game are simply the best by far of any game that has been released on any console. You will be blown away. The previous three games were each released three years apart. The wait for 4 has been over four and a half years, and it shows! The game is slick, highly polished. Gameplay flows to and fro cutscenes seemlessly. The control schematics have been re-worked, too, and there is about a one hour learning curve with the controls (which, thankfully, support dual shock). Don't despair, the camera has more of a Splinter Cell feel, which is a good thing as I feel Splinter Cell's control has always been the best of any stealth/action (or simply action) game. Also, the waiting times is about three minutes long between loading missions, but the game comes up with a way to entertain you as you wait...

Speaking of the missions, there are five different levels that you play in. This, too, is a change from the past games which mainly had Snake dropped into the setting (sometimes there would be a quick prologue story, too) and he would remain there until the game ended. The levels take place at diverse locales all over the globe. I am trying to keep this review mostly spoiler-free, but there is a very cool scene where we see Snake in a trenchcoat in Eastern Europe: he just looks so cool! The game also returns Snake to Shadow Moses Island in the Fox Archipelago of Alaska, the site of Metal Gear Solid. I cannot tell you how excited I was to find out we would be returning there! It was my favorite part of the game, and to return there and view it with PS3 graphics will completely blow you away! I think it is worth 60 plus dollars just to play this mission.

In addition to the five levels of play, there is also an epilogue where every character's story gets resolved, and, after the final credits roll, there are major events that take place (almost an hour--yes!--long) that reveal major...well, I won't tell you! But, I have given you a slight hint in my last sentence. Twice.

The best part is the length of game. With the cutscenes, you can expect to spend at least 20 plus hours playing through it the first time around. Who wants a masterpiece to only last an afternoon, right?

Being a huge fan of the MGS series, I cannot find anything wrong with the game. However, if you are new to the MGS universe, you need to be prepared to watch hours of cutscenes as you play through this game. Granted, you can skip through them if you wish, but you won't want to as you will want to see how the story advances.

My final opinion on this game is that it is a contender for best video game of all-time. It is gaming excellence that has set a new bar for all future video games to shoot for. This game is not simply five out of five stars: this game is the best.