First off, a round of applause for Konami. Rather than inundating gaming audiences with boring press releases and wordy documents explaining game details, a series of trailers have been released to show us what to expect. The longest of these clocks in at over 15 minutes, an extremely impressive piece worthy of cinematic praise. We also have a hilarious teaser trailer dating back quite a long way (all you young’uns may have missed it), and the very latest release demonstrates various gameplay and combat mechanics, almost certainly representative of the standard in-game graphics. The best venue to check out all the MGS4 goodness is over at the official Kojima Productions website, with trailers, media, news and publicity reports good to go. To jump into some stellar screens right here, check out the Media Panel.
I feel very lucky.
Guns of the Patriots. Without taking any more detours (that is, back to the 60s), MGS4 is set to continue the story of Snake as he takes on The Patriots - an all-powerful, apparently completely extinct organization revealed in MGS2: Sons of Liberty. It’s safe to say that anyone who hasn’t played previous Metal Gear titles, or at least Sons of Liberty, may find the story a bit perplexing. Indeed, any Metal Gear game is confusing enough on its own, but do yourself a favour and play through the first games (not necessarily the NES titles, but at least begin with Metal Gear Solid) to gain a better foothold for jumping in to MGS4. Also, they happen to be some of the best games ever made.
The very large, superbly designed cast of characters makes a stunning return to form. In MGS4, we are sure to see some old favourites including Meryl Silverburg, Naomi Hunter and Colonel Campbell. A shocker at the end of the 15 minute trailer reveals, in a mind-blowing action sequence, the return of Raiden. The white-haired badass was the controversial lead character in Sons of Liberty, after it became apparent that Snake would not be playable throughout the entire game. Many despised him (and still do), and a good few supported his introduction. I am firmly in the latter group. While not being able to play as Snake was a bummer, Raiden is very fleshed-out and deserves a prominent place in the series. For MGS4 he has been modified, complete with a cybernetic exoskeleton. It seems he has also had a tad bit more training with the katana since Sons of Liberty. Just a little.
He's back in black.
From the first images of MGS4 revealed, Snake is shown as an old man with a moustache. Ok, we thought, so this takes place many years down the road. In future media, the other characters are revealed and seem to have aged only slightly. Otacon, Meryl, Raiden – all seem to be as young and sprightly as ever. Why is Snake so old? In the longest trailer, we see Snake apparently ready to commit suicide with one bullet. He says – “I have to erase my genes, wipe the MEME from the face of the earth.” This implies MEME may be the cause of his age. Let it also be known that in the latest trailer, Snake is given a fresh reveal at the very end, aged roughly the same as one would expect. Old Snake clearly isn’t the only player in this game, and MEME may be behind it all. In any case, Konami has already infused MGS4 with trademark humour. Despite the young Snake being a rather large revelation, Konami allows him no style by having a bird promptly crap right on his shoulder. Snake gives a grunt, trailer over. Excellent.
The long cutscenes and extensive story elements are sometimes a double-edged sword for Metal Gear. Some players wanted to cut the nonsense and get right to the tactical espionage action. This is a valid point, as Metal Gear consistently offers up some of the best one-man army gameplay ever seen. MGS4 has demonstrated a few new gameplay additions thus far. As opposed to the classic cardboard box, Snake can now jump into a large metal oil drum. This also enables the ability to roll around inside, bowling over enemies as they try to shoot Snake through his impenetrable barrier. Speaking of rolling, Snake can also be seen doing a smooth army roll across a gap between buildings as bullets come raining down.
A taste of some new enemies.
The tagline, “No place to hide!”, has been used frequently throughout MGS4 media. How can this be, given that Metal Gear is first and foremost concerned with stealth gameplay? The newest trailer sheds some insights into the meaning of the words. It is war, a battlefield with soldiers running all about during intense combat. Snake may be seen in plain sight, but in what capacity? In one scene, we see Snake playing dead as some enemy soldiers rush past, only to simply flip over and eliminate the enemies after they have passed. We also see Snake sneaking along a wall, probably in sight but inconspicuous and not noticeable enough to cause aggression. Also featured is Snake in disguise, with hoods and cloaks, penetrating the enemy ranks from the inside to routinely dispatch the entire group one by one. MGS4 really is shaping up a different take on the traditional guns-blazing, die-frequently war combat gameplay.
This future juggernaut of gaming is inarguably the most anticipated title for the PS3, and is scheduled for release in 2007. Again, kudos must be given to Konami for providing such excellent and intriguing preview material – in fact, this may be the most perfectly marketed unreleased game for many years. Time is on Konami’s side, with the PS3 getting delayed and downsized at every waking moment. Here’s hoping they nail MGS4 with the biggest, baddest hammer they have - and judging by the series history (and with gaming legend Hideo Kojima at the helm once more), we can’t see any foreseeable reason this next-gen Metal Gear will not blow us away. Stick around for more updated MGS4 content, hopefully provided on a regular basis from the Konami team.
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