Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Written by Adam Woolcott  on May 26, 2006

First Impressions: This time, you might actually want to play as Raiden

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Six years ago, Metal Gear Solid 2 immediately became the flagship title for the PlayStation 2, a platform that was expected to dominate the world but was off to a sluggish start in the face of the Dreamcast and upcoming consoles from Nintendo and Microsoft. We all know what happened, but at the time MGS2 was the reason why anyone wanted a PS2. Flash forward to today, and it seems the same scenario is playing out, though the buzz is a little bit quieter. Metal Gear Solid 4 finds itself in a bit of deja vu; with the PS3 struggling after a complicated E3, MGS4 has emerged as one of the legitimate reasons why anyone would show interest in a PS3 in these early stages of its existence, and is basically the flagship title. For 2007 anyway. After the fantastic 15 minute E3 trailer, only one thing can be truly taken from it Ц MGS4 is going to be a very intriguing game and if this is really going to end the story as we know it, Hideo Kojima is making sure we're all going out with a bang.

After going roughly 40 years into the past to explain many of the events and players in Metal Gear Solid 2's bizarre climax, the story once again moves into the 'modern' day, picking up a few years after Raiden's defeat of Solidus Snake at Federal Hall. Thanks to the efforts of The Patriots and specifically Revolver Ocelot, the world is in a constant state of war, with private armies, equipped with dozens of miniature Metal Gears, leading the charge. It's not about the countries or the people behind them anymore, or even politics but instead simply for the barbaric act of war. Though once again retired, and heavily aged since we last saw him due to his genetic nature, Solid Snake is brought back into the mix as the lone hope for the world to put an end to the horror of useless conflict. MGS4 is being touted as the final game in the Metal Gear Solid saga, and if the sight of Snake apparently attempting to kill himself during the E3 2006 trailer is to be believed, it might be the end of Metal Gear period.

As such, almost every major player is being brought back. Though their roles and intentions aren't defined (and probably won't be until you actually place the disc into your PlayStation 3 in 2007), they all will have impact on the story. Of course Otacon is back to help his friend Snake, but how about the return of Roy Campbell, Snake's old commander? Or the return of Naomi Hunter, remorseful over what she did to Snake? Even Meryl, who many figured was dead based upon certain 'hints' given in MGS2, leading a revival of FOXHOUND? It's all so mysterious. The cryptic E3 trailer hints at more evil things, like Ocelot, who was referred to as not Revolver Ocelot, but Liquid Ocelot, perhaps a sign that the hand of Liquid has assimilated completely into Adamska's quadruple-crossing agenda. The mention of Outer Heaven also should bring chills to veterans of the series, bringing up one of the hints when the original MGS4 trailer hit...is Big Boss alive? Last but not least, MGS2 whipping boy Raiden makes his return; and instead of being a wuss squabbling with his girlfriend Rose, he's slicing and dicing Metal Gears like they were mere peanut butter sandwiches. In other words, he's one badass mofo.

The intrigue is enough to make any Metal Gear fanatic wet their pants.

In the previous MGS titles, the environments didn't change unless there was a major event Ц if you hid in one spot, it can be used later, or you can hide in a place forever and never be detected due to this lack of interactivity and generic AI schemes. But imagine if you could play MGS2 again, and hide in that locker room on the ship, but either be met by an inquisitive guard checking out the scene, or a crazed soldier with a rocket launcher looking to just blow the hell out of a room, bringing out anyone who might be sneaking around. Though it's not explicitly said, that sort of scenario is what one could expect with Kojima's mantra of 'no place to hide.' Because of the high-tech weaponry and the war-torn land MGS4 seems to take place in, anywhere Snake might find a brief moment of calm is a possible target for destruction, exposing himself to his enemies, or even getting himself killed. It presents a unique change for the MGS formula of stealth, with not just sentries and cameras looking for you, but now the fear of your shelter being blown to bits by roaming enemies.

Because the E3 trailer was more cryptic than ever, much of the game is still left up to your imagination. You can expect the gameplay system won't change too drastically and any Metal Gear veterans can hop right into the game. MGS4 will feature the same fully 3D camera that appeared in MGS3: Subsistence, but whether or not that spells the end of the Soliton radar from MGS and MGS2 isn't known. Camouflage will be back, letting Snake blend into buildings and terrain in hope of not drawing attention to himself from trigger-happy enemies. There's been some mention of possible connectivity with the PSP and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (the direct sequel to Snake Eater), and of course the game should feature an online setup for the PlayStation Network Platform, likely an evolution of what you saw in Subsistence. The rest of the game is pure speculation at this point. But hey, speculation is half the fun, especially with a story like Metal Gear's.

At least we don't have to speculate on how the game looks, even though it's over a year from completion, giving plenty of time to push the PS3's Cell-based hardware even harder. MGS games have always been benchmark titles for the PlayStation family of consoles, and the same remains here (though Assassin's Creed comes very, very close). Though the world the trailer shows is dreary, depressing, and utterly destroyed, it has a distinctive hopeless style compared to MGS3, which was more colorful due to the jungle and wilderness. And while we haven't seen a whole lot of Snake's new playground, the destruction engine should be really impressive during the heat of battle. Though Snake now appears very old, it's amazing to see his character model with worry lines, tired eyes, fully white hair (no mullet though), and of course the porn star mustache. The other characters are scarily lifelike, showing far more emotion than the Emotion Engine ever could. The PS3 needs a flagship game to show what it can do (especially considering the doom and gloom surrounding it), and Metal Gear Solid 4 looks to be that game. Just like Metal Gear Solid 2 did for the PS2 a half-decade ago.