E for All 2007: Metal Gear Solid 4
With a pretty apparent lack of blockbuster games for the PlayStation 3, the community and Sony alike is starved for a big hitter. A few titles have tried to step up to the task, like Motostorm and Resistance, but so far it’s been a pretty meager showing.
This weekend at the first-ever E for All Expo in Los Angeles, I was given the chance to get some first-hand experience with a little game called Metal Gear Solid 4. I won’t claim to be a huge Metal Gear fan by any means, but I have played both the first title entries and enjoyed them thoroughly.
I was told I’d have about a ten-minute presentation on the game followed by a short play session. Prior to this, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I mean, of course I’d seen various screens and also a teaser trailer a while back. But really, not owning a PS3 really put this title on the back burner in my mind.
I was escorted into a small room for the presentation. There was camouflage netting on all the walls, and I was shown to my chair, a large sandbag in front of a projector. Immediately one of the designers gave me a brief rundown of some of the controls and the situation in which I was about to be dropped. From there on, it was just me, a monitor, and Solid Snake.
You’ll be happy to know that the classic Metal Gear gunshot is still used when starting a game on the main menu. Additionally the headset I was given must have been at maximum volume, and that I almost shit myself after hearing the deafening blast. After that, I was dropped into a gritty urban war zone and was on my way.
When I got my bearings, I realized I was in a Middle Eastern back alley. It looked to be pretty deserted and safe to get acquainted. Snake of course looks beyond his prime at this point, but the old man is more agile than ever, oddly enough. And I must admit, he’s looking pretty good, too. At least, for someone who rivals my grandpa’s age…
I wandered around my small safe haven for a few moments to get acquainted with the controls and then set out into danger. As I came around the first corner I was immediately positioned right behind two heavily armed soldiers.
The first addition to the game I noticed was a blip in a little ring around Snake that I had missed earlier. The “threat-ring” as the game calls it, is an opaque white orb around snake that will ripple if any enemies are in the immediate area. For example, if you are lying on the ground and an enemy is to your left, there will be a raised wave to your left in the ring. This comes in handy especially for when you are crawling on the ground with limited visibility around patrolling guards. No longer do you have to crawl from place to place with the blind hope that the guard is elsewhere in his route.
However, before I could fully grasp the concept of the threat ring, I heard a rumbling in the distance. Out of no where, a transport with a turret mounted on top rolled in and mowed down the soldiers in front of me. Before I had a chance to open fire on anyone, Otacon chimed in over the Codec explaining that it may be best not to get involved. Apparently the two rival factions had been at war for quite some time. So I hunkered against the wall only to find my next discovery, OctoCamo.
As I leaned against the wall, I saw the suit Snake was wearing flash a bit and suddenly I was mimicking the texture and appearance of the wall. Snakes new suit boasts a pretty nice camouflaging system apparently. Any time you lean against either a wall, or the floor or any textured surface you take on that surfaces appearance. This of course allows Snake to creep along the back allies with just a little more piece of mind in the end. After I had acquired a whole new look, I figured it was time to venture past the murderous transport and its patrolling soldiers.
After meandering around a couple of destroyed buildings, I had a pretty decent vantage point on the soldiers. It’s worth noting at this point that, in both real-life and games, I’m not terribly stealthy. If the opportunity presents itself, I’m likely to open fire on just about any number of enemies. And well, I guess this was no exception.
The menu system in MGS4 works just as it has in previous games. Items on the left, weapons on the right. But now, rations will work automatically if you get too low on health. This proves to be useful when ambushing a number of soldiers only to realize that there are also a number of soldiers behind you that you didn’t notice earlier (use that threat ring folks!).
The aiming system has also been reworked. In addition to the manual aiming system from previous Metal Gears, there is now also an auto aim system you can activate by pressing square. Really, it didn’t make much of a difference at the end and somewhat detracted from the game a bit. After dispatching the soldiers in the area, I ventured forth to explore a bit more. There seems to be multiple routes you can take for each area, which you can check out on a map overview. Some routes may have enemies, some may just be roundabout ways through collapsed buildings. I always find it oddly convenient when there is a gap in the rubble just big enough and straight enough that a full grown man could worm through it. But I guess there’s no avoiding that in certain situations.
The levels are designed to feel a bit more open then previous games, but the road blocks everywhere tend to ruin the feeling quickly. After sneaking through the shadows a bit, I decided to bring out the knife and try a few stealth kills. Snake apparently learned some new Judo moves in his downtime at the retirement home. When grabbing someone from behind, you can decide to slit their throat or throw them to the ground. Once on the ground, you can cut off their air for 5 seconds to render them unconscious, or for those of you who are particularly unfriendly, you can cut off their air supply for 10 seconds and kill them. Somehow I feel Solid Snake would do well in UFC despite his age.
Graphically the game is superb. It has a very gritty feel to it with great particle effects. The lighting pales in some areas, such as harsh transitions from shadow to light. But in reality it’d look awful for Snake to be hiding in lightly shaded areas. So once more, it was a choice for gameplay, and it works. Another stand out point was the sound. Everything sounded excellent in the game. From the rustle of Snake walking, the pounding boots of soldiers and the crisp shots being fired.
Overall I can’t see fans being too disappointed with Metal Gear Solid 4, though it definitely does not have the “wow” factor that the original had. But really, there’s no way that it could muster that without being a completely different game. MGS4 plans to bring the player to all sorts of locations never before tackled in the series; from the Middle East to South America. Those of you who have been waiting for this won’t be disappointed. Those of you who have yet to consider the game, you may be pleasantly surprised.
