Now that some time has passed and we can look at the game without rose-tinted sunglasses, was Metal Gear Solid 4 overated when it came out? If I remember correctly it received several 10/10s from major gaming outlets, has a 94 Metacritic, received GOTY by Gamespot etc.  Now I'm not saying it was a bad game at all, I enjoyed the game for it's emotion, music, cut scenes, production values, dialog, insane graphics etc but the actual gameplay I feel was/is lacking in substance. I feel the Octo-camo simply made things a bit too easy and was oddly implemented, was very linear, the stealth elements were diffused, the cutscenes made up too much of the game itself and the experience was disjointed due to the stop/start gameplay in which you could not become immersed in the world. Does anyone else feel that the game simply did not deserve the acclaim it got looking at it now?

Not to me, I thought it was brilliant.

Yes. By a lot, as other Metal Gear games. this series is good, but for me is overated.
I prefer Splinter cell honestly... more gameplay.

The game had a great story and nostalgic feel for fans of the series. I never saw the levels as great, but the rest certainly was.
When story is the main impactor, its unsurprising that the game feels like less in terms of replay value. First time around its pretty good though.

I recall watching a friend make a sandwich during one of the loading screens.

Yes.

I don't think it deserved a perfect score that some reviewers gave but it was still amazing...like 9/10 amazing.

Underated from what I played.

One of the best games I played last generation... amazing game.

GOTY 2008.

All games which received 10/10 are overrated.

Absolutely not. The game was groundbreaking for it's time, and the extended cutscenes and story were a natural evolution for games and the MGS franchise, which were part of the whole experience. Granted, the game might not have the same pizazz when it's played years later when the player already saw the cutscenes and knows what they lead to, but that is not how games are judged, nor will they ever will be.

I'm inclined to agree with this.

As for the case of MGS 4; I bought it in 2010 and still haven't finished it, that is probably a sign for my part.