The MGS series gets a bad rap for being too cinematic. I will admit MGS1 was basically a great movie with mediocre video game bits tossed in for good measure. It still blew away anything else anyone was doing at the time. It's one of the few PS1 games that still packs a powerful impact for series newcomers 10 years later. Very impressive.
MGS2 was the opposite: a crap (in some people's opinion) movie with gameplay miles ahead of what anyone else was doing at the time. Love or hate Raiden, or the storyline; the whole game changed every couple of hours. Sniping. Escorting. Swimming. Searching for bombs. Sword fighting. The game stayed fresh, when Konami could've just made MGS1 with a new setting and better graphics. Everyone seems to have forgotten this.
MGS3 (especially Subsistance) was flawless. Play through it 5 times, and you'll find 10 things you missed the time before. The gameplay, story, and graphics couldn't be any better. End of story.
There is simply no way anyone but the most jaded (or those Madden/Halo types) can be dissapointed with MGS4. The pedigree is too good, and the game is too important for Kojima and Co. to mess this up. This will be a video game for video gamers. In a couple weeks, many of you will know I'm right. There's a monkey drinking soda from a can in this game. A GODDAM MONKEY!! GOTY for sure.
