Nice writeup Vagabond. Keep us updated on how you feel about the game once you get past that first chapter...

Personally, I think the game does a nosedive after that point. The gameplay is still good (I don't have a problem with the controls) but the lack of play, the lack of options, and the nauseating dialogue got to me mid-second act and only got worse from there (I'm nearing the end of the third act now).

Well I'm a Playstation fan but MGS4 is only the second I play in the serie after playing MGS3 when it came out on the PS2.

I have to say the game is blowing me away.
Sometime understanding the details of the stories is a little hard for me as I never played MGS1 or MGS2 but really you get so absorbed in the storie and the gameplay you quickly forget about that and as the game advance you start understanding more and more...

Stuff I really like in particular :
- the cinematics/cut scenes.
- the fact you have several ways to beat every map ( stealth or action).
- The fact that unlike 90% of the games out there, you don't have to wait the last 20% of the game to finally get to play with the coolest weapons. Barely one hour in the game you already have a huge selection of toys to play with and when you thought it coudn't get better, it actually gets better!!!!!

I have to say I enjoyed GTA4 but after playing MGS4, I can't really say GTA4 is in the same league....

MGS4 is really where gaming crosses to movies but still make you feel like you are the one on screen directing the story.

I wish more developers took risks like Konami and gave us others games with such an epic story. I could buy a game like this every month if they would put one out !!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't disagree more. MGS4 is a game that wants to be a movie. Mass Effect is a game that truly crosses the movie/game boundaries. It gives you choice, gives you immersion, and involves the character with a cinematic outcome.

MGS, on the other hand, is a game that makes you sit through long cutscenes, removes the player from the action, and does little other than haphazardly mix cinema and gaming.

Don't get me wrong, overall I really like MGS4. It presents amazing production values, great gameplay, and an overall polish rarely seen in gaming. The game just oozes detail.

But let's not confuse things. It has overly detailed cutscenes that linger well past their welcome, the dialogue is terrible, Hayter is still a wretched voice actor, and Kojima is still participating in directorial masturbation far too often. The game is seriously flawed.

If this game was cut down to 15 hours (average playthrough, I think I'll hit that as is), if Kojima stopped treating his audience like children and instead played up his strong points (the egg scenes, the random intro sections, etc.), and if he focused on telling the actual story in game, this would be a vastly superior experience.

Frankly, I hate being told the same thing over and over again. That's why Kojima is a shitty storyteller. I got it the first time, thanks. A little subtlety would be nice. I don't need someone to feed me everything like I'm a fourth grader who still sucks from my mother's teet. 

Not everyone playing the game played MGS1 and MGS2.

For some of us it's actually nice because sometime we didn't really understand what was up the first time something got mentionned in a cut scene ( I only played MGS3 before, 90% of the characters were unknown to me and I got to say the first time I saw Liquid or Naomi I was like WTF, who are they ???). I only started to really understand what was happening around Act 3...( just finished Act 4 now, I'm keeping Act 5 for tomorrow).

I think that is MGS4's main flaw. The gameplay decreases as you progress. The first act was well balanced, but, after that it becomes clear that Kojima couldn't contain himself, and threw in cutscenes that were either way too long, or contained worthless dialouge. The cutscenes near the end get worse, trust me.

But, I personally like the Mission Briefing scenes (well some of them).

 you orgot grand turismo 5

A quick question to all the MGS players out there: how many acts are there, and how long do they last? Also, what's the difficulty curb like?

@smaule

5 acts....depends on how long they last

some people have finished the game in 15 hours....I am at 29 hours n I'm on one of the bosses in Act 4.

One thing about the controls, they give you a lot of freedom for your playstyle and for your subtle preferences, like shooting over one shoulder or the other. In this MGS, I think people really can't blame the controls anymore for why they suck, because you really can do just about anything with them, and the customability of the guns is truly incredible. I personally am a fan of mounting the M4 with a grenade launcher, sick combo.

The CQC has been pissing me off though. It seems like everytime I try and grab somebody it just goes into alert mode and I get screwed, thereby defeating any point I had of using CQC. Maybe I am just bad at sneaking up on people. They should have let you move with the D-pad at the preset slow speed like they did in MGS3.

I think this game is personally suited to newcomers to the series....Kojima has really pointed it in their direction with the relentless flashbacks and adjusted control system....

That said, its a beautiful game and a great ride!