Well we've finally all gotten to witness MGS4 in action. The majority of the press is fully erect and sucking on the proverbial tit of Kojima's latest endeavor. This article is surely going to piss off many, and perhaps maybe even make a few of you think. In the end that's my goal as a writer. Always has been and always will be. You can hate it or love it, but at least you feel something about it.

MGS4 since it's initial showing has been hyped as the definition of what a next-gen game is supposed to be. The last in the Metal Gear Solid series was going to be a master piece that defined the PS3 and gave credence to it's high price tag. The problem with that from the beginning has been that the MGS franchise has from it's roots never been a mass market property. Fans of MGS are a loyal hardcore bunch to be sure, but while the series started out with much promise on the original PSone -- it then slowly teetered into a complicated exercise of military morals and symbolism for life, that to this day many are still trying to figure out. Just what the fuck was MSG2 about? MGS2 drove a lot of the casual fans of the series away and quickly became a series that was only truly enjoyed by hardcore fans that had become almost intimate with the lore of the game.

 

While at the time of the original PSone outing the game mechanics were novel and new, time has not been the kindest of friends to MGS's game-play. Again let me reiterate this is based on my own opinion and perhaps some of the more casual fans of the series. While stealth games have moved forward with the likes of the Splinter Cell and Thief series, the MGS franchise has stayed firmly rooted in it's original ideas. Which while fantastic and genre defining at the time, have grown a bit long in the tooth. Stealth fans are demanding more from this generation of games, which brings me to the main crux of this piece.

For all of it's beautiful visuals, solid musical scores and amazing production values; MGS4 is just another Metal Gear Solid game. With the hype train at full speed and no sign of slowdown in sight, I somehow feel as if many gamers have missed this. With this being the final outing for Solid Snake, myself and a lot of other gamers were expecting more... not more of the same. While MGS3 brought to life the camouflage system, it was a tedious affair that kept one micro-managing your outfit instead of focused on the game-play. The evolution of the camouflage system in MGS4 seems more of a step up than the revolution I believe many of us thought it was going to be. The idea of the Octosuit, which blends in with your surroundings is brilliant on paper and could easily be one of the most enjoyable parts of MGS4. But the tedium of going to the select screen to change your attire seems to be back again. While this may be sorted out by the final release of the game, it still feels like a small evolutionary step, than the revolutionary one we were promised. With the title being heralded as highly as it is, it seems to be too much of the same old same old; just with a fresh coat of shiny paint. This is something that is plaguing most next-gen games. Still with a title that has been hyped to hell and back, one would have expected much more. Some may bring up the fact that now one can play the entire game through a FPS view, or it's now GRAW inspired over the shoulder camera view when shooting. While these are notable additions to be sure, they do not significantly change the game-play. If anything playing through an MGS game solely in a first person mode, would surely result in breaking the proposed stealth playing style of the series.

MGS is a franchise that one does not just step into blindly, but it seems many new PS3 owners are doing just that. Out of the wood work we seem to have a burgeoning crowd of would be hardcore MGS gamers, who have little to no clue on the series roots. Blindly following the hype train on the title due to the simple fact that it's a PS3 exclusive. To further stress my point, MGS3 was a substantially lesser retail hit for the PS2 than it's previous effort in the franchise. While many new PS2 owners tried to jump into the long running series, it proved too much for some. The MGS world is not one that is easily accessible for newbies, featuring a winding and abstruse story line that is even difficult for fans of the series to get a hold of... it's just too much. I do not see MGS4 being an entry point of bringing any new gamers to the series. Sure, there's still going to be people purchasing it to justify the price point of their new fangled Blu-ray player, but with a new generation of gamers that are more prone to new, simplified experiences than anything...where does MGS4 fit in?

In the end, MGS4 is in many ways just an evolutionary step to the already established franchise. Still painstakingly living in a world of 20 minute cut-scenes, labyrinthine story telling and archaic game-play that while once fresh and new has grown stagnant and stale. While beautiful graphics will draw most gamers in, I find it rare the gamer that will reap anything truly new from what Kojima is once again bringing to the table. If you loved Metal Gear Solid and it's sequels than MGS4 is a sure fire bet for you. But for the rest of us who were hoping for something new, different and mind blowing to once again excite us about the franchise, it's just the same game with a new wrapper.

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