Not again; a thread like this...
MGS2 > MGS4, and that's simply because of the story. MGS4 has several ankward things in its story while MSG2 doesn't. [MGS4_SPOILERS]The relationship of Meryl and Johnny is just terrible. Ocelot only playing Liquid is just stupid, though I like the surprise element. Still, I would have liked something supernatural. The same goes for Vamp, which brings me to nanomachines; they're used too much to explain things. Also, there's no new Metal Gear apart from the Haven, which I don't even consider a Metal Gear in the same way as Rex and Ray. Oh, and too many old characters return just to die very soon. I'm sure there are other faults, too, but these are the ones I could think of right now.[/MGS4_SPOILERS]
Anyway, that's not all. The game is too linear. It felt fine for MGS1 as it was a closed complex. It felt right for MGS2 as is was a closed complex, too, but it also had some freedom. It started to feel bad with MGS3; jungles need to be more open. MGS4 has it feel even worse; cities aren't meant to be closed, and neither are forests/mountaints/whatever. Still, this isn't a terribly big deal, though I can't help complaining about it.
The controls aren't exactly excellent. Sure, they're better than in the previous games but thus MGS4 has become more of a shooter than ever; it's just too easy to shoot. The controls have a few other minor issues as well but it's not a big deal either. It just feels less like Metal Gear. I liked MGS3: S, however, even though the camera was pretty much the same as in MGS4. It just felt better, although the button mapping could have been done better.
There are other smaller issues as well, but overall MGS4 is still a good game. It's no match for MGS1 or MGS2, however, and that's mostly because of the story. In fact, I feel that even Uncharted was able to make it pretty close to MGS4 this gen. Haven't seen any other games being that good, though; I'd still say MGS4 is the best game this gen so far, the emphasis being on the phrase 'so far'. I believe some game to surpass MGS4. Otherwise I'd say FF XIII but I think it's going to lack the spirit, no matter how good it is. FF Versus XIII might have what it takes, even if it's the inferior one. Team ICO's new game could be something awesome. And I'm sure we'll see something interesting later in this generation. It must have a good story, though - that's for sure.
