Benjamin “Yahtzee” Croshaw thinks Metal Gear Solid 4 is a “stiff and inefficient” third person shooter,” mainly because of the controls. The game’s storyline was lambasted as well, but that was to be expected. Surprisingly, Yahtzee seems to hate MGS4 even more than Haze, which was universally reviled.

Controls freak
Apparently, the part-time adventure game designer believes that pressing both shoulder buttons and the triangle face button while firing “is not good design.” Personally, I never had a problem with it. And from the looks of things, so did dozens of other critics who evaluated the game.

I was wondering if Yahtzee ever got the memo that MGS4’s first-person view (triggered by pressing triangle) is entirely optional. Heck, even the manual aiming is optional, but maybe the guy didn’t bother looking into that—even if he was supposed to make a review.

I was also surprised that Croshaw was having trouble shooting behind cover. Our favorite curmudgeon believed that players need to stand up first before they can fire back. If our misguided critic bothered to stick to cover and aim behind the edge of objects by pressing L1, he wouldn’t have those problems. Funnily enough, the option to use the cover is displayed in plain sight each time Snake sticks close to any object large enough to hide his body. Obviously, this gripe is invalid.

And this bit about a split-second delay to fire the gun? I have no idea what Yahtzee is talking about. If he’s referring to a slight delay when bringing out a hidden firearm (a quick press of the R2 button), then he must probably be unaware that holding the R2 button pauses the game.

Thick and redundant
As for the enemies being “legendarily thick,” perhaps the guy is playing MGS4 in the easiest level. The baddies may not be as Einstein smart, but it’s not that easy to get past them. Nothing wrong with playing the game on the easiest setting since not everyone who can write half decently can necessarily play. However, for a review to be truly comprehensive (and more accurate), the critic shouldn’t select the easiest difficulty.

Despite our differences in opinion regarding certain gameplay elements, Yahtzee and I agree that MGS4 is badly written. Dialogues are redundant, resulting in 90 minute cutscenes. Then again, I think some redundancy is necessary especially when dealing with events in the previous games. Not every person who played MGS4 was fortunate enough to go through the previous installments so a background is quite necessary.

There was no mention of weapon customization, high production values, great visual design, multiple installations, annoying 90-minute cutscenes, or even the quirks of Metal Gear Online in Yahtzee’s review.

Good writing can get you only so far
If you’re keeping track, I’ve pretty much discussed each point that Yahtzee made and I’m puzzled with the supposed issues he highlighted. This gives the impression that Croshaw didn’t really pay that much attention to the game as a whole. Who knows? He may have never reached the second act. For the first time, I must question Croshaw’s reviewing methods. I love his scathing reviews because they’re entertaining and fresh. Still, good writing can get you only so far.

To Yahtzee: It’s always a good idea to spend more time with the games you review. And know what you’re talking about. If you really took the time to complete MGS4 like some of us reviewers did, then there’s a good chance you’d be singing a different tune.

Post from: EveryJoe

Deconstructing Yahtzee’s Metal Gear Solid 4 review

Pundits say that the PlayStation 3 provides über designer Hideo Kojima the platform to finally realize his vision for a Metal Gear game. I say hogwash. Kojima never did let hardware limitations prevent him from creating masterpiece upon masterpiece in the previous console generations.

Case in point: the brilliant boss fights. Each Metal Gear Solid installment had them, and even the ones in older games could be considered as all-time greats. Psycho Mantis and Sniper Wolf were my personal favorites in the first MGS, and when either are compared to any game boss ever created, the FOXHOUND duo is certainly unmatched when it comes to fun factor and design brilliance. Of course, how can we forget the sniping showdown with The End in MGS3? There is simply no boss fight like it in any game system.

However, I can’t say the same with my first boss encounter in MGS4. Laughing Octopus was quite tricky to locate given her camo powers, but there were no “OMG!” moments to permanently sear the experience into my subconscious. The second round against Laughing Octopus wasn’t that interesting as well because while the boss was tricky to hit with guns, she never did try to do anything else but try to grab Snake—and she didn’t do a very good job either because she’s too slow. To be fair, it was the first boss fight so MGS4 has several more chances.

I just find it ironic that the supposedly-ideal platform to fully realize Kojima’s vision for MGS has already used up one bullet–and it missed.

Could it be possible that because the hardware is supposedly ‘ideal,’ Kojima and his crew have lost their edge? Or was Kojima too wrapped up in closing the story’s loose ends story that somehow, he didn’t put in as much time and effort to make the boss fights as staggeringly impressive?

Whatever the case, the eyes of all Metal Gear fans and gamers everywhere are on Kojima and crew. Forget the perfect score given to MGS4 by GameSpot. Forget all the hype that we were subjected to for four years. Play the game and let it speak for itself. Let the discussions commence.

Image of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is courtesy of Konami.

Post from: EveryJoe

MGS4 playthrough: Could boss fights be not as good?

War may have changed in Snake’s tired eyes, but the trademark Metal Gear gameplay is still very much intact in stealth action game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. For the uninitiated, this involves getting from point A to point B without attracting any attention.

Moving between points isn’t so simple, however. The armed goons that dot the landscape no longer have tunnel vision, which made sneaking in earlier installments quite easy. There’s no telling if an enemy is waiting just around the corner for an unwanted surprise encounter.

Thankfully, the first act is quite forgiving when it comes to encounters. Like all first stages, Liquid Sun serves as a tutorial for beginners and a refresher for veterans. This first stage may look familiar to those who’ve downloaded various MGS4 trailers. It’s the Middle-Eastern area that was always shown off these past few years.

Snake may be better armed this time around with more guns and slightly-improved controls, but a full-on shootout is hazardous even in the early stages of the game. Never mind that there’s an option to play MGS4 like a first-person shooter. Acting like a maniacal space marine in Mars would only get Snake killed before reaching the “interesting” parts.

Hint: This “interesting” part rhymes with ‘mocelot.’

Image for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is courtesy of Konami.

Post from: EveryJoe

MGS4 playthrough: Liquid Sun is as hot as it gets