Metal Gear Solid 4: One Year Later Part 2

This is the second part of this Metal Gear Solid 4 retrospective. This will cover in more detail the storyline aspects of the game, which I felt needed to be discussed seperately from the game mechanics itself due in large part that indeed at least half of the game is dedicated to fleshing out the plot. Again, many spoilers are contained within and you're a complete doofus if you read any further without having beaten the game first.

Metal Gear Solid 4’s tale in every way is for the fans. If you are not a fan of Metal Gear Solid then this story, and indeed this game is not for you. Hideo Kojima scripted this story in every way with the fans in mind. This is to be Solid Snake’s swan song, the finale, the end to everything. As such, heavy knowledge of the previous games past is not only recommended, it’s mandatory. After all, this game has the daunting task of trying to explain the plot holes and gaps left behind in Metal Gear Solid 2’s wake and to do such over the course of just one game is nigh impossible. In fact, it really took two games to properly complete the story. So many elements introduced in MGS2 were either vaguely confusing at best, (how did Vamp survive a bullet to the head, anyway?) or at worst, not even explained at all, (Who in the hell are the Patriots?) that it took an entire side story detailing the history of Big Boss as well as the of the founding of the Patriots organization before MGS4’s tale could even be told. Looking back on it, Snake Eater served 2 purposes.

1. Fans were quickly growing restless at the lack of any explanation presented in Metal Gear Solid 2. They demanded a new Metal Gear that explained some of this stuff.

2. The game served as a foundation for game design choices that were ultimately refined and perfected in MGS4.

The stage has now been set. It’s time to tell the final tale.

I know I have considered Metal Gear Solid 4 a disappointment from a game design standpoint, however, looking at solely the story itself I will say that it is an absolute marvel and has significantly raised the bar for storytelling in a videogame. To those that argue that this game doesn’t have enough or no character development at all, I seriously have to wonder if you’re even playing the same game that I was. MGS4 easily has the more character development than any other game Kojima has produced, be it Metal Gear or otherwise. What many people fail to see is the underlying subtlety of the game; the ability to send a message or get a point across without actually having to say anything. And thus do we realize the brilliance of the game’s plot. Never have I seen such sheer emotion portrayed from the facial expressions of the characters in a game; you just understand what many of the characters are thinking or feeling without them even having to speak or say anything. The plot manages to achieve what many movies try to do, but ultimately fail in as they beat you over the head multiple times with unnecessary plot points by having characters deliver pointless exposition to the point that it resembles a soliloquy from a play, and a bad one at that, insulting your intelligence as a result, insinuating that you’re too stupid to figure out what’s going on. (see Revenge of the Sith, The) Kojima challenges the player to think about the plot and understand the subtle messages he is trying to send without flat out saying it. Sure some people didn’t get it and did cry foul, but who cares. MGS4 will not slow the bus down for these idiots that need everything explained to them outright.

But really, the subtlety of the game serves another purpose besides being a more effective way to tell a story. Because really, the creator himself has a message he wants to send to the fans. Here is where the plot can really be appreciated. It’s easy to see the parallels between the story of MGS4 and the story of Hideo Kojima. Snake’s personality mirrors that of its creator. He has grown old and apathetic toward the events of Metal Gear. He cares less and less but does what he does anyway because his fans (Otacon, Campbell) beg him to do so. “I don’t want yer money….” Snake growls at the beginning of the game when asked to do another job. Likewise, Kojima doesn’t design games for the love of money (no doubt he collected a hefty sum for making this game), but rather for his own personal reasons. He simply enjoys making games. It’s obvious to himself, if not others that he is ready to move on from Metal Gear Solid and create new and fresh ideas. He is ready to retire Snake because he is growing increasingly more and more apathetic. The fans rejected the idea of making a Metal Gear game without Snake as its main star. How dare he. Raiden was promptly tossed back in his face by the fans. Sure, one can bring up many negative points about MGS2, but the fact that Snake was not the main star isn’t really a legitimate one. Thus do we get one of the lessons of MGS4. Kojima will not continue making games with Solid Snake as its focal point simply because the fans demand it. To continue making Metal Gear games for profit and not because the man himself genuinely wants to make it is something Kojima will not do. He will not “Nintendoize” his brain child and continue to whore out game after game after game by doing essentially the same thing with a gimmick or two attached in a poor attempt at making it seem fresh and different. It’s clear he’s ready to move on and he portrays this emotion no better than by slowly and painfully killing off his main star.
Snake, much like the entire Metal Gear Solid story arc, is old, battered down and broken, looking for a place to die. Kojima subtly expresses his own personal desire to end the series by forcing Snake to undergo an insane amount of pain and anguish. He is asking the fans to please let Snake go, he’s had enough. No more does this lesson come through than in the game’s fourth act, the return to Shadow Moses. The flashback at the beginning serves not only the purpose of giving you a reminder of what the first game was, but a more underlying purpose of preparing the player to let go. This is a clear message sent to the fans that continue to crow about how Metal Gear Solid is teh gratest game EVAR and there will never be anything better until the day they die. The Shadow Moses that Snake remembers is clearly different from what Shadow Moses has become in “reality”, a broken down, dilapidated place that was once great. Kojima has you actually play what it was like to relive MGS1, bad graphics and shoddy controls and all, to remind players that we’ve come a long way from MGS1 and its time to move on. To continue to cling to it and pretend that the game is still just as glorious as it once was all those years ago is pathetic. Kojima shows the player the reality of the situation. Shadow Moses is a destroyed ruin that is ready to sink into the sea and be forgotten forever.

The Patriots organization could be a reflection of the Metal Gear Solid series in itself. What began with the noblest of intentions eventually spun into a monster that inevitably spiraled out of control. So much damage had been caused by Metal Gear Solid 2 that it took an entire game dedicated solely to back story and then a massive cutscene laden game with a finale that lasted over an hour long to explain everything. I believe that Kojima does his best work when he just doesn’t care what the fans want. Metal Gear Solid 4’s failing in regards to the plot, if there is any, would be its concentration on attempting to please the fans. Kojima went through great lengths to explain absolutely every last trivial little detail about what was simply an action game series that has been taken wayyyy too seriously. Hell, they even explain Dr. Clark for cryin out loud. Big Boss says it all in the end. With his death, it can all finally end. The S.O.P. system will cease to function. So too, does the story of Metal Gear Solid. Much like Major Zero, who sat in his wheelchair barely staying alive on life support, this series has finally had the mercy plug yanked out from it so it may finally, finally be allowed to rest. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Metal Gear Solid 4 is storytelling at its finest and one of the greatest stories to ever be told in a videogame. I just wish it were more fun to play.

That being said, there are new Metal Gear games coming down the tubes and hopefully some fresh new ideas with it. As said before, Kojima often does his best work when he doesn’t have fan expectations in mind, so hopefully he will have free reign to do what he desires. I for one, am happy to see that he is unwilling to lower the standards of his series; he could have easily taken the easy route and just create a bunch of different Metal Gear stories with Snake as its main star and no doubt still make a ton of money, but Kojima is a truly creative person and if his creativity is not challenged then his series will slowly lose the standards of excellence we’ve come to expect from this series. So here’s to Metal Gear Rising and Peacewalker. May you both continue the excellence of this franchise and may the Solid series rest in peace.

Metal Gear Solid 4: One Year Later Part 1

So, Metal Gear Solid 4 is officially over a year old now. I figured I’d spend some time looking back and reflecting on it a little bit. This retrospective will be broken up into two parts. In the first part I’ll take look at simply the game itself, its design. Part 2 will focus mainly on the story. And yes, there are massive spoilers within, read at your own risk if you haven't beaten it yet. Anyway, ultimately I found myself coming to a startling conclusion in regards to the gameplay aspect of this game for this first part of this piece.

Metal Gear Solid 4 just really isn’t that fun to play.

There, I said it. Believe me, I don’t hate Metal Gear Solid 4 and believe me I really wanted to just fall in love with this game and call it the greatest game of all time. But unfortunately, looking back on it after a year I have to come to this inevitable conclusion. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the game. Honestly, the fact that MGS4 was going to be a PS3 exclusive is one of the reasons I finally ran out and bought a PS3 over the other next gen consoles. And truth be told, initially the game lived up to every one of my expectations. The game boasts one of the most heart pounding openings to any videogame in history as you’re instantly tossed into the middle of the battlefield frantically trying to find a hiding spot and evade a constant slew of enemy Gekkos. The brand new control scheme is a perfect refinement of the previous games, taking the things that worked and excising the things that didn’t. Despite the lengthy cutscenes, the game managed to avoid the problem that many of the other Metal Gear Solid games before it had; namely the somewhat imbalance between plot revelations and gameplay, with Metal Gear Solid 2 being easily the worst offender. Kojima finally got wise and eschewed what could have been some very lengthy codec conversations by providing much of the back story for the missions in the form of little (well not exactly little considering some of them are well over 30 minutes long) briefing videos detailing the operation in lieu of watching two animated avatars move their mouths while plain text scrolls at the bottom. The game’s pace never seems to slow down and there is always a fresh objective and something new to do…

……for the first two chapters.

And so now do we come to the point of this portion of the article, where exactly MGS4 went wrong and why it’s overall a disappointment. See, the first two chapters get everything right. The second chapter is easily the apex of the awesomeness of the game and at its conclusion it seemed that this game could do no wrong. Then along comes along the utterly soul crushing third act that seemed to reverse all of the good from first two chapters. We go from liberating captured soldiers to then storming an enemy camp with said soldiers, to a wilderness rescue operation, to an epic chase scene that finally culminates with a Gekko showdown in a crowded marketplace in Act 2. The means to achieve this end are often open ended as well. Sure, you can opt to go for the sneaking route but I tend to prefer to utilize run and gun type tactics, systematically assassinating my enemies with ruthless precision. Stealth?! Bah, real men face their enemy head on. All that seems to disappear in Act 3 as the bulk of the stage has you following a person from screen to screen while making sure you stay well hidden when he decides to randomly turn around and take a break from his incessant, downright annoying whistling. Yay. Honestly, after all of that sheer coolness from the first two stages it’s just such a massive letdown to realize that we get to do the same thing we’ve already done way back in Metal Gear 2 (the original, not Solid) only this time stretched out to four times the length. God forbid you mess it up or you’ll have to follow him all over again. There were so many differing ways you could solve a problem or approach a situation in the first two chapters, once the game begins the shift to Act 3; it offers less freedom at which the player can approach situations. The level designs are more restrictive and branching paths become fewer and farther between.

From Act 3, the gameplay just seems to be one letdown after the next in general. The fourth act looks to be the coolest one initially, but it’s ultimately a disappointment as really all you do is infiltrate a broken down building and power up a few elevators while avoiding some very irritating drones from attempting to smother you constantly. There isn’t a single enemy soldier to be had in sight. The fifth and final act doesn’t fare much better as an infiltration aboard an enemy vessel a la “Under Siege” is teased yet never delivered. Great job making your way past Screaming Mantis Snake! Now you must battle through Liquid Ocelot’s most elite guard to get to him…….or not. How about you just mash the hell out of the “X” button till the damn thing near falls out of its socket and crawl your way there. You may argue that a ship infiltration was already done in Metal Gear Solid 2, but rehashing things already done in previous didn’t stop them in the infamous Act 3 either. Wasn’t that motorcycle segment essentially the end of Snake Eater with bomb dropping birds? No doubt that the final confrontation in the end was epic and lived up to the hype, but once the credits finally began to roll ultimately I just didn’t find it to be a very satisfying gameplay experience. I’ve only played and beaten the game twice, less than any other Metal Gear Solid game. But let’s put things into perspective here. I’m not saying that the game sucks or that it’s not a good game. I mean, let’s be honest, Metal Gear Solid 4 is a fantastic game when looked at comparatively. Graphically the game is a work of art and game design wise, it’s easily the best Metal Gear from a technical standpoint, and that ultimately is what is so disappointing about the game. You simply just don’t seem to get many opportunities to use it as much as I would have liked. Upon the completion of the first two chapters, which does a nice job of setting up the story, the game increasingly seems to focus less on creating memorable gameplay experiences and more on memorable cutscenes. Exciting game design takes a backseat to fleshing out the story. Many of the game’s most amazing moments are contained within the cutscenes. The most irritating example of which is being forced to watch Raiden have an exciting sword fight with Vamp on top of the destroyed Metal Gear Rex, only you can’t even get the satisfaction of even that as while they battle in a letterbox on the screen, you’re given the much more boring task of keeping the Gekkos at bay with a rail gun. That isn’t to say that there aren’t any nuggets of goodness to be found (the Metal Gear fight in particular was just plain epic), but overall I can’t just help but feel let down by the unrealized potential of the game. Call me a nitpicker, but dammit, Metal Gear Solid 4 just didn’t give me enough.

Thus do we conclude part one of this Metal Gear Solid 4 retrospective. In the final part, I will discuss the plot. How well did it fare? Did Snake receive a proper send off? These answers and more discussed thoroughly in Part 2.