Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Comments by Oli Welsh

"Take note, however, that there are several minutes of install time to be endured, not just at the start, but before each act - albeit graced with a fantastic animated graphic of Snake smoking next to some health warnings"

Hmm. How many acts are there - this sounds like it sucks. Oh the irony! After people moaning about changing discs on 360 this sounds, far, far worse.

the Review has not got a idea what he's talking about. this site is biased towards the 360!
MGS4 should HAVE BEEN 10/10 SCORE.

@ lambtron

I must admit that was the only thing that worried me :(

Don't just look at the score... read the bloody review too.

The game IS great, but i guess it's not for everyone. That's the way MGS has been from the beginning.

I just hope i'll get my copy as soon as possible :)

I dunno, reading that review makes it look like it collapses slightly under the weight of its own ambition - (first page)

"Even keen students of Metal Gear lore are going to struggle to follow this tangled tale. Laden with sentimental sermons and metaphors for the evils of war, struggling under the weight of the resolving the plots of four previous games and the personal destinies of characters as diverse as Raiden, Meryl, Naomi, Vamp and Eva, it is in all honesty a mess. Motivation and consistency fall by the wayside and by the end it's totally unclear who is on which side, or what's at stake. Maybe that's deliberate, but it doesn't work, and the hours of talking-head exposition involved are too steep a price to pay for this muddled closure."

... the next para is about the game itself, not the story - the "story of the game" if you will. Maybe the reviewer thought that the weight of the story sequences and linearity were both partial failings and successes? The tone of the review is the same throughout - I suggest not taking it literally.

I've been a huge fan of MGS series and all its over-the-top indulgences ever since MGS1, and every word in that review read like I would absolutely love this game. I just might have to buy PS3 now (and a new tv).

Don't ever change, Hideo Kojima.

its a new trailor on PSN, one I haven't seen yet on PSN!-))

depressing??? an 8 is good, the game looks amazing and the Beta got good credits!

have fun and enjoy!

An eight! Ouch!

Thanks, Eurogamer! I think I can hold off buying a PS3 for a while longer.

"the Review has not got a idea what he's talking about. this site is biased towards the 360!
MGS4 should HAVE BEEN 10/10 SCORE."

I love these comments :)

it is a good review and 8/10 is not a bad score. The one thing that is annoying is that the A.I has not really improved. This was obvious when Konami first showed the gameplay walkthroughs last year.

How can you bash a review for a game you've never even played? Silly.

I have to wonder how many of the people (PS3 fanboys I guess) damning the score have ever played a MGS game before as traditionally they havent sold *that* well over here (I dont think MGS3 did good numbers)? Or is it a case of them pinning all their hopes on the game due to a general lack of exclusives on the platform?

MGS has always been an acquired taste

It may just be me, but this review seems to have almost nothing to say about the gameplay. It's like he sat down and watched all the cut-scenes and got bored.

Another one bites the dust. When will these PS3 killer apps finally see the light of day? The posible list is dwindling. What do we have now? Killzone 2, FFXIIIXVIVXFDIDDLY, LBP... home?

Wow.

Strange review. Marking down a Metal Gear game for having long cutscenes and a confusing story is like complaining about Halo having too much shooting, or Mario too much jumping
Also, no mention of MGO? It's a pretty substantial part of the package.
Whatever, I'll be there day 1, and from what I've read here I'm sure I'll love it.

It may just be me, but this review seems to have almost nothing to say about the gameplay. It's like he sat down and watched all the cut-scenes and got bored.

Because maybe that's all there was? I jest, I jest!! :D

8 is a good score! Why is everyone hating it so much!

Although I do disagree with the opinion of the review, as I like my cut-scenes, and he does make it clear at the start it's a very general review not pandering to his love/hate of the series. It's still a killer app.

Okay, ladies, shall we open a book on who's going to be the most excruciatingly annoying by the end of this thread - rabid PS3 fanboys screaming about how a game they've never played should be a 10/10, or vile, childish Xbox 360 fanboys coming along to gloat at a game getting, er, one of the highest scores we can award?

My money's on the latter - at least the PS3 kids are entertaining.

Ahahaha. Ha.

Yeah, fanboys. You're right. Eurogamer sure do suck for saying MGS4 is really good.

"But as a previous poster said, a score on the end of a Metal gear review is relatively pointless."

Scores are relatively pointless for reviews generally.

If you want a true reflection of the reviewer's opinion on the game in question, then just read the review!

Eurogamer actually write rather good reviews, and it's a bit sad to see the constant shitstorm whipped up by the score at the end of the piece.

If you're really that simple, perhaps you'd be better off sticking with OPM.

The EG reviewing crew will be stroking each other's epenises tonight on Live! :)

@ betahoven

"Also, no mention of MGO? It's a pretty substantial part of the package."

I thought that as well but my guess is it will get a separate review, as they did review the beta. What's the deal Oli?

haha, what a big joke from a xbox fanboy. give it a 9, GODDAMIT!

8/10 is a good score though so I don't know why some people are being negative about the game because, let's face it, the MGS games have always been a mix of the good and bad. The review reads as if the game was written to appease fans of the series not to attract new ones. It certainly sounds intriguing and one of my main gripes about the series, namely the horrible camera, has at least been addressed here which should make the game a more enjoyable experience for me. As for the lengthy cinematics, I confess they did drive me mad in MGS 2, a game I feel was the weakest of the PS2 trilogy, but these days I actually prefer story-driven games so maybe I'll actually enjoy these. Whatever, I'm definitely buying the game, it's obviously a good game, just one with enough flaws to bring the score down from the 'perfect' 10 people were expecting.

Hmm, I was going to pick this up but having never invested much time in the previous games (mostly because I arrived to the MGS party late) I'm worried I'll have even less knowledge of what's going on than most.

Is playing the previous games crucial to enjoying 4?

I read the review. And as someone who hasn't been a fan of the previous games... it sounds terrible :/

Konami has been promoting Metal Gear Online as quite a separate product from MGS4, and my understanding is that what you get with MGS4 is just a bare-bones "starter package" for MGO. It's an entirely different game, which is presumably why Oli is reviewing MGS4 separately from MGO. I'm sure EG will give MGO the coverage it deserves in due course :)

good....but not great......shame.

There goes the only reason for me getting a PS3.

Maybe LBP and Home (if it ever comes out) will change my mind.

After the undeserved 10's of GTA IV, the guilty backlash begins with MGS IV?

Ok!

So is this a AAA title or just AA ?

I would have thought
AAA = 9 or 10
AA = 7 or 8
A = 5 or 6

The EG reviewing crew will be stroking each other's epenises tonight on Live! :)

Well, it is Friday after all...

Wow I always suspected EuroGamer of harboring drooling retards but this review and the comment section alone confirm my suspicions.

Great job EuroFags.

Haha... will look into this game for sure, but look at the tards come out in force.

How it makes me laugh, muahaha. Look at yourselves.

Kostabi, I think Gametrailers have been releasing retrospective round ups of the previous games. They're actually quite a good read. They've done up to MGS2 at the moment. Assuming the last ones have been the MG 1 & 2 and MGS1 games.

This review contradicts my expectations.

Therefore, I conclude that the entire World is in the wrong.

/cries bitter salty tears

I'm surprised this review is up so early, I haven't read it as I don't want spoilers, although I must admit an 8 seems a little low, but checking previous scores for MGS games on Eurogamer most have scored 8 anyway so no surprises there. I enjoy MGS games so I'm not concerned about the score, which is a good score by the way. Roll on June 12th.

I thought MGO really was a completely separate game?

Metacritics isn't going to like this one...

100!

I'd advise that people read the review over on IGN UK as it has proper gameplay information that wasn't even mentioned here. Poor review Oli. Very poor.

EG should get someone else to review it as a second opinion.

"DomUltra
30-May-08 09:54:23

Wow I always suspected EuroGamer of harboring drooling retards but this review and the comment section alone confirm my suspicions.

Great job EuroFags. "

It's great when they shoot themselves in the foot, innit?

P.S.3.L.O.L.

So how do you review a new Metal Gear Solid? Do you assess it on its own terms, ones that its legion of fans will understand? Do you play the sceptic, and take Hideo Kojma and his team to task for their stubborn refusal to catch up with what the rest of the world expects of a videogame? Or do you walk the path of compromise, down the middle?

So I'm guessing the reviewer wanted MGS4 to become a typical FPS with a cliche story or wanted it go the Wii games route and become 8 hours of mini games? Is that how he wanted Kojima to change to meet gamers expectations? Do you really think that that most of us wants developers like Kojima to cater to the "rest fo the world"? Most people out there buy "games" like Wii Fit. Is that how Kojima is suppose to cater?

I thought the IGN review was so full of hyperbole it actually dismissed itself through childish excitement...

As a MG fan this sounds awesome. You can't jump into a MG game without the knowledge that you are going to be swamped/engrossed in the story/cinematic style the Kojima always directs. 8/10 at a glance for people who don't know the series will instantly conjur up the usual shit like "so its not as good as X title" "must be shit then if its 8/10". PLAY THE GAME make the decision for yourself.

Don't let a title like MGS4 slip away because of a stupid number on a page. Nice review, but I for one am definitely picking this up and buying a PS3 for it.

8 on EG is a crap score, they score pretty much any old shit 9 or 10/10, like Dirtlol.

No EG are just about the only ones who don't.

Although with the recent spat of 10's being given to games this gen, it is a little surprising in that regard.

@Widge

Cheers, I'll go have a look as it'll save the OCD kicking in and trying to hurriedly complete MGS2 and 3 before picking this up.