Snake, the “Middle East?” Can’t you be more specific about your location?

A long line of gamers eagerly waiting to play Metal Gear Solid 4, perhaps their only chance before the game comes out early next year, snaked around an elaborate barbed-wire bunker booth at E for All.

Once inside, seated on sandbags, these demo testers got a quick walkthrough on the slightly different control scheme. Besides the controls, which emphasized one button aiming (L1) and one button firing (R1), the other major change from Tokyo Game Show is that this game was in English, with Snake once again voiced by David Hayter.

The demo started about 5-10 minutes into the final retail version of the game, with Snake in a “Middle East” location (sorry, it doesn’t get more specific than that). Revolver Ocelot is in the area, and Snake contacts Otacon on the Codec to determine where to rendezvous. There’s some interesting talk about Lizards and Gekkos as well—are these a new type of super-soldier to rival the legendary Snake?

Snake begins sneaking around outside a deserted street—deserted, except for a unit of private military contractors rolling along in a tank-like vehicle called a “Striker”. The Striker not only has a mounted machine gun, but also a roaming camera which can spot Snake and call in reinforcements. It’s the same camera evasion from previous MGS games, but this time it’s on wheels.

Konami’s MGS4 Booth at E For All

Yet another shot of Konami’s barbed-wire booth

Snake’s “threat ring” helps him identify the general location of such adversaries, but it’s a replacement for the radar that used to indicate that direction enemies were generally moving. Reading it feels like identifying seismic activity—a bump in one direction means you need to take cover, activate camouflage, or just run for your life.

The enemies, once they spot you, will follow you relentlessly. Peering into dark corners or following you through a series of rooms, the enemy AI is meticulous about tracking you down. Stealth is obviously the best way to move through the game, because even though your throat-slashing technique has improved, you are still too outnumbered and outgunned to take the balls-out action approach.

Those lucky gamers who had 15 minutes to play through this early level were also asked for their feedback on the game, and we’d estimate that most people were so happy to get an early look that they’d have hardly any criticisms. But if we had to point out a few problems, the camera work was a little confusing at times, being very sensitive and not framing the action very well. Also, the enemy animations took some time to recognize that, say, their buddy was just opened up by an aging superspy with a gray mullet. The reaction times could be a bit quicker to give this game a livelier feel.

There are still a few elements we haven’t understood yet—like why do you need to know the temperature, humidity, and wind speed of your environment? It’s not like Snake’s trying to drive a golfball through town. Also, the camo indicator in the corner tells Snake how well he’s disguised with the Octo-Camo, but we’d end up using that more than a visual confirmation, just to make sure that we really are hidden in plain sight.

Overall we can’t wait to see more of MGS4, though, so this hands on was a great (but brief) chance to check out the way the game plays. But besides the unique Kojima vibe, Snake is looking more and more like his Tom Clancy companions and less like his old self. Whether this is going to sit well with long time fans of the series is the biggest question we have about Metal Gear Solid 4 at this point.

Tags: E-For-All, Guns-of-the-Patriots, Konami, Metal-Gear-Solid-4

• Metal Gear Solid: Rising to Get All-New Engine
• Get Metal Gear Solid 4 For 40 Bucks, Kinda
• Metal Gear Solid coming to PSN
• Happy Birthday Hideo Kojima!
• Metal Gear Solid: Rising not exclusive to Xbox 360
• New Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer Confirmed And In Position For E3 2007
• Konami Pushes Metal Gear Solid 4 Back Again – Spring 2008 Expected Release
• Rumor: MGS5 A Prequel?

3 Comments » Manny on October 18, 2007 7:53 pm Am I first? Manny on October 18, 2007 7:54 pm that was just a test, fan-freakin’-tastic news, I can’t wait. This game along with Killzone 2 and HOME will kick PS3 into high gear. ps3ftw !!!! on October 19, 2007 6:11 am wow this game will rock !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.