RipTen Videogame Blog » MGS4

Hideo Kojima Talks Metal Gear Solid 5 in Upcoming Interview

Justin Carter — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 22:45:54 +0000

It’s been over three years since Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots hit stores, and fans have been waiting for a fifth numbered entry in the series ever since. If you’re a fan of Hideo Kojima and his work, you’ll be pleased to hear that he’s taking full charge of development on Metal Gear Solid 5, if there is a Metal Gear Solid 5.

First details about what Kojima-san is working on will be revealed in Official Playstation Magazine UK’s upcoming issue. Kojima’s got the cover front and center and will be talking MGS 5 and Project Ogre, a recently teased…well, project, obviously.

The issue will be out on November 29, but if you can’t wait that long, interview excerpts should be hitting the internet sometime next week. Stay tuned to RipTen to see what Kojima’s got to say.

Via [OPM]

Metal Gear Solid 4 New Greatest Hits Box Displays Trophy Support

Garrett Hartman — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:04:55 +0000

Thats right Metal Gear Solid 4 fans, the day you have all been waiting for may finally come soon. Trophy Support has been one of the few things many MGS4 players have desired. The game came out shortly before the PS3 adopted the trophy system and fans of the game have often had their hopes dashed several times by baseless rumors.

Thankfully, it seems this one could have more concrete evidence behind it. It’s been reported that the newest boxes for the Greatest Hit Edition of Metal Gear Solid 4 display ‘trophy support’ on the back. It unlikely for Konami to make an unintentional mistake like this. View the picture here.

As a Metal Gear Solid fan, I’m keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for a patch with trophies and other goodies sneaks it’s way to the PS3 console soon!

Source

Funny MGS4 Skit Featuring Kojima and Cliffy B

Chad Lakkis — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 16:12:23 +0000

The next time you attend a gaming convention like GDC, make sure to pack some gaming related costumes. Throw them on and beg a few recognizable developers to cameo in your own handheld movie. If done correctly, you too can be internet famous.

Hit the jump for the video.

Source: Mega64 Via: Patrickzine.co.uk

MGS4 Demo on the PlayStation Store

Patrick Steen — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:04:00 +0000

It’s been a long time coming, but finally there’s a demo of Kojima Production’s Metal Gear Solid 4 : Guns of the Patriots on the PlayStation Store. The Japanese PlayStation Store that is.

We’ve had a history reporting on the possibility of a Metal Gear Solid 4 demo here at Ripten. PSW announced a demo to be released in February, despite the games Assistant Producer denying its existence a month beforehand and we were quick to correct PSW a week later. Everyone makes mistakes. At least that’s what we thought…

Konami have now released a beefy demo of Metal Gear Solid 4 on the Japanese PlayStation Store, weighing in at approximately 1400mb. For PlayStation 3 owners who haven’t bought the game, give it a whirl. For Westerners who missed out on the joys of the Japanese voice acting, why not give it a spin too.

As is outlined in my review, the game comes highly recommended.

[UPDATE] – The demo is also on European PlayStation Stores, so the probability of it making its way to the US is reasonably high.

[UPDATE 2] – The Official PlayStation Blog has confirmed that the same Metal Gear Solid 4 demo will be available on the US PlayStation Store.

MGS4 PS3 Case Mod is Pure Win

Sam Naylor — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:50:04 +0000

Morpheon Mods has crafted this epic custom PS3; something we can, without doubt, call the world’s greatest piece of unofficial Metal Gear Solid 4 merchandise. Seriously guys, this is real, and it’s for sale on eBay. From the item description:

The entire PS3 and controller is a combination of Carbon Fiber and Midnight Black done in our own digital camouflage technique.This is protected with nine coats of automotive DuPont Chroma Clear clearcoat. A full size Carbon Fiber Fox Hound logo appears amongst the digital camouflage. The final product is a uniform finish that reflects like a mirror.

The laser cut stainless steel Metal Gear Solid 4 marquee, Blu-Ray drive bezel and the metal accents are hand brushed to a brilliant industrial finish.

But wait, there’s more! It’s signed by both Yumi Kikuchi (Raging Beauty) and Hideo Kojima, and comes with load more MGS4 swag, including the most hideous PS3 controller ever to grace the Earth. Have a look at the auction; there’s a truckload. As if all of this wasn’t enough, 15% of the proceeds from the sale will go to Child’s Play. It’s hard to measure the sheer amount of win here.

[Source: PS3 Fanboy]

Metal Gear-Inspired Rubber Band Gun – The Silver Wolf

Dan Landis — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:03:31 +0000

And the Lord said unto Japan “Let thine love for cool weird stuff be true”, and thus Japan begat a rubber band gun of supreme awesomeness. Supposedly inspired by Metal Gear Solid 4, the Silver Wolf Full Metal Rubber Band Gun features a laser sight, flashlight, and semi-automatically fires off ten rounds(?) of rubberbandiness. Video follows.

Source: Trendhunter

Have something you think we should show on Geeked-Out? Email it to us.

Ryan Payton Leaves Kojima Productions to be Closer to Family, Drops Hint at MGS5

Chad Lakkis — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:16:50 +0000

In an interview with Kotaku, Assistant Producer on Metal Gear Solid 4, Ryan Payton, announced that he is leaving Kojima Productions and heading back to North America in order to be closer to his family who lives in Washington.

When asked about what he will miss, Ryan said:

“It’ll be hard not being involved in MGS5, but I’ve got the utmost confidence that Hideo Kojima, Ken Imaizumi, and our amazing team will put together another blockbuster game. I’ll be cheering from the sidelines.”

So while rest and relaxation seem like the current plan for Ryan Payton, it appears that Kojima may be hard at work on another solid sequel.

Having been away from my family for nearly ten years, I can empathize with Ryan, and fully expect to see him resume his role as plaid wearing producer when he feels the time is right. Until then, he has left us all with a nice little nugget to chew on.

Check out the full interview over at Kotaku.

Kojima Talks MGS4, Wishes It Was On PC

Chad Lakkis — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:57:04 +0000

In an interview published today with Eurogamer, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima (who just turned 45) stated that he is tired of people asking him about the PS3/360 hardware, and wishes people would just focus on the game. He went on to say:

“Sometimes I even feel like [Metal Gear Solid 4] should be on a PC so that people don’t ask me about hardware and platforms,”

Kojima added that in the near future he hopes that people stop asking him about formats and instead ask about their company and future projects.

Despite his statements, Eurogamer pressed for an answer regarding PS3 exclusivity, to which he stated that “MGS4 was optimized for the PS3″ and that in part, he felt the modern day success of the game was closely linked the PS3 console itself.

Source: Eurogamer

Rumor: Metal Gear Super Surprise in December

Dan Landis — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:17:36 +0000

Word on the street is that a super secret special surprise awaits players that have completed Metal Gear Solid 4. Rumor has it that something will unlock in the game come this December. If you’ve beaten the game, you’ll know the relevance of the six-month time frame (no spoilers here, sorry). Kojima has supposedly said that people who pirate the game will miss out on “something special” which further fuels the idea since pirated copies don’t necessarily sync well with PSN. So, what’s the surprise?

Speculation is that an update will occur via PSN that will unlock the mystery of what happens to Snake after the ending of MGS4. Because it’ll occur via PSN, you won’t be able to “cheat” and find out ahead of time what the secret is by changing your PS3′s internal clock. Now the question remains of whether this content will merely be an additional cutscene or if it will actually be playable.

Again, this is just a rumor, but one that is picking up some steam within the Metal Gear community. It could all just be bullshit to make you never want to get rid of your copy of the game, or there really might be some truth to it. After all, you know what they say about Internet rumors…

Source: GameBlog.fr (it’s French, so maybe this is all just a mistranslation)

Metal Gear Solid 4 Review

Patrick Steen — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:28:19 +0000

In the not too distant future, videogames have become routine. The marketplace is controlled by commercial enterprises, publishing the same fast paced action year on year. FPS game follows FPS game, bald space marines give birth to bald space marines, EA merges with Ubisoft.

Yes, in the not too distant future, videogames haven’t changed at all. What’s worse? We’re none the wiser. Feeding off of these adrenaline pumping experiences, we praise them for their apparent innovation, their direct and exciting plot, their “next-gen” graphics. We’ll feel happy with the cards we’ve been dealt, comfortable in our past time, but for all our contentment we’ll never know how it could have been. Never know how it should and would have been if we had taken notice of Solid Snake.

Our only hope to free ourselves from cookie-cutter experiences pumped out by profit driven companies, is to learn the lessons of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and build a safer future for interactive entertainment.

Although Solid Snake is inexplicably aged in this final mission, MGS4 takes place only 5 years after MGS2′s Big Shell incident. His façade in distinct contrast to his contemporaries, sOLiD Snake is thrust onto a Middle Eastern battlefield. Like Haze’s attempted portrayal, the world’s wars are infected by Private Military Companies. Price-tagged PMC soldiers fight other PMC’s –- aimless battles seek only to support a self-sufficient war economy that has graduated from the Oil economy’s downturn.

Enhanced by nano-machines and trained by FPS videogames, post-modern PMC soldiers sign up to avenge the death of their loved ones, but without political or patriotic goals, they compete as if they’re still playing a videogame. And whoever controls the game, controls the battlefield. And whoever controls the battlefield, controls the world.

The man with his fingers on the trigger is Liquid Ocelot. As head of Outer Heaven, the mother PMC company, he has achieved total real-time battlefield control, puppeteering PMC’s by manipulating the life numbing nano-machines injected into their bodies. Disguised as one of the opposing militia’s hired PMC operatives, Snake enters this “cleaner, safer battlefield” with the aim to assassinate Liquid Ocelot and end his insurrection.

The ride to reach this point portrays a presentation significantly ahead of its contemporaries. Indeed, it was apt to call videogames “interactive entertainment” when discussing MGS4. As I’m sure you’re aware, the game has its fair share of cinematic cutscenes. These are expertly directed, containing some of the most impressively choreographed combat sections you’re likely to see in any cinematic medium.

What’s particularly stunning is the way cutscenes transition seamlessly into gameplay, using clever pans and real-time rendered cinematics. Other techniques are used to make sure you’re never taken out of the game world: playing through mission briefings with the Mk.II, Snake’s health bar is shown at pivotal moments, brief flashbacks occur when you press X, you can regress Octocamo to its default state by shaking the controller, in addition to more refreshing and original methods which I’ll leave for you to discover.

Yes, you’ll always feel part of the game world even though there are a staggering 9.5 hours of cutsceness. However, contrary to the popular exaggeration, this isn’t more than spent in gameplay. There is more gameplay than cutscenes –- for me around 15 hours gameplay, the longest in the series.

Versatile, expansive and varied would be the best way to describe MGS4′s gameplay. In fact, add fine-tuned and engaging, and you might be closer to an accurate portrayal. If you ever had a criticism of previous iterations, it would be control complexity and the birds-eye camera that would top the list. With age comes wisdom and Snake’s maturity certainly signifies solutions. The camera is now set behind Snake, with L1 providing an over-the-shoulder view for more accurate aiming, triangle to look down the sight, and R1 to shoot.

Even with a generous helping of CQC (Close Quarters Combat, which you can learn by watching the embedded video), the controls remain relatively simple. It may at first feel counter-intuitive to use both L1 and R1 to shoot, where other games automatically enter an over-the-shoulder view during combat, but the control system makes the best of unpredictable player actions and will certainly become second nature as the game develops.

New gear enters Metal Gear Solid with more velocity this time around, increasing the gameplay’s depth exponentially. Expanding on Naked Snake’s camouflage in MGS3, Otacon has created something more competent than dressing up mid-mission — a Stealth Camo Suit that dynamically “morphs” to the texture, pattern and colour of the surface you’re pressed against. The ease with which this can be performed is somewhat of an overlooked gem — without it the game would reduce to shadow jumping, as opposed to dynamic hide-and-seek.

MGS4 discards the closed corridors of MGS1 and MGS2, forgoes the tight forest walks of MGS3, and places you in a wide, brightly lit battlefield. The Camo Suit transforms every inch of this environment into your hiding place — at 90% camouflaged you can even survive a PMC’s close stalking as his feet brush past your head.

Another new piece of kit is a robot created by Otacon and Sunny –- the Mark II. Full of character, this little beauty can be used by Snake to shock enemies, defuse traps, and collect weapons during even the busiest proxy battle, thanks to its inbuilt stealth camo.

Rangebar’s Take

9.8

Let me get straight to the point. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the best game on the Playstation 3, hands down. If you don’t have a PS3 yet, this is your number one excuse to finally get one.

With an incredible story, graphics that go above and beyond, cut-scenes that make some movies look bad, and action packed gameplay, MGS4 is one of the best games I’ve played. And I’m not even a huge fan of the series. Even without playing MGS3 and only half of MGS2, I still found an inner passion for this game. I’m not sure what it was, but MGS4 kept pulling me in and I kept coming back.

One of my favorite things about the game is its attempt to tell the story of the MGS series all the way from the Philosophers, to the Patriots, Big Boss and Solid Snake himself. Even without playing the previous games, MGS4 does an excellent job of explaining what the heck’s going on.

It’s sad to see the series come to an end like this, when I just fell in love with it, but if there isn’t a fifth installment I’ll just have to enjoy the past ones.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is truly a special game and a must own for any gamer.

Once you really get to grips with the controls, the stealth battlefield experience is quite the revelation. Of course you could, despite Otacon’s advice, blast your way through. Yes, it’s advisable to stay stealthy, but with the new reformed control system an action orientated play-through is certainly possible. But take note, the more combat, the more Snake will stress, thus reducing his Psyche. This will actively slow him down, lower his aiming accuracy and even responsiveness. Take a break, sit in a box, or use a pick-me-up item to gradually return his abilities.

Rather than going all out action or being stealth exclusive, I personally chose a pick’n'mix approach. In fact, since any direction you take feels natural, you may be unaware of all the options available to you: befriend the Militia and battle by their side; snipe the streets from higher ground; crawl through the shadows and tranq. your enemies; or rambo it out using a combination of heavy shooting and CQC.

The variety of gameplay that has been so prominent in the series has now migrated into every moment of the game; you have the tools and the moves to create your own variety whenever you like. This could backfire for action-orientated gamers, since their experience may shorten to create an unhealthy balance of cutscenes to gameplay. Then again, these gamers might just spend a lot of time choosing and modifying their weaponry.

Unlike previous iterations where weapons were discovered gradually, Snake is now on a battlefield littered with weapons from downed soldiers. Problematically, each weapon is ID-Tagged — if your Tag doesn’t match the weapon’s ID, it’ll be locked from use. You’d think this would be a clever way for Kojima Productions to limit Snake’s weapon use, but instead he can collect ID-tagged weapons and pass them over to the gun-launderer Drebin for modding.

Moreover, if you already own the weapon picked up, you can sell it to Drebin for currency to buy from a selection of over 70 modifiable weapons. Now each battle has a myriad of possibilities for every play style.

It is MGS4′s choice that may at first intimidate, but it is ultimately what makes this game trump its predecessors. Once you discover your style of play, experimentation can overtake, pushing the want to replay the game from start to finish. And, thankfully, you can skip the cutscenes.

Geoff’s Take

My disappointment with Metal Gear Solid 4 is that it has an end. Not only an end in and of itself, but an end to Metal Gear Solid. This disappointment I freely accept, because of what is gained—a wonderful, truly amazing experience and closure.

Metal Gear is an anomaly. I cannot imagine how I would react to any other game doing what Metal Gear does, but Metal Gear is unique. The story is more than just a quasi sci-fi, anime, film-inspired drama. There are ideas and emotions that are palpable and important: War, violence, technology, control; the human struggle to achieve, to be remembered, to find peace and personal happiness; the passing of knowledge and memory from one generation to the next, their dissemination throughout society; the pressures we feel, our potential. Never has the game’s emotional impact and connections to its characters been more poignant. Passive only if you don’t consider thought to be an activity.

The core Metal Gear sneaking gameplay is immensely satisfying, but never before has there been so much diversity and depth. The resolution of the story belies its often previously perceived incomprehensibility, and while it does so with tidy ease, it is satisfying.

Play MGS4. Give it a chance, and if it does not win a part of your heart as a game that tries more than most, then at least you can see its technical achievements and be educated about what it attempts—even if you think it fails.

One of the most wonderful experiences I’ve had with a videogame. All the sweeter to savor in its finality, and the variety of its many parts.

As if this wasn’t enough, MGS4 is a visual feast, leading the way on the PS3 in art direction and graphics. Artistically the game shines with a variety of visually distinct environments, including the stark and bright middle-eastern battlefield, and a real-time night to daytime transition (some might call it a “sunrise”) as you climb through an Amazonian landscape.

When the art is peppered with beautifully crafted character models, billowing smoke effects, dust/blood settling on the camera lens, and impressive lighting and shadowing, it’s hard to ignore how stunning the game is in its visual fidelity. Although you’ll find higher resolution textures in other games, it’s the subtleties and attention to detail that will impress.

MGS4 will visually exceed your expectations for a console game. In fact, ignoring the gorgeously rendered cutscenes challenging Hollywood CGI in its presentation, there are some latter gameplay sections that will knock you off your sofa with the technical achievement, making it incredibly hard not to crown MGS4 the graphical king.

The sound design similarly impresses, with 5.1 warzones making love to your speakers — the distant whirring of a helicopter is joined by the popping shots of your P90, the overwhelming screams of PMC’s and Militias in combat, a Gekko’s demented mooing, the sound of a rocket whooshing past your head, let alone the blockbuster soundtrack that makes every scene so emotive. Paired with great voice performances from David Hayter (Snake), Debi Maye West (Meryl), Patric Zimmerman (Liquid Ocelot), and Lee Meriwether (Big Mama), to name but a few, it’ll be easier to ignore some of the less exceptional voice acting.

What do you have to suffer to enjoy this presentation? A large initial install and 3 minute installs after every Act. However, these hardly affect your enjoyment. A 4.6GB install is understandable for a 50GB game, and due to good data management it only takes 10 minutes to complete. Moreover, the install is actually enjoyable, consisting of a witty and ironic harking to cinema warnings.

Act installs occur after such meaty gameplay and cinematics that an interval is warranted. However, MGS4 can get away with this due to its moderate stealth pacing and cinematic core, and is thus inadvisable for the fast-paced action game. Where loading does affect MGS4 is in short 5 second loading screens during gameplay transitions, or more damningly, chase scenes. This should have been ironed out, since the pace and excitement of these scenes can be somewhat dampened.

Thus, Metal Gear Solid 4 isn’t perfect. It has its failings, and the narrative could disorientate new series players. If, however, they embed themselves in the folklore and background of the series past, MGS4 will thoroughly reward them. Each character is fully fleshed out, explored and taken to their magnificent end.

What extends MGS4 to an ambitious and original result is that the game is a tragedy involving a character stepping ever closer to his death. For long time fans this is almost unbearable. As Snake’s place in the world continuously becomes more hopeless, you’re always wondering if the next Act is his last. The impact with which this tragedy is delivered is due to MGS4 taking full advantage of a videogame’s virtue to immerse players in a virtual world. This results in some truly heart-wrenchingly beautiful and tragically inspired combinations of cutscene and gameplay.

Moreover, as you’ll discover, what has always been Metal Gear Solid’s overriding success is that no character is evil or morally good. There are no clearly defined villains. Uncommon to most filmic narratives, not a single character can be rooted to one end of the moral spectrum. Solid Snake may be the traditional Hero, but MGS4′s magnifying glass shows that even the most villainous characters are trying to be the Hero. All are attempting to live up to their interpreted ideals of The Boss. That you can find Hero’s in the most unlikely places is MGS4′s legacy to future narratives.

You may have noticed that I have refrained from mentioning the online portion of the game. The fact that MGO is even included on the disc is a gift. Its certainly not as perfect as its cinematic brethren, but when it shines, it shines bright — modes such as Sneaking Mission and Team Sneaking top the experience. MGO is the perfect place to show off the skills you mastered as Snake.

As Solid Snake’s final mission comes to a close, MGS4 fights its way to the top of this generation’s offerings. The polish is undeniable, from the art direction and graphics, to the gameplay and cinematics. What the game ends up being is a masterful example of what the videogaming medium can achieve — if ever there were a case for videogames being art, MGS4 is it. This fact and the vast list of successes, drowns out the negatives to result in an overwhelming experience.

Solid Snake’s conclusion ushers us to forget about his exploits, to move on from the history within the Metal Gear Solid universe. We can no longer yearn for a sequel to fill in the gaps. MGS4 gives you the conclusion and completes the cycle. It’s time to live for yourself.

What does this score mean? Check out our review scoring breakdown.

June NPD: Nintendo and Sony Prosper

Patrick Steen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:16:13 +0000

This is the month we’d see how much of an impact Metal Gear Solid 4 had on actual PS3 hardware sales. The results are promising.

Of course Nintendo continued to flex their muscles by trumping both the console and handheld markets, with 666.7k and 783k units respectively. Wii’s numbers actually put the console ahead of the Xbox 360′s lifetime US hardware sales at 10.9 million units sold.

On the software side MGS4 displays the series’ strength, selling 774.6k unbundled copies. NPD Industry Analyst Anita Frazier had this to say on the subject;

As expected, Metal Gear Solid 4 realized significant retail sales and drove PS3 hardware acquisition. While the attached media report does not include units bundled with hardware, if included MGS4 sold-through nearly 1 million units.

The extent to which MGS4 drove PS3 sales is quite staggering, in that the console had its best month in the US, not including the Christmas holiday periods – selling 405.5k units. This in comparison to the Xbox 360′s 219.8 units for the month puts the PS3 at around 300k units ahead of the 360 in 2008 year-to-date US sales.

Hardware

Nintendo DS: 783k
Wii: 666.7k
PlayStation 3: 405.5k
PSP: 337.4k
Xbox 360: 219.8k
Playstation 2: 188.8k

Software

1. PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4, Konami, 6/08—774.6K (not including MGS4 PS3 bundles)
2. NDS Guitar Hero On Tour, Activision, 6/08—422.3K
3. 360 Ninja Gaiden II, Microsoft, 6/08—372.7K
4. Wii Fit with Balance Board, NOA, 5/08—372.7K
5. Wii Play with Remote, NOA, 2/07—359.1K
6. 360 Battlefield: Bad Company, EA, 6/08—346.8K
7. Wii Mario Kart with Wheel, NOA, 4/08—322.4K
8. Wii LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—294.5K
9. NDS LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—267.8K
10. PS2 LEGO Indiana Jones, LucasArts, 6/08—260.3K

Source: Edge Online

New MGO Mode Now Playable

Patrick Steen — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:09:42 +0000

A new Metal Gear Online mode has made its way onto the game’s servers. Taking inspiration from the existing “Sneaking Mode”, which sees Snake use Octocamo to collect Dog-Tags from warring teams, this mode is a battle of two teams with different gear.

The mode consists of a Sneaking Team and a “Normal” Team going head to head. Like Snake, the Sneaking Team is stealth-equipped (thus virtually invisible) and to win must either eliminate all enemies or return KEROTAN or GA-KO to their goal. The defending team must defeat the sneaking team or keep KEROTAN or GA-KO safe to win.

The defenders needn’t be overwhelmed, since if they spot one of the sneakers the whole sneaking team will be visible for 5 seconds. Moreover, the sneakers will only be able to equip non-lethal weapons, as opposed to the defenders who can use all weapons.

Sneaking Mode was really the only MGO mode to set the game apart from other online games and shout “original”, so we hope this new Team Sneaking mode will be as fruitful.

You can now also select “Headshots Only” for every game mode except Team Sneaking. However, take note, you’ll die if you kill somebody by any other method.

The New Metal Gear Online and What I Miss About Subsistence

Geoff Haugan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:55:44 +0000

As I began to play the new Metal Gear Online the other day, I found myself frustrated. I began to write down some things that have changed since Subsistence and that are bugging me. As I played more I found myself adapting and finding options to better handle the frustrating situations, but there are a few things that I think bear discussion.

Lock-on vs. Over-the-shoulder

Rarely in Subsistence online did I use the two first person views to aim my weapons. The really good players were excellent at this, while I tended to favor taking people by surprise and utilizing the lock-on to get in that first shot and keep them from returning fire.

This is no longer possible in MGO. Auto aim has been weakened tremendously when using assault rifles, which is essentially the most versatile weapon class available to you. No longer does stealth pay off as reliably when you sneak up on someone from medium distance or the like.

Unless you’re extremely close and can use CQC, you must rely on the over-the-shoulder (OTS) aim to take down enemies. If you want to do so quickly and cleanly, getting that headshot on a moving opponent with their back to you can be frustrating. More often than not I would end up in my targets crosshairs after giving away my position.

Shooting skills are rewarded more now than before, where the playing field was kind of level thanks to the lock-on. If you had trouble aiming with the controller like in an FPS you could still have success.

This also makes the outcome of even lopsided encounters—say, you and a teammate against one guy—far from certain. Your teammate may get in the way, causing your weapon to lock; the other guy may simply headshot both of you with a single bullet; or mow you down while you’re trying to pick a shot. High level weapon skills make this worse as well.

More time with the handguns and submachine guns, both of which possess far better lock-on range, is needed, but I have doubts about how effective they might be against rifle users with heavy trigger fingers (something higher weapon skills lets you get away with). Switching weapons and auto aim on and off constantly is quite cumbersome. I feel compelled to have my handgun in the second slot instead of the knife, which makes me less efficient with CQC too.

While the OTS view is an excellent addition, I dislike seeing MGO turn in to a more standard shooter. It won’t appeal to that crowd for other reasons and it’s not playing to Metal Gear’s unique strengths. While I appreciate the OTS at longer ranges, close range has been turning in to a frustrating mess for me if I can’t land a grab.

Not being able to take out a sitting duck right in front of you half the time because they’re just running around in circles is horrible.

Versatile Sniper Rifles

In Subsistence, if you chose to equip a sniper rifle you had to really play the game differently—like using traps, and having a spotter or backup to assist you. That is no longer the case and it seems like the checks and balance of having a weapon very accurate and deadly at long range (but not so mobile) is gone.

I mentioned that the assault rifles are the most versatile weapon class. Given that they do have some limited auto aim functionality and CQC that may still be true, but sniper rifles look to be giving them a run for their money.

Theoretically being able to fire sniper rifles on the move and from OTS is perfectly fine with me, and it does change things a lot. This is apparent when looking at the M14, which is fully automatic, and the DSR-1, bolt-action but fatal even with a body shot. The SVD is quite effective also.

Time will tell. I enjoy the versatility, but it may make sniper rifles the new assault rifles.

Weapon Skills

The inclusion of skills is not surprising. Games like Call of Duty 4, Battlefield, and others have popularized this incentive to play and ability to customize not only how your character looks but how it plays.

A lot of the skills in MGO are really neat, involving close range fighting abilities and advantages attained through the SOP system. The weapon skills, however, are troubling. The playing field is no longer even and if two people are firing at each other, the person with a level two or level three assault rifle skill has a substantial advantage. In fact, even in close with the disorienting OTS aim, many seem much deadlier with the assault rifles than someone perhaps more fittingly trying to utilizing a short range handgun or SMG, auto aim, or CQC.

It’s up to play style, but I dislike frantically and inaccurately trying to aim OTS at that range with a primary weapon. It’s unreliable and frustrating. Against someone forcing you in to that situation though, you really have no choice but to try to get lucky with a headshot yourself before you go down. If they have a higher weapon skill they’re nearly certain to win just by holding the trigger down.

Most people may not find this an issue once they’ve raised their own weapon skill, but what if you’re interested in utilizing more CQC, SOP effects, or other tactics? You only have four skill points available to you, are you going to feel forced to use three of those just for a primary weapon just so you feel you can compete?

Again, it’s early to make a judgment and overall I like the variety of skills available—I just want to use some of them and not get dead. An even playing field, at least as far as weapon stats go, might end up being preferable.

Squad Character

While MGO allows you to create and customize your soldier, it’s hard to notice those details on the battlefield and everyone ends up looking kind of nondescript and similar. It’s bland and teams can’t really tell each other apart aside from the ubiquitous floating name tags that can be difficult sometimes to pick out in a cluster.

I loved the character and style that each of the GRU, KGB and Spetznaz squads had in Subsistence and their leaders. You could always identify them and their leading scorer. Those were really fun and unusual elements, bringing that unique Metal Gear character online. You had the option to turn leaders off if their special skills weren’t welcome, but no matter what your team had a uniform character.

There’s been mention of new characters among many other things in store for the upcoming expansions. Perhaps we’ll see leaders, special characters and new uniforms added. I hope so, but unless you’re playing with your clan or an entire squad of friends no one will really be coordinated. Still, it would be welcome.

A small thing, but I really miss it.

Keep an eye out for more on MGO as I continue to play, including some special tactics to deal with those tricky close range confrontations and other situations.

MGS4 On Tour: Konami’s Worldwide Publicity Stunt Launches In NYC

Shaun Hinklein — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 03:18:50 +0000

I was fortunate enough to attend the Metal Gear Solid 4 launch in New York City on June 12th. I stood in line outside the Virgin Mega Store in Times Square for more than 8 hours to meet one of the most acclaimed videogame directors of this generation, Hideo Kojima, and to purchase a game for a system I don’t currently own.

Shaking Mr. Kojima’s hand was definitely worth the 8 hour wait as I valiantly exited with my signed copy of Metal Gear. During that time, I also noticed the intense amount of PR Mr. Kojima had spread throughout the area.

Camera crews flooded the avenue, interviewing the fans in line, to make a video specifically for Hideo. The crews wore exclusive Metal Gear launch shirts that the rest of us would kill to have for our own, but what caught my eye even more was the list of tour dates on their backs.

This appearance from Kojima productions had been just one of many in celebration of the game’s release. For the first time that I can remember from my experience in the gaming industry, a game propelled itself far enough and accumulated enough fans for a World Tour.

This is simply incredible considering that few other acts currently are deserving of “World Tour stature.” Mr. Kojima remained locked in New York for the night as he had another official signing at UNIQLO located in Manhattan the next day, releasing a limited Metal Gear Solid 4 shirt.

Simultaneously, David Hayter and Ryan Payton of Kojima Productions were harboring more Metal Gear fans 3,000 miles away to the west at a Best Buy in Los Angeles. Worldwide, Kojima Productions conducted at least five separate events and emerged with over 400K units sold within the first week.

Clearly their exhibiting methods of promotion mark quite a tremendous change in the industry. Just months before Metal Gear’s launch, Grand Theft Auto 4 went crazy, dominating every record in the entertainment industry, and the power of videogames was shown to the world then.

Now we’ve moved on to World Tours. Since this move by Kojima was hugely successful, we can only expect moves like this in the industry to increase as blockbuster movies are replaced by console gaming.

Rumor: MGS5 A Prequel?

Rangebar Merani — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:43:19 +0000

In an interview with 1UP.com, Metal Gear Solid 4 assistant producer Ryan Payton mentioned that the next Metal Gear game might just be a prequel.

The interview, which took place a week before the game’s release, has Payton stating, “There are some misunderstandings that this is the final Metal Gear game. But it’s really the final chapter of the Solid Snake story. That’s all.”

While discussing the possibility of a Metal Gear Solid 5, Payton said there is “still a lot of room for filling in the gaps as far as Big Boss is concerned.”

As a big fan of MGS4, I’m happy to hear that this isn’t the end of the series. Big Boss is a very important character and his story is crucial in understanding the complete MGS story. A prequel expanding on Big Boss and his relevance would be great for fans of the series and just might give some fans (like myself) a new understanding of the story.

As far as the timeline goes, who knows when the next Metal Gear will come out? It’s quite possible that it could happen on the PS3, but you never know these days. Here’s hoping we’ll hear something about MGS5 soon.

Source: 1up

New Battlefield:Bad Company Trailer Takes The Piss Out of Metal Gear Solid

John Kershaw — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 02:16:51 +0000

If your anything like us, you have no doubt been stuffing your face will all the Solid Snake you can get. It looks like the makers of Battlefield: Bad Company know this too. The new trailer entitled “Snake Eyes” isn’t exactly subtle in its references.

Even lacking any subtly, it’s still very funny and … hey, guys look! I found an eye patch!

Spoiler Alert: Bizarre New Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer

Roly Reyes — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:25:51 +0000

Remember that Assassin’s Creed/ MGS4 April Fools mash-up? Well, this is nothing like that. Okay, the warning screen is similar, along with the Kojima “Did you like it?” at the end. This trailer may contain minor spoilers, but for what it’s worth, I personally didn’t find it going too far into spoiler territory. I felt it was more of a hype-builder, and boy, did it build some hype. Those that are to remain firm, move along. Nothing fun to see here.

Check out the trailer on Youtube here.

If you’ve watched it, you more than likely know the implications of it. For those that are still on the edge of their seats debating furiously amongst themselves, it goes through a series of footage chronologically from Metal Gear Solid to a scene of Snake smacking down some Mr. Game and Watch.

Then, the climax arrives: “This year, MGS REvived?” and it proceeds to show what looks awfully familiar to one of the early scenes in the original Metal Gear Solid. And finally ends with “Is it possible to REplay MGS!?”

Touche, Mr. Kojima. Very cryptic indeed.

MGO Resolution 665p Equivalent and 30fps

Patrick Steen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:17:43 +0000

Pixel counters at the ready! There’s been some debate over the final rendering resolution of Metal Gear Solid 4. Screenshot pixel counting has been hazy, so the first sign of a possible resolution is found in the launch of the Metal Gear Online Beta. The Beta has now begun in Europe (yes it’s up, go and play!) and the results are in.

Over at Beyond3d technical forums, resident video game investigator Quaz51 (who also happens to be Eurogamer’s source in their console face-offs), has now proved his suspicions right. MGO renders natively at 1024by768.

This resolution is not 768p as you might suspect, since 1024by768 is not a 16/9 isomorphic resolution. Instead, it’s equivalent resolution (contains the same number of pixels) is 1182by665 – or 665p. It is thus accurate to say MGO renders natively at 665p.

Why this resolution? Rendering at this resolution can aid in post-processing effects, help with tiling through the RSX graphics chip, and also has the advantage of natively supporting 4/3 Standard Definition TV’s. In addition, MGO has been confirmed to run at 30 frames per second.

There have been many “sub-HD” games this generation, from Halo 3 to Call of Duty 4. To most the differences will be negligible and won’t detract from the gameplay experience. Moreover, with MGO offering a higher resolution than the above two games along with 2xAA (gets rid of teh jaggies), you’ll be hard pressed to tell the difference.

It’s still uncertain whether this will be the final native resolution of MGS4. For now, go and enjoy the Beta!

MGS4 Final Box Art Revealed, Limited Edition Hardware Coming to North America

Geoff Haugan — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:41:51 +0000

In a mega-post today, Konami has revealed further details about the numerous Metal Gear Solid 4 software and hardware packages—including box art for both the standard and limited editions of MGS4 and the standard edition PS3 hardware bundle. Why call it a standard edition hardware bundle? Well, because there’s going to be a not-so-standard one too. Kojima, you torture us. The “gunmetal grey” PS3, seen as part of the MGS4 hardware bundle in Japan, is going to be making it to North America in what is called a “very, very limited edition” offering.

For sure the “gunmetal” PS3 will only be available in this package, and a similarly colored Dualshock 3 along with it, but whether or not the MGS4 Limited Edition will also be included is unknown. It seems a logical expectation.

How much more might this package cost? That is being kept under wraps, but with the LE costing $25 more than the standard edition of MGS4 I’d expect that, plus something for the special system—say, $550 total—if the LE is included. Any more than that seems unwarranted, but final judgment will have to wait.

Standard Edition Box Art

Limited Edition Box Art

No box art for this package was shown and the contents beyond the hardware were withheld as well, though everything else about the other packages has been laid bare.

The standard edition will have an extreme close-up of Solid Snake as its cover, while the limited edition will sport a much snazzier piece of Yoji Shinkawa artwork featuring Liquid Ocelot and Solid Snake, as well as the bonus content. Those who care will definitely be drawn to the LE on appearance alone. The LE will also only be available through GameStop.

If you’re feeling crazed and feverish over the limited edition hardware, we’ll have more details as soon as humanly possible.

Konami has a “special surprise” scheduled for Monday, April 14, 2008, but aren’t saying more than that.

Source: blog.us.playstation.com