Metal Gear Solid 4 is More Movie Than Game
Posted by Jonathan on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 at 7:46 pm under Editorials, Features, Game Companies, Game Consoles, Games, Impressions, Metal Gear, Sony, Sony
I’ve been saying it for over a year now: “The day Metal Gear Solid 4 comes out is the day I buy a PS3.” So on Thursday, June 12th, that’s exactly what I did. I even drove an hour to a Wal-Mart in a small town at 6 AM to make sure I could secure the special system bundle. Being a huge fan of the series, I wanted to savor the experience, so I waited until the weekend to start playing, when I could really devote my time to the game. In the meantime, I perused reviews praising the game for its brilliant gameplay and for fixing problems that had plagued the series from the beginning. Naturally, I was even more excited to begin playing. So imagine my dissapointment when I actually popped in the disc and found it to be more movie than game.
It’s easy to see why Konami didn’t want reviewers to discuss the length of the game’s cut scenes, because they take up more than half of the full play time. You thought the 45-minute cinematic near the end of MGS2 was stretching things a bit? Well Hideo Kojima was just getting warmed up. I finished the whole game in about 20 hours, and I’d estimate — since I didn’t have a stop watch handy — that most of that time was spent with the controller resting in my lap, unused. Hell, even if my estimation is wrong, it certainly felt that way by the game’s end. Rumors were flying around before the game’s release that there was at least one cut scene that approached 90 minutes in length. Konami and even other reviewers were quick to deny this, and, technically, they were telling the truth. If you put a load screen or something up every half hour, then I guess you could say no single cut scene is that long. But the point is there are looooooong stretches of time where you don’t need to touch the controller at all; several are over an hour. Sure, sometimes you’re given the option to press a button to expose and alternate viewpoint of flashback, but this is about as thrilling as pressing the “Alternate Angle” button on the DVD remote.
You may be thinking, “But I saw the trailers before, and the cut scenes looked awesome!” Well yes, there are several action-packed cut scenes that are highly entertaining to watch. Unfortunately though, most of the cut scenes are much more mundane. You’ll get a chance to hear every character’s take on war (spoiler: it’s bad), their dreams, their past, and *ugh* their inner turmoil. You wanted explanations on some things from past games? Well, they explain the CRAP out of them. You’ll find out what happened to almost every single character that ever appeared in the series from the 1960’s to the present. Remember that one character from the original Metal Gear Solid that had almost no impact on the story at all? Don’t worry, you’ll find out exactly what they’ve been up to since. And then they throw out new twists and explain the crap out of them too. Characters are literally introduced, wax poetic about the harshness of war, and then disappear forever.
But you can’t skip them, because every so often, they’ll throw in a plot twist just to shake things up. The problem is, there’s so many of them that they get less and less dramatic as the story goes on. Besides that, half of these are revealed partway through some characters over-elaborate explanations of some conflict, technology, conspiracy, etc. After awhile, I started listening for some dramatic music just to cue me on when something important was happening.
With this fourth installment, it seems Kojima has accomplished his ultimate goal of nudging the series into being a movie with a video game tagged on. He’s never been shy about his aspirations for being a film director; he was even the first game designer to actually call himself a “director.” But clearly the man needs to learn a thing or two about editing. All I kept spotting throughout the cut scenes and dialogue were bits that were completely unnecessary. For instance, we do NOT need to hear a discussion of the military industrial complex for the fifth time; we got it the first time. And we definitely don’t need cheesy, cliche metaphors shoe-horned into every other cut scene. Subtlety seems be an unfamiliar concept to Kojima. Even Michael Moore isn’t this wordy when it comes to political issues.
What amazes me the most though — and the main reason I’m writing a whole article on this one aspect of the game — is the fact that few people out there seem to see this as a problem. Ever since I finished the game, I’ve been going back and reading previous reviews more thoroughly, looking for people that found the same problems I did. Strangely, I’ve found a lot of reviewers who thought the cut scenes were too long, but brushed that aside as being necessary to reveal the story. I don’t buy that logic. Few people relented on Assassin’s Creed’s arduous conversations, so why are they letting this slide here? They’re quick to point out issues that have been fixed from past Metal Gear Solid games — notably with fewer codec messages — but gloss over the issues that have now been compunded even further. Sure, the long codec conversations may be gone, but that’s only because they’ve put those conversations into cut scenes and threw in a few flashy multimedia presentations to go with them. It’s the equivalent of listening to a political podcast while staring at the visualizer on Windows Media Player. This is one of those glaring facts that changes the game from “recommend to everyone” to “recommend to only fans of the series.” About the only review I’ve seen that called out all this problems loudly was from Yahtzee Croshaw, a man whom I normally disagree with. Metal Gear Solid 4 most certainly isn’t the next evolution of storytelling; if anything, it’s a step backwards.
What really, really annoys me about all this though is the fact that the gameplay portions are sublime. Those parts ARE the game we were promised and more. The controls have been fine-tuned to perfection, the graphics rival any game on the market today, and your objectives are varied enough to keep you interested throughout — and that’s only scratching the surface. About the only negative thing I can say about these portions is that there’s not much of a penalty for being spotted by enemies, since shooting your way out is much easier now; but that’s only something fans of the past games would notice. And this makes the cut scenes so much more unbearable, because once one starts, you know you’ve still got a half hour to go before you can go back to doing some fun stuff.
Don’t get me wrong, the game still deserves many of the review scores it got (though the perfect 10’s might be debatable). I’m just disturbed that so few people made a point of mentioning the ridiculously long cinematics, and that may be due to Konami’s restrictions. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a great game and definitely worth playing if you have the patience to sit through the long non-interactive portions. I just hope future developers take their inspiration from the gameplay rather than the storytelling.
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June 28th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Here we go with this again.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
*Queue Norbit*
June 28th, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Jump on the piss and moan train… I prefer a storyline over the lack of content crap we get normaly.. Maybe you should stick to some FPS where the action never stops..
June 28th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
@ Rollett
Isn't that the POINT of a FPS?? You can have a story line without 16 hours of cutscenes.
Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., etc… they all have storylines and lots of content without making you set and watch movies while you should be PLAYING the game.
June 28th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
@ But Stalker DOES make you watch alot of talkie talkie stuff.. its some funky mix between the two… Call of duty 4/Bioshock all have lite story.. cant deny that part… Its fairly full… But Really do you know who Soap is ? Nope not at all.. Do you know hardly anything about the mainchar of Bioshock.. nope.. Do you have ANY idea what Gordon Freemans favorate coffee flavor is or … what his taste in ladys is.. Oh hell no
June 28th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Soap is an S.A.S soldier. that is all i need to know to play his character.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I don't CARE who Soap is. I don't care who the guy who flies the helicopter is. I don't care what coffee Gordon Freeman drinks or if he likes loose women :D. I buy a game for the GAMING. If I want to learn about the complete history of every person seen in the "game" I'll read the back story online or watch a movie about it.
I buy a game to actually play the damn thing.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
PaulC. …is that all you want to know…and get stuck in to sum bang ching bang?
people can rag on MGS all they want, but the fact of the matter is that it has achieved what most games wish they could do. And people cant handle that.
some people dont like to think too much. thats okay. Thats why there are games like Halo. The storyline could be understood by a four year old. that's good for some people
Dynasty warriors six is out. you guys should give it a shot.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
LastDance is right, i like my games to have a story. I didnt even realise the cutscenes were so long because I was immersed in the plot and when ther done i understand what i have to do and why im doing it, not like in some FPS where you can skip everything and finish the game without watching a single cutscene and it making no difference.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I am really glad to see this type of review come out, making a greater emphasis on how the cut scenes made Metal Gear 4 a pain. I enjoyed the experience, but was left feeling drained at its conclusion. Simple editing, cutting out some story fat would have been enough, but MGS4 had Spider-man 3 syndrome, trying to cram two installments worth of story into one sit down session.
Now, this begs the question, were the cut scenes enough to have reduced the score on Metal Gear from a 9 or a 10 to a 7 or 8? The way I have to look at it is, did Metal Gear 4 deliver what it set out to deliver? I believe it did, a very heavy handed story driven game. This is what seperates me from my Halo buddies, and I was amused to see Halo come up as an example for that reason. I will never own a 360 because I feel story takes a back seat to action on the XBox and prefer my Metal Gear and Final Fantasy to Halo and BioShock. Thankfully Mass Effect was delivered on the PC so I could play that masterpiece, and seeing as they are now an EA property seeing their future games on both of the major systems wouldn't surprise me (I don't view the Wii as a competitor of the XBox or the PS3, neither system can match the casual player power that wagging a stick at the TV created, nor is Nintendo making games for people like me, though I do own one for the classic games, sorry, tangent).
I'm a World of Warcraft player, I like to watch the cut scenes from Diablo II over and over again, beating Mass Effect was an invitation to beat Mass Effect again. I've played through KOTOR more times than I'd care to admit. That is the kind of experience I am personally looking for, and having experienced Metal Gear start to finish, the next day after beating it I turned it right back on and started over with a Kill On Sight gameplan gunning down Gekko's with my Rail Gun.
So no, heavy handed as it may be, I can't see it taking a hit in the score department as despite the heavy storytelling, that was what we were asking for. Metal Gear 4 was a 9 out of ten for me, as with just a tiny bit of story editing it would have been the perfect end(?) to Snake's saga.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
guys let come to a compromise the story while weird is great but the main point of this article is that there more cut scenes then gameplay now me i have not played the game but he got a point about it being a movie still a good game but the long wait to get back into the stealth action can be pain but what do i know lol i dont have the game or the system
June 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
And what exactly has MGS achieved that all other games strive to?Its really a shame the some of the most celebrated games designer would rather be making movies but for whatever reason they got "stuck" making video games and refuse to accept the role and continue to do what they really wanted I agree w/Stalker I don't pay $60 to watch dvds/blu rays.If he wants to make a movie put out an anime,Devil May Cry has one Street Fighter has one,but the one that likely needs it the most would rather shove it down my face until I pass out.I've always said that Lost odyssey's 1000 year memory deal that Kaim had should've been a paper back book that accompanied EVERY copy of the game and not be shoe horned into the game itself or worse sold in a collector's edition,metal gear should've come with an accompanying dvd,I mean if Metal Gear did have an anime it could set up storylines that the GAME could tackle as only a GAME could,and trust me the sales would agree.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:30 am
you guys are hilarious….."If it has a storyline….IT SHOULDNT BE IN A GAME"
talk about shallow.
Go shoot something.
June 29th, 2008 at 12:57 am
This game's trash. Just make MGS4 a movie and pay 9 bucks to go watch it instead of 50 bucks to well…..watch it.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:36 am
dance we are saying a game is not a game when most of time ur watching a cut scenes not that the game has story line baka. stop acting like a fan boy it not good for the brain
June 29th, 2008 at 1:53 am
You guys are just acting like morons… Just because it has a INDEPTH story makes it not a game ? You know you can skip them all.. might make it your style..Further more.. if you REALLY hate this type of game maybe you should avoid it all together then you wont have to complain about it and put it down for what it is…. Go play COD4 and Bioshock ect.. its more your style and there is absoutly nothing wrong with that.. I enjoyed those games a whole hell of alot too… I REALLY enjoyed my experince MGS4…. IM not a fan boy.. hell i did not like 3 at all and hardly played it.. and beat 1 with cheats because i was young..
June 29th, 2008 at 2:00 am
….how is metal gear solid 4 not a game?…My brains working perfectly fine… the funny thing is that if you only count how much gameplay there is compared to the latest released games….it definatly has more game time then Uncharted, gears and COD4. Then include better action scenes then most movies and youve got 1 hell of a game.
So dont call me a fanboy and start understanding your all talking crap.
its funny how every1 is trying to prove how badly this ISNT a game. And say I have brain issues… haha.
Go shoot something.
"we are saying a game is not a game" ……lol Good comment man….good comment….Well i think Gears of war is boring as hell…..does that mean its not a game?
June 29th, 2008 at 2:05 am
Lastdance this is probably not a fight we can win.. i was thinking about it.. But maybe the people complaining about the *Movies* and the *Story* Should stick to Western games *the ones they cited* And avoid the Japanese and other Asian games… Because they tend to be more story intensive.. then we will all be happy.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:07 am
K IM gonna spelll this out for u guys
we dont want to sit through a 90 min cut scence when trying to play a game if i want that i could watch a movie. story in a game is a great thing and always good to have from mass effect to kotor the fact is im trying to get across is that
the thing is if u want to play a game like this and want to hear the all the story u are watching tons and tons of cut scenes. and im not saying i dont like metal gear i love the game and the story. we are just potting out a little thing they could have made better by shorting the time a little it still a grand game and the story is one to be remember
ps for people who dont read the whole message plz do before u type ur message about me not like games with indepth storys baka
June 29th, 2008 at 2:09 am
@ Zaruka… Then press the start button.. and skip the story…
June 29th, 2008 at 2:16 am
nvm rollett i give up i say this metal gear solid 4 is a good game but i cant seem to get my point to you guys so i guess who are all right now im gonna get bang my head lol
it a pain to explain stuff in text forum plus im not saying u guys are wrong either it just nit picking at one little thing and nvm nvm
June 29th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Im a story junkie so i cant complain
June 29th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Wow Guess some People Can't Handle An Actual EPIC Storyline…kinda Pathetic that People can only talk about how long the cutscenes are & how hour long cut scenes with no interactivity are bad.Why the Hell don't you just skip the dam things if they're getting in your way.
Hideo Kojima has Definitely Raised the bar for in game Cutscenes/story telling I just think some people don't want to acknowledge that hes one the best in the business at blending a Great Story into a Movie Like Game.
Sh1t if you don't want a Great story driven videogame that kicks everything's ass thats out in theaters rite now just skip the cutscenes or don't buy the game that simple ^^
P.S. If You Don't Like Grand Or even Epic Story Driven Games/lengthy Cutscenes that drag on for quite a while check out Doom 3 or Halo 1-3.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:12 am
It was a bloody good game but Kojima does not know how to write. The story between Meryl and Johnny was down right unnesesary and every time you beat a boss drebin would go on and on about how you killing them freed them for some reason. I would have preferred if all the cutscenes were taken out for an extra chapter any day.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:24 am
If you think it was a movie then was an awesome one ; if you think it was a game then was an awesome one!!! MGS4 it's awesome anyway!
June 29th, 2008 at 3:56 am
The things that people attack about MGS4 are the very things that have made the series what it is. Without long cut scenes and ridiculous story it would just be like another game. The cinematic is what defines it and criticising it for that is like buying COD4 and complaining about all the shooting. If you dont like long cut scenes and overblown story dont buy the game.
Jonathan the fact that almost every reviewer praises it as a masterpiece is because the have obviously got the right people to review the game. People who aren't going to attack it for the fundamental things which define the series and set it apart from everything else.
June 29th, 2008 at 4:31 am
This aricle is pure shit, it smells bad. Though the author is entiteled to his own fucked up retarded opinion.
MGS4 is the best game I ever played. It's a masterpiece.
If you don't like cut-scenes then don't play, or just skip. WTF!
MGS4 - 10/10
June 29th, 2008 at 4:45 am
"The things that people attack about MGS4 are the very things that have made the series what it is. Without long cut scenes and ridiculous story it would just be like another game. The cinematic is what defines it and criticising it for that is like buying COD4 and complaining about all the shooting. If you dont like long cut scenes and overblown story dont buy the game."
exactly.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:58 am
I think that you got to understand that when you buy it your not buying a game, your not even buying a movie, your buying an experience, a complete entertainment package, with amazing production values and and an immersive story that involve the player emotionally, it just so happens that it is made for a console and gets labeled as a game, you've just gotta' watch the story and get lost in it, keep an open mind.
As good as it all is even I was weary about it at points but now I've finished it, it has just left me amazed, there is no word for it and somehow a new form of entertainment medium has just been created, it doesn't quite fall into any category, game, movie or audacial.
Even as a 16 year old male I had a few tears in my eyes near the, mgs4 was that good, no movie or game had ever gathered that emotional connectivity with me.
The thing that is so clever about metal gear, but mgs3 and more so mgs4 is that you don't need the controller to be interacting with it, the emotional immersiveness, the believeable characters the detailed story, all involve you and psychologically interact with you, suckering you in without the need for the controller…
…however two thirds of it is gameplay for good measure too, along with a great musical score, top notch graphics, sound, humour and animation, of which all make it a complete package of entertainment.
What makes probably 75% of mgs mgs though is it's cinematics, overblown story, great charcters and humour, simply taking it away is asking for it to be something that it is not, it is a hybrid between movie/game/art/story-telling…
…saying it should be something else is to a degree, like asking for a racing game without cars, or an FPS without shooting.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:00 am
This is made to be this simple:
If this were on the 360 (much less an exclusive), would these people complain this much? The answer: NOPE!!
Yes, it's that simple. These people really, REALLY wanted this game to be on the 360 because their minds didn't think that the PS3 was allowed to get this good of a game as exclusive to THEIR system.
Hell, this article got some things completely wrong, anyway (Mei Ling's role in the games WAS explained as more than just saving your game in MGS1 (pay attention to her and Snake's final codec convo before the Liquid chase and then at the beginning of MGS2), and many codec conversations this time around were in real time, which means you're listening to them AS you play the game, which is something that this article gets wrong).
June 29th, 2008 at 6:04 am
p.s. forgot to write that there is actually about 12hours gameplay in there for an average gamer with around 7 hours cutscenes, so in actual fact about 60% is gameplay, and some very good gameplay at that, now 12 hours is double what you get most the time these days, so if you're not happy with that then that's your own fault, and having some tremendous cutscenes and great extras chucked in there too, if you can't appreciate such a value filled package then I think you need a reality check.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Look, what Jonathan is saying is..
STORY IS GOOD! BUT! unnecessary and retarted story-for-the-sake-of-story is NOT GOOD.
STORY is used to create an atmosphere and a interest in the game. If your playing a game to watch cut scenes, your just confused.
June 29th, 2008 at 7:28 am
@darkpower:
Oh comon', "YOU HATE ITZ CUZ ITS NOT ON PS3, WAHH WAHH"
Seriously grow the fuck up.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:58 am
At the beginning, I feel the game is really cool, but half way down the track, after hours watching the game, I start to compare it with some TV episodes, like 24, (I feel it's too long to consider it a movie), compare with episodes, the story telling is always in the same form, and quite easily to be guessed.
dah…
June 29th, 2008 at 9:13 am
You assessment really makes me question whether you've ever actually played this game. It's very amusing that you claim to be a big fan of the series yet you say things that make me wonder if you've ever played through any Metal Gear game. I've played through all of them (more than once, including multiple runs through MGS4), and I think you're doing a lot of BSing and trolling. No one who was knowledgeable about MGS and was supposedly a big MGS fan would claim that the game did not build to one of the most impressive final boss battles in video game history and some particularly shocking moments in the storyline, especially a moment following the first set of credits. Sorry, but I detect quite a bit of dishonesty in your article and am calling you on it. You might be giving encouragement (or discouragement) to fanboys regarding the silly console wars, but you aren't fooling anyone who has actually played through this game, especially on the harder difficulty settings.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Darkpower, most of the complaints have been by people who have played the game and are annoyed at the length of cutscenes. Have a think about that for a moment
June 29th, 2008 at 10:36 am
You see, this a a VIDEOGAME not a MOVIE so I should be playing more than I am watching right? not with mgs4, honestly after beating the game I was pretty disappointed, and I feel that they spent more time on their cut scenes than they did on the gameplay, honestly the the first 2 acts were fun but from act 3 and on it was pretty lame. I definately liked the first 2 metal gear solid games better.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:36 am
WOW ARE YOU SERIOUS YOU CAN THIS NEWS…I CALL THIS BS GET A LIFE U JUST LIKE RUSHING THROUGH GAMES AND SHIT RELAX AND PLAY THE GODLY GAME
June 29th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Sad thing is that the dialog of the cutscenes is crappy as hell.And the "action" scenes are way too short and far in between. Kojima should split mgs into a crappy movie and so so game to make everyone happy.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Erm, this is Kojima's Masterpiece. At least let him do it the way he wants too. This game never, ever compared itself to action filled blockbusters like CoD4 or the suckyass Halo 3. I mean, i love action filled games (One of my favorites is Mercenaries
), but the MGS experience is something unique. You either enjoy it, or not, but you DON'T rant about it.
June 29th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Start > Skip / Cut scene
June 29th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
you guys are all too opinionated. some people like it, some people don't. this 'news' and rant is a topic or battle that won't ever be won by either side.. it's based on what the player likes. i myself personally found them tiring because I'm more of a run-and-gun guy
June 29th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I think the primary issue was that there was no editing to the story. Even the best film makers have editors that cut some fat to make a story easier to digest. It may be also that what the Japanese enjoy as far as story, goes a bit farther than what we'd have in one of our Summer movies.
There were times when watching the cut scenes where I checked my watch, just kind of wondering when I'd get back to the gameplay, or even move forward. Topics dragged on. I am a Metal Gear freak, I have beaten MGS1 more times than I'd care to admit, I beat 2 and gave 3 a chance (didn't like 3) and have beaten 4 and am half way through a second play through.
What I see here, is Metal Gear trying to be the best game ever made. It is, for Metal Gear fans. Some people prefer a FPS, some a RPG, others point and click adventure games. This game is not Jesus on a BluRay Disc.
Can't we accept that some people are going to like it, and some aren't? Does everything have to be black and white? I loved the game, but I still agree with John up there when he says the game dragged on. That doesn't mean I'd go to the lengths he did to mock the game, but yea, as a major fan I still can't give it a 10 as with some editing it could have been better.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
The guy that wrote this CANNOT be a fan of the series and probably has not played every game. I like a game that you have to devote some time to. The story keeps me interested too. Without cut scenes and stories I would have been very disappointed. I don't think that MGS4 is the kind of game that you want to give to a rookie of the series. Start em out slow or they will give you the kind of complaint that I just read.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
I think we fail at what a review is and why people care about what it says. Is a hardcore fan of MGS going to have to read a review to buy a game like this? Probably not, people decided they wanted this game 6 months ago and I doubt any review would change their decision.
So hardcore MSG games dont read reviews, whats your point? Reviews are made for people who need help making decisions about video games. Not everyone is a hardcore gamer, even less a hardcore mgs gamer, and that's why we have reviews; to help unbiased people choose. I personnally never followed the MGS series and I was going to buy this game solely based on the review scores. I waited a week just in case Heavenly Sword happened again (8 hours of play? 60$?) and it helped me decide not to buy this game, but instead rent it.
Guns of the Patriots is an awesome game, but it did have long periods and people need to know that, its their right to know that.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
While you all have good opinions, MGS4 is NOT an action game or FPS, it is a "Stealth" game, which means there is going to be some story to it, unlike CoD4 which is just the usual "catch the bad guy" plot. At least MGS4 has meaning to the cutscenes, and no material is repeated (unlike in the review, which claims you are asked about PMC's at least five times, I can't even remember one time). All-in- all, IF YOU DON'T LIKE/WATCH THE CUTSCENES, YOU ARE NOT APPRECIATING ALL THAT MGS4 HAS TO OFFER, period, end of discussion.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
I'm going to laugh and laugh and laugh when Sony bombs, you stupid fucking prick asshole motherfuckers. Sony has lost 13 billion dollars on the PS3 BECAUSE IT
***********SUCKS***************
June 29th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
http://www.infoaddict.com/post/title/10-things-that-suck-about-metal-gear-solid-4/index.html
This is a very educated, informative article, and the SONY fanfags GO TO TOWN. The author even says he think it's BRILLIANT and one of the best games of this generation, and they STILL call him out for pointing out this SHITTY game's flaws! AND HE'S RIGHT!
You Sony fanboys are zealots, you're maniacal, and I'd swear to Satan you're insane. I swear to the Dark Lord, if I had one wish it'd be for every fan of Sony to die choking on their own vomit.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:25 am
If you dont want the story.. you could just skip it all.. it gives you the freaken option… Yall pretend like you have NO CHOICE.. you must watch it..
June 30th, 2008 at 7:50 am
The problem with MGS4 is that i feel like i am only playing it so that Kojima can show me his story……………i mean I am only playing the boring bits between all the cool bits that Kojima wants to play out in a certain way so he makes it a cut-scene rather than gameplay, like imagine an action film……now imagine you had to take control of the character inbetween the scenes to get him to the next scene, then the cool action film kicks off again but im not in control, that is how i feel when i am playing MGS4
June 30th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Also i have to say that having followed alot of MGS4 coverage, you MGS4 'Fanboys' are downright disgusting, i have followed games for a long time and have never come across such a horrible bunch of fans…..Somebody said something bad about your favourite game..GET OVER IT!!!!
Having read the infotech article, i feel he makes some good points, and then read the comments i will forever view MGS fanboys as complete idiots, you cannot have a discussion and cannot accept that MGS4 is anything short of a 10/10, it makes you all come off as spoilt ten year old brats
June 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Normally i don't get involved in bitch-fests such as this…but in this case i simply must.
I really enjoy Hideo Kojima's work, espically the Metal Gear series because it breaks away from 'traditional' shooters and provides an ample story to boot….but i have to agree with the article that Killa provided and with the comments left on that site and here as well…..some PS3/MGS fans are extrememly anal about any comment they don't agree with….to the point of making themselves look like complete twats.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
The story has been a huge part of metal gear even with metal gear solid 1 por the original playstaion. This is nothing new and u knew it would have long cutscenes before u bought it. IF u didnt then u have never played a metal gear game before. So why dont u retards quit ur bitchin and dont buy the game if u cant handle one of the greatest games of all time with the most epic story of all time.
July 1st, 2008 at 2:20 am
id like to see an xbox fan buy a ps3 and see how much greater it is. u dnt even have a browser and have to pay what 20 bucks monthly just to play online. btw if uv beaten mgs4 then play it again skipping cut scenes n see how awesome it is. ps, i typed this on my ps3 xbox bitches
July 1st, 2008 at 4:10 am
all the mgs games have lots of cut scenes. you should have seen it coming with todays technology. i personality loved every part of the game. i could barely put it down.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:13 pm
iv beat it 2 1/2x already n m probly gonna play it again. i think this game had the best ending out of any other game although it may be lengthy
July 5th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
lol @ everyone…
MGS4 is good, cut scenes are somewhat long, but so what? id rather have a game thats has a worthwhile story then some game (e.g halo) that has such a simple minded story. Twisted and cool is what MGS4 brings, and thats whats good about it, its unique, and like some people said, if u dnt like the cutscenes skip them?
as for the article.. i think the guy likes to take it up the ass
July 7th, 2008 at 12:52 am
@ Killa
I am a sony fanboy (although i try not to be completely one-sided) I agree with whoever wrote that article, except for his misconception about blu-ray: 15% of the disc is audio: 25% is graphics and props: 5% is scripted: 40% is the AI, enemy data, weapon data, controls and interface, the last 20% is the maps and finishing touches
July 8th, 2008 at 2:56 am
Games are inherently interactive. The storyline should be advanced through the game. Some very notable examples of this from many different genres are Mass Effect, Half-Life & Half-Life 2, Warcraft III, Gears of War, and many others.
Cut scenes are fine and dandy, and they can add a lot to a game, but cut scenes should never be a substitute for quality gameplay. They are a vehicle to advance the story, and should be treated as such.
July 8th, 2008 at 4:45 am
This is really getting to me.
MGS 4 was the first game i ever played out of the Metal Gear series. I was actually a bit reluctant about getting it as i heard a lot of talk that ppl that are not former fans of the series will most likely not enjoy this game. I now realize that all that talk was a load of crap.
After beating MGS4 i researched the other games to get a better understanding of where everyones opinion is coming from and came to this conclusion:
All the previous metal gear games, possibly excluding the NES ones to an extent because tech wasn't as advanced back then, were all much more story driven than gameplay driven. In reality, all the ps2 games were pretty much the same exact bloody thing, with a few extra addons; you sneak around and try to avoid combat in order to get form point a to point b. Thats MGS in a nutshell. Theres some gadgets that add to the experience but its still pretty much that. What gets ppl hooked on the series and gets people playing the series is the STORY. People want to know what happens next.
Saying that a story driven game has too much story, or too many cutscenes is moronic. Especially when MGS4 is the LAST of the series (supposedly) and needs to tie up all loose ends left by its predecessors. You simply CANNOT do that without adding the amount of dialog and video that this game provides. Sure maybe some of the dialog could have been edited down so that it was shorter, but it never really posed a problem. I personally enjoyed all of the games cutscenes and their length. The point of a video game is to let yourself be immersed in a different reality and thats exactly what metal gear solid 4 delivered.
Sure, if your some1 that has the attention span of a turnip and absolutely despises story and cutscenes then this game isn't for you, but neither are most games made outside of North America. Frankly if you prefer storyless games then wandering into the MGS series was a big mistake on your part and only YOU are to blame for your dissatisfaction. Do your homework next time on a game before you buy it. That and stick to the brainless FPS games that you will most likely enjoy and comprehend more.
Bottom line is that MGS4 has such long cutscenes is because its a game that needed cutscenes like that. It brilliantly tied up loose ends, had absolutely stunning visuals and flawless gameplay. Each cutscene in turn provided some new info and a new perspective on the current events of the game. This game deserves it 10/10 score more than any other game previously had. And if you disagree then you pretty much don't know what your talking about and should close your browser window at once, turn around, load up your xbox or pc or w/e and go kill shit in your FPS nightmare before the fact that your a 3rd rate member of society, penniless, have no taste, no comprehension and have an IQ that barely adds up to the number of hours required to beat this game catches up to you.
July 8th, 2008 at 9:57 am
@Yuri
You ok dude? you need a drink of water or something?
Calling somebody else 'moronic' because they don't agree with your opinion neither makes them moronic nor you smart….it's an opinion…nothing more, nothing less….your inability to deal with this opinion in a mature and tactful approach shows that you take this stuff -WAY- too seriously.
If i were you i'd try to find my happy place, take a deep breath…relax…enjoy some time -away- from the computers and the consoles before you have a stroke or something.
Seriously.
July 10th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
I accept everyone's opinion…but when I read the comments on blogs and forums, people call themselves 'big fans of metal gear' and say 'ive always loved this series' etc etc…but then they complain theres too much cutscenes, too much waiting etc…ok its good its their opinion. But you cannot say youre a big fan of metal gear if you dont like long cutscenes, because thats actually the essence of metal gear! If you don'Tlike it, its okay…but you don't get the whole point of the Metal Gear series
July 10th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
ok, sorta like mr jonathan at the top, i also said i would only buy a ps3 when metal gear 4 came out. unfortunately didnt have enough cash at the time so waited a while before i got 1.
finally i the day came where i went out and bought the console and the game, to start off with, it was exactly what i expected, great action, amazing graphics and a storyline that kept u hooked on
however i did feel as if the furthur i got into the game, the less i played and more i watched. 
not having heard anything bad said about the game, i naturally assumed all would be well. and it was and i'm pretty sure every hard core MGS fan would feel the same, having wanted some questions answered in the previous games.
i meen myself, i was really satisfied with what a played/watched but wouldnt recomend the game to anyone who hadnt played the previous games, unless you wanna get really confused (thats only if ur not amazingly good with short bursts of flash backs whilst clicking X). by all meens, do try the game, its an amazing piece of work and they fully took advantage of the ps3 system, just keep in mind you will be sitting and watching for alot of it
and yes the game didnt take long to complete but it was the same with the other 3
anyway yea just completed it and wanted to see if anyone felt like it was an awesome movie game aswell.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:48 am
@ M
It's amazing how you can take somebody's opinion and twist it into them being less of a gamer and/or not getting the 'point' of the game simply because they have an opinion that you dont agree with…..sad.
Just so i have this right, any fan of the Metal Gear series who thinks that this paticular game had overly long cutscenes isn't truly a fan and/or doesn't get the 'point'?!?
I think you may want to get over yourself, just because you enjoy overly long cutscenes doesn't make you a more dedicated gamer and/or a bigger Metal Gear fan…just because somebody doesn't like overly long cutscenes doesn't make them any less of a gamer….it does mean however that people like different things.
For the record, i liked MGS4 just the way it is…it answered questions to quite a few characters…but i'm the type of gamer that has the ability to see why others didn't like it….without resorting to blatant attacks and thinly veiled put-downs to get my point across.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Even though I do not own a PS3, I for one will never buy this game. And it has to do primarily with the cut scenes.
My issue with the cut scenes is not just their length. It also has to do with the absolutely terrible way in which the stories and morals of the MGS games are presented. Mr. Kojima, the self proclaimed 'director', has yet to discover that when you want to deliver a story, and it's included message, you do it gradually and subtly. Mr. Kojima, on the other hand, prefers to sling all of this into your face with overly detailed, unnecessarily long cut scenes overflowing with pseudo-intellectual drivel. Rather than have the message unfold though the actual events of the game, he simply has Snake and company stop whatever they're doing (which is usually saving the world) in order to sit down and thoroughly debate the evils of war, the harsh reality of being a soldier, etc. If the MGS games were actually released as movies, Hideo Kojima would be known as the Japanese Uwe Boll.
What's ever more frustrating about the direction Kojima took with the Metal Gear games is that it has caused the games to stray from what they're meant to be - tactical espionage games. Now, the series is nothing more than Kojima's personal soap box for his views on the world.
For the record, I love games with good stories. But the game actually has to present the story to me, rather than force me to sit and watch hour after hour of cinematics. It also has to be inventive. MGS fails in both of those regards.
These are just my opinions. If you like the game, good for you. I'm glad you are happy with your purchase.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:54 am
TOTALLY UNREALATED TO THIS!!!!!!
i dont know about you guys but i am excited for the "as-of-unnamed" interactive halo-movie dealybobber i keep hearing about on the interwebs. I dont know if that is what it is, but WETA is working on it, and peter jackson is involved.
i can feel my nipples get hard in anticipation.
and yes the cut scenes in this game were incredibly long. if properly done well i am sure perhaps half of what was in the cut scenes could have been explained in a lesser amount of time. and MAYBE even during gameplay.
July 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am
All I'm saying, is that MGS4 is a perfect example to the industry of where NOT to go.
Have a great story, have a great game. Intersect the two seamlessly. Have the gamer play the story, not sit idly by and watch the story, before being shuttled into a gameplay segment which has no real narrative effects aside from setting up the next cutscene.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I am going to end this arguement right now
The reason MGS4 is unquestionably the greatest game of all time is because of the depth of the story so without the long cutscenes the game wouldn't b stayin true to the franchise. Games like COD4 n Gears do have amazin gameplay and average stories bt u dnt reli get to know about the characters, so i couldnt care less wat happened 2 thm. All Soap is in COD4 is a gun with no personality ( you never acctually heer him speek ) which , although it is one of my favourite games , makes a bit of a mindless shoot-em-up game. Metal Gear jst has more class thn tht.
The fact is if you reli are a true metal gear fan thn you would enjoy the clipscenes no matter what length. So any one tht complains is officially not a fan
anyone tht tries to dispute this is retarded _ bt i will allow retards to give their opinions bt they still are officially retarded opinions tht i can laugh at 
If Your little brains can't handle an indepth story thn they indulge in this masterpiece of a game coz the game deserves btr thn to b played by a bunch of ugly morons who dnt appreciate its brilliance 
End of the day the game has the legend of Solid Snake , the greatest Game Character Of All Time _ Just having him justifies anything the Hideo chooses 2 do
i kno theres going 2 b alot of mongos out there tht will disagree wif me n try 2 b smart n diss me lol bt i couldnt care less because i know i'm right ( its not a matter of opinion ) you's jst haven't realised tht you are wrong
NEXT ARGUEMENT ______ PRO VRS FiFA _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
My opinion _ PRo Destroys Fifa
feel free to chip in
July 17th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I ment 2 Say ** Then They Shouldn't indulge in this masterpiece blah blah blah
sorry for the mistook
Ps The Guy tht wrote this has a small penis
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:23 am
Im so sick and tired of people wining and complaining about how long the cutscenes are. If you dont like it, then dont play the game. So why do I like watching Metal Gear Solid, just as much as playing it? Or why not just watch a movie? Because the MGS stories are always as interesting and entertaining as any Hollywood movies out there. In terms of Kojima ideas- they are just brilliant and super creative, the characters are brought to life really well, and the voice acting is superb..most video games, even the good ones have bad voice acting. Yes, the stories can be hard to understand, and sometimes Kojima doesnt deliver it in the manner it should have been delivered…but that doesnt take away the fact it was interesting and entertaining. Yes MGS 4 was a convoluted mess…but it was still an extremely interesting story with great characters. And it was really emotional as well. I can guarentee you that there isnt one game out there that has an emotionally engaging cutscene like the one where Snake crawls through the hall of microwaves. This is what I like…if you dont like it dont play it and just shut up with your whining.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
all i can say is i love the story but hey i litterly was falling asleep waiting to play the game ahahaha, sad but true, i was excited to get into this game i did beat it just under 17 hours, but the cut scene were just to much !! i wanted a game not a fuc*in movie !!
September 9th, 2008 at 3:56 am
I remember playing the resident evil series on playstation 1 and I allways loved every cutscene I was "rewarded" after doing my part. (playing)
Also the tekken series awarded the player with cutscenes when you did good.
all I want to say to you guys who don´t like cutscenes is; play doom or unreal and other games where you know you can shot things dead all day and nothing will ever change as long as you don't buy a new game cause cutscenes are here to stay.
Mgs4 is by far the best game ever and I love any aspect of it and it hurts waiting for the movie 2009
September 20th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
MGS4 = Epic, Masterpiece Game
As for the cutscenes, seriously? For me it's not a problem, I played the series since 1998 when the first came out, and I've been counting the days for MGS4 release, and, as a fan, a REAL METAL GEAR FAN, I fucking loved every second of the game, every single second of the cutscenes, everything. Please, let me give an advice for thoso stupid morons that are going to buy MGS and they didn't play any of the others: Don't buy it, buy COD4, Resistance, MOH Airborne, anything that keeps you shotting and shotting, but please, don't buy MGS4, because you don't have what it takes to play it, to understand it, to love it for what it is.
As for the "problem" whith the cutscenes, on your Sixaxis controler you have a triangular buton named Start, you just have to press it and skip the cutscenes, fucking morons.
September 26th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
maybe it's just cause im a girl.
but i found the cutscenes incredibly motivational. it compels me to play the game and it's absolutely fascinating!
i do agree that the cutscenes were rather heavy handed, but here's the deal, watch them or don't watch them. it's not like you HAVE to sit through them *coughs*KINGDOMHEARTS*end cough*
so yes you can finish the game in under 5 hours if you run it, but it's open to remarkable change and diversity even though you play along the same storyline.
i think that MGS4 is incredible because it allows you to participate in a movie experience. hands on. it's amaznig. like heavenly sword. the whole idea of that game was to make it feel like you were playing in a movie. and it works. that game was also frightfully short. but metal gear solid has been made of pure perfection. it gives you a chance to really become an amazing player. become a cqc expert. learn the things that the game DOESN'T teach you.
anyways. im not here to argue, just to put my opinion out there. i loved it. ive never played anything like it and i savored every moment of it. and because of it, im a better gamer, i play differently and plan differently and i just appreciate it. lifechanging
x
September 28th, 2008 at 5:31 am
Ok.. I think this is something that we shouldnt be argueing about.. If you have played the previous MGS's you would know, and Hideo also said that this is the last MGS.. And thats whats made it, the scenes to get you know the game..
Like to be honest I love fighting games like Street Fighter and maybe Mortal Kombat BUT! they didnt have a good story line but Tekken has a crazy one being Heiachi being a grand father to Kazuya being a son and Jin being the last of the true bloodline.. and thats just the Mishima/Kazama story.. Its because of the story it gets you hooked..
Till now to be honest i am still talking about MGS to my friend that has the game and he explain his way he saw the story and i explain mine and we both fill in what we probably missed..
I think the problem is that the people that are argueing about this is that they didnt put there 100% into the game.. Maybe they had a girlfrend on the side of them when they were playing or there mum was telling them to put out the rubbish, cause everytime a cutscene came on i was fkn happy.. Even when you beat the chick bosses and Drebin talks about how the Bosses gets into the dark stages for example the wolf chick.. I had chills and my hair was up.. Was fkn awesome.. so yea, I dont know why your complaining.. If there was something to compain about.. Id say.. ……………………… Far out i cant think of one but if i do i will post it up.
October 1st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I don't care how many 10s MGS4 gets, it's the worst MGS, period.
After the game, I felt being tricked, 10s everywhere?
For AU$99.00, what do I get? A propaganda movie (there is not really much gaming element inside) againest human implants? come on!
I lost count on how many times the word "nanomachine" is mentioned, I don't know how you guys out there feel about it, to me it's just too many times, my ears just shut themselves.
I think it's good that you don't have to join this group ever, the less the casualties out there the better.
But if you want to join in, welcome, at least we find each other.