PS3 Poll Police: One last poll for MGS4; your impressions, please

by Nick Doerr { Jun 15th 2008 at 8:00PM }

It's time for one last push for Metal Gear Solid 4. Really, nothing else this week was as big or important as finally seeing the release of one of PlayStation's biggest titles. So now that you've had some time with it, what do you think? What are your impressions of the game?

How are you enjoying Metal Gear Solid 4?
	It's one of the best games I've played.
	It's a great game.
	Pretty good, I'd say.
	It's all right.
	I've played better, but it's not that bad.
	It's quite horrendous, actually.
	One of the worst games. Ever.
	Different opinion altogether!

pollcode.com free polls

If you're leaving a comment in addition to voting, make sure you remain spoiler-free for all those who may not have gotten nearly as far as you. This is one game where not knowing where the story will go is a very important part of the experience. Speaking of experiences, last week's poll results deal with your experience in purchasing the game. See how many of your colleagues were out at midnight with you, or how many of you are sitting back with a scowl, as you ignore the game completely.

We asked what you were doing in regards to Metal Gear Solid 4's release and you answered in pretty large numbers. Since midnight is technically the same as the day of release, about 70% of you went out on day one to get your hands on a copy of Kojima's latest. The rest of you are either taking it easy and picking it up when you're in the area or just aren't into this type of game. Either way, you still voted and we're still honored! Thanks for voting and we'll see you next week.

Tags: poll-police

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

binaryfiend @ Jun 15th 2008 8:10PM

It's not a perfect game but it is definitely the most involved, deep, absorbing game I've ever played. If only more game designers were this visionary and artful instead of just pumping out low grade crap title after low grade crap title.

I personally have been waiting for cinema and games to converge more so if this is the future, I'll take it. I swear after finishing the game in two days I felt like I had just finished a good book that I couldn't put down.

kevin @ Jun 15th 2008 8:16PM

how about for an option I DONT OWN THE GAME....

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:04AM

Don't vote.
Dick.

xCruciaLx @ Jun 16th 2008 6:21AM

Then don't vote. Xbot.

Kabapu @ Jun 15th 2008 8:19PM

... You guys really had no news at all concerning Kojima being in San Francisco on Saturday for a signing? Like ... at all? I even emailed it to you guys.

emman @ Jun 15th 2008 8:21PM

I HAVE BEAT THE GAME I'M ABOUT TO PLAY IT AGAIN BUT WITH THE GUIDE THIS TIME AND GET ALL THE THINGS i MISSED. THIS IS SUCH A GOOD GAME YOU ''MUST'' PLAY IT TWICE THE GRAPHICS ARE GOOD, THE STORY IS VERY INTERESTING, THIS IS A GREAT GAME. THE SOUND IS BEAUTIFUL THERES AT LEAST 4 SOUNDTRACKS THAT I LOVE(GOT COLLECTORS EDITION). I GIVE IT A 10 BECAUSE i'M A FAN BUT IF I WASN'T I WOULD GIVE IT A 9 AT LEAST.

Cidi @ Jun 15th 2008 8:21PM

After finishing that game I can only say it beats every Hollywood movie that came out in the last few years. There are plot twists until the very end and it`s just amazing. It`s nothing that can be explained onlye experienced the game from the beginning until the end and the cutscenes and the gameplay are all working together really good and form a true masterpiece.

Kojima productions delivered one of the best games ever and my game of the year.

Ben @ Jun 15th 2008 8:22PM

Question: I have never played the other MGS games. Should I buy MGS 1-3 and play them to get caught up with the story? How long will it take?

Or should I just watch the GameTrailers retrospectives and start playing MGS4 now?

davey @ Jun 15th 2008 8:29PM

i was wondering the same thing

emman @ Jun 15th 2008 8:31PM

buy the metal gear essentials it's like 24 dollars you gotta experience the whole series

Hyams @ Jun 15th 2008 8:35PM

I'd personally recommend playing through 1, 2 and 3 first. MGS4 plays *very* heavily on your nostalgia for the past games. The retrospectives will help you to understand the story, but you'll lose some of the emotional impact of the game if you don't play the other ones. MGS4's story is pretty much pure fan service.

You can buy the first three MGS games in a single pack, and they're all quite short (I'd say the first two are about 8 hours long, and the third one about 10 hours).

Really, it's up to you. But like I said, if you have a backwards compatible PS3 or still have a PS2, I really would recommend playing through MGS1, 2 and 3 first.

Cidi @ Jun 15th 2008 8:36PM

Well you could only watch the retrospective, put you would miss out on a lot of story and some of the best Boss fights ever. I would suggest to get the essential collection with MGS1,2 and 3 and play them first to get the full scale of the story and the series. The series is a lot about connecting to the characters and that`s not delivered through the retrospective videos so you would miss out on emotional connections and moments.

Guess plat time if you don`t rush through for the first 3 games combined should be around 30 hours including the well done lenghty cutscenes. :D

Vlad @ Jun 15th 2008 8:39PM

That's difficult to say there Ben, while Kojima did try to his best by including flashbacks throughout the game, I think it's best to play all three in order to fully grasp the scope of this story. Nothing beats playing all three and then coming into MGS4 with the story fresh in your mind. Then again, you may not have the time to dedicate playing all 3 games through an through, at which point I would suggest the GT retros.

doug @ Jun 15th 2008 8:30PM

I am a confessed MGS fanatic and YES it is everything you could hope it would be

Dahk @ Jun 15th 2008 8:45PM

14 people have said it's "One of the worst games".

Folks, we have a 14 people hit-list. Someone scrounge up their data from the JD core. It's in there somewhere.

(I'm totally kidding. Each person is of course, entitled to their opinion lol).

leatherface @ Jun 15th 2008 10:46PM

seek and destroy.

lordwindowlicker @ Jun 16th 2008 5:57AM

Yes, very entitled to their opinion.. however they can't deny the quality of the presentation. Worst ever? That is going a bit far, don't you think?

Snake @ Jun 16th 2008 11:43AM

haha, i saw that too...

Skunk Ape @ Jun 16th 2008 10:55AM

ZOMg WE HAVE 14 XBOTS TO DEAL WITH

Troy @ Jun 15th 2008 8:50PM

this game was great i loved it. it was so sad though they should really make this into a movie i wish they did the cutscenes like devil may cry where you can relook them

Jonathan @ Jun 15th 2008 8:52PM

the chief AI is named after John Dorian.... EAGLE!!!

Joe @ Jun 15th 2008 8:54PM

This being my first MG game, I was somewhat confused, however, this did not necessarily detract from the overall game experience.
It's a great game, and I'm starting to do online play now, but it's a little overwhelming... I dunno, I'll have to play it a little more and see if I like it or not.

KUV1977 @ Jun 15th 2008 8:59PM

It's not all that perfect really... There are little things wrong in cut scenes, such as weapon switching, camo-color change between scenes... some more, which would be called spoilers so i omit them here. It's just like in the movies, only you recognize it better/faster, because you are part of the thing. It's a little sad and i only wish i wouldn't see it.
I think the voice acting for snake also sounds overacted on a lot of places. It doesn't sound like an old man. More like a young man trying to sound old... Some of the cut scenes are awesome, some are just minutes of redundant dialog, which don't help the story, and especially it's pace at all. Most annoying, however, is the fact that you play 30 seconds of a great action sequence, then it fades out and you get a 10 Seconds loading screen which you have to leave with 'Start' to experience the next 30 seconds of gameplay... it really breaks the experience for me, and i don't understand why it hasn't been done a little more cleverly. If there need be loading times, hide them behind mini-cut scenes, or at least don't make them so annoying.. Loading screens are so 80s :)
The German translation (subtitles and item description and such) are also pretty poor. There are a few complete mis-interpretations to what was said in English and some Item-names are just plain wrong in a way that it hurts your eyes when you read them...

Having said all that: The graphics overall are very nice, even if they stutter in some of the cut scenes quit noticeable. The faces look awesome for real-time-ingame. The score and sound in general is great and the gameplay.. it's a bit boring in the beginning but the more you advance the better it gets... Right now in the latter part of act 3 it is absolutely great...

mavbsbll21 @ Jun 15th 2008 9:15PM

Mr. Pessimist. Damn Germans...

stargateheaven @ Jun 16th 2008 2:18PM

Your camo doesnt change in the cut scenes. If you shake the sixaxis, it goes back to normal though. If you're going to complain, dont make things up.

KUV1977 @ Jun 16th 2008 3:07PM

yes it does. For example S-P-O-I-L-E-R: when you trail the resistance in act three, the cutscene will start with a bright brownish camo... during the cutscene it changes to the black version without apparent reason... also no sound effect is played in the off... it just switches from one scene to the next... /S-P-O-I-L-E-R Just because you didn't notice, doesn't mean that i make things up. And just because someone said something negative about your holy-grail-video game and you want it flawless doesn't mean that it is... As i wrote i think the game is great but it has some simple Hollywood-like flaws. Everything is minor but the in-action loading times...

kentuckyfried @ Jun 16th 2008 6:14PM

I'm eager to see how well these complaints register....I've just gotten to the point of the game you're talking about where the pacing apparently gets screwed up. Then again, I'm not surprised, when I was playing MGS2 I felt like I was watching a movie half the time more than actually playing the game...

As for that correcting the camo tidbit, can't wait to try that when I get home!

MexiChrist @ Jun 15th 2008 9:04PM

The game was everything I could have hoped for and then some! Thank you Kojima!!

KUV1977 @ Jun 15th 2008 9:30PM

How can 'looking back at something' be pessimistic - call me rather Mr.Picky if you want to find a name at all... It is an opinion... of course you don't have to agree... Also i wrote that the gameplay is great. So am i not allowed to have an opinion other than 'Mr Kojima is god and from now on i shall love 'bugs' and mediocre story-telling (not mediocre story) whenever i see it'... most of the stuff i wrote can be ignored, but do you really want to tell me that you like getting sucked right into great action and then be greeted with a loading screen after 30 seconds (speaking of act 2 - most will know what i mean)... then another 30 seconds and a loading screen again...

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:08AM

Its great, it's amazing how they keep it a 'game' while still maintaining the cinematic experience.
I hate nothing more than a game that forgets what it is and does away with points, scores etc.

Dan @ Jun 15th 2008 10:03PM

There should be an option saying
"This IS the best game I've ever played!"

Seriously, I've played alot of games in my time, and to date, MGS1 was one of the best, but I have to say, MGS4 surpassed the hype and came out to be a great game. I was even there for the Halo series...and MGS is deff better then Halo. Enuff Said

Chigurh @ Jun 15th 2008 10:16PM

I'm an MGS geek, so this game is damn near as good as sex.

Words can't describe it.

AirB @ Jun 15th 2008 10:42PM

I'd say it's a great sneaking game, combined with an acceptable action game, combined with a story that was written by a team of high school boys who are obsessed with anime-style philosophy. Don't get me wrong--the unbelievably complicated plot, emotionally shallow characters, and childish philosophical ideas are entertaining. (We must free ourselves from the system!) However, it's kind of like laughing at the kid who eats worms. It's both funny and pathetic at the same time. All of this culminates in the nearly two hour final sequence. (There are some action sequences included in these two hours, but they are more like intermissions.) I think you'll like the story if you've ever watched "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" and either thought it was great or loved to laugh at how terrible it is. All-in-all, it's a good game; it really shows that PS3 is capable of doing; and it is a lot of fun. As I've said, the plot is part of this fun, but it's also its biggest weakness.

P.S. If you like the phrases "Proxy-battle," "PCM," "ID Locked," and "War economy" this is the game for you!

Noshino @ Jun 16th 2008 1:51AM

Uh, if the story of MGS was written by high school boys, then I guess over 90 percent of the games out there are written by kindergarden kids...

The beauty of the MGS story is that it can have multiple meanings depending from the way you view it from, for example, there was this article last week on Kotaku about how MGS4 can be seen as Kojima's own story on the videogame industry, its really mindblowing...

AirB @ Jun 16th 2008 9:40AM

I'm not gonna disagree with the statement that most video games have plots that could be written by children. A friend of mine who writes science fiction once said that good Sci-Fi stories must construct believable characters, a deep plot, and a new world. Video games a great a developing a new world; bad at developing a plot; and don't even try to develop believable characters. MGS4 is no different. New interesting world---check. Bad plot--check. Characters with tracing paper thin motivations--check.

Noshino @ Jun 16th 2008 11:26AM

"Bad plot--check. Characters with tracing paper thin motivations--check."

Ok, this deserves a big WTF

The plot is a great one, one thing is that you might not find it interesting, and a completely different one is to say that is bad...

Also, motivations? are you really serious? I don't want to spoil anything, but if you have played MGS3 you would know the reason behind their actions, well, most of them are, and the rest are explained, at a lesser degree, through the other games

andrew @ Jun 16th 2008 11:28AM

This summed up the game so far for me. Being this is my first MGS game I'm not expecting to get everything, but still even if I loved this series I don't know if I could get past the use of "buzz words" associated with the story/series. Still a great game.

shamon @ Jun 15th 2008 11:31PM

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

TheBasslineFiend @ Jun 15th 2008 11:39PM

I can't remember the last time I played a video game that evoked so many emotions - hell, I can't remember the last movie that made me feel for the characters as this game did.

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:11AM

MGS3.

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:10AM

So I guess you're not a metal gear fan?

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:10AM

MGS3.

Da @ Jun 16th 2008 12:11AM

MGS3

Chaunches @ Jun 16th 2008 1:03AM

Just finished it on early sunday, what an amazing game and ending to the solid snake series. It wraps up everything nicely perfect game Holy Sh*t

katz @ Jun 16th 2008 2:56AM

Where's the "I haven't played it yet" answer?
It's just wrong to add such poles without an answer like that.

aMIGA_dUDE @ Jun 16th 2008 7:57AM

The big spoiler
What happens at end is :-

CREDITS

They go on for ages, I amazed my name is not in there as the owner of the game, they seam to mentions everyone and there lot of them. If don't get hint there a lot of credits at very end. Then there the Metal Gear Solid 4 logo's. The end.

;)

brotherian @ Jun 16th 2008 8:22AM

I'm really sorry to say this but the cut scenes are way too long and indulgent & the voice acting is excruciating.

That said however, I'm really, REALLY enjoying the gameplay elements of MGS4. Just a shame that so much time is taken up with the cut scenes - someone here must agree that they are quite pedestrian!

Sniping is my preferred way of playing this game as i suck at CQC. Anyone got any particular style of play they wish to share?

Joeman @ Jun 16th 2008 8:33AM

Are you kidding me! The cutscenes are anything but pedestrian. I bet you're the type of person who thinks Alfred Hitchcock films are boring. I think the people saying it is bad in the poll are just xbots who don't actually own the game. I picked different opinion all together. It IS the best game I've ever played.

Rygar @ Jun 16th 2008 9:04AM

I've never been a Metal Gear fan, but I am loving this game. Brotherian is half right, though. Many cutscenes are pointlessly drawn out with some pretty bad dialogue.

brotherian @ Jun 16th 2008 10:05AM

Yeah I hate Hitchcock, his films are just completely chock-full of convoluted, self-referencing exposition! ;-)

Would it have been total sacrilege though if there were just a few less shots, a little tighter editing, and a few less heavy, dramatic pauses?

I think it's just a little arrogant for a game to have this much time spent not gaming; and worse that it's accepted. If I want to play a game, that's kind of what I want to be spending most of my time doing when I buy one. If I want to watch a movie, then I'll go rent Vertigo or Rear Window or something.

Again, that said, I am having a blast playing the game, it's just spoiled somewhat by having these lumpen scenes everywhere. Next time I play through I'll be skipping them for sure.

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