The game millions of PlayStation 3 users yearned for
Metal Gear Solid 4 begins disconcerting and chaotic, and is drawing its greatness little by little, minute by minute and level after level. A memorable video game that, at the very least, all video game fans should come to try it out. With all the vices and virtues that have always characterized the saga, Guns of the Patriots is pure Metal Gear. A title that will delight fans of the series with its hyperbolic story and its wild mannerisms, and that will give more arguments to its detractors for its innumerable tics and its pretentious and solemn tone.
Liquid Sun Contemporary Narrative
The story of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots takes place in a far from far-fetched future where private companies rule war with an iron hand, and where a fully sustainable economy has been created around armed conflicts between countries.
Snake, affected by a terrible disease of accelerated aging, continues his inexorable path towards death; and dressed in a suit that provides him with the extra muscle that his body no longer possesses, he is punished-awarded with the last and most important mission of his career.
It is difficult to talk about the argument of Guns of the Patriots without doing an irresponsible task of gutting, so those two brief paragraphs will be all that we will tell about the history of the game. However, in the most purely evaluative aspect of the script, we can say that it moves with great skill between the different scenarios and missions that we will have to undertake, being followed at all times with extraordinary interest.
The narrative style is impressive, especially in the cinematic scenes, a true exercise in style where the video game shows its greatest artistic virtues. Much has been said about the problems that the very long duration of these video blocks entails, and that is that although there is absolutely nothing to object in the visual, if you can fault their limited capacity for narrative synthesis. Some scenes are totally round in every way, others, however, seem much longer than necessary, with excessive verbiage that gives the impression of leading nowhere. However, all this is solved with the possibility of skipping the videos, although it is not recommended in a game that has a plot with the density of Metal Gear Solid 4.
Solid Sun War Tactics
Metal Gear Solid 4 begins in the Middle East in the heat of a brutal conflict, and works solidly through the little more than 20 hours that make up the five acts of his brilliant solo campaign.
The playable style retains the tone and most elements of the previous installments, delving deeper into the shootouts and dramatically expanding the arsenal of weapons and add-ons. Perhaps one of the weakest parts of the first three Metal Gear Solid were their close combat, and the use of firearms. Guns of the Patriots, however, comes to solve these extremes by polishing and working these parts so that they are at the level of any reputed action video game.
What is achieved in this way is neither more nor less than expanding our playable alternatives even more. So we can overcome the levels going unnoticed, assassinating with stealth, or facing all the enemies in formidable shootouts; and whichever option we choose is equally well resolved, thus composing an unusually solid block.
The OctoCamo is one of the best additions to the set, not only because of the spectacularity of its on-screen performance, but also because of the possibilities it presents. It is a suit that will provide the protagonist with the muscular capacity that he lacks, and that also allows him to camouflage himself with the environment that surrounds him in a totally chameleonic way.
In the graphics simply overwhelming, Metal Gear Solid 4 being the most brutal visual exponent of how many exclusive PlayStation 3 games have been released so far.
To begin with, we must highlight the modeling of Snake, which is simply spectacular. Both in artistic terms and in the most purely technical terms, its finish is incredibly good, and it is a real pleasure to see our elderly protagonist move through the stages crouching, climbing to the heights or executing his enemies with his bare hands, all with a realism that we could only approach with the brilliant Altair from Assassin's Creed. Very few buts can be put to the animation of our protagonist, some finishing failures in the movement of him when he turns on himself while crawling on the ground, and the irregular sensation of fall that the character transmits when hanging from a certain height.
My conclusion
Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots is the closing dream of Solid Snake's passage through the saga. A round, powerful and emotional brooch to the trajectory of the most famous spy in the history of video games.
The title takes to the limit the formula that has made Hideo Kojima one of the most authentic creators in the industry, and adds the right elements, focusing much more on polishing the rest of the playable aspects to perfection. Packed with a meticulous action component and richer than ever melee combat, Guns of the Patriots is the ultimate stealth experience, and at the same time a phenomenal shooter.
