| |  | From: Konami
Category: Video Games
List Price: £49.99
Buy New: £29.99
You Save: £20.00 (40%)
New (13) Used (19) from £22.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  162 reviews
Sales Rank: 174
Platform: Playstation 3
Media: Video Game
Number Of Items: 1
Age: 11 - 18 years
Operating System: Playstation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.4 x 0.7
EAN: 4012927050118
ASIN: B000E6DYXA
Release Date: June 12, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Am I playing the same game as everyone else?? September 10, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I don't understand why everyone's raving about this game!
There is good: The graphics are gorgeous and I like the fact that the gameplay is 'open': it's possible to use a variety of tactics to complete any section.
But boy is there bad:
The cut scenes are massive. Hours and hours of them. Which would be fine if they were watchable, but they read like the mumbled translations of japanese school girls. They're slow and sentimental. Worst of all, the story is so complicated that unless you've taken notes from MG1 onwards there's no way you could keep up.
And cut scenes were obviously the focus of the game's development, because there's scarecly anything else. The gameplay itself is short and standard. What seperated previous MG offering was the variety to the gameplay - you needed to think your way through using different tactics. But this time it's a simple run and shoot. You can sneak, but the running and the shooting are so easy that there never seems any point. In fact, it's the open-ness that I mentioned before that buggers up the game - because it's possible to complete it using any tactic there's no challenge in working out the right one.
If you're a hard core MG fan who knows the back story and will appreciate the cut scenes then fine - go ahead and buy the game. But if you're after a decent game then save your cash.
 Incredible!!!! September 8, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Right firstly I wanted to make sure I had completed this game before I wrote a review. I see no point in doing a half-hearted review before I had experienced the whole thing. After completing it I have to say if you own a playstation 3 you owe it to yourself to get this game!!!!
I'll break this review down into good points and bad points you will need to consider before you buy.
GRAPHICS: Stunning!!! If you've played any of the Metal Gear games before you should know what to expect. The cut scenes that propel the story along are breathtaking and really show off the power of the Playstation. The only downside is that there are a lot of them and you will spend a considerable amount of time watching rather than playing. When I completed the game it took nearly an hour to watch the final scenes to conclude the story!! When you have control of Snake and are playing the game it still looks incredible with plenty of action on screen and lots to admire.
GAMEPLAY: Pretty solid on that score. The sneaking around found in previous Metal Gear games is still a major part of this installment but it never becomes boring and adds to the tension of the game. Also the boss battles are epic with each boss having his own weakness' which you have to discover and overcome. I'll not go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil anything just to say though that they are exciting moments in this game.
LIFESPAN: I have just completed this game with a total play time of just over 17 hours but at the end I was rewarded with bonus stuff with plenty more that I could unlock if I was to play the game again. These are rewards for stuff like sneaking, close combat and so on. I unlocked four of these after my first go but altogether there are between 20-30 rewards to collect. Add to that you can also play the game on 5 different difficulty levels and an online mode though I've only had a quick glance a that.
PLOT/STORY: Again I don't want to give too much away here but to say the story is complex would be a bit of an understatement. Too be perfectly honest the story went right over my head because I found it so confusing but that may just be me as it relies heavily on you remembering previous installments of Metal Gear. If you are new to this series I strongly suggest you start from MGS1 on the PSone.
CHARACTERS: Brilliant characters throughout this game which as well as the bosses include a surprise return character from a previous MGS who is now cooler than ever!!!!!
Overall this is a great game but it will not appeal to all with its complex plot and lengthy sections where you will be watching rather than playing but if you own a PS3 and you want to show people what all the fuss is about this is a worthwhile purchase.
 I want to play, not watch........ September 7, 2008
5 out of 14 found this review helpful
Man am I glad I borrowed this from a friend. This isn't a game, it's a movie made to show off what the next gen of consoles can do. And to be honest, it's not even a particularly good movie. Sure the graphics are impressive, but the story is so long winded and boring you'll soon be skipping the cut scenes anyway and missing out (?) on the whole point of the 'game'. Even at the current price of twenty-five quid, you're essentially buying a computer generated movie with a little bit of gaming thrown in. Don't get me wrong, on the few occasions you do actually get to play the 'game' it's actually quite good, probably worth about four stars. I was going to give three stars for the review, due to the gripes I've mentioned above, but when I saw it was sitting at the current four and a half stars average I felt I had to give it one to try and restore the balance. The people who gave this 'game' five stars either work for Konami, or prefer watching films when they're actually meant to be playing games. Borrow this if you feel you just have to `play' it, or wait until it costs a tenner. Can't believe people actually paid fifty quid for this when it came out new. The must feel like idiots. Maybe they're the ones that are giving it five stars..........
 A Textbook Example of Taking Your Audience For Granted September 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
First off, I am a fan of the series and generally favorable to anything Mr Hideo Kojima is involved with. Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS4) is considered his 'greatest achievement yet', but the jury may still be out on that, as far as I'm concerned.
GAMEPLAY wise, MGS4 is a step ahead of its predecessors. The control system is slightly tweaked to take advantage of the PS3's functionality and it works like a charm. Whether DualShock 3 or the SIXAXIS, the game uses both the rumble function and motion sensing ability. The new 'free rotating' camera takes some getting used to, however, and can literally mean the difference between life and death during a fight, or sneaking part. This is especially pronounced in MG Online, which can seriously detract from the experience. 9/10
GRAPHICALLY, MGS4 takes total advantage of the PS3's hardware and renders everything in near photo-realism, especially evident in Act II and III. I personally believe that MGS3 had the best graphics of the series, 4 just manages to trump its predecessor. You certainly cannot complain in any sense. The graphical effects are also as spectacular as ever. 10/10
STORY wise, I now caution you, is where the whole game falls resoundingly flat. Yes, it does wrap up Solid Snake's saga, yet uncharacteristically for Mr Kojima, in the most contrived manner possible. Imagine an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation and you'll know what I mean.
If MGS1 was a Die Hard-esque 80s action film, MGS2 a thinking man's adventure epic and MGS3 a absolutely exhilarating old school spy thriller, MGS4 seems to borrow all of the worst traits of modern commercial trash cinema and wrap up the culmination of 3+ games in a utterly inexplicable, unforgivably convenient manner. MGS4 is clearly (sadly) a game of the times - soundbites, instant gratification and MTV style overkill editing. Leave your brain, and your dignity, at the door.
Raiden's inclusion and subsequent story arc in the game is definitive proof of the lazy, contrived vein, as is the utterly asinine (cop-out) handling of his fate in Act IV. Rose, Colonel Campbell and even Meryl fall victim to similarly contrived arcs. There's even a few characters who are given great fanfare and their own voice over credits, but never have any (marginal) development until the ending scene!
Put another way, if MGS1, 2 and 3 were Terminator 1 plot wise, MGS4 is Terminator 3. An utterly shameless obliteration of everything MGS had promised and had given to its fans. A betrayal of the wonderfully grandiose president defined by the earlier game, MGS2. How could Mr Kojima do this to a series he professed to love? 4/10
(And don't get me started on the colossal waste of the much loved CODEC...)
With that in mind, I cannot in good conscience give MGS4 5 stars. It deserves 5 stars for fun, but perhaps only 3 overall.
Hideo Kojima's greatest game was MGS2 in terms of plot and the sheer scale of it, and MGS3 trumps all of its brethren in terms of fun. MGS4 is thoroughly eclipsed by its predecessors and blights Hideo's once flawless series.
To those new to MGS, I recommend you play the first three games before touching this, if only to make sense of the story and the entertainment factor, and those already fans, this serves as a good example of how to squander a legacy even if it is fun for a time.
All that said, I still hold MGS1, 2 and 3 dear and will probably still play them for years to come.
What the hell!!!! August 31, 2008
6 out of 25 found this review helpful
This is not a game, it's a darn movie made by mental cases. If you want to play a stealth game then get Splinter Cell. Jeez!!!!
|
|
|
| |
