Metal Gear Solid 4 is the latest in the Metal Gear Solid series and is said to conclude the story of Solid Snake.  You play as Old Snake (AKA Solid Snake) as Snake has been experiencing pre-mature aging.  Having finally caught up with Revolver Ocelot/Liquid Snake, Solid Snake and Otacon are employed once again by Roy Campbell to eliminate Liquid/Revolver before he controls all the armies of the world.

MGS4 stays true to the heart of the Metal Gear Solid series while managing to innovate and bring a more western feel to the control of Snake (this was due to Ryan Payton’s influence).  The game play is broken down into 5 acts with a mission briefing between each chapter.  It is true that this game has very long cut scenes but this is keeping with the feel of the MGS series.  These scenes were beautifully rendered and I never once got bored watching them but they are skippable if you feel like you do not want to watch them.  The game play in MSG4 is awesome.  It simply was the best time I had controlling Snake.  Ryan Payton’s more western control scheme made controlling Snake easier and natural.  After getting a feel for the controls (which didn’t take long), I never once had to think what button to pressed when I needed to press it.  The MGS series has always been about sneaking (purists play the entire game without killing anyone as you can tranquilize or stun even the bosses) but this time around you can play the entire game as a FPS if you want.  There are a host of weapons and items in this game along with the ability to customize every weapon you pick up.

Along with the weapon customization (and did I mention more western control?), there are a few other new additions to the series.  You can control a small Metal Gear called Metal Gear MK II.  This Metal Gear has stealth camo and allows you to scope out the battle field, stun enemies and place trip mines.  Snake is also given the Solid Eye which replaces binoculars and night vision.  The Solid Eye also gives you an enhanced view of the battle field giving a map and info telling you if someone you are looking at is friendly toward you.  A threat ring around Snake has been added to show the player threats that snake feels or sees.  Finally, Snake is given some new camo called OctoCamo, which automatically changes to match your environment when Snake is flattened against something.

There is a downside that there is a mandatory install at the start of the game and between each chapter.  But this also means hardly any (if at all) load times for during the entire time you play each chapter.

There is an online portion to this game in Metal Gear Online.  The feature was hampered by a convoluted sign-up process.  This seemed like too much of a hassle to play a game online that I think works better as a single player experience.

Christian View:

This game is definitely not for your children.  It deals with adult themes (war, terrorism, death, hard language, blood, sexuality).  The game also deals with cloning (not a Christian belief) in the way to make a super soldier.

Buy/Skip/Rent:

This game is a definite buy.  Up to the present, this is the reason to own a PS3.