One of the greatest video games I will ever play. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots so ferociously captures everything loved about this franchise that is 37 years old and still going strong in every aspect: its characters, the story they weave, the music that surrounds them, and the gameplay that moves them are all done to the highest degree. It isn’t perfect: the long cutscenes can definitely drag on. The plot can sometimes be overambitious, asserting new characters and concepts at a rapid pace without spending much time to allow exposition to be digested and understood, even if these concepts, for the most part, are interesting. Guns of the Patriots, however, flaws and all, make it Metal Gear. What makes a game “Metal Gear” is hard to define: to some, it’s cinematic espionage action, while to others, it’s a sometimes-goofy, sometimes-brilliant expression of anti-war themes. To me, while Metal Gear is those things, it is the emphasis on the individual, both the main characters and the player, and the implications of their role in life and society that define this franchise. In that sense, Guns of the Patriots is “Metal Gear” at its finest: overambitious, wordy, expressive, emotional, and ever-striving to make an impression.
MGS4’s gameplay is a massive upgrade from even Snake Eater, which I deem the greatest game of all time, tied with Super Metroid. Major refinements such as crouch walking, a revised and more comfortable control scheme, a simplification of stamina into Psyche, and modernized shooting controls expand on even MGS3’s core gameplay and, ironically, despite his age, result in a far smoother, far more capable Solid Snake than prior entries. A bevy of new innovations to the series, such as Drebin’s weapon catalog, weapon customization, the Mark II robot, and the Solid Eye all enhance the gameplay and solve the limitations of prior games in engaging, complex ways. The introduction of the aforementioned catalog means ammo and weapons are always in stock for a price and make the risk-reward balance between stealth and combat: skilled players who risk enemy engagement are rewarded with locked weapons that can be sold for points that are eligible to restock ammo, customize weapons with attachments such as lights and suppressors, and buy new weapons if need be. Players who prefer to be stealthy maintain a low Stress level and Snake’s Psyche, which, if low enough, can limit his movement, and improvements to the stealth and movement make espionage far more capable than before. Leaning against surfaces is locked to the Triangle button, meaning no more risking falling off due to not holding the analog stick in the proper direction. The OctoCamo camouflage system is a brilliant step forward from Snake Eater’s already deep system. It encourages environmental awareness during stealth by sheathing Snake in camo that resembles the surface he’s pressed against. If a game’s mechanics are meant to be a synergized dance between risk, reward, and improvisation to create an engaging system, then Guns of the Patriots passes with flying colors.
Graphically, for a 2008 PlayStation 3 game, Metal Gear Solid 4 is mostly great. I played this game emulated on RPCS3 and had a few graphical issues that I can’t pin on the game, such as loading character clothes in at the beginning of the cutscenes and the rare invisible object. Having played the game on a standard PS3 frame limit, the frame rate did dip to 20fps on occasion, but the game always remained smooth, playable, and responsive. One flaw likely made worse on the original hardware is loading: MGS4 has a lot of loading beyond just cutscene transitions. During cinematic gameplay moments, the game will pause with a loading screen to load entirely new scenes. Shorter loading screens are similarly frequent in larger open planes with segmented areas. A remaster could fix these things, but I don’t think I’ll hold out much hope, considering Konami’s most recent MG efforts. Otherwise, the game graphically holds up well. The detail on up-close facial expressions is impressive for the time, landscapes are detailed and maintain the hyperinteractivity the series is renowned for, and the game vastly improves the series’s high watermark for presentation. Cutscenes are finally pausable, the mission briefings in-between acts are enjoyable ways to slow the pace down (and are highly interactable to boot; just remember to watch the first one in the main menu as it exposits on details before starting the main story), and the UI remains clean, easy-to-read, and adapts to all situations players will find themselves in. On the topic of presentation, the music in MGS4 also stands out. While I usually love Metal Gear music for its lowkey synthesizers and ambiance and how contrast is built when encountered or in boss themes, for the second game in a row, the soundtrack for the game is particularly notable. Prior themes are remixed and used brilliantly in several moments, which emotionally reward players of prior games, while new themes can emphasize the environment’s ambiance while being more memorable and prominent than in prior games. This is easily in contention for the best soundtrack in the series, and the “Love Theme” and “Here’s to You” are marvelous songs.
Finally, we reach the story. Hideo Kojima and the Kojima Productions team are known to dream big, but this game is the biggest they’ve dreamt so far. To describe the plot, I’d deem it overambitious, expository, and occasionally confusing. While I’d hope it’s made obvious to play the prior games before Guns of the Patriots, I absolutely would affirm that belief after completing my playthrough. Any players who have not played, at the very least, the prior Solid games will likely lack the emotional weight of scenes, be very confused about complex concepts, and be unable to truly enjoy the story at its core. Even the original Metal Gear 1 and 2, usually relegated to minor callbacks and backstory, are the most relevant to the plot in the series so far, with the possible exception of Metal Gear Solid 1. However, despite all of this, Guns of the Patriots tells and weaves its story in a way that is unforgettable, with the greatest ending I’ve yet seen in a video game. I’m very lucky not to have gotten the true ending spoiled for me, and I hope the same applies to all those who play this game: Guns of the Patriots pays off up to that point two decades’ worth of character buildup and worldbuilding in a marvelous way that deeply compelled me on an emotional level. If Metal Gear is defined by the implications and emphasis of the individual, then no game in the series exemplifies that more than this game’s Solid/Old Snake. A tired, broken hero who still, despite it all, maintains his will to protect and serve others. Some say he has a death wish, a statement he agrees with, but to see other characters hold Snake with such reverence that they act in any way they can to protect him with Snake’s wavering awareness is beautiful. The allegiances, values, and actions such as Naomi, Campbell, and Liquid Ocelot are questioned but never condemned. Flawed and, in some cases, dishonorable, but never lacking in motive or eventual explanation, which keeps tension high. The recontextualization and overall significance of prior games, in particular Snake Eater, was mindblowing, and there are a few character appearances I would’ve never seen coming. The System, controlling and yet reassuring, is actively implicated in gameplay with locked weapons, FROG soldiers, and Drebin, just to name a few. The System, the Patriots, and their implication on the world’s dependence on the war economy are truly examined within the plot. Occasionally confusing, in all honesty, but evaluated nonetheless. The game left me in a slurry of emotions: silence, fear, joy, sorrow, pain, and even fury, fitting for a game and a saga’s end with the final act of MGS4 as a commanding conclusion over your emotions. The Boss is often symbolized with fleeting petals: in response, Guns of the Patriots, even more than Snake Eater, truly demonstrates the meaning of the petal. The values of the individual passed on through ideology, not genes, retain their will. The flower or a gun, the petal floats on, its origin of zero placed aside in order to live. Even as the petal symbolizes a leave of this world, new petals bloom and become one. Left the way it is, the scene becomes beautiful, and the world gains a sense of growth once again.
Even if Metal Gear as a franchise concluded here, I believe Guns of the Patriots’ ending would be enough. It transcends beyond simple entertainment and becomes an experience, an art painting in and of itself. The paint is smooth, and the artist’s mastery of scenery marks an excellent presentation. The piece is imperfect by any means: the plaque explaining the art is overlong, the canvas maintains a few uneven scratches, and the piece takes a few seconds to process. It’s dreamlike in its ambition, standing tall amongst the other paintings in the museum, dreaming bigger than anything you’ve seen. Despite its flaws, despite its imperfection, you see the sublimity. It may not be the greatest game ever made like I deem its predecessor, but Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will always remain worth it for its gameplay, presentation, music, and story. It is not perfect, but rather a game that never tried to be and achieved so much anyway, a lesson its most iconic character learns. Maybe, as individuals, it’s one we should live on with as well.
