Zero Punctuation: Metal Gear Solid 4

[Alstan]

Why people is asking Yahtzee to review Ninja Gaiden 2? He already did. It's called DMC4 review.

About the cutscenes and dialogs... That's not bad, the problem comes when you exceed the line between a game with cutscenes and a film with game bits. Half-Life deletes all kind of cutscenes and that doesn't affect the good plot, in fact, some people call it inmersion. In Splinter Cell you recieve information from Lambert during the mission.

When a game requires so many years to develope it and it's as short as Gears of War when MGS is stealth and GoW is action, there's something wrong, but if you cut the gameplay every 5 minutes to state how cool a BR disc is or "some consoles don't incorporate HDD", then it's time to slap Kojima's pretencious ego.
I agree with Yahtzee when he sais "sacrifice game fun to make an artistic statement is bullshit" (not literally). I realized when I played Mass Effect. I loved the cinematic dialogs, the problem comes when you die and you can't skip the conversation. In MGS is the same, once you finish it the second time, cutscenes are something you avoid, so 60% is thrown to the bin. They should have delete the irrelevant cinematics and add some real game.

I think about MGS the same as every game I play these days "great but not perfect" and a game with a 10/10 score should have nothing to excuse

 

[Harvest]

kojima btw. does not regard games as art:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2098≈Itemid=2

 

[smithy_2045]

Well, that makes a review to annoy both Wii (SSBB) and PS3 (MSG4) fanboys. Has there been one to annoy 360 fanboys that I've forgotten?

 

[Wargamer]

God, I hate it when people miss the point.

No, I'm not talking about Yahtzee, I'm talking about some of the people on here!


I for one loved MGS4. Yes, there are flaws and I can see them clear as day, but I am willing to look past them. I am willing to ignore the fact that 2/3rds of my 16 hours gametime was taken up eating popcorn and praying for an intermission so my bladder doesn't explode.[1] I am willing to put up with the fact the game tells us all what we already know over and over again, even if I did feel the need to throttle a certain character at the end for saying the EXACT SAME PHRASE three times in as many minutes.

MGS4 isn't going to be for everyone. I long-ago dismissed everyone who likes the GTA series as mentally retarded but that doesn't necessarily mean I am right.[2]

Yahtzee is not "selling out". MGS4 took a lot of flak from a lot of people, but I for one think it took flak for the wrong reasons; because the people reviewing it tried to compare it to Halo and couldn't figure out that comparing the two games is like comparing F1 racing to a demolition derby. I'm not convinced Yahtzee did that, but I get the impression he wasn't a fan of the series to begin with... and let's be honest here; if you don't like the other MGS games, then MGS4 is NEVER going to appeal. You HAVE to like the others to like MGS4.

I also notice he didn't mention Metal Gear Online. That is amazingly good fun![3] I know Yahtzee has no friends, but you don't NEED friends to play Metal Gear Online, you just need the internet! I was skeptical as hell at first (having put up with the inbred community of Halo 2 Gamers many times previously at a friend's house), but it turns out you get a lot of decent people on MGO.

Anyway, it was a fun vid to watch, even for someone who is a diehard fan of the game.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Yes, I know you can pause the FMV sequences, but it's called "being funny".

[2] Of course, I am right, I'm just putting that disclaimer in safe in the knowledge a GTA fanboy lacks the mental capacity and attention span to work out I'm using footnotes.

[3] Except when you get stuck playing against Camping Sniper Douchebags who obsessively memorise every map and pick the best sniper spots.[4]

[4] Camping on the rooftops on Urban Ultimatum doesn't make you a Camping Sniper Douchebag. Even if you have a Sniper Rifle, a rucksack, a portable flask of hot soup and have already set up the tent. This is because (A) it is very easy to remove a sniper from the rooftops, whereas the other Camping spots on other levels are a pain in the ass to clear on a Team Game[5], and (B) I love sitting on rooftops shooting people. Hey, my Net connection sucks, so what else can I do?

[5] Seriously, if you get on a rooftop on Urban Ultimatum, and I am playing on the opposite team, you are DEAD! I once took out six snipers on two seperate rooftops without so much as a bullet scraping my ear. UU is the most balanced map I have yet found.

 

[Saleck]

Hello everyone. Just registered today and I would like to say Well Done to Yahtzee for another great review! I plan on renting the game to try it out a bit later on this week!
Whilst im here, Does anyone know the song to which that killer riff at the end of the entire video is? I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know.
Thank you!

 

[nightfish]

Hello everyone. Just registered today and I would like to say Well Done to Yahtzee for another great review! I plan on renting the game to try it out a bit later on this week!
Whilst im here, Does anyone know the song to which that killer riff at the end of the entire video is? I'd be grateful if anyone could let me know.
Thank you!

the music is credited at the end of the review

 

[Knight Templar]

Is it me or is all of the PS3 big titles floping? I guess this game sounds sorta fun, but clearly not the orgy it was said to be.

Anyway, good review I really liked the Deus count!

 

[Wargamer]

"shit = bananas" was the only good lol in this review... personally i like it more when he rants about hookers and racism than when he actually reviews the games since we all know that blizzard is the only company that makes truly good games and that all other games are joust being made so that we can truly appreciate blizzard's genius.

You just suggested the company that makes WORLD OF WARCRAFT is the only company that makes good games. What do you do for an encore, point out that Perfect Dark and DooM are ripping off Halo?

This review wasn't as funny as some that we've seen before. Painkiller is the BEST review he has ever done. I laughed so much it hurt! "A gun that shoots Shurikens and Lightning! SHURIKENS AND LIGHTNING!"

 

[Alstan]

Well, that makes a review to annoy both Wii (SSBB) and PS3 (MSG4) fanboys. Has there been one to annoy 360 fanboys that I've forgotten?

Halo 3 was first, in fact Yahtzee uses the game very often as an example of a mediocre FPS. Thanks to that review I stoped being a fanboy. But seroiusly, compared to all the horrible things he said about MSG4, he took a lot more crap out of Halo3.
And Mass Effect wich starts with the song "A little less conversation" by Elvis (hyllarious).

This review wasn't as funny as some that we've seen before. Painkiller is the BEST review he has ever done. I laughed so much it hurt! "A gun that shoots Shurikens and Lightning! SHURIKENS AND LIGHTNING!"

Magic hand that shoots bees, you're going to fucking loose lol

 

[sanzar]

Was really hoping Yahztee would stay away from MGS because I love the series... was a reasonably funny review nonetheless (though I do think his last few haven't quite been up to his previous standard). Have to say that I do agree with him on the whole "brother's arm" thing. I mean I love the series and all, but when that happened in MGS2 I was like WTF? I mean really, there's a lot of crazy wacked out shit in MGS, but an amputated arm taking control of someone's mind? ... that was a mistake. They should have just kept solidus alive instead or made some bullshit up about Big Boss still being alive.

 

[chaosraiden]

YAY! Thank god for unpaid reviews! I thought I couldn't bear it any longer... WTF 10/10 100 FUCKING per-CENT? That would mean PERFECT, is ANY game perfect? NO and ESPECIALLY not this one... and people argueing over reviews that give this game "only" a 9.6 or 9.4, which is too much to begin with are dicks...

Actually.. 10/10 means that the game being reviewed is better then anything else out on the market ^__^

there's a lot of crazy wacked out shit in MGS, but an amputated arm taking control of someone's mind? ... that was a mistake. They should have just kept solidus alive instead or made some bullshit up about Big Boss still being alive.

Not to spoil anything but you're almost right

 

[Whoracle]

Actually.. 10/10 means that the game being reviewed is better then anything else out on the market ^__^

Nope, not really, or you'd have to rescore every game out there, whenever a better game comes out. If you've got a finity score system, it has to encompass everything it will be used to measure, meaning 0 = worst game possible and 10 = best game possible.

If they just gave single scores, then you'd be right.

 

[Wargamer]

SPOILER ALERT!!!

MGS4 reveals that Ocelot was NOT being controlled by Liquid's arm. Ocelot was using self-inflicted hypnotic suggestion to make himself believe he was Liquid Snake. He did this as part of a larger scheme in order to save Big Boss.

 

[Radzakka]

I will admit that I am a Fan boy, and I do have a propeller encased head but also custom tassels to show that I am a true metal gear fan. I love Yahtzee's reviews usually and was looking forward to another humorous critique of my favourite game. Cat ears and Japanese school girls aside I found that Yahtzee really only skimmed the top of the product, complaining of the apparent lack of stealth in the game and the plot. Although his point about cutscenes is valid and even found them to be over the top and ridiculous in places and took away from he experience. The mechanics and stealth on the other hand was there, the first person mechanics are significantly improved for large scale shoot outs which i enjoyed on my stupid runs of the game. I know it is never going to unbiased from someone who has played the game to death like my OCD compulsion to lift weights and have sex with girls but the stealth was there and was even more challenging to get the big boss rank. For its failings metal gear solid is an excellent game and changed more mechanics than Gta 4 and advanced the boundaries of the genre, with some of the moments of the game breath taking and the stunning visuals were not even addressed left me as a cat ear wearing yahtzee fanboy rather unfulfilled like a fat ugly 40 year old woman

 

[Radzakka]

I will admit that I am a Fan boy, and I do have a propeller encased head but also custom tassels to show that I am a true metal gear fan. I love Yahtzee's reviews usually and was looking forward to another humorous critique of my favourite game. Cat ears and Japanese school girls aside I found that Yahtzee really only skimmed the top of the product, complaining of the apparent lack of stealth in the game and the plot. Although his point about cutscenes is valid and even found them to be over the top and ridiculous in places and took away from he experience. The mechanics and stealth on the other hand was there, the first person mechanics are significantly improved for large scale shoot outs which i enjoyed on my stupid runs of the game. I know it is never going to unbiased from someone who has played the game to death like my OCD compulsion to lift weights and have sex with girls but the stealth was there and was even more challenging to get the big boss rank. For its failings metal gear solid is an excellent game and changed more mechanics than Gta 4 and advanced the boundaries of the genre, with some of the moments of the game breath taking and the stunning visuals were not even addressed left me as a cat ear wearing yahtzee fanboy rather unfulfilled like a fat ugly 40 year old woman

 

[Alstan]

kojima btw. does not regard games as art:
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2098≈Itemid=2

I wonder what he thinks about his cutscenes, because they're not gameplay either.

 

[Zanaxal]

Fan boi here 2..

But mgs series has always and always will be more of a movie then a actual game. This is what i say everytime someone asks about it.. Yes it has always had lots of and LONG cutscenes.
The enviorment of the game has altered slightly from the previous games as you are no longer sneaking around in the same jungle or oilrig/base of bad doing or boat enclosed enviorments and therefor the way the game is set up with a shop to be accessed from is quite nice then having to
absolutely to check every last nook n cranny up to the point of the boss to have a chance to kill him with the correct weapon now isn't a issue "yay".
Usually a shooter game where you have the ammount of customisible arsenal of a gun dealer wins it for me straight away. You can opt to go for a kill em all strategy through the game if you wish or never engage an enemy at all. Personally stickups are my fav.

As for the story, well the series has had alot of unfinished plot lines up to now and it seems like this one was made to finish every one of these making snake fly across the globe like a yo-yo(maybe cause kojima wanted to start making something else after this one, oh wait as long as people give him money he will continue to make mgs)

Bottom line if you dont like cutscenes.. press start-skip... -.- They are damn beautiful tho.
Want to stealth? play on the hardest difficulty.. Probably 2 shots ur dead then you have a reason to do it in the first place.

 

[ayoama]

The review was spot-on. Nevertheless, I seem to adore MGS the way it is. Oh well.
BTW, the homoerotic fanficcers around the world love you too, Yahtzee, and will probably write about you and a giant squid from space to demonstrate it. :*