WARNING! METAL GEAR SPOILERS AHEAD!
We have SPOILER TAGS. Use them.
Same rules as with Halo 3, GTAIV, Mass Effect, etc. One thread, spoilers go in spoiler tags. You post spoilers outside of the tags and you get infracted or banned depending on how much we hate you.
A LEGENDARY HERO.
A FINAL MISSION.
THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots is the upcoming "tactical espionage action" game from Kojima Productions. It is being released simultaneously worldwide on June 12th, and will be the final chapter in the Metal Gear Saga, which started with
Metal Gear on the MSX in 1987.
FAQWhat's the big deal?
Without sounding too much like a "fanboy", Metal Gear is at the forefront of cinematic gaming. With often over-the-top plots and characters, and incredibly dramatic cut-scenes, many people are drawn into the chaotic world of Metal Gear.
"Over-the-top"?
Yeah. There's a guy who fights (and defeats) nuclear equipped walking battle tanks, another guy who died, but lives on through another guy's arm, and this other guy who shoots bees out of his mouth.
Well, what's the story for MGS4 then?
Set in 2014, five years after the "Big Shell Incident", MGS4 portrays a world where the restriction of military intervention on foreign soil has been eased, fueling the need for private military companies (PMCs) to fight proxy wars for business purposes. Nanotechnology has become prominent, both to enhance the capabilities and enforce the loyalty of mercenaries. The five largest of these PMCs are owned by a single mother company named Outer Heaven, which is operated by Liquid Ocelot. Amassing an army whose manpower rivals that of the United States, Liquid prepares to launch an armed insurrection. With the world once again in crisis, a rapidly aging and disillusioned Solid Snake is deployed into the Middle East by Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid. MGS4 will take place in five locations throughout the world, including the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe.
What about the game play?
Game play is focused on Stealth, with a small hint of action, hence "Tactical Espionage Action". Basically, Metal Gear was created from the philosophy of "advance, without being seen by the enemy". If you're spotted, you'll more than likely find yourself completely surrounded, and will have to hide until things blow over. There are also many bosses scattered through-out each game. This game is similar, but instead of infiltrating an enemy complex, you'll be infiltrating a battlefield, with a war raging around you in real-time. Taking the camo system from MGS3 a step further, Snake is equipped with Octo-Camo which allows him to copy patterns and textures from any surface he comes into contact with. The game also features revised controls to compensate for the fact that this is set in a battlefield, making action sequences much easier.
What else is new?
The "Drebin Points" system, which is similar to that creepy merchant guy from Resident Evil 4. Basically, during gameplay, you can disarm enemies and take their weapon. Doing so earns you Drebin Points which you can use to buy new weapons, as well as additional extras for guns you already have (such as sticking a grenade launcher onto the front of a rifle, as seen in the first MGS4 trailer).
How many games are there in the series?
As far as "canon" is concerned, there are eight games in the series. However games like Metal Gear Ac!d, and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel are non-canon.
The games in the series, in chronological order, are:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake EaterMetal Gear Solid: Portable OpsMetal GearMetal Gear 2: Solid SnakeMetal Gear SolidMetal Gear Solid MobileMetal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of LibertyMetal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Some are more important than others. For instance, Metal Gear Solid Mobile as it stands, has very little bearing on the over all plot, and the original Metal Gear games have pretty much been ret-conned to oblivion. You can get away with just playing MGS1, 2 & 3, but a lot of people would also recommend Portable Ops.
Will this game be easy on the "newbies"?
Game play wise, it'll probably be like MGS2 which chucked players into the deep end as soon as it began with very little explanation of the controls. Storyline wise, I've heard the game is not made with new players in mind. PSM3 magazine said that "roughly 70%" will fly right over the heads of newcomers.
Oh, well is there an easy way to catch up?
Yes. In America, you can purchase the "Metal Gear Solid: Essential Collection". I'm not American, so I'm not sure on prices, but I hear it's damn good value for money. It comes with Metal Gear Solid on 2 PS1 discs (meaning you'll have to pick up a PS1 Memory Card from somewhere, unless you have a PS3) and Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3 on two separate PS2 discs. Metal Gear Solid is also available on the Japanese Playstation Store and should hopefully be making it's way to the American one soon.
But I don't have a PS3... Lucky it's coming to the X-Box 360, huh?
Haha. Don't get your hopes up. Aside from the fact that Snake uses a SIXAXIS controller in game to control Metal Gear Mk. II (his little robo-buddy), but another character is seen using a PSP at some points. Also, Hideo Kojima himself has said that he's "fed up of being asked" about a 360 port. No PS3, No MGS4.
That's a shame... Guess I'll have to get a PS3 then..
If you really want MGS4, yes. Luckily, there's going to be a bundle released around the same time as MGS4.
...which will include an 80GB PS3, the upcoming blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and a DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller for $499.99 (MSRP).
There will even be a limited "gun metal grey" colored PS3 announced at some point. It already sold out incredibly fast over in Japan, so if you want one, you'll need to be quick.
Any Special or Limited Editions?
Yes. In America there will be a Limited Edition (box art pictured above) which will be exclusive to Gamestop for $84.99. It comes with an exclusive Artbook, Making of Blu-Ray, and the soundtrack.
See it here.
And in the UK there will be a limited edition which is exclusive to PLAY.com for £79.99. It comes with a 6" Old Snake figure, Making of Blu-Ray and the soundtrack.
See it here.Can I see some screenshots?
You can see some
here.
Be warned though, if you've been steering clear of the trailers so as to have a pure experience on June 12th, I'd suggest not clicking that link, as there's a couple of pretty big "spoilers" right there on the first page.
[strike]I want to warn people again that there will be massive untagged spoilers for the series of Metal Gear games in this thread, however we will not tolerate MGS4 spoilers in any capacity. Please be considerate as there are people out there who have been on a media blackout of this game for a long time, but still want to discuss the series, and other aspects of the game outside of the story. And there are some of us who have been waiting for this game for nearly seven years now.[/strike]
apotheos edit: I'd like to clarify that on the eve of the game being released, spoilers for the game are now permitted. Any sane individual on an actual spoiler blackout knows to fuck off and leave the "official" thread alone until they are done. Spoiler tags are extra mandatory and I will beat with sticks (aka tempban) anyone who fucks with this rule. Hard. Apologies for any ambiguity this change has caused in anyones minds as to where spoilers belong.
Also, go easy on me. This is my first time making an OP, and I'm stupid for the Metal Gear series. Let me know if there's anything here that sounds too much like me being a "fan-boy" and I'll edit it out.
Snake... Your son will bring the world to ruin...
Your son... will save... the world.
Posts
Even more, look at what became of Frank and look at what happened to Radien.
That's a very interesting observation, and something I'd never thought of before. I wonder if it was intentional...
Maybe Raiden will end up with the same fate as Frank, sacrificing himself to save Snake from a Metal Gear?
Well he does say, "It's time for me to protect you, Snake", in the trailer.
GTASA and MGS3 dropped very close together.
Also: "Metal... gear?!"
I thought, after MGSPO, that it was pretty obvious that Raiden paralleled Frank Jager more than he paralleled Snake.
Huge, HUGE Raiden spoiler from MGS4, don't read if you don't want it spoiled.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
I definitely don't see him living through the end of the game in that state.
Man, maybe I should leave this thread.
Thanks for warning me before I clicked the spoiler button. I have a tendency to do so haphazardly.
It's nothing you won't know if you've been listening to the podcasts coming from Kojima Productions, and read every interview so far. But, if you've been on a media blackout, then I would recommend not clicking, and leaving. I made this thread with the intention of going berserk with spoilers so we could discuss in safety.
EDIT: Actually, I agree in regard to MGS4 Spoilers, it'd be better to spoiler them. With warnings, of course.
Resident 8bitdo expert.
Resident hybrid/flap cover expert.
I haven't been listening to the podcast, nor have I read the interviews. I don't want a single aspect of the story spoiled. I was actually disappointed when I saw the first trailer because it meant that I'd know that Raiden became a badass.
Also, even though the thread is marked SPOILERS, I think it's still against the rules to spoil a not-yet-released, story driven game. I mean, really, putting things in spoiler tags is not difficult, and it seems pretty shitty if the official game thread contains large, unmarked spoilers before the game is even out. There are plenty of things other than MGS4's story to discuss, like gameplay, controls, MGS1-3, etc, which is why I want to be in this topic. But I don't want MGS4's story to be spoiled before its even possible to experience.
Kojima wants the game to be more accessible, I think. This time around, the game is focused just as much on action as it is stealth. Don't worry though, you can still play as Solid Snake and completely go stealth crazy, that aspect isn't gone.
It's cool, I completely understand. I'll edit the OP to reflect that, just in case there are people who mis-interpret the SPOILER in the thread title and post massive MGS4 spoilers..
It's a gameplay device to keep weapon progression linear and prevent players from simply taking out a guy with a bazooka early in the game and then breezing through. Plus it provides a continent plot device to describe why Snake can't simply pick up the better weapons that soldiers around him use.
That was always something that bugged me. I have a fucking tranq gun, and this guard is coming at me with an AK. Fucking knock his ass out and steal the gun, dumbass!
That's the Limited Edition box art. The regular still has that shitty render of Snake.
What bugs me is its only like the 2nd game with Solid Snake out of 4 (Really, does anyone count pixel joe from MG1/2?). I get its his creation but sucks the tales of Solid Snake are gonna come to an end, I can't imagine it being the same with some loser like Raiden in charge.
Fucking sweet, that means I get badass snake instead of CGI boxart.
I'll accept a sutible substitute. I adore big boss, for example.
After MGS3, I think of him as being more badass than snake in a lot of ways, and MGSPO only cemented my opinion of him.
I'm glad they made MGSPO, actually, because after MGS3 I was pretty bummed that we'd never get to play as Big Boss again.
I think this is explained in MGS2 and MGS1 with the fact that the enemies were using Smart guns. Guns that only recognized a specific user and you had to find unmarked equipment to use it.
I remember that in MGS2, but not in MGS1. In any case, there was no explanation in MGS3, and I think it's good that MGS4 has more explanation than "it's a smart gun."
I guess I just like the in-depth explanation of why I can't use them.
https://gofund.me/fa5990a5
The Drebin Points system isn't what provides that plot point, though. As Necron pointed out, it was explained in MGS2 (to an extent) as Smart Guns, guns which recognize a certain persons Nanomachines and locks if someone else attempts to use them. This is taken a step further in MGS4, with everything being regulated and controlled.
protip: try shooting all of them.
He already mentioned it was easier to get through the game without being seen. I think he knows what they do. He was asking why they would shove them in, when you could just do that, which is much easier.
Uh, shooting all the frogs makes it so you cannot be seen.
Ugh, going through the game without being seen also makes it so you cannot be seen.
It just so happens that is easier to do than shooting all the frogs.
I'm not seeing how shooting the frogs and not being seen are mutually exclusive.
That's because you're a fool.
Finishing the game with No Alerts gives you the Stealth Camo.
Shooting all the Kerotan Frogs can also give you the Stealth Camo.
The first is really easy. The second is incredibly frustrating.
Get it?
For people who can't go through the whole game without ever being seen? Is it really that hard to figure out?
Not being seen is easy, yes. Going through the ENTIRE game without being seen? Not as easy.