Metal Gear Solid 4 Preview
By: Eric M. Martin |
Sunday June 08, 2008 |
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Two decades later, the end of an era. Solid Snake returns for one final mission. |
| June 12, 2008 is ground zero for long time followers of the Metal Gear series. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots marks the final chapter of the adventures of Solid Snake. Set in 2014, five years after the Big Shell Incident from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, a rapidly aging Solid Snake is coming to grips with how war has changed. Arguing that war is, and has been, life for him, he is forced to deal with a more controlled playing field where private military companies wage personal wars for business purposes, every piece of equipment used is tagged to the user, and even your own bodies are no longer yours, but mere tools for the nanotechnology to manipulate for the “good.” With Liquid Ocelot behind the reins of an ever-growing force, potentially becoming the largest military presence in the known world, Solid Snake is dispatched to the Middle East by Colonel Roy Campbell with orders to terminate Liquid Snake on sight. Armed with the new and improved Octocamo, the “Solid Eye” visual aids, and cardboard box 2.0 (also known as a steel drum), Old Snake definitely has a few new tricks. Players will find some improvements on Close Quarters combat as well as the ability to interrogate troops for information and supplies. Players will find Old Snake to be a little less invincible than in earlier versions of Metal Gear. Instead of the stamina meter from Snake Eater, players will have to contend with Stress and Psyche bars. The Stress bar is largely based around immediate atmospheric conditions. An increased Stress meter may result in Snake’s instincts taking over. Although accuracy is increased and personal damage is reduced, once it all settles down, Snake may momentarily collapse with exhaustion. If you want to exercise a little more control, use the cigs to manage Stress. Since Psyche affects combat accuracy and wits, staring at girlie books will easily refresh the man in all of us.  An all-star voice cast will reprise their original roles for the North American release, with very few changes. David Hayter, Paul Eiding, Christopher Randolph, Debi Mae West and Jennifer Hale will all return in their respective roles, being joined by legendary voice actor Phil LaMarr. Since Koji Totani, the Japanese voice actor who was cast as Revolver Ocelot died in February of 2006, the move was made to replace him with Banjo Ginga, the voice of Liquid Snake. On a contrary note, Patric Zimmerman’s role of Revolver Ocelot will be re-vamped for Liquid Snake. The music for MGS4 is in the capable hands of three-time MGS composer Harry Gregson-Williams and Nobuko Toda who worked on Metal Gear Acid. Many who’ve put the game on reserve are already aware of these various special offers. For those of you just tuning in, dip into your wallets a little deeper. Although the Gunmetal Grey bundle may be unavailable to those who didn’t speak up around May 19, there are some other options. There is a Limited Edition of MGS4 containing the game, artwork by Yoji Shinkawa, the official soundtrack, and two Blu-ray discs that document the making of MGS4. This is to say nothing of the second PS3 bundle being offered in North America for $499 US. With that, you get an 80GP PlayStation 3, DualShock 3 Wireless controller, a copy of MGS4 and a downloadable game coupon from the PlayStation Network. |
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