Metal Gear Solid 4 post:#1067

[Scott_Arm]

Conversely, having extra time for gameplay does not automatically make a good game. It's up to the designer to make a memorable title. I heard MGS3 has a "climb the staircase for 5 minutes" gameplay segment. Surprisingly, people seem to appreciate the monotonous gameplay "timeout" to reflect on their earlier boss fight. Some probably hated the long and meaningless run (You can't skip it like a cutscene !).

In all cases, we will have to trust the designers to experiment. The cutscenes or gameplays are there exactly where they need to be.

I have no problems with brief cutscenes. Long cutscenes are on of my bitching points in a lot of games. Metal Gear goes far beyond the length any cutscene in any game should ever be.

Of course some games try to get on without them, like Assassin's Creed, where they lock you into a little area and you're forced to listen to someone talk. Those might be even worse, because you can walk around and everything, but you still aren't really playing, and a lot of the dialog is very bland. So it lacks the visual flair of a well directed cinematic, and it still removes you from the gameplay.

5 minutes walking up a flight of steps? That would bother the hell out of me.

Not if you can pause the screen and play with the camera.

I had read a bunch of things that mentioned full motion video. I just read up on the camera angles and that little robot thing. Is there going to be a mix of in-game cutscenes and full motion video, or is the whole thing in-game?

 

[patsu]

Heh, I think they try to bring out the emotion in us using a combination of cutscenes and gameplay. Cutscene length may not be a sufficient measurement of its awesomeness (or lameness).

Where did you read that it's FMV cutscene ?

 

[dobwal]

Metal Gear has done so well in the past because of it's unique, incredibly polished gameplay. It's varied and lengthy. The cutscenes are the icing on the cake. With 20 hours gameplay to 10 hours cutscenes, I'll be a happy chappy.

Metal Gear has done well because of its over dependence on its cinematics. Metal Gear is probably one of my most favorite franchises of all time. But that mostly based on the earlier games of the series with each new release bringing an additional level of frustration.

I don't have a lot of love for MGS3 because while the cinematics and graphics have moved forward by leaps and bounds. The actual gameplay has been crawling forward for quite some time. Remove the story, cinematics and the graphics and there isn't much left to call a game.

I found myself during a second play through wishing during some parts that I could skip the playable parts and get straight to the cinematics. I've been wishing for meat and potatoes to the gameplay aspect of MGS for years.

This is the one game that could make me pay north of $299.00 for a PS3, but there is going to have to be a major upgrade in gameplay.

The first step in the right direction would be real time communication without the need to stop gameplay.

 

[kyleb]

I had read a bunch of things that mentioned full motion video.

Huh, that would be a big change for the series, pretty much everything in the past games was real time.

 

[Brad Grenz]

What he probably read was a lot of people on message boards talking out their asses about why the game needed a 50GB disc.

 

[deepbrown]

I had thought all of the cutscenes were created using the game engine, but were video captured and not run in real-time.

I've read there's interaction with the cutscenes.

 

[Scott_Arm]

What he probably read was a lot of people on message boards talking out their asses about why the game needed a 50GB disc.

I may be confusing Metal Gear 4 with Uncharted.

 

[deepbrown]

Metal Gear has done well because of its over dependence on its cinematics. Metal Gear is probably one of my most favorite franchises of all time. But that mostly based on the earlier games of the series with each new release bringing an additional level of frustration.

I don't have a lot of love for MGS3 because while the cinematics and graphics have moved forward by leaps and bounds. The actual gameplay has been crawling forward for quite some time. Remove the story, cinematics and the graphics and there isn't much left to call a game.

I found myself during a second play through wishing during some parts that I could skip the playable parts and get straight to the cinematics. I've been wishing for meat and potatoes to the gameplay aspect of MGS for years.

This is the one game that could make me pay north of $299.00 for a PS3, but there is going to have to be a major upgrade in gameplay.

The first step in the right direction would be real time communication without the need to stop gameplay.

I disagree - MGS3 had a huge upgrade in gameplay, further interacton and depth - the real perfection of the MGS mechanics, improving upon MGS2 in a multitude of ways, and taking the gameplay outside into the jungle. Really the gameplay was still well ahead of any similar competitor, and MGS3 contained more evolutions than you'll find in most sequels.

 

[el_rika]

Metal Gear has done well because of its over dependence on its cinematics. Metal Gear is probably one of my most favorite franchises of all time. But that mostly based on the earlier games of the series with each new release bringing an additional level of frustration.

I don't have a lot of love for MGS3 because while the cinematics and graphics have moved forward by leaps and bounds. The actual gameplay has been crawling forward for quite some time. Remove the story, cinematics and the graphics and there isn't much left to call a game.

I found myself during a second play through wishing during some parts that I could skip the playable parts and get straight to the cinematics. I've been wishing for meat and potatoes to the gameplay aspect of MGS for years.

This is the one game that could make me pay north of $299.00 for a PS3, but there is going to have to be a major upgrade in gameplay.

The first step in the right direction would be real time communication without the need to stop gameplay.

Well, that's your opinion, you obviously haven't got to the point of mastering MGS3's gameplay and the hidden layers of depth the gameplay has to offer.
Like any hardcore game (Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden) MGS can seem frustrating at firts, untill suddenly everything just "clicks" and a completely new face of the game is revealed and you begin to understand the how what and the why and you begin to make the rules and not the game.

That's the beauty of these games, they are more than meets the eye, you just have to want/be able to dig deeper.

 

[obonicus]

I had thought all of the cutscenes were created using the game engine, but were video captured and not run in real-time.

The Eurogamer preview mentions that one particularly long cutscene early in the game is actually interactive; you can control the Metal Gear Mk 2 and wander the scene while the cutscene plays out.

 

[el_rika]

I had thought all of the cutscenes were created using the game engine, but were video captured and not run in real-time.

All the cutscenes in MGS4 are confirmed to be realtime polygonal demos just like in the previous MGS titles.

 

[deepbrown]

All the cutscenes in MGS4 are confirmed to be realtime polygonal demos just like in the previous MGS titles.

Yay! 10 hours of polygonal demos!

 

[el_rika]

Yay! 10 hours of polygonal demos!

It is actually around 6 hours of cinematic cutscenes and 4 of codec calls, not including the optional ones of course.
So yes, the story portion of the game is 10 hours, though only 6 of actual cimenatics.

 

[Jin-wu]

All the cutscenes in MGS4 are confirmed to be realtime polygonal demos just like in the previous MGS titles.

There will be some pre-rendered stuff.

Like the MGS flashback and the PMC comercials that are also supposed to feature live action.

 

[obonicus]

There will be some pre-rendered stuff.

Like the MGS flashback and the PMC comercials that are also supposed to feature live action.

I thought the MGS flashback was playable, though. Or maybe I'm confusing it with some video of not-Old Snake running around in a very Shadow Moses-like scenario.

 

[Nesh]

There will be some pre-rendered stuff.

Like the MGS flashback and the PMC comercials that are also supposed to feature live action.

These will most likely be few to even take them into consideration as the reason that BR got filled.

But anyways I love the PMC commercials. It almost gives a post apocalyptic feel. Its as if these PMCs exist for real and advertise their services in the exact same way private companies do today. If the MGS world became true thats how it could have been for real.

I also love how different each commercial is. For example the European PMC commercial has a more "cultural" vibe, and there is also another one that is has probably Russian characters which shows that is probably Russian.

It shows how the world has come into an almost totalitarian phase were it is controled by PMC's with market leaders from each continent

 

[tuna]

Swedish mag Level was delivered to subscribers yesterday and they gave MGS4 a Ten (out of ten). They really liked the new controls and camera system and says the gameplay is really varied.

 

[Cornsnake]

The Dutch OPM gave it 96%. They say its a perfect ending to the series.

 

[deepbrown]

The Dutch OPM gave it 96%. They say its a perfect ending to the series.

PlayStation Official Magazine (UK): 10/10
* PlayStation Official Magazine (US): 10/10
* PlayStation Official Magazine (Italy): 10/10
* PlayStation Official Magazine (Dutch): 9.6/10
* Level (Sweden): 10/10
* Joypad (France): 19/20
* Jeuxvideo Magazine (France): 18/20

Obv we can ignore first four - though I do remember OPM UK being harsh on PS3 exclusives....or at least not inflated.

 

[Cornsnake]

I've never seen the Dutch OPM overrate exclusive's. And they did have some criticism. The grafics could be a bit better and the story is to complex for newcomers.