Visuals aside, Metal Gear looks to have evolved considerably from the previous incarnations of the series. The gameplay is very reminiscent of Splinter Cell now, which I felt was a better sneaking / action game and I agree with Kojima and Co. taking the series in this direction. The CQC ability to push your enemies to the ground was impressive, and I enjoyed the rolling can bashing your enemies out of the way. All in all, the game looks to have a nice balance between realism and humour for which the series is known.
I think the visuals are impressive, but defiantly not as mind-blowing as they seemed when the game was first debut in 2005 (?). Everything seems very smooth and competent, with the character models being the high part of the games visuals. I think the game looks comparable if not better than Splinter Cell: Double Agent, and maybe as good as the forth coming Splinter Cell: Conviction.