06 Jan 09
Metal Gear Solid 4 is great.
I was extremely happy to reach the conclusion of Dead Space for a number of reasons:
- No more monsters jumping out of vents
- I can play another game without feeling guilty
I had initially started playing Far Cry 2 while in the midst of Dead Space, and all the freedom it offered had the interesting effect of making me long for the more structured missions of the very game I was avoiding. I managed to put about five hours into it before giving it up and returning to the land of linearity.
And so with the conclusion of Monster Zombies in Space™, Far Cry was forgotten in favor of a new contender: Metal Gear Solid 4. I’ll be honest; I didn’t have high hopes. I’ve played games in the series before and not done overly well, but given that this is the flagship game for the PS3 and beat out my favorite game ever for GameSpot’s Game of the Year, I expected that it would at least provide for an interesting and entertaining experience.
I was not wrong.
Like other games in the Metal Gear Solid line, MGS4 has a healthy serving of dialogue and cutscenes to accompany the gameplay – there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be watching just as much as you’ll be playing. But the Metal Gear universe is so deliciously convoluted that every bit of dialogue becomes important to understanding just what the hell is happening. Before playing through I had only a passing knowledge of the series, and even I wasn’t completely confused.
That’s not to say it’s brilliant or clever; more appropriate descriptions would be weird, or twisted, or just plain crazy. Still, it’s definitely interesting and keeps you intrigued. And you’re rewarded for your wait with some really good gameplay. Metal Gear games have always relied heavily on stealth elements, and while this one certainly is no exception, you’re provided with adequate firepower from the get-go that will make the occasional skirmish less of a punishment.
There’s not much else I can really say about this game except that it’s really fun, and you should play it if you have a PS3. After a stream of averageness, this is the first game I’ve played that really gives me hope for the console.
A coworker brought in Laffy Taffy this morning which resulted in a barrage of absolutely awful jokes flying back and forth via email:
Why were the baby strawberrys crying? Because their mom and dad were in a jam.
What did the baby horse say to the mean horse? Be kind to your neigh-bors!
Where can a monster always find friendship? In the dictionary.
What did the volcano say to the other volcano? I lava you.
How are a clergyman and a small blender alike? They’re both mini-stirs.
What do you get when you cross a chicken and a spaniel? Cockerdoodledoo.
Where do cows go to have fun? The moo-vies.
Why did the farmer feed the cow money? He wanted rich milk.
Great. So I also decided to pick up Sly Cooper and Max Payne over the weekend, which cost me a not unreasonable sum of $26. I am pleased with both – Payne because it is a Rockstar effort and therefore there’s no possible way not to like it, and Cooper because it’s a lighter side of stealth, which is really pretty fun. At this point I am more addicted to the latter because I tend to tear through platformers if I really enjoy them. Max Payne is, of course, a lot darker, which will keep me from moving through it too quickly. I also want to continue Driv3r and MGS2, which I haven’t touched for awhile. I was tempted by Ratchet & Clank at the game store so I foresee that one in the near future as well.
There was this one time where I had this blog and I didn’t update it for like two weeks. Wait – that was now. Anyway, here I am with a list of fragmented thoughts:
- scootering is fun, biking is almost as fun, especially with the weather finally getting nicer.
- bought Kanye West’s the College Dropout and Jay-Z’s Black Album. Kanye’s is better.
- also bought the Kill Bill vol . 1 soundtrack – also good.
- also also bought Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Hitman 2: Silent Assassin. MGS2 is good, Hitman is hard.
- still enjoying the Getaway and eagerly awaiting my reserved copy of Driv3r.
- finally updated my blog with more meaningless blather nobody cares about.
- thinking about a new phone (camera!) but there aren’t any good ones around here. Yet.
- we gave the cat another bath the other day – he liked that a lot
- I need to go rollerblading sometime.
- it’s finally almost summer and I’m happy about that. I think