This is my first game of the series, and wow. What more can you say.
The first thing to touch on is this games graphics. The player models are great and the when you do an action it is very smooth. The environments are very realistic and with the different camoflages you can blend in to the amazing scenery. Also with the the new camera view you can see many more details than from the original camera and that shows that if there was that camera view when snake eater came out, the graphics would seem out of this world, which i still think they are near the top of the line compared to games out now. The great graphics also carry over to the new online mode which i will touch on later.
Next, the gameplay is different than a lot of games, and i think that is the best part. Some people believe that FPSs are the only way to go, and if you think that you are kidding yourself. The variety of actions that you can do in this game is crazy from the weapons, hunting for your own food, boss battles, or just stalking around and killing people without them knowing you are there. Another thing that I noticed is how deep the game is. The game takes things in to consideration such as time for your recovery of fatigue or your food getting spoiled. Also the fact that you can cure yourself and outfit yourself in many different outfits, and how during the cut scenes there is vibration and you can look closer at stuff and even how interesting the cutscenes show how good and detailed this game is.
For the category of sound there isn't to much to say besides that it is pretty good. The one thing I will say is that the sounds of the environments the guns, and everything else are really good. The only downgrade in this category is the repititiveness in lines used by the ai. They say the same one-liners too often which can get kind of boring.
The value for this game is amazing. I would pay $30 just for the online which i will play much more of. To talk more about the online mode is how unique it is. Since there really isn't a way for there to be multiplayer to play co-op or friend vs. friend on the same system the online mode is really the only way to play with other people, and let me say I'm not complaining. The online mode brings all of the good features of the game into it and the fact that you play with other people is good. People probably wondered how MGS would do online and I think this easily surpassed expectations to make it a near-perfect online experience. Also the duel mode for the bosses is a nice twist and is a time where you and your friends could switch off to see who does better. One complaint with the extras is the snake vs. monkey mini game. I think it is very pointless and boring.
To sum it up this is a great game that everyone who likes videogames should pick up, and even if you have snake eater there are so many new reasons to buy this. This game sparked my interest for the series, and I will buy everyone from this point on.