One of the greatest single player experiences of all time.
Classing MGS4 as a 'stealth action' game is to do it a major dis-service, this is an experience and like all experiences, it will effect different people in different ways. Alot of reviews rate this game '10' or slightly below, and a select few think it is one of the worst games ever made. These people have all had the MGS4 experience, and it has effected each in a different way.
This game will polarise a fair few people, and there is one universal truth that sums this up. People who hate it and completed it in just a few hours did something the others didnt, they skipped the cutscenes. This is the fundamental thing at the heart of any MGS experience, if you are skipping the cutscenes, you are NOT playing this game right. Everyone is entitled to thier opinion, but guns of the patriots looses so much if you simply class it as an 'Stealth action' game and dont pay attention to the story.
This is a big budget, intensely deep action movie in videogame form. Hideo Kojima is a master of his craft, and the intricate story, told through wonderfully acted and excellently designed cutscenes, will get your heart pumping, tug at its heart strings and make you think, and that is something few games can ever hope to achieve.
The actual gameplay hasnt changed much from MGS3, but rather has been refined to make it an intensely playable game, filled with large setpiece battles, thrilling on-rails vehicle sections and excellent boss fights, featuring some of the best bosses to ever grace a sci-fi product, game or otherwise. MGS4's greatest gameplay achievement, however is simple: choice. You can choose to hid in the shadows, only knocking out enemies, hugging walls, creeping slowly throught the undergrowth as the ingenious octo-camo suit mimicks your surroundings and generally being everybit the 'from the shadows' spy. On the flip side, you can run and gun, only hiding when outnumbered or outmatched, using a variety of weapons from standard assault and sniper rifles the more sci-fi rail gun. Either one is a valid way of playing the game.
Whichever style you choose, as you play through the game, other innovations appear, such as the metal gear mk. II, a small remote robot with octo-camo that follows snake around and can be controlled by him, letting you scout out areas, stun enemies and generally have the coolest toy ever. The ability to roll onto your back to shoot guys running up behind you is also useful as is the ability to buy guns and ammo from new character Drebin.
The bosses and characters you meet throughout your adventure are some the best designed, messed up and cool individuals ever created, from the twisted women of the Beauty and the Beast unit, to the soda chugging and monkey friendly Drebin. There are plenty of returning characters too, for fans of the series, and MGS4's certainly ties the whole series together in a pretty little bow.
The one creavat to Guns of the Patriots, however, is that the cutscenes can be nearly an hour long at thier longest, which is you have the patience/attention span of a pea, wont put the game in good stead. However, to miss them, and only treat it as a game, is miss the whole point and one of the most well craft video games, and stories, ever created. It may limp a little at the end while it tries to tie things up, but it is an experience like no other, and rightly deserves the highest honours.