Eh? I loved the game, but I can't imagine it appealing to the vast majority of gamers... all these 10s it's getting are rather odd. :?Funkyhamster
It's funny, and suprising, at least a bit, that I started at the end and read quite a few pages before I found this (so no, I didn't just read the first page and skip all the way to the end.)
I think the game is really quite well done, but I just don't see this as a perfect 10 by any means. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay, graphics, and story are all quite well done but there is one blemish that really and truly strikes a nerve with me. It's all the dang cutscenes. Not only are they overly frequent, but they are unnecassarily long.
Here's my thought on this. Video games are really an interactive form of entertainment. Everytime the game takes the interactive out of the entertainment it better be for a darn good reason. MGS4 does this so consistently it kills the immersion. I'm constantly bombarded by either A) a load screen (B) a long video or (C) the occasional install screen. A lot of times these come one right after the other, (such as between Acts where I get a long video, an install screen, then another long video) leaving me to wonder when the "game" is going to feel like letting me interact with it once more.
Moreover, it seems as though everytime the game feels the necessity to reveal a new portion of the story it can't do this within the gameplay, but rather pauses it to tell me. I think it's tantamount to Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's critique of CtrlAltDel-Online. He criticised Tim Buckley for starting with the punchline than explaining why that was supposed to be funny. In MGS4, I feel as though I'm constantly running through the generic motions than having the game steal away control to explain why I'm doing that. The game should explain it as I go, while I'm in control, saving the cutscenes for moments that truly warrant it.
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