Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
2008
- shooter
- tactical
- adventure
- action
- fantasy
- survival
- historical
- stealth
- single player
The story
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character. The gameplay of the previous games have been kept along with some new features, such as the ability to roll on your back and also to hide in bins scattered around the environment. Most of the story and the relationship between the characters are explained through cut-scenes with a considerable length, so knowledge of the prior games is recommended to fully understand the story. The game also features a complex multiplayer mode entitled Metal Gear Online with some original missions based on the stealth aspects of the single-player games.
What it’s like
Grimy, gunmetal and sepia-tinted, with war-torn deserts, rain-slick city streets and a bleached, dying Middle East rendered in heavy, filmic detail: the look is grounded modern warfare with a stealth game's careful eye for shadow and cover. Its sound is a restless blend of orchestral swells, tense electronic pulses and long stretches of ambient hum, with the quiet of a hiding spot broken by distant rotor noise or a sudden alarm. The vibe is bleak, weary and melancholic, shot through with bursts of absurd, operatic spectacle: a cinematic lament that swings between sombre reflection and gleeful genre excess. Pacing is uneven by design, with long cutscenes that feel like a film you sit through, then tense, slow-creeping stealth sequences, and a body that handles nimbly, rolling, crouching, slipping into bins to hide. Intensity is high: frequent gunfire, brutal close-quarters combat, graphic deaths, gore and disturbing imagery of war and bodily decay, with a lot of talk of murder and disease. Its arc is a worn-out soldier confronting his own aging and legacy. Made for players who love lingering over story, don't mind long talky cutscenes, and want a bleak, stylised war epic with a stealth heart.
More games like Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Closest in mood, pacing and theme. Tell us why you loved Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriotsand we’ll explain which ones fit you.
