Metal Gear

Many video games are escapist in one sense or another and have to deal with the maximum agency afforded to the player, and in most cases we're talking about agency in the idealized, physical sense.  If the protagonist is not physically attractive or physically "able" (and this is to say nothing of the marginalizing of the physically handicapped or disabled in video games... perhaps a topic for future discussion), at the very least he/she is youthful... iconic of the kind of template for change and dynamic narrative-based character shifts we all look for in the classic bildungsroman that forms the basis for games ranging from Braid to Fable 2.

While Tim takes some time off to enjoy his new son, we present our very first bonus episode! In these deleted scenes from Episode 14, you'll hear a great segment on how casual games relate to Heather Chaplin’s GDC rant, and then we try to answer that classic gaming question “What is the Citizen Kane of Video Games?” Our answers will shock and amaze you. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Mike Bracken, David Stone, and the very sleepy Tim Spaeth.

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Topic and Game References:

• Gears of War 2
• Tetris
• Xenosaga 2
• Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
• Wing Commander
• Civilization

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

In an effort to prepare for Metal Gear Solid 4, I've recently been playing some of the earlier Metal Gear Solid games. And while it's been really fun for the most part, it's also brought to mind some of my gaming pet peeves, not just related to MGS but to games in general.

What triggered this for me was being reminded that MGS doesn't allow the player to pause during cut scenes. I was at the end of MGS2 when I suddenly found the need to pause the game. I think I knew at that point that I couldn't actually pause, but I had no choice but to try. So I hit the start button and suddenly the game fast forwarded to another section, apparently bypassing a whole bunch of end-game exposition. As a result, I had to reset the game, load my most recent save, and fight a whole bunch of enemies and go through a long boss fight just to get back to the cut scene that I missed. It was absolutely maddening, and it baffles me that the developers wouldn't include such an obvious feature, or why any developer wouldn't include that feature, especially in a game that is so heavy in cut scenes.

There will be another Star Wars trilogy from someone other than George Lucas before there is another Metal Gear Solid without Hideo Kojima at the controls.

So is it true that most gamers only want better graphics and more-of-the-same gameplay? Many industry heads think so, and evidently there's a pretty good number of gamers out there who are pretty eager to agree with them.

I would love to have a chance to sit down with Hideo Kojima, one of the industry's most well-known, well-respected auteurs and find out exactly what place Guns of the Patriots holds in his mind. Why? Quite honestly, the game is a shadow of what it could, and should have been.

Metal Gear producer Hideo Kojima is definitely an auteur, one whose fame and notoriety continue to rise the longer he continues to work. Make no mistake. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (MGS4) is Hideo Kojima’s game. The question is: are you okay with that?

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Crude Humor, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes and Violence.

Game Description: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, is a next-gen experience complete with top-of-the-line graphics and surround sound designed for the Sony PlayStation 3. Featuring the most revealing display of Kojima Production's premier title, MSG4 details the world where Snake must under go his final mission. Joined by a familiar cast of characters, Snake must once again return to the battlefield to confront his lifelong rival, Liquid Ocelot, who is manipulating the world's wars from the one world where soldiers will always have a place. But Liquid Ocelot is not the only one who will be able to manipulate the world's wars—Snake can destabilize opposing forces by working behind the scenes, supporting the local militia as they fight PMCs, creating a smokescreen that allows Snake to move freely within the war-zone.

Yes

No