What difficulty did you play MGS4 on? Interested because I wonder if this is why people complain about the gameplay to cutscene ratio. If they play on easy/normal, then they'll just breeze through the gameplay immediately, going straight into gun fights with little thought and not feeling like they need to sneak around as much. Where if they play on harder modes for their first playthrough, that gameplay portion becomes a much more significant part of the game (at least for me lol). The cutscenes end up being such a nice break and feel like an earned reward for getting through the gameplay sections.
My buddy & I couldn't figure out the Screaming Mantis fight. Noting the clear comparison to MGS's Psycho Mantis, I suggested toggling the settings to play as P2. We switch the settings and Snake just won't move. Then a codec call comes in and it lets us respond. "Otacon, I can't move!" Snake complained. Otacon tells Snake "did you really think that would work again?" We laughed our heads off.
Another fun fact amongst the fun facts: the Japanese voice actors for snake and big boss in the game are actual father and son and before hand had a rocky relationship and it is this game that got them to reunite and reconciliate.
Fun fact: If you have a camo equipped in a cutscene that doesn't make use of the Octocamo system, you can shake your controller during it to remove it during the cutscene much like it does in gameplay.
@@Elegiu5 I know however there are some cutscenes where the game takes control of the camo system away from the player for dramatic effect and so this secret doesn't work then (to my knowledge). For example, the Middle East cutscene that introduces octocamo and the opening cutscene to South America where the game initially forces grass camo on you.
PS3 devs made L1/R1 aim/fire standard for probably 2 reasons: - Prior to the Xbox 360's triggers, L1/R1 aim/fire was the standard in alot of shooters. - The PS3 triggers were better as pedals like in racing games than triggers in shooters. At least to me.
@@PlebNC Because of the PS3 era I still use R1/L1 for aim and shoot whenever the options allow me to. I blame mgs4, uncharted, the last of us and their multiplayers
Metal Gear Solid 4 has the best conclusion to a game series and character arc I have ever played. It was bitter sweet but I was glad Snake got his rest especially with how depressing guns of the patriot got in the story.
The boss fights are divided into two parts. Beast then beauty. You can beat the best part non lethally, which gives you a statue to collect and giving you a trophy.
@@RRM693 Gotta have something to do while Rose is nattering on about battlefield stress and lecturing about PTSD and gaslighting everyone about being horny for old man Campbell.
Only 13 minutes in. But if you helps the militias fight, they will be friendly toward you and won't need to sneak or disguise as them. They're be neutral at first but depends on your action whether they're hostile or friendly. You can also give them rations and they will give something back in return. Also you haven't mention up to this point where I'm at, the items and weapons have wights since MGS3 and they can affect your stamina/psychs when you are loaded with too many heavy stuffs. I love this game but this is one of my pet peeves of mine. When there is cut scene happens and I don't want have the 1911 and M4 in my load, in which Snake always using in, it replaces 1 or 2 of my weapons with them depending if he uses one of them or both. I have to either keep pausing and switch them or just keep both in my load then use the other 3 as my mains.
Like you said at the end of the review, it seems like a miracle that a story so convoluted, with so many moving parts had such a good climax and was able to wrap it up so well. Yes the cutscenes go on for very long but they're so damn good and let's be honest, that's exactly what metal gear fans wanted. about the dr madnar mention, I don't think it was supposed to be just a name drop, I think the europe chapter was initially supposed to have 1 more section focusing on raiden and sunny meating madnar. But just like MGS2, a LOT had to be cut for the final release. I have just one other thing to add. At the end where liquid ocelot says the thing "you're pretty good", I don't think that it's just random fanservice, the fight and the cutscene after that is meant to show that ocelot was fully back at the end, like snake literally beated liquid out of ocelot.
There's an unused codec call from Otacon about Madnar. Snake didn't kill him. And Madnar gave Otacon a message to tell Snake - that he's "sorry" - obviously for turning on him and trying to choke him out at Zanzibar. That claymore to the back would have killed both Madnar and Snake. Silly 8-bit gameplay.
So a fun detail about the B&B corps. They each combine different aspects of the previous 3 main games bosses. The obvious one is the second half of their codenames being the same as MGS 1's bosses. They each use a weapon related to the bosses of MGS 2. Octopus has Solidus's Doc Ock arms. Raven has a grenade launcher like Fatman's explosives. Wolf has Fortune's railgun, and Mantis has Vamp's knives. And like the bosses from MGS 3, all of them are named after some form of emotional response. PS. If you use the iPod during the beauty part of the boss fights, they dance.
Yeah. MGO was a blast. I ruined m hands playing it tho due to the knock outs i recieved and I used my palm to rotate the stick and got blisters on my palm :D. Sneak/Team Sneak eaisly were my favorite modes
Fun fact: The cutscene with Psycho Mantis changes based on if you use a Sixaxis or Dualshock 3 controller. The difference is the latter has vibration functionality because Sony were dumb-dumbs and removed it from Sixaxis controllers. This causes Psycho Mantis to react disappointed or ecstatically based on if he can make the controller vibrate. Secondary fun fact: The tracking section of South America is full of easter eggs, notably a crop circle that a Colonel Campbell voice clip from MGS2 and a plaque with the dev team's signatures and handprints on them. The plague can be saved as a unique camo pattern.
They weren't dumb, they were cheap... they didn't want to pay the royalty for using the vibration that Sony and Xbox were sued for... Xbox settled, Sony refused and removed the feature from their controllers and tried to push that the motion controllers were better... They lied to their fanbase too. Claiming that the vibration interfered with the Sensor controller that no one asked for. And fanboys bought into it as well... I still remember... They'd go on forums and parrot Sony's claims of how vibration was last year. I'd always counter their bs argument and would alway get dogpiled by these Sony can do no wrong fanboys. Fast forward a year, and Sony finally gave in to the royalty agreement... (probably because all their sensor based games sucked) and bam... Vibration was back.
I remember picking up MGS4 when it came out. I was and still am a huge Metal Gear fan. I was about 16 at the time and this if first game that ever made me cry. My sister is just now playing through all the mainline Metal Gear games and she just finished this tonight. She loved it. Great video my dude!!
39:36 Showing how much she's grown since MGS3? nah. It was Snake telling her that he needs her, in the same situation as her memory of Naked Snake telling her that he needs her, that made her pull herself up again.
4 Is my favorite and has never not been my favorite. It has flaws, but it's just SO damn good when it's firing on all cylinders. It's TRYING to make you feel bitter and defeated, but Snake is just there, worse off than you can or will ever be, and still fighting. The tone speaks to me, yet the humor is still there, and some of the meta jokes in 4 were the funniest in the series.
Fun fact about the stress meter- being directly in the Sun causes stress to rise, and getting into shade brings it down. This only works in the hot environments of Middle East and South America though
ah, I did know that, I forgot to mention it though 😭 I think there's a clip or two in here where I'm laying down in the shade? Honestly, it's hard to remember, it's a long video 😅
Additionally if you crouch walk too much Snake will get back ache and need to use a heated back pad to relieve it. Aside from a funny old man joke and potential way to cause an alert by Snake's pained grunt being audible, this also balances crouch walking against regular and prone movement so you have to vary your stances.
Masterpiece. It has everything a Metal Gear Solid game is supposed to have, and to top it off, they even made Raiden a lot more likeable then he was back in MGS2.
8:16 Both sides are not hostile towards snake, you can actually help one side, you can trade rations and stuff to get secret mp3's for the ipod by trading with them, they only become hostile toward Snake if you attack someone on their side, Usually it's the local militia of the area you are in that you can help, the ones being attacked, if you help them clear out all the enemies in the uniforms you see throughout the whole game, Liquid Ocelots soldiers, you will hear the local militia start cheering and yelling "we did it" then you can walk around the area without fear of attack and explore the area and trade rations and other supplies to get the hidden mp3's and ammo. Also if you already attacked someone on the local militia side you can get disguises so you can blend in with the local militia and not be attacked by the local side of the fight. Using the Solid-Eye you will see soldiers that won't attack you usually have a blue marker on them, until you attack them, the ones that are red are the enemies, but if you kill one soldier on the local militia side they will all be hostile toward you unless you are wearing the disguise, but if you attack one of them while in the disguise they will still become hostile toward you. On another note you should watch the Chapter 1 Briefing video under Briefings in the Game menu, it gives you some extra information and the Chapter 1 Briefing Scene isn't in the actual game.
Tell me you didn't kill the rebels?! You can actually make friends with them by helping take out the PMCs and giving them rations. They'll eventually start giving you stuff like ammo, noodles and even music for your iPod 😊 Rescuing the Rebel hostages on the South America mission is actually really fun!
@@Kasumi_Tashi no its not. it was originally planned to be that way but they ultimately didnt do it. in the final released game you cannot befriend PMCs at any point sadly
Actually there is a reward for doing non-lethal on the beasts and beauties. The beasts will give a figurine that you have to collect and will show up in the nomad, these can be found in the beauty phase. The beauties just give you their face for the octo face camo which can be used to avoid the patrolling jeep in act 3. The frog encounter in act 1 also has a figurine of the frog soldiers which can be found in the parking lot if you non lethal the encounter. So what does this give you? Well collecting all figurines and clearing the game will allow you to use the Solar Gun from the Boktai series. The solar gun has infinite ammo and needs to be recharged with actual sunlight. It can charge up to 3 levels and can stun and knock out(IIRC) enemies and can 1 shot vamp with a level 3 to the head. It still works firing normally but the level 3 just ends him giving you room to inject him
Excellent video! While not perfect, this is my favorite in the franchise, but also one of my favorite games ever. I love the story, and the team being able to tie up so many story threads is still incredible to me. If they never made another one, ,it would be a fitting sendoff ......then again, you have Peace Walker coming💪
The B&B unit were supposed to be a big homage to previews MGS bosses. They are a combination of bosses from each MGS. They take a name from a boss from MGS1, a weapon from a boss from MGS2 and an emotion from a boss from MGS3. Laughing Octopus uses Solidus tentacle arms, Crying Wolf uses Fortune's railgun, Raging Raven uses Fat Man's bombs and Screaming Mantis uses Vamp's knives. The intention was great, but the execution, not so much, as they lack the charisma that the bosses from previews episodes had.
Correct. Laughing = The Joy emotion Crying = The Sorrow emotion Raging = The Fury emotion Screaming = The Fear emotion They would have needed two more B&B members in order to include The Pain emotion and the The End emotion.
Their whole purpose was to fit into ocelot's plan of recreating shadow Moses so the patriots would want snake to be sent in and take him down and thus snake destroying the patriots once and for all. With that in mind, although convoluted it's cool
Since MGS1 was my first game of the series I ever played. Nostalgia hit me really hard on Act 4. Every part of this act brings me fond memories of the game. It's simply my favorite Act through the entire game. Except the alternative route to Rex, that was not there before. And I love the part where you controls Rex, it's a dream comes true. I've always wanted to control Rex since I first lays eyes on it in the hanger.
@@MSFOuterHeaven No, the lava cooled and solid. So if it was, there would be no way to get to it unless it was mined through, there's no sign of that. I double checked the room it since the first time I saw the door and thought "that door was not there, was it?" Then I found out they added a path in this game.
Overall I'd agree with the review. My biggest issue with MGS4 in terms of gameplay was there was just not enough of it for me. The various playable sections of the game flew by (especially Act 3 which was practically anemic compared to the other Acts), but the story was compelling and well told. It's not my favorite gameplay or story in the series overall (V has my favorite gameplay and Peace Walker is my favorite story), but it's really high up on the list. With the rumors of MGS4 finally getting a re-release in Master Collection Vol. 2, I wonder if they're actually gonna do anything about of the Playstation 3 specific 4th wall break moments in the game. I highly doubt it, as that would require Konami to actually, you know, rehire actors, record new lines, do some actual work instead of just porting everything.
Yeah Konami definitely always tries to cut corners, but with the backlash of the Master Collection Vol 1 and their recognition of it with the recent MGS3 Delta video I do wonder if they put a lil more effort in the next volume.
Thematically, its perfect. As with most of the series, if not all of it. Theres are thousands of videos about the messages and themes in these games for a reason. One of the best gaming franchises of all time P.S i think the community messages I had to agree to, before I could comment should be standrad on UA-cam. Props my man. Subscribed 🎉🎉
Wow, such a masterpiece of video for such a masterpiece of game, cheers to you! And I just realised that you will play metal gear rising in this serie, can't wait ❤
Given how you seemed to appreciate MGS3 for its gameplay to story balance, I was very curious how you'd feel about MGS4. Hearing your thoughts has made me very excited for the MGSV video, as it is on the exact opposite end of the gameplay/story scale.
37:04 "The Les Enfents Terribles project proved to be the final straw between Big Boss and Zero" - This is actually a misconception spoken by EVA while referring to why Big Boss left the Patriots. Solid and Liquid were born in late 1972, and Big Boss didn't learn about EVA giving birth to clones until after Peace Walker (sometime after 1974) The phone call cassette tape between Kaz and Zero at the very end of Peace Walker explained it. "Any news on the "sons" ? Two already.. really .. (two years old) I wonder how Big Boss will respond.." Big Boss left the Patriots in early 1972 (after only one year with them) because he didn't agree with Zero's lust for power while using him for his own interpretation of The Boss' dying will - not because of EVA's pregnancy.
It’s not a misconception lol it’s just a rewrite/retcon. These games don’t really work as a long running saga because they constantly overwrite the previous entries and that’s fine. They’re meant to be enjoyed and experienced as mostly standalone experiences with little nods and references to the rest of the series
My favorite part of the ending is how it shows just how wrong Liquid Ocelot was. His own (wo)men, who had just been fighting tooth and nail with the soldiers on your side, are being taken with the soldiers, consoling eachother and even being helped or consoled by your guys. Despite his horrificly accurate premonitions of major events and technology and the nature of MGS as a series about war, Kojima seems to have a surprisingly optimistic view of human nature and redemption.
To be fair Liquid Ocelot was just hypnotherapy and nanomachine induced disguise to hide Ocelot's actual goal of freeing Big Boss. So Liquid's plan didn't need to make sense, just needed to be believable enough to draw focus away from what he's actually doing.
@@subtegral This deception is my favourite part of the final fight against him because in addition to being a final hurrah to Snake's story it also demonstrates Ocelot's psychotherapy wearing off. The fight is Liquid completely in control, then MGS2 Ocelot when Liquid is partially in control and finally young Ocelot who has no influence from Liquid. I'm pretty certain Liquid Ocelot's speech about light and shadows after defeating him is a code phrase to finish removing the therapy as after the spasm that follows his tone is much more level, muted and without the dramatic bluster of Liquid, with the "you're pretty good" to hammer it home. The final fight is actually less about settling Liquid's score with Snake and is actually Ocelot getting in one last CQC fight with some version of Naked Snake like what inspired his loyalty to him before succumbing to the new Foxdie.
Be glad you didn't do the Europe mission on the hardest difficulty. You have to follow the resistance guy for a really long time, and he goes through some crazy parts of the city. He is so easy to lose track of or spook, then you gotta find another one. I did it like 15 years ago, it was one of the hardest parts. I was going for the Big Boss rank, so the absolute hardest part on European Extreme is the motorcycle scene that happens after. You can't get any kills and can't use any continues. Trying to stay alive on the motorcycle while also trying not to kill anyone was so ridiculously hard lol. I managed to pull it off after a while though.
@@PlebNC Probably. I remember a good bit from 15 years ago but not THAT much, lol. I mainly remember that it was difficult just staying alive. You had to basically know when to lean up against Big Mama vs when to shoot, and execute it perfectly. And if you died, you had to back all the way out to the title screen and reload your save file.
Feel like you miss the whole liquid ocelot thing it’s not actually liquid he is ocelot with liquids personality. In the final fight he lose that personality and the returns to being ocelot
Is this video title a reference to the god tier 3.5 hour masterpiece "Metal Gear Solid 4 Was A Mistake" by the legend Steak Bentley? (just joking but if you've never watched it, now that you've played the game, it's great listening for a few commutes)
You've done an excellent job reviewing the series! I loved hearing your opinions on one of the most prestigious franchises. I had one question when I finished playing through the games, "Is Hideo Kojima a game design genius? or just a guy that had one good idea." I'd love to see you play Death Stranding and give us your take on it. Is he a mastermind or not?
This is the game that I've been the most hyped about in my life, and will probably remain so. After it released, it was basically my life for a couple years. I can't even begin to count how many times I played through it. This game was literally the only reason I bought a PS3. And never regretted it.
Hope is time to see why Big Boss earned his title and why he became the treat that we saw back then in the first games... Peace Walkers and the V are awesome, too... Bad for what happened between Kojima and Konami.
As someone who did daily runs of this game I can say MGS4 has a lot of sauce when you replay and mess around with it. Also while you don't really play a lot of MGS4 the game's online mode really showed what this game could do and thankfully there are fan servers that are really easy to access on both emulator and real hardware.
I agree the beauties’s backstories are underdeveloped and they definitely shouldn’t just be an exposition dump after the fact. But to say it’s “ridiculous” because they’re too dark when for the most part it’s stuff that happens in real life is just… extremely sheltered of you dog
I'm pretty sure the B&B fights do have rewards for beating the beast section of each non lethally, although it's not required for higher ranks as the kill is determined by the beauty section. Also the Beauty sections can be cheesed easily with stun grenades and non lethal ammo for your shotguns so you don't have to faff around with their dodging.
@@cikame I know for certain the non lethal reward for the beauty sections is their faces as face camos and I think maybe camo for non lethal the beast section. Also just remembered the beauty section has a hidden minigame. I forget how to trigger it (let them grab you a certain number of times/length of time?) but it teleports both of you to a white void where if you point the camera item at them they'll do suggestive poses for you. Kojima making full use of the beauty models being actual Playboy models.
Correction: In South America when talking with Naomi Snake's rapid aging isn't caused by his old Foxdie infection. Snake thought it was but Naomi corrects him. His rapid aging is actually a natural part of his genes, edited as part of the cloning process, to reduce his lifespan to keep better control of Snake's genes, much like how his genes were edited to be infertile so he couldn't reproduce and pass on his genes that way. The good news is it meant he would likely die before his old Foxdie becomes an indiscriminant bioweapon
MGS4 was the first Metal Gear game I ever played, and though I recognize the overabundance of exposition, I still loved it and basically made me a fan of the franchise that encouraged me to devour all of its lore.
The lightning in rain line is my fav of the whole game its so over the top but also poetic and meaningful, encapsulates the feel of the game and entire series very well.
I feel like there was a lot of stuff you missed but it makes sense since it was your first play through. If you do a full nonlethal run on the bosses you can get an extra gun that uses sunlight its pretty cool. This does count the first meeting of the frogs. Minor edit and extra fun fact. In the Screaming Mantis boss fight if you knock out or kill certain Frogs before it she will use the other puppet.
I LOVE mgs4. I feel like it was so ahead of it's time. So many ways to play. There is so much to the general gameplay. The way you cab grab enemies and drop down to a knee, then drop to your back flat and chock them out, flip over right into a crawl. Then the way you cab crawl over to a ledge, lean over the edge to shoot or slide over the edge into a hang. Then it has a massive number of weapons to play with. Each chapter feels unique and although the videogame parts is quite short. Like you can run through the gameplay itself in an afternoon if you wanted. Not always bad because this is a game I played through over a dozen times. Several times fresh and several times carrying over my gear. Game has an amazing new game plus. So fun starting over and having all that stuff to toy with.
Just finished replaying this today having picked up a used PS3 slim on Ebay. I last played it when it first released but never since. Unlike the first 3 which I played multiple times. And I loved it. A surprising amount given I'd never been motivated to replay it multiple times. The battlefield style gameplay is quite intense and hard to get used to initially. However once you get used to it the attention to detail is incredible and the narrative ties everything in superbly.
I LOVED this game. Played 1-3 and they were all great. This one just nailed the sci fi anime military narrative gas that I still think stands out amongst contemporary titles.
Worth noting about the psych gauge: Kojima worked closely with Silicon Knights for Twin Snakes. The same Silicon Knights that made Eternal Darkness with its sanity meter, which was affected by enemy proximity and would trigger things like fake game error screens.
Ngl i had a lump in my throat during that scene, but didn't shed a tear.. i did however shed a couple of tears when Naomi tells Snake that he can rest now
As an ending to the metal gear series as a whole, it was perfect, especially the ending with Big-boss. The multiplayer this game came with was hella good too.
In regards to Big Mama's comment about PMCs funding video game development to recruit children into PMCs, that actually has some basis in reality. Most famously the game America's Army was a popular FPS that was specifically developed as a recruitment tool for the US Army. Similarly the US military also dumps a considerable amount of money into various game developers such as Activision to go towards appropriate franchises like Call of Duty.
@@subtegral Well, it's better than the US Army's attempts at recruiting via incredibly cringey streamers. Like they had recruitment officers in pink cat ear gamer headset and everything, it was wild.
39:03 Recruiting kids with free FPS games isn't just a 2008 opinion. The game America's Army was a free FPS game that the US Army used to recruit kids. The first one came out in 2002 and the last one came out in 2015 with the servers shutting down in 2022. It would link you to the Army's website and ask you for personal information and if you were the right age and played well enough Army recruiters would start calling, sending you pamphlets, or even show up at your house.
There are also quite a few Americans who went to Ukraine to volunteer thinking it will be just like Call of Duty, only to be disillusioned by the realities of war
Firstly, thanks for the efforts you’re putting into these videos. I wanted to note something about the lethal vs. non-lethal choices in the boss fights. Kojima and his team emphasize anti-violence and morality throughout these games, challenging players to make their own decisions about whether to kill or not. While I agree with your points about the skills required in earlier games, I think this moral decision adds a meaningful layer to the gameplay experience.
The psyche gauge can be used to your advantage if you get into a fight. Gives you a combat high if you fire 100 bullets or so. And increases accuracy. Came in handy at shadow Moses with all the little dwarf gekkos. It was the first time it happened to me and it’s probably the coolest thing I experienced in the game
@@subtegralyeah he does. First time it happened to me I didn’t even realize it either because I was just going in killing a bunch of gekkos and the fact the game implemented that was so cool to me. I wish more games had the attention to detail and fun the MGS series had. Solar gun is the most unnecessarily awesome weapon in the game lol
Other than the geezer fight, I remember the microwave part the most. The music playing, and having to fight through the hall while literally getting cooked from the inside was a tough scene to get through on the first play through.
Non lethal boss fights are definitely still a thing. It just means you have to win non lethally in the first phase. Then you get a figure to display in the nomad.
The fact this is last time i played as Solid Snake. It makes the line Snake needs his rest hit so much harder. Snake will still rest because who knows when we'll get a remake with Snake
Mgs4 was and still is one of the best. Easily. The camo alone is awesome just to use. And the amount of strategy and different ways to compete missions was awesome. The cinematics were very very long winded though for sure
listening to you talking about the story in such a perfect way really made me wanna go back and play it once again, I wish I could experience this game again, its definitely my favorite in the series just by the story alone, everything else just adds bonus points lol also I'm very excited that the Yakuza series is winning the poll so far! I fucking love this series and hope to see you talk about them soon!
(btw if you're gonna play it on release order, dont play the remakes instead of the original PS2 yakuza games, not only because the gap between the remake of 2 and the remaster of 3 is quite huge, but there's a lot of things returning or referencing Yakuza 0, so those things wont really make sense)
There's a very credible and well evidence fan theory that the last few lines from "Liquid" are actually Ocelot back in control, and that he's talking about The Sorrow rather than Big Boss. There's a good video on it somewhere here on UA-cam. Would recommend.
@@subtegral Why would Ocelot be referring to someone other than his own father while talking about a father whose will he has fulfilled? Genuinely. I want to know who you think he's talking about, if not his own father.
I never played this game, but rather watched someone else play it, and good god. Even with 2008 graphics, the game just evokes some form of beauty that is generally untouched with any other game I play.
for the war that is going on. from the start of the game. you can give one side items and health,ammo. Then you can get good rep with them as you go. So they won't attack you
MGS4 is an amazing game and yeah I agree it does a great job in wrapping up most loose ends and explaining a lot of the questions MGS2 left us with. The B&B Unit could have used more of a backstory aside from their grim pasts. They are very forgettable as sub-bosses go. I know they tried to combine Cobra, Fox Hound and Dead Cell into one but they forgot to give them their own personality. Gameplay is top-notch but I agree with the popular opinion that cutscenes are just too long. Would have loved for more chances to enjoy that beautiful gameplay. i would always use The Eastern Europe sequence to charge my controller. Can’t wait to see your review of Peace Walker, which is one of my favorites in the franchise.
Great review and you really covered the game in immense detail but also kept it entertaining. Just one thing, didn't you notice that you can win the trust of the local militia in Act 1 and 2? If you take out PMCs in areas where they can see, they will treat you like an ally and then you don't have to sneak past them. In multiple segments you can help them achieve their objectives and win battles rather than just sneaking through. And the beautiful thing is its possible to do all this stealthily, you can help the militia without the PMC knowing you were there.
I may have used some... "extreme measures" while sneaking through the bunker near the beginning. Afterwards, the rebels would shoot me on sight, so I was just under the impression they were always hostile after the prologue 😂
@@notcole 😂😂 Just another example of how many different options you have in this game. I'd highly recommend playing through again and working with the rebels, it's seriously epic and feels amazing when they thank you and cheer upon victory.
The replay value on this 1 is high, there's so much u can do and easter eggs. The part where u trail the guy in the streets if u look behind u can see someone tracking you
Fun fact: Liquid’s soldiers, the FROG unit is actually all women! Figured you might have missed that since you referred to them as “Liquid’s men”. I also didn’t catch it but found out in a different deep dive analysis video. Anyways, love this series, keep up the great work! I watch a lot of metal gear analysis videos but yours are my favorite because we get to relive someone’s first impressions with these amazing games.
I was going to try to write a joke in about how I had been calling them "Liquid's men" even though all of them are women, but couldn't quite find the right place for it 😭
MGS is my favorite franchise and MGS4 is probably my favorite one game overall. everything about mechanics to the way you can change the gun properties and also the crouch walk made the game sooooo much better. overall the best one is 4.
if you destroy the beast forms of the bosses non lethally you can find a figurine nearby, it's been awhile since I've played but I think grabbing all of them gives you a reward of some kind
This was the one I was most interested in hearing about. MGS4 is my favorite of the franchise, as I *love* a good ending, and those have gotten rarer and rarer to get in entertainment these days. The fact that Kojima took this unplanned jumble of plot threads, characters, and lore, and managed to stitch it all together in a satisfying way, combined with the excellent gameplay lets the eke out past MGS1 juuuuuuuust barely.
excited to see the PW and GZ/TPP videos. MGSV especially since that is definitely the biggest departure from the franchise so far but arguably has the best gameplay
Fun fact during the Spy scene when you're following the guy around if you peek behind you around corners at a distance you can see the scarabs in a trench coat and a fedora following you
This was my first metal gear game I ever played I remember my dad buying it for me because he thought it was medal of Honor and I was a little upset but the cover looked cool so I decided to play it and ended up loving every second of it
God, I need to replay this game. It's the only one I've never gone back to, and not because I didn't enjoy it (I did, very much), but because it's console-locked. Luckily PS3 emulation has come a long way. I should go back.
Vote on the next review series here: strawpoll.com/BDyNE3e14ZR
Assassin's creed!
are you doing metal gear rising / MGSV ?
What difficulty did you play MGS4 on?
Interested because I wonder if this is why people complain about the gameplay to cutscene ratio. If they play on easy/normal, then they'll just breeze through the gameplay immediately, going straight into gun fights with little thought and not feeling like they need to sneak around as much. Where if they play on harder modes for their first playthrough, that gameplay portion becomes a much more significant part of the game (at least for me lol). The cutscenes end up being such a nice break and feel like an earned reward for getting through the gameplay sections.
Voted for Yakuza, GTA and Spyro. Metal Gear is one of my fav franchises of all time so I've been loving your videos!
most people didn't realize that Ocelot is the Boss and Sorrow's son.
My buddy & I couldn't figure out the Screaming Mantis fight. Noting the clear comparison to MGS's Psycho Mantis, I suggested toggling the settings to play as P2. We switch the settings and Snake just won't move. Then a codec call comes in and it lets us respond. "Otacon, I can't move!" Snake complained. Otacon tells Snake "did you really think that would work again?" We laughed our heads off.
@@danielpayne1597 the mantis fight in mgs 4 is why you need the needle
Another fun fact amongst the fun facts: the Japanese voice actors for snake and big boss in the game are actual father and son and before hand had a rocky relationship and it is this game that got them to reunite and reconciliate.
That's wholesome AF
I love that you knew and shared this. Thank you. 🙏🏾
Dont care what anyone says i loved 4 to bits
Same bro!
Same people call it a movie but here missing the point. To me it was about moving from the series with a metaphor with solid snake aging (like series)
Same
Same
Same
Fun fact: If you have a camo equipped in a cutscene that doesn't make use of the Octocamo system, you can shake your controller during it to remove it during the cutscene much like it does in gameplay.
ZOMFG I DID NOT KNOW THAT
it works with any camo
@@Elegiu5 I know however there are some cutscenes where the game takes control of the camo system away from the player for dramatic effect and so this secret doesn't work then (to my knowledge). For example, the Middle East cutscene that introduces octocamo and the opening cutscene to South America where the game initially forces grass camo on you.
PS3 devs made L1/R1 aim/fire standard for probably 2 reasons:
- Prior to the Xbox 360's triggers, L1/R1 aim/fire was the standard in alot of shooters.
- The PS3 triggers were better as pedals like in racing games than triggers in shooters. At least to me.
@@PlebNC Because of the PS3 era I still use R1/L1 for aim and shoot whenever the options allow me to. I blame mgs4, uncharted, the last of us and their multiplayers
Metal Gear Solid 4 has the best conclusion to a game series and character arc I have ever played. It was bitter sweet but I was glad Snake got his rest especially with how depressing guns of the patriot got in the story.
This
The story itself was clusterfuq but the sendoff to snake was amazing
For me this game is a masterpiece.
The boss fights are divided into two parts. Beast then beauty. You can beat the best part non lethally, which gives you a statue to collect and giving you a trophy.
Fun Fact: When in codec calls with Rose you can shake the controller to giggle her chest. This does have a small benefit to Snake's psyche level.
Kojima is such a pervert
@@RRM693 He knows what Snake likes
@@RRM693 Gotta have something to do while Rose is nattering on about battlefield stress and lecturing about PTSD and gaslighting everyone about being horny for old man Campbell.
Jiggle...
Wrong. Kojima knows what we want...
Only 13 minutes in. But if you helps the militias fight, they will be friendly toward you and won't need to sneak or disguise as them. They're be neutral at first but depends on your action whether they're hostile or friendly. You can also give them rations and they will give something back in return. Also you haven't mention up to this point where I'm at, the items and weapons have wights since MGS3 and they can affect your stamina/psychs when you are loaded with too many heavy stuffs.
I love this game but this is one of my pet peeves of mine. When there is cut scene happens and I don't want have the 1911 and M4 in my load, in which Snake always using in, it replaces 1 or 2 of my weapons with them depending if he uses one of them or both. I have to either keep pausing and switch them or just keep both in my load then use the other 3 as my mains.
Oooooh. So that is why the game keeps changing my weapons.
Didn't notice after all these years.😂
Like you said at the end of the review, it seems like a miracle that a story so convoluted, with so many moving parts had such a good climax and was able to wrap it up so well. Yes the cutscenes go on for very long but they're so damn good and let's be honest, that's exactly what metal gear fans wanted.
about the dr madnar mention, I don't think it was supposed to be just a name drop, I think the europe chapter was initially supposed to have 1 more section focusing on raiden and sunny meating madnar. But just like MGS2, a LOT had to be cut for the final release.
I have just one other thing to add. At the end where liquid ocelot says the thing "you're pretty good", I don't think that it's just random fanservice, the fight and the cutscene after that is meant to show that ocelot was fully back at the end, like snake literally beated liquid out of ocelot.
ah, the Madnar thing is totally possible 🤔
I really would've liked to see something like that 😭
There's an unused codec call from Otacon about Madnar. Snake didn't kill him. And Madnar gave Otacon a message to tell Snake - that he's "sorry" - obviously for turning on him and trying to choke him out at Zanzibar.
That claymore to the back would have killed both Madnar and Snake. Silly 8-bit gameplay.
So a fun detail about the B&B corps. They each combine different aspects of the previous 3 main games bosses.
The obvious one is the second half of their codenames being the same as MGS 1's bosses.
They each use a weapon related to the bosses of MGS 2. Octopus has Solidus's Doc Ock arms. Raven has a grenade launcher like Fatman's explosives. Wolf has Fortune's railgun, and Mantis has Vamp's knives.
And like the bosses from MGS 3, all of them are named after some form of emotional response.
PS. If you use the iPod during the beauty part of the boss fights, they dance.
PPS. How could you NOT mention Mount Snakemore?
Metal Gear Solid 4 will always be my favorite due to Metal Gear Online 2. Easily put in 1000+ hours into it.
2024 and I'm STILL playing it
Yea, I spent a lot of time in MGO2 too. Good times!
Yeah. MGO was a blast. I ruined m hands playing it tho due to the knock outs i recieved and I used my palm to rotate the stick and got blisters on my palm :D. Sneak/Team Sneak eaisly were my favorite modes
Fun fact: The cutscene with Psycho Mantis changes based on if you use a Sixaxis or Dualshock 3 controller. The difference is the latter has vibration functionality because Sony were dumb-dumbs and removed it from Sixaxis controllers. This causes Psycho Mantis to react disappointed or ecstatically based on if he can make the controller vibrate.
Secondary fun fact: The tracking section of South America is full of easter eggs, notably a crop circle that a Colonel Campbell voice clip from MGS2 and a plaque with the dev team's signatures and handprints on them. The plague can be saved as a unique camo pattern.
Actually Sony introduced PS3 without vibration in controller because of patent dispute.(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_v._Sony)
@@domPL1 Still dumb-dumbs for just not using a new vibration system or just licensing the patent because money.
They weren't dumb, they were cheap... they didn't want to pay the royalty for using the vibration that Sony and Xbox were sued for... Xbox settled, Sony refused and removed the feature from their controllers and tried to push that the motion controllers were better... They lied to their fanbase too. Claiming that the vibration interfered with the Sensor controller that no one asked for.
And fanboys bought into it as well... I still remember... They'd go on forums and parrot Sony's claims of how vibration was last year. I'd always counter their bs argument and would alway get dogpiled by these Sony can do no wrong fanboys. Fast forward a year, and Sony finally gave in to the royalty agreement... (probably because all their sensor based games sucked) and bam... Vibration was back.
MGS4: War has changed.
Fallout: *REEEEEEEEEE*
I remember picking up MGS4 when it came out. I was and still am a huge Metal Gear fan. I was about 16 at the time and this if first game that ever made me cry.
My sister is just now playing through all the mainline Metal Gear games and she just finished this tonight. She loved it. Great video my dude!!
39:36 Showing how much she's grown since MGS3? nah.
It was Snake telling her that he needs her, in the same situation as her memory of Naked Snake telling her that he needs her, that made her pull herself up again.
4 Is my favorite and has never not been my favorite. It has flaws, but it's just SO damn good when it's firing on all cylinders. It's TRYING to make you feel bitter and defeated, but Snake is just there, worse off than you can or will ever be, and still fighting. The tone speaks to me, yet the humor is still there, and some of the meta jokes in 4 were the funniest in the series.
Fun fact about the stress meter- being directly in the Sun causes stress to rise, and getting into shade brings it down. This only works in the hot environments of Middle East and South America though
ah, I did know that, I forgot to mention it though 😭
I think there's a clip or two in here where I'm laying down in the shade? Honestly, it's hard to remember, it's a long video 😅
Same with the cold in Shadow Moses
Additionally if you crouch walk too much Snake will get back ache and need to use a heated back pad to relieve it. Aside from a funny old man joke and potential way to cause an alert by Snake's pained grunt being audible, this also balances crouch walking against regular and prone movement so you have to vary your stances.
Cole hitting us up with the feature-length Metal Gear review! 🤣
Nice one, brother!
Masterpiece. It has everything a Metal Gear Solid game is supposed to have, and to top it off, they even made Raiden a lot more likeable then he was back in MGS2.
8:16 Both sides are not hostile towards snake, you can actually help one side, you can trade rations and stuff to get secret mp3's for the ipod by trading with them, they only become hostile toward Snake if you attack someone on their side, Usually it's the local militia of the area you are in that you can help, the ones being attacked, if you help them clear out all the enemies in the uniforms you see throughout the whole game, Liquid Ocelots soldiers, you will hear the local militia start cheering and yelling "we did it" then you can walk around the area without fear of attack and explore the area and trade rations and other supplies to get the hidden mp3's and ammo. Also if you already attacked someone on the local militia side you can get disguises so you can blend in with the local militia and not be attacked by the local side of the fight. Using the Solid-Eye you will see soldiers that won't attack you usually have a blue marker on them, until you attack them, the ones that are red are the enemies, but if you kill one soldier on the local militia side they will all be hostile toward you unless you are wearing the disguise, but if you attack one of them while in the disguise they will still become hostile toward you. On another note you should watch the Chapter 1 Briefing video under Briefings in the Game menu, it gives you some extra information and the Chapter 1 Briefing Scene isn't in the actual game.
Tell me you didn't kill the rebels?! You can actually make friends with them by helping take out the PMCs and giving them rations. They'll eventually start giving you stuff like ammo, noodles and even music for your iPod 😊
Rescuing the Rebel hostages on the South America mission is actually really fun!
I heard that it's even possible to sort of do the opposite and help the PMC instead in a decent chunk of the game
@@Kasumi_Tashi no its not. it was originally planned to be that way but they ultimately didnt do it. in the final released game you cannot befriend PMCs at any point sadly
I always help the rebels, they were the underdogs and needed Snake.
@@ProtoMan0451 ah, good to know that my memory of it was indeed funky, tho it would have been interesting if it was a possibility
Actually there is a reward for doing non-lethal on the beasts and beauties.
The beasts will give a figurine that you have to collect and will show up in the nomad, these can be found in the beauty phase.
The beauties just give you their face for the octo face camo which can be used to avoid the patrolling jeep in act 3.
The frog encounter in act 1 also has a figurine of the frog soldiers which can be found in the parking lot if you non lethal the encounter.
So what does this give you? Well collecting all figurines and clearing the game will allow you to use the Solar Gun from the Boktai series.
The solar gun has infinite ammo and needs to be recharged with actual sunlight. It can charge up to 3 levels and can stun and knock out(IIRC) enemies and can 1 shot vamp with a level 3 to the head. It still works firing normally but the level 3 just ends him giving you room to inject him
I really enjoyed collecting all figurines for Sun liiigghht!!
Yeah I remember getting the solar gun on my second playthrough of the game, it was so awesome 😄
Excellent video! While not perfect, this is my favorite in the franchise, but also one of my favorite games ever. I love the story, and the team being able to tie up so many story threads is still incredible to me. If they never made another one, ,it would be a fitting sendoff ......then again, you have Peace Walker coming💪
The B&B unit were supposed to be a big homage to previews MGS bosses. They are a combination of bosses from each MGS. They take a name from a boss from MGS1, a weapon from a boss from MGS2 and an emotion from a boss from MGS3. Laughing Octopus uses Solidus tentacle arms, Crying Wolf uses Fortune's railgun, Raging Raven uses Fat Man's bombs and Screaming Mantis uses Vamp's knives. The intention was great, but the execution, not so much, as they lack the charisma that the bosses from previews episodes had.
Correct.
Laughing = The Joy emotion
Crying = The Sorrow emotion
Raging = The Fury emotion
Screaming = The Fear emotion
They would have needed two more B&B members in order to include The Pain emotion and the The End emotion.
Their whole purpose was to fit into ocelot's plan of recreating shadow Moses so the patriots would want snake to be sent in and take him down and thus snake destroying the patriots once and for all. With that in mind, although convoluted it's cool
Charisma?!
*_Maybe the real ‘Weapon to Surpass Metal Gear’ is really just all the friends we made along the way._*
um... okay.
Great review. It's been unique, not just having the reviews, but having you play the games for the achievements at the same time.
This is easily one of my favorite PS3 games. So many great memories of playing it
Every god damn sentence ends in a question mark
Fun Fact: This game actually made a World Record for how long its cutscenes were.
14 hours. That's cutscenes alone.
Since MGS1 was my first game of the series I ever played. Nostalgia hit me really hard on Act 4. Every part of this act brings me fond memories of the game. It's simply my favorite Act through the entire game. Except the alternative route to Rex, that was not there before. And I love the part where you controls Rex, it's a dream comes true. I've always wanted to control Rex since I first lays eyes on it in the hanger.
Wouldn't that door have been under the lava during MGS 1?
@@MSFOuterHeaven No, the lava cooled and solid. So if it was, there would be no way to get to it unless it was mined through, there's no sign of that. I double checked the room it since the first time I saw the door and thought "that door was not there, was it?" Then I found out they added a path in this game.
@@metalfreak1324 oh, I thought the lava was drained out, Leaving them empty.
@@MSFOuterHeaven you are correct.
Only the pathway through the cliffs to the heliport was never there before (Otacon's chopper drop off point)
Overall I'd agree with the review. My biggest issue with MGS4 in terms of gameplay was there was just not enough of it for me. The various playable sections of the game flew by (especially Act 3 which was practically anemic compared to the other Acts), but the story was compelling and well told. It's not my favorite gameplay or story in the series overall (V has my favorite gameplay and Peace Walker is my favorite story), but it's really high up on the list.
With the rumors of MGS4 finally getting a re-release in Master Collection Vol. 2, I wonder if they're actually gonna do anything about of the Playstation 3 specific 4th wall break moments in the game. I highly doubt it, as that would require Konami to actually, you know, rehire actors, record new lines, do some actual work instead of just porting everything.
Yeah Konami definitely always tries to cut corners, but with the backlash of the Master Collection Vol 1 and their recognition of it with the recent MGS3 Delta video I do wonder if they put a lil more effort in the next volume.
This game was so bonkers and ambitious…there’s nothing else out there quite like it, and I love it.
Thematically, its perfect. As with most of the series, if not all of it. Theres are thousands of videos about the messages and themes in these games for a reason. One of the best gaming franchises of all time
P.S i think the community messages I had to agree to, before I could comment should be standrad on UA-cam. Props my man. Subscribed 🎉🎉
It’s been Ten thousand years…
Wow, such a masterpiece of video for such a masterpiece of game, cheers to you!
And I just realised that you will play metal gear rising in this serie, can't wait ❤
Oh man loving the video so far. Excited to see you tackle MGSV
Given how you seemed to appreciate MGS3 for its gameplay to story balance, I was very curious how you'd feel about MGS4. Hearing your thoughts has made me very excited for the MGSV video, as it is on the exact opposite end of the gameplay/story scale.
37:04 "The Les Enfents Terribles project proved to be the final straw between Big Boss and Zero"
- This is actually a misconception spoken by EVA while referring to why Big Boss left the Patriots.
Solid and Liquid were born in late 1972, and Big Boss didn't learn about EVA giving birth to clones until after Peace Walker (sometime after 1974)
The phone call cassette tape between Kaz and Zero at the very end of Peace Walker explained it.
"Any news on the "sons" ? Two already.. really .. (two years old) I wonder how Big Boss will respond.."
Big Boss left the Patriots in early 1972 (after only one year with them) because he didn't agree with Zero's lust for power while using him for his own interpretation of The Boss' dying will - not because of EVA's pregnancy.
It’s not a misconception lol it’s just a rewrite/retcon. These games don’t really work as a long running saga because they constantly overwrite the previous entries and that’s fine. They’re meant to be enjoyed and experienced as mostly standalone experiences with little nods and references to the rest of the series
@@l4l01234 no.
Metal Gear 4 was a master class in tying in loose ends, while pushing an over arching story to it's limit. Hideo is a true master.
My favorite part of the ending is how it shows just how wrong Liquid Ocelot was.
His own (wo)men, who had just been fighting tooth and nail with the soldiers on your side, are being taken with the soldiers, consoling eachother and even being helped or consoled by your guys.
Despite his horrificly accurate premonitions of major events and technology and the nature of MGS as a series about war, Kojima seems to have a surprisingly optimistic view of human nature and redemption.
To be fair Liquid Ocelot was just hypnotherapy and nanomachine induced disguise to hide Ocelot's actual goal of freeing Big Boss. So Liquid's plan didn't need to make sense, just needed to be believable enough to draw focus away from what he's actually doing.
@@PlebNC that's absolutely correct.
@@subtegral This deception is my favourite part of the final fight against him because in addition to being a final hurrah to Snake's story it also demonstrates Ocelot's psychotherapy wearing off. The fight is Liquid completely in control, then MGS2 Ocelot when Liquid is partially in control and finally young Ocelot who has no influence from Liquid. I'm pretty certain Liquid Ocelot's speech about light and shadows after defeating him is a code phrase to finish removing the therapy as after the spasm that follows his tone is much more level, muted and without the dramatic bluster of Liquid, with the "you're pretty good" to hammer it home.
The final fight is actually less about settling Liquid's score with Snake and is actually Ocelot getting in one last CQC fight with some version of Naked Snake like what inspired his loyalty to him before succumbing to the new Foxdie.
I'm so happy you loved this game, it's my favorite in the series
Fun fact: the human B&B unit character models likenesses are provided by Playboy models.
Be glad you didn't do the Europe mission on the hardest difficulty. You have to follow the resistance guy for a really long time, and he goes through some crazy parts of the city. He is so easy to lose track of or spook, then you gotta find another one. I did it like 15 years ago, it was one of the hardest parts. I was going for the Big Boss rank, so the absolute hardest part on European Extreme is the motorcycle scene that happens after. You can't get any kills and can't use any continues. Trying to stay alive on the motorcycle while also trying not to kill anyone was so ridiculously hard lol. I managed to pull it off after a while though.
Did you try using the automatic shotgun with the nonlethal vortex ring ammo? Has surprisingly good range and excellent for mandatory alert encounters.
@@PlebNC Probably. I remember a good bit from 15 years ago but not THAT much, lol. I mainly remember that it was difficult just staying alive. You had to basically know when to lean up against Big Mama vs when to shoot, and execute it perfectly. And if you died, you had to back all the way out to the title screen and reload your save file.
You can also get into a Photoshoot mode with the Beauty and The Beast when they're in their beauty mode to get trophies.
Feel like you miss the whole liquid ocelot thing it’s not actually liquid he is ocelot with liquids personality. In the final fight he lose that personality and the returns to being ocelot
Great video though!
Good video. Keep on the work.
By the way: would’ve been cool if you mentioned that the Rail Gun in this game used to be Fortunes in MGS2
in all honesty, I didn't put together that it was the same railgun until people pointed it out in the comments 😂
Is this video title a reference to the god tier 3.5 hour masterpiece "Metal Gear Solid 4 Was A Mistake" by the legend Steak Bentley? (just joking but if you've never watched it, now that you've played the game, it's great listening for a few commutes)
Yeah man. Steaks video is peak commentary.
Great video. Glad you enjoyed mgs4! It’s my fave of the series
You've done an excellent job reviewing the series! I loved hearing your opinions on one of the most prestigious franchises. I had one question when I finished playing through the games, "Is Hideo Kojima a game design genius? or just a guy that had one good idea." I'd love to see you play Death Stranding and give us your take on it. Is he a mastermind or not?
This is the game that I've been the most hyped about in my life, and will probably remain so. After it released, it was basically my life for a couple years. I can't even begin to count how many times I played through it. This game was literally the only reason I bought a PS3. And never regretted it.
Hope is time to see why Big Boss earned his title and why he became the treat that we saw back then in the first games... Peace Walkers and the V are awesome, too... Bad for what happened between Kojima and Konami.
As someone who did daily runs of this game I can say MGS4 has a lot of sauce when you replay and mess around with it. Also while you don't really play a lot of MGS4 the game's online mode really showed what this game could do and thankfully there are fan servers that are really easy to access on both emulator and real hardware.
I agree the beauties’s backstories are underdeveloped and they definitely shouldn’t just be an exposition dump after the fact. But to say it’s “ridiculous” because they’re too dark when for the most part it’s stuff that happens in real life is just… extremely sheltered of you dog
I now want a Gman and Chole collaboration lol
I'm pretty sure the B&B fights do have rewards for beating the beast section of each non lethally, although it's not required for higher ranks as the kill is determined by the beauty section.
Also the Beauty sections can be cheesed easily with stun grenades and non lethal ammo for your shotguns so you don't have to faff around with their dodging.
I'm definitely going to try and remember that next time i play through the game :P thanks.
@@cikame I know for certain the non lethal reward for the beauty sections is their faces as face camos and I think maybe camo for non lethal the beast section.
Also just remembered the beauty section has a hidden minigame. I forget how to trigger it (let them grab you a certain number of times/length of time?) but it teleports both of you to a white void where if you point the camera item at them they'll do suggestive poses for you.
Kojima making full use of the beauty models being actual Playboy models.
@@PlebNCa certain iPod song..
@@subtegral Sounds right.
4 will forever hold a special place in my heart because I remember playing it with my Dad on his PS3! I hope they port it to pc soon!
Correction: In South America when talking with Naomi Snake's rapid aging isn't caused by his old Foxdie infection. Snake thought it was but Naomi corrects him. His rapid aging is actually a natural part of his genes, edited as part of the cloning process, to reduce his lifespan to keep better control of Snake's genes, much like how his genes were edited to be infertile so he couldn't reproduce and pass on his genes that way.
The good news is it meant he would likely die before his old Foxdie becomes an indiscriminant bioweapon
MGS4 was the first Metal Gear game I ever played, and though I recognize the overabundance of exposition, I still loved it and basically made me a fan of the franchise that encouraged me to devour all of its lore.
I have a lot of issues with 4, but the closure it gives to the story of MGS makes it all worth it.
The lightning in rain line is my fav of the whole game its so over the top but also poetic and meaningful, encapsulates the feel of the game and entire series very well.
Lightning Bolt Action
For an anniversary of this game I would love to just have a movie of it. It’s practically 80% done.
Only fitting to make a review the length of a MGS4 cutscene to review MGS4 🥳👍
The Beauty phases of the boss fights are literally just soft core p*rn lmao
Yes
I feel like there was a lot of stuff you missed but it makes sense since it was your first play through. If you do a full nonlethal run on the bosses you can get an extra gun that uses sunlight its pretty cool. This does count the first meeting of the frogs.
Minor edit and extra fun fact. In the Screaming Mantis boss fight if you knock out or kill certain Frogs before it she will use the other puppet.
I LOVE mgs4. I feel like it was so ahead of it's time. So many ways to play. There is so much to the general gameplay. The way you cab grab enemies and drop down to a knee, then drop to your back flat and chock them out, flip over right into a crawl. Then the way you cab crawl over to a ledge, lean over the edge to shoot or slide over the edge into a hang. Then it has a massive number of weapons to play with. Each chapter feels unique and although the videogame parts is quite short. Like you can run through the gameplay itself in an afternoon if you wanted. Not always bad because this is a game I played through over a dozen times. Several times fresh and several times carrying over my gear. Game has an amazing new game plus. So fun starting over and having all that stuff to toy with.
Just finished replaying this today having picked up a used PS3 slim on Ebay. I last played it when it first released but never since. Unlike the first 3 which I played multiple times. And I loved it. A surprising amount given I'd never been motivated to replay it multiple times. The battlefield style gameplay is quite intense and hard to get used to initially. However once you get used to it the attention to detail is incredible and the narrative ties everything in superbly.
Everyone remembers how they felt when Big Boss smiled and, with a tear in his eye, whispered his final words: "This is good, isn't it..."
manly tears were shed 😢
I LOVED this game. Played 1-3 and they were all great. This one just nailed the sci fi anime military narrative gas that I still think stands out amongst contemporary titles.
Worth noting about the psych gauge: Kojima worked closely with Silicon Knights for Twin Snakes. The same Silicon Knights that made Eternal Darkness with its sanity meter, which was affected by enemy proximity and would trigger things like fake game error screens.
If you didn't shed a tear during the microwave scene, especially if you've been there since mgs1, you're a blatant psychopath.
Ngl i had a lump in my throat during that scene, but didn't shed a tear.. i did however shed a couple of tears when Naomi tells Snake that he can rest now
I would have felt something, except that I was too distracted by Snake's tight butt-cheeks the whole time.
Sunlight!!
@@zShy. For me, it was Otacon's "Snake had a hard life" and Snake putting the gun in his mouth
Actually got through that scene on my first playthrough last night and my god 16 years later it still makes you feel for snake
@BlindBosnian same
As an ending to the metal gear series as a whole, it was perfect, especially the ending with Big-boss.
The multiplayer this game came with was hella good too.
In regards to Big Mama's comment about PMCs funding video game development to recruit children into PMCs, that actually has some basis in reality.
Most famously the game America's Army was a popular FPS that was specifically developed as a recruitment tool for the US Army. Similarly the US military also dumps a considerable amount of money into various game developers such as Activision to go towards appropriate franchises like Call of Duty.
Oh but dude, the concept itself is sooooo 2008.
@@subtegral Well, it's better than the US Army's attempts at recruiting via incredibly cringey streamers. Like they had recruitment officers in pink cat ear gamer headset and everything, it was wild.
@@PlebNCI was just repeating what this video author said, which doesn't mean it's right.
39:03 Recruiting kids with free FPS games isn't just a 2008 opinion. The game America's Army was a free FPS game that the US Army used to recruit kids. The first one came out in 2002 and the last one came out in 2015 with the servers shutting down in 2022. It would link you to the Army's website and ask you for personal information and if you were the right age and played well enough Army recruiters would start calling, sending you pamphlets, or even show up at your house.
There are also quite a few Americans who went to Ukraine to volunteer thinking it will be just like Call of Duty, only to be disillusioned by the realities of war
Firstly, thanks for the efforts you’re putting into these videos.
I wanted to note something about the lethal vs. non-lethal choices in the boss fights. Kojima and his team emphasize anti-violence and morality throughout these games, challenging players to make their own decisions about whether to kill or not. While I agree with your points about the skills required in earlier games, I think this moral decision adds a meaningful layer to the gameplay experience.
The psyche gauge can be used to your advantage if you get into a fight. Gives you a combat high if you fire 100 bullets or so. And increases accuracy. Came in handy at shadow Moses with all the little dwarf gekkos. It was the first time it happened to me and it’s probably the coolest thing I experienced in the game
Doesn't he go ballistic? I remember the solar gun. Sunlight!!
@@subtegralyeah he does. First time it happened to me I didn’t even realize it either because I was just going in killing a bunch of gekkos and the fact the game implemented that was so cool to me. I wish more games had the attention to detail and fun the MGS series had. Solar gun is the most unnecessarily awesome weapon in the game lol
He vomits
@@YABUKIJOE2077 oh that's right!
Other than the geezer fight, I remember the microwave part the most. The music playing, and having to fight through the hall while literally getting cooked from the inside was a tough scene to get through on the first play through.
Non lethal boss fights are definitely still a thing. It just means you have to win non lethally in the first phase. Then you get a figure to display in the nomad.
The fact this is last time i played as Solid Snake. It makes the line Snake needs his rest hit so much harder. Snake will still rest because who knows when we'll get a remake with Snake
Mgs4 was and still is one of the best. Easily. The camo alone is awesome just to use. And the amount of strategy and different ways to compete missions was awesome. The cinematics were very very long winded though for sure
1:08:03 I've never seen anyone talk about this but these two Frogs are so cute I can't
You want them as plushies? Will you hug them and keep them?
@@subtegral YES
listening to you talking about the story in such a perfect way really made me wanna go back and play it once again, I wish I could experience this game again, its definitely my favorite in the series just by the story alone, everything else just adds bonus points lol
also I'm very excited that the Yakuza series is winning the poll so far! I fucking love this series and hope to see you talk about them soon!
(btw if you're gonna play it on release order, dont play the remakes instead of the original PS2 yakuza games, not only because the gap between the remake of 2 and the remaster of 3 is quite huge, but there's a lot of things returning or referencing Yakuza 0, so those things wont really make sense)
There's a very credible and well evidence fan theory that the last few lines from "Liquid" are actually Ocelot back in control, and that he's talking about The Sorrow rather than Big Boss. There's a good video on it somewhere here on UA-cam. Would recommend.
Yes, Ocelot reverted back to himself again at the end, but that theory video is complete trash. How could you be so easily duped into believing it?
@@subtegral Why would Ocelot be referring to someone other than his own father while talking about a father whose will he has fulfilled? Genuinely. I want to know who you think he's talking about, if not his own father.
He hadn't fully reverted back to himself yet. He was still Liquid Ocelot referring to "our father" ... Big Boss.
@@subtegral So he reverted back, but he didn't? Makes zero sense. How are YOU so easily duped into complete nonsense?
@@bigangenbygang 😂
you're just plain dumb.
I never played this game, but rather watched someone else play it, and good god. Even with 2008 graphics, the game just evokes some form of beauty that is generally untouched with any other game I play.
It was basically PS4 graphics in 2008.
for the war that is going on. from the start of the game. you can give one side items and health,ammo. Then you can get good rep with them as you go. So they won't attack you
MGS4 is an amazing game and yeah I agree it does a great job in wrapping up most loose ends and explaining a lot of the questions MGS2 left us with.
The B&B Unit could have used more of a backstory aside from their grim pasts. They are very forgettable as sub-bosses go. I know they tried to combine Cobra, Fox Hound and Dead Cell into one but they forgot to give them their own personality.
Gameplay is top-notch but I agree with the popular opinion that cutscenes are just too long. Would have loved for more chances to enjoy that beautiful gameplay. i would always use The Eastern Europe sequence to charge my controller.
Can’t wait to see your review of Peace Walker, which is one of my favorites in the franchise.
Great review and you really covered the game in immense detail but also kept it entertaining. Just one thing, didn't you notice that you can win the trust of the local militia in Act 1 and 2? If you take out PMCs in areas where they can see, they will treat you like an ally and then you don't have to sneak past them. In multiple segments you can help them achieve their objectives and win battles rather than just sneaking through. And the beautiful thing is its possible to do all this stealthily, you can help the militia without the PMC knowing you were there.
I may have used some... "extreme measures" while sneaking through the bunker near the beginning. Afterwards, the rebels would shoot me on sight, so I was just under the impression they were always hostile after the prologue 😂
@@notcole 😂😂 Just another example of how many different options you have in this game. I'd highly recommend playing through again and working with the rebels, it's seriously epic and feels amazing when they thank you and cheer upon victory.
The replay value on this 1 is high, there's so much u can do and easter eggs. The part where u trail the guy in the streets if u look behind u can see someone tracking you
Fun fact: Liquid’s soldiers, the FROG unit is actually all women! Figured you might have missed that since you referred to them as “Liquid’s men”. I also didn’t catch it but found out in a different deep dive analysis video.
Anyways, love this series, keep up the great work! I watch a lot of metal gear analysis videos but yours are my favorite because we get to relive someone’s first impressions with these amazing games.
I was going to try to write a joke in about how I had been calling them "Liquid's men" even though all of them are women, but couldn't quite find the right place for it 😭
MGS is my favorite franchise and MGS4 is probably my favorite one game overall. everything about mechanics to the way you can change the gun properties and also the crouch walk made the game sooooo much better. overall the best one is 4.
if you destroy the beast forms of the bosses non lethally you can find a figurine nearby, it's been awhile since I've played but I think grabbing all of them gives you a reward of some kind
This was the one I was most interested in hearing about. MGS4 is my favorite of the franchise, as I *love* a good ending, and those have gotten rarer and rarer to get in entertainment these days. The fact that Kojima took this unplanned jumble of plot threads, characters, and lore, and managed to stitch it all together in a satisfying way, combined with the excellent gameplay lets the eke out past MGS1 juuuuuuuust barely.
excited to see the PW and GZ/TPP videos. MGSV especially since that is definitely the biggest departure from the franchise so far but arguably has the best gameplay
V is only the hypnogogia hallucination of the player. No V came to.
Fun fact during the Spy scene when you're following the guy around if you peek behind you around corners at a distance you can see the scarabs in a trench coat and a fedora following you
My joint favourite Metal Gear game, along with Phantom Pain. Both are divisive, but I found both brilliant for very different reasons.
V is the hypnogogia hallucination of the player. Non-canon.
Great writing!!!! This was super entertaining
This was my first metal gear game I ever played I remember my dad buying it for me because he thought it was medal of Honor and I was a little upset but the cover looked cool so I decided to play it and ended up loving every second of it
God, I need to replay this game. It's the only one I've never gone back to, and not because I didn't enjoy it (I did, very much), but because it's console-locked.
Luckily PS3 emulation has come a long way. I should go back.