Ill repost this here.
I played for 6 hours last night and Ill give a mini-review.
Its a masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece.
I had to tell myself more than once, that I was not simply watching some amazing Hollywood movie. That this is a videogame, that I was playing, and that this is how Metal Gear Solid comes to an end, in such an amazing way. This game does not feel like Metal Gear Solid to me, it feels like something more.
The story is riviting. Of course, the big stuff won't be revealed until near the end, but Ive already ran across 1 or 2 intresting things, that just keep you begging for more.
[Show spoiler] Roy Campbell and Rosemary are married
[Show spoiler] Liquid claiming that they were not replicas of Big Boss
[Show spoiler] The Patriots aren't human
The characters are very well developed and many of their motives remain very unclear, which just captures you.
[Show spoiler] Drebin is much more of a big figure than I thought he would be
[Show spoiler] I am especially keeping my eye out for Sunny and Drebin
My only complaint is whoever did the voice acting for Sunny is awful, she is annoying and Im taking into account that she is a little girl.
Johnny isn't my favorite, though he is humorous
[Show spoiler] The pooping and farting is stupid
On top of that, the gameplay is without a doubt, the greatest gameplay I have ever experienced.
The weapon leveling system is as brilliant as Niko's cellphone in GTA IV. The amount of customizations you can make to your weapons and how you earn them is awesome and it actually makes sense.
Octocamo is very cool and the amount of "moves" Snake can do, just makes the game feel like you can do anything.
The Solid Eye is a much needed improvement over having to use binocolers or thermal goggles.
The levels are kind of linear, but they are large and there are so many nooks and crannies to find things and try to figure out how to go, it feels very open, its kind of like a 3-d maze in some places.
There are more than 1 install points (sorry if you consider that a spoiler, but I dont). After each install point, the game seems to get tougher, so if you find the first part easy, it is going to get more difficult and stealth will become a bigger part of the game.
Only at one point did I think an enemy should have seen me, but didn't. Other than that, the enemies are very sensitive, you have to be very sneaky, which is a good thing.
The aiming and 3rd to 1st person views are much better than in previous Metal Gear games. Its seemless, accurate and responsive. I always thought the gun combat was second best to the Resistances, Halos, etc. Thats not the case in this game, it is right up there with the best shooters (and this game isn't even a shooter, thats how good it is).
The mechanics are a lot smoother and seemless before.
They have equipped the correct amount of time that you need to be in alert, evasion, and caution mode for the severity of what you have done. It doesn't bog down the game, but keeps you in check from just being able to do something, run, hide, caution is up, and then not be sneaky at all and repeat the process
The graphics are top notch.
Given the scale of the game, the level of detail is incredible.
The framerate is rock solid, however it seemse slower during cutscenes for some reason, don't know if its just me or what. However, it never hiccups.
There is no screen tearing whatsoever.
Vegetation is very well rendered, which is usually a downfall of many games graphically.
The sound is awesome.
Metal Gear Solid has always been one of the best series/games out there, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, takes things beyond a typical Metal Gear Solid. It is the epitome of cinematics, graphics, and gameplay, all mixed into one amazing, perfect, 10/10 game so far. The game is flawless.
Load times could be improved, if you want a negative out of me. But the beauty is well worth the wait.
Now for some spoiler/questions.
[Show spoiler] What the hell was Snake doing saluting Big Boss' grave at the beginning?
[Show spoiler] Drebin's comment about how they were hunting Solid Snake, but he (snake) didn't look like Solid Snake, more like Old Snake and that the B and B having to rid themselves of The Pain, The Fury, and The Sorrow to be at peace, really kind of has me wondering if the main character is really Solid Snake
One last thing, the "flashbacks" don't explain jack crap to anybody who is new to Metal Gear Solid, good luck understanding anything if you have never played or don't know the plot line(s) to MGS. The story is complex, not as bad as MGS 2 though, but it will probably get that way before its all over.