Solid Gold.

There's this bit in the original Metal Gear Solid. You're in a vent, and from your lowly first-person vantage point you see a guard. You soon realise; in a few seconds you'll be stood behind him in plain sight – either throttling him senseless, or getting shot to pieces. So you watch his patrol route and wait. With just one chance to get it right, you steel your nerves and move. It's all or nothing. Now or never.

Back in 1999, such tense, patient, intelligent gameplay was unheard of. Forget your Mario 64s and Half Lifes – for PSone owners, this was polygon gaming's real paradigm shift.

Memorable

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots has many memorable moments, but one stands out. It's that first time a PMC soldier strolls past an OctoCamo-concealed Old Snake, ripe for stealthy slaughter. In that instant you realise; Guns of the Patriots is a nine-year refinement of Metal Gear Solid.

Indeed, Metal Gear Solid 4 is exactly what creator Hideo Kojima wanted the series to be. Longwinded; layered in dialogue and political discussion almost entirely out of place in 'a mere videogame'. Pretentious; preaching its virtues of freedom and anti-censorship with unedited abandon. And for long slogs, entirely non-interactive; steeped heavily in cinematics that convey its rich, convoluted narrative.

And it's bloody brilliant.

Because Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is, like its forebears, a clever game; full of sophisticated sneaking, gadgets galore and superbly tense atmosphere. It's also a knowing game; boasting self-referential humour, mid-cutscene flashbacks and memory triggers at every turn, designed to captivate existing fans, win back those lost after MGS2, and blow away newcomers; selling PS3's in the process.

Genius or madman?

With so much riding on it, Metal Gear Solid 4 is all or nothing for Kojima, too. And like Sons of Liberty, Guns of the Patriots delivers – but at a price.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the most Metal Gear MGS ever, flaunting MGS conventions from stealth to set pieces and wrapping up loose ends in typically hammed-up, elaborately cinematic fashion. For diehard fans this will be nirvana, showcasing the height of Hideo's creative ambition. Detractors will say the opposite – that a 20+ hour game spent one third watching displays the peak of Kojima's productive lunacy.

But its credentials as a stealth game cannot be questioned. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots' chameleon-esque OctoCamo allows for truly play-as-you-like sneaking, and the fresh battlefield feel places Snake in the crossfire between PMC troops and rival militia, asking you to pick your side or ignore them altogether. For this, the Solid Eye is essential in distinguishing friend from foe; the remote-controlled Metal Gear Mk.II can sneak up on and electrocute enemies; and all the time Snake's Stress and Psyche meters need to be kept in check.

When spotted, Metal Gear Solid 4 proves an equally accomplished action game. New shooter-style controls, over-the-shoulder aiming and a quick-toggle FPS view are enhanced further by Drebin Points, which encourage salvaging firearms to buy new weapons, ammo and mods from the pause menu. It all makes Metal Gear Solid 4 refreshingly diverse, and richly replayable.

Stunning production

It's also powerfully presented. A few low-res textures aside, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots looks astounding, sounds supreme, and has direction to match the best Hollywood blockbusters. The story may be hard to follow for non fans, but few could argue that this is the most ambitious, well-polished, cinematic gaming experience ever.

Yet also a fractured one. Metal Gear Solid 4 doesn't build to a crescendo like Snake Eater, instead shifting focus drastically from stealth to story in its final few hours, pushing atmosphere, nostalgia and narrative at the expense of early chapters' stylish sneaking – climaxing with a cheesy 70 minute cutscene which would make Peter Jackson proud.

That's Kojima for you, though. His games have always been divisive, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots pulls no punches. Yet there's so much depth to both gameplay and plot, so many injokes, inventive touches and surprise twists that this closing chapter to the Solid Snake story should, much like the first, be looked upon as a standout title of its generation.

There's Metal Gear Online, too. A curious attempt at blending stealth with a multiplayer shooter, it doesn't always work, but playing as or hunting down a camo-concealed Snake in MGO's signature Sneaking Mode alone deserves a cult following. It's lite on levels, which should be sated with download content, but the fact that you need to pay for more than one character per console is annoying. Not everyone will take to it, but MGO's individuality makes it worth sampling.

System seller

And in a way, that's indicative of MGS4 – oozing quality and ideas, but not always balancing them, and packing idiosyncrasies plenty will adore, but a few will dismiss outright. Nonetheless, Metal Gear Solid 4 deserves its place as the PS3's most hyped system-seller. It's a unique, compelling and complete fan service, a supreme celebration of a stunning series, and fitting send-off for one of gaming's greatest characters.

So long, Snake. Thanks for the memories.

GAME's Verdict

• The most ambitious, cinematic, lavishly produced, lovingly nuanced videogame you're likely to play for many a year.
• So many ways to play; stunning stealth, accomplished action - many months of replay value.
• The most Metal Gear MGS ever: a truly emotive, nostalgic fan service, and a powerful, fitting finale to the Solid Snake saga.

• At one third of the game's entire 20+ hours, cutscenes will be as divisive here as ever in the series.
• The opening half is MGS4's best, with lengthy cutscenes and force-fed nostalgia making up much of the final few chapters.
• Not made for newcomers: the story will confuse non-fans, and long breaks in play may frustrate many.

Review by: Mark 'Meme Gene Scene Sense' Scott
Version Tested: PS3
Review Published: 18.06.08

"War has changed..."

"War has changed", says Old Snake. And so too, has Metal Gear Solid. Guns of the Patriots begins not with the slow trawl of Snake Eater, but placing the player in the war-torn Middle Eastern stage of previous trailers – and straight in front of MGS's most nimble, mobile Metal Gear yet, the Gekko.

Gekko Gear

It's a baptism of fire if ever there was one. Ten-feet-plus tall and possessing powerful, tentacle-like legs, Guns of the Patriots' agile mech Gekko can jump buildings, smash through walls and dig its limbs into stone in pursuit of a fleeing Snake. You never feel safe, inducing a panic perfectly in keeping with the series' sneaking roots, but here transplanted to the sandy streets of some nondescript eastern city, lined with militia fighting a fierce guerrilla war against Liquid Ocelot's PMCs. The clinical corridors of Shadow Moses and Big Shell suddenly seem safe; halcyon with hindsight.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots gives an immediate sense that this wrinkled, cynical Snake has been shunted into a conflict he neither belongs to, nor advocates. Otacon calls in via Codec to remind you of this, encouraging you to crouch, sneak – even worm – your way past firefights, blending into the background thanks to the new, texture-copying Octocamo, the all-in-one goggle, Solid Eye, and the mobile reconaissance of the stealth-equipped Metal Gear Mk.II robot.

But avoiding them outright proves a nigh-on impossibility as road blocks, building bottlenecks and endless rubble funnel you down one of a few, treacherous paths, bullets ricocheting and screams erupting with glorious, bloody abandon. You'll have to engage the enemy at some point – even gaining favour with the side you help. Just make sure to avoid that Gekko - you can't hope to take one down this early on.

Yes, war has certainly changed.

Advanced gear

Snake has also changed – prematurely aged, given six months to live and increasingly grumpy. His gear, too, has advanced, building upon and refining the features of past games to make this a faster, smoother stealth-em-up.

Where Snake Eater saw minutes of camo-altering menu hopping, Guns of the Patriots Octocamo works on auto, changing on-the-fly after a few seconds lying prone. MGS3's Stamina gauge meanwhile becomes Stress and Psyche in Metal Gear Solid 4, altering depending on Snake's approach to the battlefield. It sounds complex, but it's kept in check easily enough with the right foods and other stim items, rarely getting in the way of gameplay.

Which is fantastic, by the way. The free-floating cam, first introduced in Subsistence, is improved here, making you wonder how you ever played a Metal Gear without it. Control feels fluid, mixing a Gears of War style over-the-shoulder shooting view with a first-person option, and a far smoother transition from crawling, to skulking and outright sprinting. It perfectly suits the busier, grittier battlefield, Octocamo-enhanced stealth and the multiple routes, combining for a stylish sandbox feel.

Drebin gear

The MGS4 sandbox is improved exponentially by Drebin, Metal Gear Solid 4's answer to Resident Evil 4's weapon merchant. Within Metal Gear's new War Economy, gun launderers like Drebin make a killing feeding militia and PMCs with stock. Drebin's shop can be found in the pause menu, where Snake can unlock ID-tagged weapons, plus buy brand new firearms and mods, all purchased with Drebin Points accrued by picking up excess firepower throughout Guns of the Patriots. It adds another degree of replayability to a series famed for return play.

There are certain things we aren't allowed to talk about at this stage. We can't detail cutscene length and frequency – though it's fair to say that MGS is renowned for its cinematics, and Metal Gear Solid 4 isn't reinventing the franchise. Guns of the Patriots will win few new converts, though the option to pause and skip both cutscenes and Codec dialogues will be welcomed by all. We're also not at liberty to mention the number or length of chapters – but we can say that, if all stages take as long as our Middle East runthrough, MGS4 may trump even Snake Eater for sheer size.

But it's the little touches that will define if fans fall in love with Metal Gear Solid 4 the same way they did with the PSone original. From the standard-setting visuals – Snake's world would make Altair green with envy – to the humour – Rat Patrol's Akiba had us in stitches – to knowing nods and returning injokes – a cardboard box with 'No Place For Hideo' written on its side – and the control scheme – slightly tweaked for online-friendly play, with aiming and fire on the shoulder buttons – there's little doubt that this is a special, special game.

Bumper Gear

Add in the sneak-tastic Metal Gear Online, and you've got an epic, bumper package that few titles can top. Indeed, Metal Gear Solid 4 compiles the best bits of recent popular releases – the believability of Assassin's Creed's environments, the intense warzone of Call of Duty, Gears of War-esque third-person shooting and stealth that refines the already successful Snake Eater – for what's all set to be the PlayStation 3's biggest, boldest and arguably best exclusive release yet.

War has changed. Viva la revolution.

Preview by: Mark 'Solid' Scott
Version Tested: PS3
Preview Published: 08.05.08