Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - The Official Thread

Above: Limited Edition Boxart

A Word From Mr. Wonderful.
I've been meaning to make this thread for a couple of weeks now, climaxing earlier this week when the internet exploded at Metal Gear Solid's first reviewe of a 10/10 from OPSM UK. Hideo Kojima has long been one of my favorite developers, and might be the single best man in the entire video game industry. The subtle complexity and simple puzzle based solutions to an action game is something that only Mr. Kojima can call his own. His emotional story telling has proved itself again and again, most notably in the ending of Metal Gear Solid 3, which I consider to be the best directed and well done series of events and cutscenes that should define the video game genre from this point forward. What started out from a cinematic infiltration to Shadow Moses Island in 1998 has grown and evolved into a series that makes us question our own moral values, the price of war, and who we are fighting for. Now continue on, start the below video to set the mood, and anticipate with me the quickly approaching release of
Metal Gear Solid 4:
The Guns of the Patriots

Music Link.

Release Date: June 12, 2008, Globally.
Description:

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the final chapter in the saga of Solid Snake which sends him around the world in pursuit of his arch nemesis, Liquid Ocelot. Armed with new gadgets and abilities, Solid Snake must shift the tides of war into his favor, using the chaos of the battlefield to infiltrate deep into enemy territory. In his globetrotting final mission, Snake must sneak deep into enemy locations in the Middle East, South America, and other corners of the earth to foil Liquid Ocelot’s plans for total world domination.

Metal Gear Solid 4 promises to answer all our questions, and to be the final concluding chapter of Solid Snake. Characters from the entire series are making their return to see this battle to the end.

The Limited Editon:

Featuring collectible packaging with exclusive artwork by famed Kojima Productions illustrator Yoji Shinkawa, the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition will contain everything that is included with the Standard Edition as well as an additional Blu-ray disc featuring two “making of” documentaries. The documentaries will include extensive interviews with Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima and the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Soundtrack CD. The Limited Edition will be available exclusively at GameStop.

Official Websites:
US Site. (Currently Down.)
Japanese Site.
Some Wallpapers.

News and Previews:
Konami earlier this week had a press event detailing all the marketing for the new game!

MGS4 Marketing Campaign Detailed
Swimsuit models, iPods, rubber duck clocks, Assassin's Creed, and more.
By Kat Bailey, 05/13/2008
MGS4 designer Hideo Kojima and Konami are old hands in a world where games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3 are lauded almost as much for their high-profile marketing campaigns as they are for their actual gameplay. But for the (supposedly) final outing of the developer's flagship Metal Gear Solid franchise, they're going further than they ever have before.

Speaking at Tuesday's Metal Gear Solid 4 press event in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills, producer Kenichiro Imaizumi revealed several product tie-ins that will feature in the marketplace as well as the game itself. Among them, fans will not only find posters of Japanese swimsuit model and apparent Metal Gear Solid 3 fan Akina Minami (pictured below), but they'll discover that Snake is, of all things, a J-pop fan. For those wanting to evoke their preferred battlefield atmosphere in-game, Snake's personal iPod will be available, complete with a selection of popular Japanese and classic Metal Gear tunes.

It would also seem that the Assassin's Solid trailer that was released on April Fool's Day was genuine, as Old Snake was shown doing his best Altair impression at the event. An unlockable costume from the Assassin's Creed protagonist will be available in-game. This news was revealed at the event via a message from Ubisoft producer Jade Raymond, who offered Kojima and his team congratulations on their accomplishments on behalf of the Assassin's Creed team. Check out the original Assasin's Solid trailer from April Fool's Day below.

Other tie-ins include the Japanese energy drink Regain replacing MGS3's CalorieMate as an in-game power-up, this time around coming complete with a Japanese television ad campaign that shows Old Snake miraculously shedding his accumulated years after just one swig.

Japanese retailer Uniqlo will be offering MGS4 t-shirts, while MGS4-themed mobile phones and motorcycles will be available from Sony Ericsson and the British motorcycle manufacturer Triumph respectively. For MGS4 completionists, there will even be an MGS4-branded duck alarm clock that is featured in the game.

Kojima also announced that he will be promoting the game in a worldwide tour in the coming weeks, with locations including London, Madrid, Milan, Hamburg, Amsterdam and Paris, with additional events being organized in New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo.

Overwhelmed with all of the merchandising yet? To try to put it into a little tighter focus, here's a look at all the swag Konami passed out at the event:

Non-MGS fans might want to cover their ears. With the game due to drop in less than a month, the steady roar of Konami's hype engine is only going to get louder.

At the end of the event, a trademark, post-game, one-sided Ocelot conversation teased (literally) Metal Gear Solid 5 and a SECRET EVENT!

Konami Already Hinting at Metal Gear Solid 5?
Revolver Ocelot drops a curious hint at Metal Gear Solid 4 event.
By Andrew Hayward, 05/13/2008

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is set to make its worldwide debut on June 12, but are Konami and Kojima Productions already hinting at the next franchise iteration?

Tuesday's Metal Gear Solid 4 press event in Tokyo's Roppongi Hills concluded with an audio clip of a phone conversation between franchise foe Revolver Ocelot and an unknown character, with only Ocelot's side of the conversation presented in the clip (with subtitles shown on the screen). Mark MacDonald, our man at the event, translated the subtitles to English (emphasis ours):

[Ocelot's voice]
Yes.
We just finished the press conference.
Yes.
Everything went according to plan.
Yes.
We're entering into the last phase of the mission.
Do you want to execute the launch-day surprise?
Yes, that's right.
Akihabara, New York, L.A....
Live, simultaneously throughout the world....
Yes, it's under control.
The VIPs are happy to participate.
Yeah, that's right.
That person.
Yes, sir, understood.
So on June 12th...
By the way, what should we do about "The Project"?
Yes, that's correct.
That man has fallen.
It's about the sequel.
Yes, indeed.
Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
I see.
Yes, sir.
Mr. CEO.

Early word of the next franchise extension? A deliberate trick? (Something else entirely?) We don't know for sure quite yet, though it's likely that the conversation partly refers to the planned launch events and creator Hideo Kojima's world tour, both of which were discussed at the event. As for the rest -- well, we'll likely find out when Kojima is ready to tell us. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Gamespot has a last minute preview!


Screenshots:








Videos:
Spoiler Section:
WARNING: EXTREME SPOILERS!!
The first bit of the intro!
The recently released Metal Gear Solid 4 Theatrical Trailer.
The AMAZING, movie-like quality Metal Gear Solid 4 commercials premiered during the MTV Video Music Awards. They are available here.

1up has done a Retrospective and a Retronaughts Podcast on the Metal Gear Solid Series.
Gametrailers has done a Retrospective series.
Our Own Dr. Zaius is doing a Retrospective. Part One, on Metal Gear for the MSX, can be found here.

Gamestop is doing Midnight Launch Events in select stores.

Reviews:
-Playstation Official Magazine UK: 10/10

Originally Posted by OPSM UK

MGS4 shifts gears constantly, innovating again and again. I can't think of another series that has remained as uncompromisingly true to its creator's vision, and given its 21-year gestation, I doubt Kojima himself will equal it, whatever triumphs follow. Ultimately this is a game for the fans- and you should be one. As for Snake? It turns out his last stand really is his finest hour. Farewell old friend. You've earned your rest.

-Official Playstation Magazine (US): 10/10
Link to scans of the review here.
-Famitsu: 40/40
-Eurogamer: 8/10
-GamePro: 5/5
-Edge: 8/10

Metal Gear Solid 4 is less than a WEEK away! Also, I have put a lot of time into this post, but realize that it is far from complete. If you have information that would like to add, simply post it and I will add it in. 7 days! I can't wait. The time to buy a PS3 is NOW.

Spoiler (Highlight to read):

---

The fact that vamp continues talking on his cell after he gets shot in the head is hilarious

---

This game will be awesome, but I personaly think the PS3 isn't a very good system, so I won't be buying.

How old is Snake in this game? I still can't get over it. He's an old man, yet there he is crawling around killing people.

Originally Posted by heroman

How old is Snake in this game? I still can't get over it. He's an old man, yet there he is crawling around killing people.

About 43.

I don't like the fact that snake looks like he's 60 and yet ocelot still looks the same from 1 and 2 basically, ocelot should be dead by now or at least look a great deal older but I am still going to buy the game It will be fun still just not as much as the previous installments

Originally Posted by Great Gonzales

I don't like the fact that snake looks like he's 60 and yet ocelot still looks the same from 1 and 2 basically, ocelot should be dead by now or at least look a great deal older but I am still going to buy the game It will be fun still just not as much as the previous installments

Remember how Solidus looked old? He was younger then Solid Snake. Because Snake is a clone, his body has aged much more then a human being. Hell, even Gray Fox said he hadn't aged well.

Also, you have no idea how fun it is going to be.

Even with all the rumors of the game coming to '360, I don't think I can hold out. I'm convincing myself to buy the PS3 just for this game.

Thanks for the thread Mr. W, it's pretty fantastic.

Woah, I had no idea that Metal Gear was going to get so much merchandise and promotion though. I didn't think that it was *such* a popular series. Damn, some of this stuff looks pretty cool.

I can't believe how excited I am at the thought of sitting down to play this game! I've been playing Son's of Liberty again just to remind my self where the story left off, and to try and get to grips with some of the parts that admitedly flew completely over my head . I'm not sure how many times I've actually finished the game, but I really should have had it down after my third at least. XD

After playing the Metal Gear Online Beta (which I loved by the way) I'm convinced that this is going to be the best Metal Gear yet. The controls are still fairly complicated (especially after soo long playing Wii) but they have been streamlined an awful lot. I've always thought that the gun play in Metal Gear has been clunky and awkward, but now it's as strong as any other game that you could mention. I never really got to try out the CQC though.

Obviously the big draw is going to be story, and how Kojima wraps up all of the different arcs. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Raiden and Vamp settle things, especially after that first trailer. I haven't been keeping up with the game at all (I don't want to know ANYTHING about it until I'm playing ) but I really hope that Raiden is playable. It'd be a nice change of pace to switch between Old Snake and Raiden. Playing as Meryl with her squad would be pretty awesome as well .

My only concern is that people who haven't played the previous Metal Gear Solid games may be put off such a story driven sequel. Waay back, I read that the game will feature flash backs to previous scenes in the Metal Gear universe to fill newbies in. Hopefully that turns out to be true.

Damn, I'm terrified to open up any MGS4 threads in case there's spoilers in them. Thanks again for the thread Mr. W!

Oh, and Otacon is morphing into David Bowie.

EDIT: Oops, I meant to ask in my post: Did you make your signature yourself Mr. WOnderful? Or is there somewhere that I can steal one from? XD

And can I just say, because I know Kojima reads the boards, that I can do a FANTASTIC Russian accent, and I'll be available to play Olga Gurlogovich in the upcoming movie.

Originally Posted by Vega

I can't believe how excited I am at the thought of sitting down to play this game! I've been playing Son's of Liberty again just to remind my self where the story left off, and to try and get to grips with some of the parts that admitedly flew completely over my head . I'm not sure how many times I've actually finished the game, but I really should have had it down after my third at least. XD

I know! I've been listening to the Theme Of Metal Gear Solid 2 like every other night for the last couple of weeks.

My only concern is that people who haven't played the previous Metal Gear Solid games may be put off such a story driven sequel. Waay back, I read that the game will feature flash backs to previous scenes in the Metal Gear universe to fill newbies in. Hopefully that turns out to be true.

I have heard this is true.

Originally Posted by Vega

EDIT: Oops, I meant to ask in my post: Did you make your signature yourself Mr. Wonderful? Or is there somewhere that I can steal one from? XD

I made it myself from a screenshot and the wallpaper for Miss Naomi. Of course, I could make another one.

Originally Posted by Vega

And can I just say, because I know Kojima reads the boards, that I can do a FANTASTIC Russian accent, and I'll be available to play Olga Gurlogovich in the upcoming movie.

And that Metal Gear Solid 4 Bluetooth headset? That **** just got real:



Looks nice, I don't have a headset, and it is Metal Gear. I could see myself buying one. The only thing that offsets me is that Pelican is making it.

God, I so wish I could just like find enough money to buy a Playstation 3 just so I can buy this game. I always heard great things about the MGS series but never tried playing any until I heard about the Essential Collection. I started playing MetalGear Solid and the first ten minutes got me hooked.

I am so mad that I will probably never play this installment. Here's to hoping I can find the cutscenes on the internet or something to get the story.

Originally Posted by DK

Even with all the rumors of the game coming to '360, I don't think I can hold out. I'm convincing myself to buy the PS3 just for this game.

If this rumor is true, I'll be able to die happy.

Originally Posted by DK

Even with all the rumors of the game coming to '360, I don't think I can hold out. I'm convincing myself to buy the PS3 just for this game.

Might as well get that PS3, because MGS4 will NEVER be available on XBox 360.

Originally Posted by Pyroth

If this rumor is true, I'll be able to die happy.

The buzz around the playground is a late release, around 12-18 months after the PS3 release, but if--

Originally Posted by DrZaius1

Might as well get that PS3, because MGS4 will NEVER be available on XBox 360.

--this is true, looks like I'll have to fork out some cash pretty soon.