First Metal Gear Review

You heard wrong. I beat the game with 21 hours logged in, and the cutscenes don't take up half. It's roughly 30% cut-scenes, it only seems longer because the last two acts are riddled with them, and the epilogue is close to 45 minutes long.

 

Puck - I will have to disagree with you about the controls, especially the targeting. After playing previous MGS games (more recently MGS2), I can't believe how easy the controls feel in this game. It's crazy. Many things that used to be annoying and painful to do are now done by just pressing a button. It is also a good thing that Kojima realized that he needed to add game mechanics that are common in many games nowadays (3D camera, over the should aiming, etc). I do agree with you that some guns are too big when in first person view, but the over the shoulder aiming works perfectly IMO.

By the way, cinematics in this game are just mind blowing. I thought they looked great in MGS3, but this has easily surpassed them.

I've played close to 9 hours... I'm still on Act 1. I like to take my time with these type of games.

 

Search for it. Everyone says "half the game is cutscenes", even the ones that liked the game. This is nothing new though. It's metal gear.
Reviewers werent even allowed to discuss the cutscenes.

Some are even thinking that since there was so little game-play, that this was just a tester for MGS5.

 

Gloat, I PLAYED the game on Big Boss Hard, and it took me 21 hours. I have a pretty genuine idea of how much was cut-scenes, and like I said, it's only about 30%. On harder difficulties, the game will literally slow to a crawl (no pun) as you have to sneak past many parts. That makes the gameplay considerably longer on the difficulties most people on the internet (including reviewers who have to make deadline) got to play on. A normal run probably takes 14-16 hours, and yes, in that case, the cut-scenes will seem longer. Even my run is considerably shorter than actual play-time, as I tend to quit and re-load if I die or mess up considerably.

Bottom-line, if the game is played on a harder difficulty that decreases the run and guning on normal, then the gameplay outweighs the cutscenes easily. In fact, with exception to the epilogue, I'd say this game actually has less exposition than the other games (there's virtually no mandatory codec convos this time, which takes off a lot of time IMO). However, the game is far less accessible to outsiders in terms of story (which is, ironically, the opposite for gameplay on normal difficulties); that might explain the criticism of the story for 4. It's usually very easy to tell who is a MGS fan, and who simply isn't.

 

Toly, I can see both sides of the argument about the controls. Again, it comes down to if you're a series veteran or not. This series doesn't play like most other games, so the learning curve can be quite steep for certain players. But, that said, the controls are EXTREMELY rewarding if one takes the time and patience necessary to master them. The controls are as complex as you want to make them, but the more advanced moves are a necessity on harder difficulties (i.e. CQC moves to incapacitate and disarm enemies, as opposed to just shooting them).

 

Word. I guess if you creep through, you can extend the gameplay beyond 50%. That's still way too much movie for a game though. And rumors before the release was that there was a 90 min cutscene. I'm betting they chopped that one down before release.

 

Christian Bale is a sick actor. Can't wait for the dark knight to come out, July 18th. And he was great in the prestige, and american physco.

 

They shouldn't do a live action movie, or a movie period in my mind. The game is its own entity and wouldn't translate well to the big screen. I love Kojima's vision, and I don't really want it altered, even if it were in capable hands.