Well, I got my PS3 80GB MGS4 bundle. It arrived late Monday evening. And I have to say... I love it.
I don't want to risk jinxing myself by saying this, but I hooked up the PS3 without a hitch and it runs like a charm. It keeps its cool and the fans only pick up once in a while, and when they do they're a steady hum more akin to white noise than anything distracting. Then, after a while, the fans stop once the system's cooled itself. I was amazed at how easy the setup was. The system installation took awhile, but I have no problem with that. It did all the work, while I looked at the blisteringly sharp lettering onscreen and the cool wavy-light graphic.
Then, I went to install MGS4. My whole family was enthralled by the installation sequence. The attention to detail, from the textures and lighting to the modeling and animation, was mindblowing. Then came the game. The title screen sequence was so beautiful, I watched it all the way through. And I was quite surprised by what came after the title screen, if you let it keep running. There are at least several live-action, Super Bowl-quality mock commercials in the game, and snippets of TV shows as well. The production values in MGS4 are through the roof.
When I finally hit START, I went to the Virtual Range, since I've never played an MGS game before... Or a Playstation game, period. Here's where I hit my first snag: learning the new controller. It took me a while to adjust, but between methodically testing the buttons and consulting the Briefings on the Pause screen, it was only a matter of time before I was running and rolling, walking in a crouch, using human shields and throwing enemies to the ground, gunning from the third- and first-person, lying flat on the ground and rolling over to shoot from my back... It's stunning how many options are at your disposal. It helped to invert the camera controls and adjust the game speed. I also figured out how to use the in-game iPod, and used it to play "Calling to the Night," a song I loved in Brawl. Soon, I was ready to start the game.
Holy smokes all over again. Snake's voiceover -- "War has changed" -- gave me chills. And while at this point I was still struggling with the controls, I mastered them reeeally quick when the Gekkos came. Talk about baptism by fire. I was scared shitless and had no idea where to go, so for the next hour I was running aimlessly. These were some of the best gaming moments I've ever had. I'll never forget hiding under a truck and watching, in first person, as three Gekkos gathered outside felt around with steely tentacles before "pissing" green chemicals and lumbering off. I'll never forget hugging the wall on the second floor of a bombed-out building, peering around the corner and seeing a Gekko's paw clamp down on the balcony, followed by the head peeking over the edge and into the room. I'll never forget crawling through the rubble and seeing the poor militiamen slaughtered all around me, the action unfolding in every direction, something that'll reward replays as there's no way I could've seen everything all at once. Damn.
It bears repeating: the Gekkos are amazing. So animalistic, so organic, even though story-wise theyÂ’re machines, and in reality theyÂ’re merely polygons on a screen. TheyÂ’re so believable, so full of life, that the suspension of disbelief was complete, and I totally bought into their existence, my mouth gaping wide as the controller melted into my hands and I forgot about everything but the game.
That was Monday night. Today, Wednesday, I finished Act 1. And that Act alone would've been worth the price of admission. That Act alone was better than most games in their entirety. It reminds me of the first part of Okami (up through Orochi), where it's so satisfying that they could've ended the game right then and there. But there's more and I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm loving every second of the gameplay and the cutscenes (and speaking of the cutscenes, some of them have a very leisurely pace that I enjoy; they remind me of an arthouse film).
Oh, and in case anyone's wondering, I'm playing on Naked Normal, the second easiest difficulty. I decided it was best since I'm new to MGS. Even so, the fact I pulled off NO KILLS in Act 1 felt like a real accomplishment. I'm going to attempt completing the game without killing a single person. I love sneaking up on guards, Batman-style, and throwing them to the ground, stunning them. And I love using the tranquilizer. I bought a shitload of tranquilizer darts from Drebin for the FROG fight. So much fun. I also save the game frequently, "book-marking" each checkpoint in case I want to replay it later. There are too many moments I want to replay, too many cutscenes I want to rewatch and show to family and friends.
I've only scratched the surface of the game, but I can already tell it's very, very deep. There are a thousand approaches to any situation; all sorts of nooks and crannies hidden with goodies like iPod songs or Easter eggs; and I even found out I can explore with the Mk.II during mission briefings. I found a camera that way. Again, the depth, the detail -- insane. I'll be busy with this game for a long time.
(Quick question: is there a way to pause during Codec calls? I know I can pause during cutscenes, but if I hit START on a Codec call it skips the scene. That hasn't been a problem, since I only skipped a Codec call when replaying an earlier scene for fun on another file. But I'd still like to know.)
Then there's online. It took a LONG time to download the update patch using the peer-to-peer (which they recommend), but after that it was smooth sailing. I decked my guy out in black from head to toe, with the logic I'd blend into shadows better. Then I had a blast running around the levels on a team-based server where the gameplay style changed each round. I've played all of the starter maps except Ambush Alley, where my dark-colored character should really come in handy. IÂ’ve already had some fun moments. Once I was in a Team Sneaking mission, in stealth mode, kneeling on the rooftop of the factory in Grad, the one you reach with the catapult. I was invisible, and I watched as enemies scurried around down below. I picked them off one by one with the tranquilizer. Bliss.
The little IÂ’ve played of this game so far is worth $500. IÂ’m sure there are people who donÂ’t agree, but for me this game is hitting all the right spots. The gameplay is fantastic, and the cutscenes are so good IÂ’d take a whole movie of them.
And speaking of moviesÂ… I tried out the Blu-ray version of PanÂ’s LabyrinthÂ… OMG. Going in, I couldnÂ’t imagine how the movie could look better than it already did. But as someone who saw it in theaters four times, IÂ’ve never seen the movie look better than it does on Blu-ray. I felt like I could reach through my TV and feel the textures on the walls of the Pale ManÂ’s lair. My whole family was spellbound; they watched it in utter fascination. And we tried upscaling some regular DVDs, to spectacular results. The widescreen edition of Batman Begins looks incredible, and the Fullscreen edition of Night at the Museum looked crisper, cleaner and more colorful than before. The Blu-ray player has totally sold the rest of my family on the PS3. Amazing.
So far, so good. I havenÂ’t even looked around PSN yet. I still need to download some demos. And with my birthday coming up, IÂ’m going to lobby for a second Dualshock3 and a copy of Soul Calibur IV. My younger brothers love SC, and since the youngest isnÂ’t allowed to play MGS4, heÂ’ll have something to enjoy. I wonder if thereÂ’s a downloadable trailer or demo of SC4 on PSN? IÂ’ll have to check.
I’d like to conclude these first impressions by thanking everyone for helping me and pushing me toward a purchase. I was fully expecting a bad case of buyer’s remorse – I’ve never purchased an electronic this expensive before – but the value you get is unmatched. And to think that I’m loving MGS4 so much, and that after it I get to try Grand Theft Auto IV, and then Bioshock in October… It blows my mind.
Thanks again, everybody.
