Post Mortem: Metal Gear Solid 4 (Snake, Your Mother and I are Disappointed)

The same criticism of Metal Gear Solid 4 is present in nearly every review, and these complaints are nothing new to the series.

Since Metal Gear Solid’s debut in 1998, the franchise has carved a niche as a solid espionage action title with an involving and, at times, overly complicated narrative. It has drawn in hardcore escapists, but always deterred those gamers who didn’t want to take notes in hopes of making sense of the painfully complex storyline or wait through cutscenes that sometimes are as long as feature films.

Over the past decade, the MGS plot line has became increasingly convoluted, and the rift between Metal Gear fanatics and the gaming masses has grown into a chasm. Konami does not believe that this is a problem though, since millions of people fell in love with the early installment of the series on the original PlayStation; however, the publisher’s stance has meant that countless Metal Gear outsiders (myself included) have found ourselves alienated from the franchise and left trying to make sense of the hype.

This isn’t even the entire cast of MGS4 characters

In all fairness, the game has received excellent reviews almost across the board with a Metacritic score of 94 out of 100, but the fact that the same complaints have been present for the past decade is a bit concerning.

Since this game was hyped as the title that will move PS3s off shelves around the globe, it’s a shame that it isn’t more accessible to newcomers.