I bought MGS4 a few hours ago and, so far, I'm not impressed. Let's just say, if I wanted a squad-based shooter, I'd be playing something like Counter-Strike or Gears Of War or any number of the other squad-based shooters that I've hated over the years.
Seriously, what's happened to the stealth? Why has it been ditched in favour of repetitive, generic shooting segments with dull, run-of-the-mill weaponry? Why is the game so focused on standard set-pieces instead of the clever and engrossing stealth areas of old? I'm also disappointed with the annoying over-the-shoulder camera angle. I hate that so many games use that now, as well as Gears Of War's ridiculous cover system. As far as I'm concerned, there is only one game that has managed to pull that off well -- Uncharted -- and only two that have managed to do over-the-shoulder camera angles well -- Uncharted and Resident Evil 4. And even though RE4 came first and did it better, it always galls me to see Gears Of War get credited for it. Same with God Of War and its bemani-like button bashing and sequences (which are way too overdone, by the way) while Dark Cloud did it before it.
That's not the only problem with MGS4 though. Can anyone tell me why Meryl is so damn sexist? Why it's so funny to see her punching Johnny (who I refuse to call "Akiba" -- it's a ludicrous name)? Why it's okay for her blame the Colonel for being with a younger woman when she was lusting after Snake in MGS1? Why is it okay for that b!tch to call men "selfish egotistical pigs" when the Colonel is a war hero, has probably saved no less than millions of lives, got Meryl her job in the Middle East, had her life saved in Shadow Moses and yet she calls him selfish!?
And unfortunately, we get a cinematic after (or even halfway into) every single segment. I know MGS is known for its cinematics but come on . . . every single other game managed to go without them for longer. Then again, every single other game had more than one stealth section every hour . . .
EDIT: Before I forget, I can't end this blog without mentioning Drebin's ridiculous "Eye Have You" line, or the fact that Britain is now woefully underrepresented in MGS. Liquid Ocelot has Ocelot's voice (which is good, to be fair) and Naomi is now American instead of English (which is stupid and annoying). And speaking of Naomi, how come she looked older in MGS1 than she does now?
