As being probably the only guy in lower Delaware able to pick up a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 off the shelf yesterday without a preorder (thank you Radio Shack and my resourcefulness to check there) fresh off the delivery truck (oh, and they only had 1 copy for the location- lucky me), I spent a healthy 6 hours with undoubtedly one of the largest games ever made.

Cracked the seal, opened the box, the ink on the instruction manual still smelled as if it just came out of the printer. I don’t think I have been as anxious to open a game and throw it in the console since possibly Super Mario Brothers 3 in 1990- and back then, I was only 8 (thanks mom). But this is so much more, an ending to a game series 20 years in the making since Metal Gear first appeared on the MSX/NES- with characters never to be seen again, resolutions to every major plotline, and a finality to everything we knew.

“War has changed.” – Solid Snake

Despite all the bad hype and hate I had towards the PS3, mostly stemming from an arrogant Sony treating consumers like complete morons (which they are taking massive strides to correct)- playing Metal Gear Solid 4 makes up for all of the 2 years of empty promises. The opening sequence sets the dreary tone of the game, a lone cargo truck filled with militia riding down war torn streets somewhere in the Middle East, with Solid Snake providing narrative about how war has changed and its a business now. Then, gun fire rings out and bullets whiz past, striking other guys on the truck, Snake hops off and takes cover. This is where the cutscene ends, and the HUD appears. Thats right, no CGI/FMV here, all the scenes are rendered in real time- it will blow you away in person to watch how seamless it is. Quite often does the game switch between gameplay and a cutscene, giving it the heavy handed cinematic quality most fans enjoyed from the first 3 Metal Gear Solid games.

Even though the plot is flawed to an extent (I blame the confusing, muddled over the top Metal Gear Solid 2 plotline) the game itself is an amazing achievement in all levels of game design, running at a slick solid framerate on 1080p, 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound, tight, simple controls and a great score to boot. If you aren’t a fan of the Metal Gear series, or even played any of the previous ones, its impossible to not play for 15 mintues and appreciate the level of detail that went into everything about this game. It’s completely polished, start to finish.

And its true- you quickly start to identify with Snake (as if you hadn’t before) with the woeful predicament he is in is now escalated. His mission is to track down and kill his brother, before he can take control of the armies of the world. Even if he is successful, Snake only has 3 months to live due to a degenerative gene virus which is mutating and will become an airborne spread contagion at that time- making him the second coming of the bubonic plague.

“I’m no hero. Never was, never will be.” – Solid Snake

Snake must die. But not before his mission is through. This is classic Kojima storytelling, the odds are stacked but you have a job to do, you are Solid Snake after all, battle hardened soldier who’s seen it all- except inevitable death. He’s dedicated his life to saving the world from others but now must save the world from himself. Truly epic and heartfelt, you can hear the despair in Solid Snakes voice- but also the resolve. You feel sorry for Snake, thrust into this position against his will from the start (the virus was injected into him by a doctor of the U.S. Military), fighting wars for people who would later turn on him, branding him a traitor and a criminal forcing him into hiding- just as they did to The Boss, and later, Big Boss.

It all ends here.

Epic in every sense of the word, despite some of the holes in the plot, a lame ammo buying system (this is supposed to be a stealth game, not Rambo) and a handful of throwaway characters, Metal Gear Solid 4 is THE game to own, one that justifies the purchase of a PS3, an upgrade to HDTV, and a reason to play video games again. The only downside is that one of video games most beloved and legendary heroes is no more.

Goodbye Snake, and thanks for all the memories.