Metal Gear Solid 4 Impressions - Act I

I have fought the Frogs and lived to tell about it. That's about as far as I have made it into Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots campaign, so don't worry there will be no spoilers. In fact, I don't think I have seen a cutscene yet that hasn't been included in one of the trailers.

Let me start off by the negatives that immediately gave me a pang of doubt in MGS4. First is that the game must be installed on your system. This is a very big annoyance when you've been waiting for this game, but ultimately it doesn't take that long...but I have to nitpick. The real WTF moment for me has nothing to do with the game or its cutscenes. I have seen 3 (so far) live action pieces / cutscenes that should not have been put on the disc. 2 came up as I started my new game. 1 was a "Who wants to be a Millionaire" spoof where the answer to the questions were about the war economy. The other one was some weird ad with women shooting harpoons and being entangled by an octopus with a skull....WTF exactly. The other live action piece was much more digestable and just a simple scene of a frying pan, little girl's voice (possibly Sunny), and 2 eggs cracked and cooked. This scene popped up right as the "Act I" text came up.

My only complaint about the gameplay / cutscenes so far is that the jokes about Johnny "Akiba" of rat patrol go way too far. It's typical Kojima humor but it's a little too in the face (you'll see what I mean).

As far as gameplay and the rest of the game goes....wow! MGS4 feels a lot different than it's predecessors and the scale/size of the maps are staggering. I have had to refer to my map several times and even gotten lost in the winding tunnels of a militia outpost. The warzone setting is incredible exciting and the Militia vs. PMC battle where I allied myself with the Militia and participated in their war has been a highlight that culminated in a PMC airstrike. Is this even Metal Gear? Yes it is and it's better than ever, because this immediately followed with the first "boss' battle against the Frogs. In typical, Metal Gear Solid Fashion, the battle with the Frogs is very similar to early boss battles that are just forced action/fight sequences (such as MGS gunfight with Meryl along your side). It's made even easier because you have Rat Patrol (Meryl again) gunning away with you.

...I'm on my way to find Liquid's camp now...more to come later.