Metal Gear Solid 4 – Guns of the Patriots

Info:

Developer/s: Kojima Productions

Publisher/s: Konami

Platform/s: PlayStation 3

Genre: Stealth, action

Vintage: 12 June 2008

Plot:

Metal Gear Solid 4 is set  in 2014, five years after the Big Shell incident. The world economy relies on continuous war, fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are outfitted with nanomachines to enhance their abilities and control the battlefield.  The control network created through these nanomachines is called Sons of the Patriots (SOP), and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the system.  Snake accepts a request from Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid, with Otacon and Sunny providing mission support from the Nomad aircraft – wiki

Warning: the following contains spoilers, do not proceed unless you have completed the story mode of Metal Gear Solid 4.

Graphics: 5/5 – Metal Gear Solid 4 is the most technically stunning game I have ever seen.  Kojima and his team have created a virtual world with painstaking attention to detail, and both the characters and environments look breathtaking.  From Middle-Eastern urban war zones, South American jungles, Eastern European cities/cathedrals and beyond, each location is vast and detailed.  The game world, though somewhat linear in actuality, feels huge and open-ended and offers plenty of exploration.  The environmental effects are also impressive, the Middle-Eastern section will send sand hitting your screen and the icy island of Shadow Moses throws Snake into a snowy blizzard.  The textures and shaders employed are amazing and the game manages to retain its brilliant level of graphical quality from start to finish.

Gameplay: 5/5 – Solid Snake (though refered to as Old Snake in MGS4) has never been easier to control, and because you now have full control over the camera (using the right analog stick) navigating Snake through the game world is far more intuitive and fun than ever before.  As always with Metal Gear Solid, stealth plays a huge role in MGS4 and this time Snake is equipped with a camo suit that allows you to blend in with your environment.  So if you’re tired of hiding in a drum or cardboard box the camo suit is a vastly superior alternative to hiding in this game.  Snake’s age is apparent from the beginning and ‘Old Snake’ doesn’t move or respond as fast as he used to in previous games.  The new psyche meter is depleted whenever Snake is under extreme pressure (like being hunted by an enemy) and if it is completely exhausted Snake with be unable to aim properly, experience bodily pain and sometimes even black out completely if struck by an enemy.  Apart from the myriad of weapons (I didn’t even bother to use them all, there were so many) Snake has access to the ‘Solid Eye’, a bionic eyepatch with several different vision modes like night vision and so on as well as the Mk II (later Mk III) a small bi-pedal reconnaissance robot that can be used to stun enemies and scout the area.  The game world is strewn with countless enemies and generally you’ll be able to collect items and weapons off of them, what made the game a bit easier than previous installments is that you can basically never run out of weapons as after meeting Drebin (a gun runner) you always have access to his shop where you’re able to buy weapons and ammunition using ‘Drebin points’, Drebin points are obtained on the battle field whenever you find new weapons, they’re added to your inventory, duplicate weapons are sold to Drebin automatically sans ammunition so it’s basically impossible to run out of firepower.  The option to use Drebin’s store exists even during boss battles.

Characters: 5/5 – The return of Snake as protagonist is one of the reasons why this game rocks so hard, Raiden is present in MGS4 but isn’t a playable character this time around (Raiden was the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2).  Snake is a character with a rich background and other familiar characters (friend and foe) like Otacon, Roy Campbell, Liquid Ocelot and Meryl Silverburgh return in starring roles as well as a host of new villains that Snake must contend with.

Soundtrack: 5/5 – Since Metal Gear Solid on the PSOne, the Metal Gear series has always had an epic score, and MGS4 is no exception.  The soundtrack has plenty of fast-paced techno tracks (like during the boss battles) as well as a multitude of epic orchestral tracks and 2 vocal themes.  The opening theme (Love Theme) is sung by Jackie Presti and the ending theme (Here’s to You) is sung by Lisbeth Scott.  Many of the themes are quite haunting and serve as a kind of send-off for ‘Old Snake’.  Overall, MGS4 has one of the greatest soundtracks I’ve ever heard in a video game.

Lifespan: 5/5 – I managed to complete MGS4 in just under 20 hours, excluding cut scenes (of which there’s over 8 hours worth).  MGS4 is a lengthy adventure that offers loads f replayability long after you’ve completed the game.  There are all sorts of titbits strewn throughout the game as well as several hidden surprises and an online multiplayer mode.

Overall: 5/5 – I’m giving Metal Gear Solid 4 a perfect score simply because it’s one of the best games that I’ve ever encountered.  The game has been criticized for having overly extended cut-scenes however I feel that they only serve to enrich the story further.  What people fail to realize is that cut-scenes as well as quick time events (though no QT events are really present in this game) allow game developers to include sections that would be overly complex to control in-game (like dramatic fight scenes).  On a similar note, cut-scenes can be paused and skipped so if you’re impatient the aforementioned options should appeal to you.  Overall, if there’s one game to get for PlayStation 3 it’s this one.  Hideo Kojima has really created something special with MGS4 and I highly recommend that anyone with a PS3 play this game asap, what makes it even better is that it’s available on the Platinum range so there’s no excuse not to partake in Solid Snake’s final adventure.

Solid Snake has become 'Old Snake' in Metal Gear Solid 4.

There is an entire host of characters in MGS4, new and old alike.

Raiden vs. Vamp.

MGS4 has some of the most astounding visuals ever seen in a video-game.

Aliens vs. Predator (AvP) official game trailer for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC – Multiplayer gameplay [HD]

This is one of the most anticipated games of 2010, and judging by this multiplayer trailer, AVP is going to be one awesome game indeed.  Let’s just hope that the PC version gets a dedicated server for multiplayer unlike the COD6 fiasco and that the PS3 version’s online play is actually bearable unlike the frame-dropping mess that is King of fighters 12.

In the all-new Aliens vs. Predator players will have the chance to take the role of the three infamous species; the Colonial Marine, the Predator and the Alien. Each of the three species has its very own distinct story-driven single-player campaign mode that interweaves with the campaigns of the other two species. Aliens vs. Predator will also feature unique 3-way online multiplayer, allowing gamers to pit the three species against each other in the ultimate battle for survival and for the right to be crowned the deadliest species.

On planet BG-386 a colonist mining group discovers an ancient pyramid containing a dark and horrible secret. Across the stars a race of warriors is alerted to the discovery of their pyramid and a hunting party is dispatched to ensure that it remains sealed at all costs, whilst deep inside the ruined pyramid a malevolent intelligence awakes from centuries of dormancy.

South African release date: 19 February 2010

Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Interstellar Marines – Photo Shoot Trailer

INTERSTELLAR MARINES is a trilogy of three games, a high quality first person shooter experienced in a realistic and unpredictable future where first contact with another sentient species is slowly becoming reality. The games balance the military realism and cooperative action from tactical shooters with the character development and narrative depth from Role Playing Games.

Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

PS3 vs. Xbox 360; Shut Up Already!

Lately, I’ve come across many ‘nerd rage’ incidents on the net whereby Xbox 360 fan-boys rip into PS3 fan-boys and so on about the superiority of their platform of choice.  Most recent of which being the release of Bayonetta on both platforms.  The PS3 version of the game has reportedly suffered from major slow down as well as screen tearing (which I absolutely hate) whereas Xbox players have enjoyed a fluidic, fun-filled game.  So naturally Xbox fans have taken the opportunity to blame the PS3 for having inferior hardware.  So I’m going to straighten a few things out here, I own a PS3 and am a PC gamer simultaneously and have abandoned the “my console is better than your console” mentality sometime ago, opting for multi-platform harmony.

Firstly, the Bayonetta Issue.  Bayonetta, as you undoubtedly know by now, is an action game for the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles developed by Platinum Games and published by Sega.  The game was originally for the Xbox 360 but then Sega ported the game to the PS3 and that’s where the trouble lies.  Platinum games did a phenomenal job on the Xbox however, Sega’s PS3 port was completely botched.  In general, I’ve never had a great love for porting as invariably the port is inferior to the original and Bayonetta’s no exception.  The Xbox 360 is pretty much a slimmed down PC and as such, games are relatively easy to develop for and port to PC.  The PS3 uses a completely different hardware approach what with the cell processor at the heart of the console.  The new technology employed by Sony has been notoriously difficult to get to grips with and developers have only just begun to scratch the surface of the console’s true capabilities. Having launched in 2005, the Xbox 360 as far as I’m concerned has reached a stalemate having made no real graphical improvements within the last two years or so.

I think that in developing multiplat games, one console or the other will invariably suffer because porting is an expensive and time-consuming task.  Oftentimes, developers simply do not have the time or money required to release 1:1 versions of their games, especially when the two consoles they’re developing for are so different.  You’ll notice that ‘platform exclusives’ generally look better than multiplat games as developers can spend all their time and resources on developing the software for a specific platform without having to over extend their resources.  Games like Uncharted 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3 exclusives) look amazing and you’re really able to see what the PS3 is capable of when talented developers like Hideo Kojima of Konami or Naughty Dog are behind the wheel.

The other aspect that needs to be considered is the optical storage format of the two consoles.  As the Xbox 360 uses the older DVD format, the console is severely limited in terms of how much data can be placed on a single DVD.  As a result, the Xbox generally installs the majority of a game onto it’s hard drive enabling faster seek times, this is why Bayonetta has little to no slow-down on the Xbox 360.  On the PS3, about 300MB of Bayonetta is installed onto the hard drive while the rest of the game runs off of the Blu-Ray disc, Blu-Ray being able to hold 25GB single-sided & 50GB double-sided.  It takes a 3x Blu-Ray drive to equal the data transfer of a 12x DVD drive and unfortunately, the PS3 uses a 2X Blu-Ray drive whereas the Xbox 360 has a 16x DVD drive – so you do the math.  If Sega took this into account then Bayonetta probably would have been a damn side better on the PS3.

At the end of the day, a specific platform be it PC or console, should be chosen for the games, not because one has superior hardware to the other, while the PS3’s hardware is indeed more powerful than the Xbox 360, the PC still reigns supreme as far as hardware goes and yet I find myself spending much of my gaming time on the console.  The only reason I don’t own an Xbox 360 is because of my PC, because Microsoft created the Xbox, I can just wait for PC ports of games like the Halo series or Devil May Cry 4.  Games like Halo and DMC4 have actually been ported properly and actually exceed the console versions.  The reason I chose Sony’s console is for MGS4, Uncharted and the God of War series, among others.  I suggest you do the same and pick a platform based on the games you want to play.

Sherlock Holmes

Info:

Genre:  Action, adventure, suspense

Director/s:  Guy Ritchie

Writer/s:  Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckman, Simon Kinberg, Lionel Wigram

Running Time:  128 mins

Budget:  $90 million

Released:  25 December 2009 (USA)

Plot:

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England – imdb

Review:

Since first learning of the film sometime last year I had waited with much anticipation for some time, managing to avoid the hype machine all together I walked into the cinema with no expectations at all, only with the knowledge that one of my favourite actors, Robert Downey, Jr. was in the title role.  I was quite surprised to learn that Guy Ritchie was directing and after watching the film you’ll be able to see that Ritchie hallmarks are everywhere.

Firstly, if you’re expecting an accurate representation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work then look elsewhere.  While the film does contain all the classic elements such as the protagonists, locations and various tributes to the novels, Guy Ritchie has taken many liberties with his reworking of the classic characters.  The brilliance and eccentricities of the Holmes character are intact however Robert Downey, Jr. adds a wit and comedic value to the character (though the film isn’t a comedy, the interaction between Holmes and Watson is very funny at times) that differs somewhat from the novels.  Not only that, but Ritchie has turned both protagonists into martial arts killing machines.  While Holmes was a proficient fighter in the books (described as an accomplished boxer) with some knowledge of Baritsu, a type of Japanese system of wrestling  used in the novels which is more than likely a tribute to the real-life martial arts/defense art called Bartitsu.  In the film, Holmes is highly skilled in the art able to take down adversaries in mere seconds using a series of precise, incapacitating blows which are beautifully shown in slow motion (as a narrated explanation by Holmes) before the actual attack takes place – I really liked that aspect of the movie.

Some examples of the Bartitsu style developed in England during 1898 - 1902.

Below are some screens of Robert Downey, Jr employing Doyle’s ‘Baritsu’, if not for Doyle’s novels, Bartitsu may have been forgotten all together.

‘Kick-assery’ isn’t the exclusive domain of Mr Holmes in the film either, Watson is quite capable of dispatching foes as easily as his partner in Ritchie’s rendition.  Throughout film history, John Watson has been portrayed as a bumbling fool quite incapable of assisting Holmes in any way, a far cry from Doyle’s version where Watson was a skilled doctor and intelligent comrade of Holmes.  Jude Law was casted in the role of John Watson and though I’m not much of a Jude Law fan I thought he made an entertaining and interesting Watson.  There’s a good chemistry between Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law which I think helped to make the film even more entertaining than it might have been.

As I stated before, while the film isn’t an accurate representation of Doyle’s work, the film is nonetheless strewn with allusions to earlier works.  Some examples include;

• “The game is afoot” – The Abbey Grange and its original source; William Shakespeare’s Henry V.
• “Because I was looking for it” – Silver Blaze.
• “Crime is common, logic is rare” – The Copper Beeches.

Mark Strong stars as the antagonist, Lord Blackwood – an excellent choice for a sinister mastermind, who uses ’sorcery’ as a means to take over England and finally the world.  Though, throughout the entire film I was waiting for Moriarty to make an appearance, which he does to a certain extent (though shrouded in shadow and sounding very much like Liam Neeson), it would seem that the film will be used as platform for the sequel where Moriarty will undoubtedly face off against his arch-rival, Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock Holmes doesn’t use the most complex of plots (which is weird given that the film has four writers), and it far more kinetic than cerebral (which may have been unexpected to Holmes fans) but I thoroughly enjoyed Guy Ritchie’s reboot of a classic series and look forward to the inevitable sequel/s.