Metal Gear Solid 4

[Rossco]

Woops,

just set off a caution, that doesn't count as Alert does it, I guess only Alert phase does!

As I knocked a guy out and he probably woke up and told everyone to look for me! I was hiding in a box and he walked up and lifted it up, but I quickly knifed him before he got a look at me! Phewww!

[imp]

Cheers mate! That makes sense. Have you for both then already?

A statue!?

What does it do? Just for coolness purposes or can you actually use it?

You get the 'solar gun' if you collect all five...

sounds awesome...

[mmcg]

60 Minutes on News 24?

I think the section was called Click.

[vcassano]

Did anyon eelse find the Beauty and the Beast unit rather pointless. They didn't seem to be there other than to provide boss fights. They were really the only negative in the game for me, though actually fighting them was better than listening to Drebin's explanations - I had to skip them as they were just boring.

Also at the beginning of Act 4

Did anyone else have MGS load up and have to complete it? Awesome.

[GODSTEETH]

Finished this late last night. Put a solid 8 hours into it. It's just so immersive.

For me, Act 4 was the highlight.

The spooky vocal flashbacks and haunting memories. The Metal Gear Solid Ending Theme kicking in as the facility comes into sight. The fights with REX and RAY.....

Loved some of the codec sequences during that act, too.

Such a wonderful game.

[ICECOLD]

Did anyon eelse find the Beauty and the Beast unit rather pointless. They didn't seem to be there other than to provide boss fights. They were really the only negative in the game for me, though actually fighting them was better than listening to Drebin's explanations - I had to skip them as they were just boring.

Also at the beginning of Act 4

Did anyone else have MGS load up and have to complete it? Awesome.

Beauty and the Beasts were a nod of the head to MGS1's FOXHOUND.

Drebin's explanations about them were an attempt at providing backstory and character to them; to give them some context - the lack of which was obviously one of the big criticisms levelled at MGS3's Cobras.

As for the start of act 4 - yep, me too... had me grinning like an idiot.

[GODSTEETH]

Also at the beginning of Act 4

Did anyone else have MGS load up and have to complete it? Awesome.

Oh god yes! That was fucking ace too!

[Blue Screen Error]

Finished this last night.

OMG GAWD! MY MIND IT HAS BEEN BROKEN BY THE AWESOME!

or at least it was until I accidentily skipped the last few minutes of

Liquid/Snake final fight cutscene

and I fell asleep through the last few minutes of

Snake/Big Boss/Zero cutscene

(It was 4:30am mind)

Still I have a save I can jump right back into. Oh and I obtained the Eagle rank.

EDIT: I managed to stealth the whole first part of Act 5 without killing anyone. In fact I never shot one bullt/explosive/tranq

[11 Herbs 'n' Spices]

The highest rank I achieved on first playthrough was Hawk (can't remember the criteria for that) but I did notice I also achieved pig and cow rankings – lots of ration consuming for the former and lots of getting shot for the latter Panther and a couple of others were in there too somewhere.

Looking forward to going through stealthily and getting a higher rank. Hawk was listed as fourteenth.

To those lucky sods who got the limited edition, what's the Making Of... like?

Wish I snapped it up now, would make perfect lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

[Blue Screen Error]

The highest rank I achieved on first playthrough was Hawk (can't remember the criteria for that) but I did notice I also achieved pig and cow rankings – lots of ration consuming for the former and lots of getting shot for the latter Panther and a couple of others were in there too somewhere.

Looking forward to going through stealthily and getting a higher rank. Hawk was listed as fourteenth.

To those lucky sods who got the limited edition, what's the Making Of... like?

Wish I snapped it up now, would make perfect lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

Haven't watched it yet. theres a spoiler warning leaflet in the case. Might watch it tonight after some sessions in MGO.

And yeah I got a table of Ranks but only the Eagle one had a marker beside it.

[Mr. Gerbik]

Is it weird that this is the first Metal Game I actually like? No, scratch that, I don't just like it, I LOVE it. The first game on the Playstation was sort of all right, I finished it, but I had been playing Tenchu: Stealth Assassins before it came out and that ruined the game for me. The radar and the vision cones of the enemies made the stealth too simplistic, and I was disappointed with the game because of that. I still had fun with it, but I never thought it was anything special. I really disliked part 2 and 3, and had already decided that the MGS series simply wasn't for me, but I'm really glad I took a chance with MGS4. It looks amazing, plays really well, and I even love the ridiculous storyline. Right now it's my personal GotY

[Blue Screen Error]

Found this on gaf. Not sure who the banned site is -

******** can exclusively reveal that first day sales of Metal Gear Solid 4, released on June 12th 2008 in most major markets worldwide, were an impressive 1.3 million units. Over 350,000 units of the the latest installment of Hideo Kojima's famous series were sold in Japan (along with various PS3 bundles) and over 400,000 units sold in the Americas.

The American release of Metal Gear Solid 4, combined with the $100 Playstation 3 giftcard offer at retailer Walmart resulted in a 180% increase of Playstation 3 hardware sales. The 70,000 Metal Gear Solid 4 bundles supplied by Sony sold out immediately and with no confirmation of further shipments, it is expected that the hardware boost will be short-lived and PS3 sales will return to normal levels within the next couple of weeks. Many retailers have accused Sony of severely underestimating demand and suggest that they could have sold 2-3 times as many if the supply had been available.

Playstation 3 worldwide sales have more than doubled compared to last week.

[Rossco]

You get the 'solar gun' if you collect all five...

sounds awesome...

Coool,

I just got the Frogs one from Act 1 but just to confirm to get all the statue/doll things you need to tranq them in both their beast and beauty stage? God, that will be a proper bitch!

[Gique]

the JP version is japanese language only , right?

can I play the US version on a JP ps3?

[Dandy_Sephy]

Yes on both counts

[Gique]

Yes on both counts

ah, thats ok, though I was tempted to pick up a bundle this weekend, SO many stores had employees stood outside electrical stores holding them ..

[Capwn]

To those lucky sods who got the limited edition, what's the Making Of... like?

Yeah, I've been looking for it on the net but it ain't around yet.

[imp]

Coool,

I just got the Frogs one from Act 1 but just to confirm to get all the statue/doll things you need to tranq them in both their beast and beauty stage? God, that will be a proper bitch!

Well, you get the statue from killing the beast stage - you can pick it up during the beauty stage. If you kill the beauty with stun attacks, then you get her face as a camo option. I did the latter the first time round and I don't think I got anything for collecting all four of those...

[Alex W.]

[*]

In Shadow Moses, after going to Otacon's old office and encountering a Gekko... it took a while to figure out what I was supposed to do in electrifying the floor. It wasn't helped by the fact that there is an anti-tank weapon on the ground nearby so I assumed I was supposed to take on the Gekko with firearms (but he's actually invincible - you have to electrify the floor).

[*]

The Raven boss battle is probably something I probably didn't do correctly. I just stood at the top of the tower and kept shooter. There must be a more satisfying way of taking down that boss, but I thought it was weak compared to the bosses of MGS3.

First one's definitely possible without using your method. Second one kind of obliges you to use techniques from a particular MGS3 fight!

[Rossco]

Well, you get the statue from killing the beast stage - you can pick it up during the beauty stage. If you kill the beauty with stun attacks, then you get her face as a camo option. I did the latter the first time round and I don't think I got anything for collecting all four of those...

yeh well I'm going for no kills anyway so will have to tranq both!

But gutted, just finished Act 1 with 1 kill apparently. Must have been the tank near the start that has a missile close to it for you to shoot at. I thought it was empty as it was an auto gun turret on top but must have been a dude in there!

Ah well, still continuing on for the stealth!

I bought the tranq sniper but it doesn't have a suppressor which is annoying!

[Nick R]

As I have no intention of buying a PS3 any time soon, it's probably going to be a looong time before I get to play this. But I have one question: does MGS4 have an equivalent of collecting dog tags, interrogating enemies, or something else that's an extra challenge beyond simply knocking them out? Because that's what I really liked about replaying MGS2 or 3; telling myself that I hadn't really mastered them until I could sneak right up on every enemy in the game, do the extra bonus thing, and still not kill anyone.

Oh and also, it can't be an MGS game unless it ends with an extra conversation after the credits followed by a DAH DAH DAH DAAAAHHH! fanfare, can it? I don't want anyone to tell me whether I'm right or wrong about that, though!

Most of my time in MGS3 was 'right i'm sneaking here...... SHIT I'VE BEEN DISCOVERED! PEG IT!'

You were using the D-pad to sneak rather than the analogue stick, weren't you? (That was a strange bit of design - I assume they've removed it for MGS4 given that no-one's complained about it?)

Its a system seller thats for sure. The last game I can remember that justified a machine to this extent is the original Halo. If this had been a launch day release I am sure we would be looking at a very different picture on the console sales front.

What would have happened if the PS3 and Xbox 360 had launched on the same day with both Halo 3 and MGS4 available?

The mind boggles!

[Blue Screen Error]

As I have no intention of buying a PS3 any time soon, it's probably going to be a looong time before I get to play this. But I have one question: does MGS4 have an equivalent of collecting dog tags, interrogating enemies, or something else that's an extra challenge beyond simply knocking them out? Because that's what I really liked about replaying MGS2 or 3; telling myself that I hadn't really mastered them until I could sneak right up on every enemy in the game, do the extra bonus thing, and still not kill anyone.

Apart from a few face camo's and an extra costume. theres not much else really. You can collect all the weapons if you want. A couple of which arent really possible on one playthrough.

Oh and also, it can't be an MGS game unless it ends with an extra conversation after the credits followed by a DAH DAH DAH DAAAAHHH! fanfare, can it? I don't want anyone to tell me whether I'm right or wrong about that, though!

There is one but its not a OMGG!?!?!?!?!! one......its kinda sad

You were using the D-pad to sneak rather than the analogue stick, weren't you? (That was a strange bit of design - I assume they've removed it for MGS4 given that no-one's complained about it?)

Yeah its analogue stick this time only.

[Blue Screen Error]

Oh and tip for those looking for the camera

Leave it till Act4's briefing as it comes with pre-loaded photos on it of Sunny and Naomi

[imp]

yeh well I'm going for no kills anyway so will have to tranq both!

But gutted, just finished Act 1 with 1 kill apparently. Must have been the tank near the start that has a missile close to it for you to shoot at. I thought it was empty as it was an auto gun turret on top but must have been a dude in there!

Ah well, still continuing on for the stealth!

I bought the tranq sniper but it doesn't have a suppressor which is annoying!

Aww bummer dude, I think those tanks must count as kills then. Can you really not buy a suppressor for the stealth rifle? That really does suck!

Anyway, I've been conducting some scientific research on the use of Snake's disguises and it appear both Syntax and I are correct. If you're wearing the disguise and you blend in fighting alongside troops you'll be fine openly standing in front of an enemy. If you make a mad dash for it on your own, separated from the pack or simply sneaking around with no rebels in sight, then you'll still be put in alert mode.

[vcassano]

I thought the Tranquiliser guns were already suppressed?

Anyway, I am on my second playthrough and I have just met the FROGs for the first in Advent Palace. No kills and no alerts yet, a record I will keep up for the rest of the game

[Uzi]

Yeah the tranq handgun doesn't have a silencer attached and it is silenced by default. You can also pick up a normal handgun which is silenced and it doesn't need a silencer attached.

[Rossco]

And the sniper tranq is unable to be silenced at all!

I've just reached the mansion in Act 2 and still no alerts, its sooo tense though crawling through that warzone, and the fact that I have all the army guys against me now, I'm not on the same side as any which makes it so much more difficult! And I'm doing it on Big Boss Hard mode, I shall save Big Boss Extreme for when I have the stealth!

[imp]

And the sniper tranq is unable to be silenced at all!

I've just reached the mansion in Act 2 and still no alerts, its sooo tense though crawling through that warzone, and the fact that I have all the army guys against me now, I'm not on the same side as any which makes it so much more difficult! And I'm doing it on Big Boss Hard mode, I shall save Big Boss Extreme for when I have the stealth!

Bloody hell! When I start my no alarm/no kill run through I'm going to do it on Liquid Easy!

Actually could one of you guys confirm something for me - at the very start of the game where you're running past gekkos - sometimes they make an alert sound but you don't go into alert mode properly - does this count as an alert or not?

[Rossco]

It's possibly them being alerted by someone else! As long as Alert status doesn't come up on your screen I think you're safe! Just reached the Act 2 boss, this could be tricky without killing her.

[Ferine]

I've also just started a no kills/alerts run, but I'm starting to think that choosing Big Boss difficulty might have been a mistake. Gone are the days of vision cones, and on the harder difficulties the enemies can easily spot or hear you if you aren't incredibly careful.

By the way, MGO is great if you haven't tried it. I think it will have a warmer reception with people once they've gone through the singleplayer, too.