My buddies and I are looking for a place that rents PS3s... 

I think those are called retail stores with return policies. 

First of all, if you somehow managed to live under a rock and havent heard about MGS4, watch this first to get the general idea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T9GgZERaIA

So I picked up my copy today and spent a good few hours playing through Act 1 and I can now with confidence say the game is worth it's hype and then some.

I haven't played any of the previous installments and I am not a big fan of the stealth action genre in general (loved Thief series, absolutely hated Splinter Cell games), however the game so far seems to offer just the right balance between stealth and action and you can basically just pick a playstyle you like and just use it, you can go in all guns blazing or you can go covertly and finish a mission without being seen once. There are some points in the game (so far in Act 1) where the game forces you to go all out action, but I havent seen any forced and frustrating stealh parts.

The game looks, feels and sounds absolutely mind-blowing, it's quite easily the best looking game released so far on any system, ever. At times, I had trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the cutscenes were all done in-game and the transitions between gameplay and cutscenes are always done smoothly. The ridiculous attention to detail, quality artwork, the soundscape and the cutscenes providing the backstory all setup a very convincing and emotional feeling as you play through the game. 

actually any game in it besides the 2h cut scenes? 

I've seen several people saying it's the greatest game they've ever played. Yes, ever. Not sure how much hyperbole that is but there you go. 

It's really weird cause all the actual gameplay vids I've seen looked really boring, but I'm not into stealth action, and I really have trouble with third person games (one of the reasons I could never get into GoW for instance).
I'd really like to try it though, out of curiosity. 

of actual in game gameplay?

Also, I don't get it, the player controls a geriatric ninja? ;) 

Stop repeating what you heard other retards say on the interweb, there are no 2h cutscenes and there are no 1h cutscenes either. 

here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKt799IcqOY&feature=related 

Saw that vid already, I loled at the part where he grabs a statue's penis for camouflage, but otherwise it just doesn't talk to me, not really my type of gameplay I guess. 

So, how far are you into the game? 

He already played through the 10 hours gameplay now he has to go through the remaining 23 hours of cutscenes and outro.


Sorry, but that joke is not old yet. :p 

I like it when he opens the mens magazine, that made me laugh out loud :)

I have to agree with Bal though, it doesn't really look like my kind of game I think. It doe's have some nice ideas though! 

I am guestimating I am somewhere around the midlle of Act2. Last save was right around the place where I was supposed to escape Laughing Octopus after talking to Naomi. 

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35051.html

and yes, they complain on the cutscenes, the levels are linear, but you can choose tactics (its not just stealth ) and details are great


what I wanted to point is that many super-detailed current-gen blockbuster games use very limited color palete. I guess you simply have to do it in the age of visual overload to have some style and to hilight the important events and information.



btw Im so tired of hyped-up fanbois. stop doing the job for the PR jerks. go play your 9.9 out of 10 best-fps-ever Halo 

i actually sat through (what felt like) the first 2h of cutscenes with 10minutes of gameplay in mgs3. 

The feedback I'm getting from actual people (not the stupid media) is that in general, the MGS fanboys are wanking over this (and they had already declared it the best game ever 2 years before it was released anyway).

Meanwhile people without any attachment to the series (or just simply new to it) are sort of giving it a "meh". 

As I mentioned, I haven't played any of the previous MGS games before (ironically, apparently my girlfriend has played MGS2 to death), yet I had very little trouble "getting it". 

One such review from someone who was not impressed. The screen captions are great.

http://www.crispygamer.com/_GeneratedPages/GameReviews/Review170.aspx 

Some people seem to have a lot of gripe with the amount and lenght of the cutscenes in MGS4, so let's talk about that a bit.

Yes, there are SOME cutscenes that are a bit too long and perhaps a bit boring, but I just got to Act 3 and so far I've only seen such cutscenes occur perhaps twice. My guess is that most of the people who have this huge problem with MGS4 cutscenes are those who don't care about the backstory, plot and the universe the game resides in and just want nonstop buttonmashing action, because that's about the only explanation I can come up with.

I found the game universe revealed via the cutscenes to be very involving and rather emotional. Yes, there are lots of cutscenes, they some of them are pretty long, but why does it make the game bad? A few of my friends have been watching me playing and have been commenting that the production and graphics quality of the game combined with the game plot revealed in the cutscenes easily rival a lot of actual Hollywood movies. And this is precisely my definition of next-gen gaming: seamlessly blending the line between movie (storytelling) and game (interactive action) entertainment. 

And this is precisely my definition of next-gen gaming: seamlessly blending the line between movie (storytelling) and game (interactive action) entertainment.

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

no.

(sorry I couldn't come up with anything cleverer than that.) 

Why? I am assuming you are trying to say it's a bad thing? 

he really didn't enjoy it. I keep wanting to try it, but as I didn't like Twin Snakes because of a. crap camera, b. shit controls and c. way too many cutscenes with a greater length than the gameplay sequences I think it's probably best I avoid it.

At least he is giving his honest subjective opinion though. Perhaps he is revelling a bit in the controversy, but I'm not sure crispy gamer is a particularly well known site so I doubt people are going to get too fired up about it.

It's crazy how stupid people can be when a game they like gets a bad or even just non-perfect score on a big review site. Anyone remember the fuss that got kicked up about Zelda Twightlight Princess getting an 8.9 or something on Gamespot. 8.9 is a good score and the reviewer had some fair criticisms and who the hell is anyone to tell him what he should and shouldn't like. It's kind of sad how childish a lot of people are online and also a shame that nobody cares about what is written in reviews when there is a score attached.

p.s. I recommend listening to the Games For Windows podcast each week as it's very entertaining, mostly PC related and they often talk about problems reviewing games, the relevance of scores and pressure from publishers to score a game highly even if it's a pile of shit.
http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3148397
Sean Elliot is a clown (in a good way) but well spoken and smart, and I respect his opinion more than most journos. A couple of the other regulars are very likeable too (Jeff Green and the Silent Bob of the podcast, Ryan Scot). Despite being sponsored by Microsoft, they often criticise the Games for Windows platform, windows itself and make jokes about the security of their jobs. Definitely worth a listen. 

he really didn't enjoy it. I keep wanting to try it, but as I didn't like Twin Snakes because of a. crap camera, b. shit controls and c. way too many cutscenes with a greater length than the gameplay sequences I think it's probably best I avoid it.

At least he is giving his honest subjective opinion though. Perhaps he is revelling a bit in the controversy, but I'm not sure crispy gamer is a particularly well known site so I doubt people are going to get too fired up about it.

It's crazy how stupid people can be when a game they like gets a bad or even just non-perfect score on a big review site. Anyone remember the fuss that got kicked up about Zelda Twightlight Princess getting an 8.9 or something on Gamespot. 8.9 is a good score and the reviewer had some fair criticisms and who the hell is anyone to tell him what he should and shouldn't like. It's kind of sad how childish a lot of people are online and also a shame that nobody cares about what is written in reviews when there is a score attached.

p.s. I recommend listening to the Games For Windows podcast each week as it's very entertaining, mostly PC related and they often talk about problems reviewing games, the relevance of scores and pressure from publishers to score a game highly even if it's a pile of shit.
http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3148397
Sean Elliot is a clown (in a good way) but well spoken and smart, and I respect his opinion more than most journos. A couple of the other regulars are very likeable too (Jeff Green and the Silent Bob of the podcast, Ryan Scot). Despite being sponsored by Microsoft, they often criticise the Games for Windows platform, windows itself and make jokes about the security of their jobs. Definitely worth a listen. 

triple post.

for some reason the post went through but my message box remained full so I just assumed I hadn't pressed the button.

Sorry