Over the last decade or so, Hideo Kojima has given us one of the most unforgettable series of games that has been tied to Sony's play station consoles. From the very old Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake to the more recent Metal Gear Solid 1,2,3 and the ever so popular Portable Ops series for the PSP. Awaiting Metal Gear Solid 4, I was panicking as to wondering how Kojima could make this game different yet better than its predecessors. As fans will know the Metal Gear games offer the most in depth story lines that can completely overwhelm the players which they have been doing for years. Forget Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell or Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, Metal Gear originated the stealth thrillers and now at a time when they are becoming scarce Metal Gear Solid 4 makes an dominant comeback to claim the throne of PS3 title of the year, and this is why.

You assume the role of Solid Snake, a fictional super soldier who works with special forces. It has been his job throughout the series to destroy mobile machines with the capabilities of launching nuclear missiles. Snake is also a clone of the legendary Big Boss, a legendary soldier amongst men who managed to foil a nuclear plot during the Cold War. But when Snake was born his twin was too, Liquid who now seeks world domination. After the first game, Liquid dies due to a disease within Solid Snake which triggered a reaction and made him die but one of his comrades, Revolver Ocelot who had lost an arm in the events of the first game took Liquids but the new arm corrupted his body and the Liquid who was thought to be dead was very much alive and began to make another mobile nuclear tank. Solid Snake tries to hunt down Liquid but fails as Liquid gets away in his new Metal Gear. For half a decade or so Snake tried to find Liquid but his efforts were futile and his body started to rapidly age, supposedly due to the FOXDIE disease that had killed his brother once before. Upon the brink of despair Snake finds a new lead. His former allies and accomplices inform Solid Snake that they have located Liquid in the Middle East. Snake takes to the location in hopes of finding his brother, despite Liquid is still hell-bent on achieving world domination this time there is no Metal Gear in sight, instead Liquid is trying to obtain a battle system belonging to the Patriots. The system allows the possessor to gain information on every soldier, there thoughts, feelings and even how much ammunition they carry on them but the system also allows complete control over the soldiers as well, with the soldiers under his control Liquid could rule the world but to do so he needs to find the key to the system and the key is not what it seems. With Snake's body deteriorating he knows that this will be his final mission and he will have to pay the ultimate sacrifice. Will Snake succeed in stopping his brother? Or will liquid find the key to the Patriot's system and unleash the Guns Of the Patriots?

Newcomer's to the series will honestly not have a clue as to a good ninety percent of the characters are or what the game is actually about which makes the game mostly aimed at the most comprehensive of newcomers or the rag and tag Metal Gear veterans. MGS4 is guaranteed to answer every question you have been asking yourself for the last decade and some of the answers are so obvious or unexpected that it will have you grinning in satisfaction or gasping with surprise, either way the plot is immensely enjoyable.

First let’s start off with one of the things that may have put gamers off of the previous titles in the series, camera angles. In the older games the camera would remain fixed in one spot as Solid Snake roams the environment which led to a lot of confusion and disorientation especially in the crucial boss battles or when you trying to escape pursuers. People who had a problem with this will be relieved to know that the camera is now entirely in your control giving you vantage points on every enemy, vehicle or items. Secondly, the shooting of MGS4. In older MGS games you were required to simply hold down square to poise you weapon and let go to fire which was unique but even for the most patient of gamers got a little tiresome and inefficient. Luckily in Guns of The Patriots the shooting system now takes on a much smoother, 3rd person shooter style. The L1 button is crucial to how it works, without holding the L1 button you remain in a sort of sneaking mode which means you can't fire you weapons but can sneak around but when you hold down the L1 button a reticule appears resembling the ability to shoot, you can line up the reticule which your enemy and shoot with the R1 button like in every decent modern day shooter . If your enemy is too far away however or if you want to simply score a headshot you can tap the triangle button to send the view into first person to get a clearer view. This new shooting system has been criticised greatly as to how can the casual third person shooter system blend in with almighty stealth of the metal gear series but surprisingly enough it fits in just fine and in my opinion dominates the older system, replacing it with a more convenient and quicker way of taking down enemies which can appeal to not only the hardcore gamers but also to casual newcomers.

Guns of The Patriots also manages to maintain the Metal Gear feel of sneaking around. This can simply be done via crouching or crawling pass enemies not to gain attention but can also adopt more enjoyable ways such as using the signature cardboard box to creep around in or the new addition of the barrel which you can sneak around in and roll into unsuspecting enemies to knock them out cold. The sneaking controls are still fairly easy to learn, mainly relying on the

triangle button to prop against wall or climb over or into objects to provide suitable cover. Also when on the floor, the player can use the triangle button to flip Snake over onto his back so he can fire more accurately and when pressing cross whiles aimed in crawling mode, Snake will perform a barrel roll to evade shots and other dangers. Guns Of the Patriots has also adopted some of the stealth techniques used in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater which includes the changeable camouflage and the visibility percentage. First off there is a display in the top right hand corner of the screen which indicates the percentage of how visible you are to enemies, the lower the percentage, the easier it is to sneak pass them. Lowering the percentage is achieved by crouching, propping against walls or crawling which make you a little less visible than you are standing but the main method of lowering your visibility is a device called the Octocamo. Invented by Dr. Hal Emmerich (Otacon) himself, the suit provides you with an automatic source of camouflage whenever you need it. To activate it you need to simply prop against a wall of lie on the floor to adopt the same camouflage pattern as what you are touching. One thing I despised in Snake Eater was the need to keep accessing your menu screen just to change your camouflage but in Guns Of the Patriots it's made a lot more convenient and realistic to the modern world.

The weapons from previous titles also show up including Snake's iconic pistol, the average pick up AK-47 and the popular M4 custom. In older games Snake would only be able to use the weapon as it came but MGS4 offers a much more in depth and modernised way of utilising your weapons, that's where Drebin comes in. With the war economy booming around the world at this time, weapons have become ID locked and designated to individuals for use, meaning when snake picks up a gun belonging to an enemy he can't use it because it's ID locked. Drebin is a weapon launderer who sells, buys, modifies and unlocks any weapons. After your first encounter with him he offers you to join his system in which the guns you find littered across the battlefield are sold automatically to him if you already own a model of that gun and once it's been sold you can Drebin Points (DP) which allow you to purchase new guns, unlock you ID tagged guns or even modify your current guns. Modification is done simply by bringing up a model of your gun and selected add ons to attach. There are a lot to buy and once bought, can be attached to any weapon capable of equipping it. Different weapons can carry different amounts of mods. For example the M4 custom can have 5 modifications attached including; silencers, grips, scopes, laser aiming, red dot lens and even a flashlight which makes use of the guns obtained a lot more than what became of them in the previous titles.

There are other nice features also included in Guns Of the Patriots such as the Solid Eye, Psyche guage, Mk-II and Threat ring. The Solid eye is obtained early in the game and is worn

in the style of an eye patch which ironically makes Solid Snake look a lot like his father, Big Boss. The eye provides three modes: a normal mode in target's status can be viewed and also a small minimap appears in the top right hand corner to reveal enemy locations. Secondly there is the NVG mode which also acts as thermal vision. Living things are bought in a vivid white over the dark greens which helps you single out distant enemies including sniper or just gives you the tactical advantage anywhere where terrain is obscuring your line of sight. Lastly there is the scope view which acts a pair of binoculars despite it only covers one eye, its not a big help but can help target enemies who are too far away to notice initially. Next is the Psyche guage, actions taken by snake throughout the game can affect how he is feeling, if he feels any negative emotion his guage goes down and as it goes down his accuracy and performance effort goes down which can effect things greatly in the grand scheme of things, the gauage can be topped up however using energy drinks or medical syringes. The Mk-II (also created by Otacon) acts as a mini scout, upon activating it you can scout the area with it whiles you hang back which helps a bit especially if you are skilled enough to shock targets its attack but in reality it's not an enormous help but yet again another fun thing to play with. Lastly the Threat ring. If any players are familiar with the tracking system in Portable Ops then you will be able to get a just on how it works straight away. it's a ring that appears around Snake if there is potential threat around. If a soldier is close by a hump forms on one side of the circle in the direction of the threat, this can help quite a lot, mostly by indicating where hidden enemies are and which direction they are moving in.

In all the games I have (many a hundred) I have never come across a game that has been so greatly designed. Every location, character, weapon and everything is detailed to the most unnoticeable aspect which gives the game such an awesome feel about it. Every has been talking about Metal Gears feature length cut scenes and in Guns Of the Patriots that is no exception, the game can play out to be more of a interactive movie if you want it be and with the stunning visuals and mind-blowing sound track I wouldn't mind doing so. MGS4 brings in music scores from previous titles but with a more modernised and epic twist to bring atmosphere to the game which is done by Harry Gregson Williams, a renowned film music composer. There appear to be no glitches in MGS4 and it runs perfectly on pretty much every TV set and still produces stunning quality with HD or without. Some of the layouts in Guns Of the Patriots can drag on but real fans will be looking to explore the areas and only then will you be able to appreciate the sheer quality put into this game.

As we all know, Kojima likes to throw in numerous puns and little "Easter eggs" that will have you chuckling to yourself including melon camouflage, the controller used to control MK-II, Drebin's pet monkey and his drinks vending machine and finally the occasional witty puns and awkward moments between characters.The Playstation 3 had been awaiting such a title as Metal Gear Solid 4 for a while and now that it's finally here I can safely say it made a safe landing and managed to keep strictly to the conventions of its older brothers. There are parts that will have you rolling on the floor in laughter and others that will have you weeping as Solid Snake's life finally draws up to an end. Seeing such a gamin legend having to leave us is a real shame as we have followed him since his debut appearance way back in 1987 but knowing Kojima and Konami, I don't think the series will ever end for our sakes...