I kinda want to sell my copy despite never finishing it...I really don't think I'm ever going to finish it.
as long as you've finished the fantastic act 1 and 2, you've seen the best of the game - the other three acts are a slow painful suicide, culminating with Kojima digitally wiping his ass on the disk.
Aren't you a big MGS fan though? I'd have thought that would motivate you through the game? IS it just a matter of finding the time, or are you not liking something about the game?
Yeah, I finished Acts 1 and 2. And I was a huge MGS fan - especially 3. I mean, I was the Sorrow for Halloween one year, ffs.
The pacing is just what killed me. I could find the time to finish the game, I suppose, but I generally only have 2-3 hours of free time by the time I get home from work. I don't want to spend 45 minutes watching some interminable Otacon airplane briefing.
That, and the self-referential fanboy nonsense just got to me after a while. I liked MGS3 because it was a cool and new twist for the series - setting it in the 1960s kept the animu psychosis somewhat grounded in reality, and I liked all the crazy gadgets. None of which were made of nanomachines. But the narrative is like 20 hours of that annoying dorky friend who goes "hey, do you remember when blah blah blah? wasn't that awesome?" and never actually brings up anything new. It's like those people who quote
The Simpsons all the time in lieu of actual conversation.
I didn't like the "no place to hide" gameplay. Previous Metal Gears were a series of short, punchy stealth scenarios that were almost puzzle-game like in their interactions; a series of guard patterns and obstacles to overcome, and Snake's items and weapons to make it happen. MGS4 has like 80 guns for some reason, and infinitely respawning guards.
In a stealth game.I also hated all the new characters that were introduced, and like ... a soldier who poops his pants? A monkey in a diaper? What's with the scatological obsession, Kojima? I couldn't stand the tonal schitzophrenia. I couldn't take anything in the game universe even close to seriously. It was like the fever dream of the last few hours of MGS2 never ended.
The sheer amount of OCD detail also depressed me, instead of impressing me. All I could think of was poor Yosuke working 85 hour weeks for $19k a year, eating instant ramen in Konami's Mori Tower HQ while commuting 90 minutes back and forth to Tachikawa on the rare night he's not sleeping under his desk. The game just encompassed everything wrong with modern game development to me, Japanese game development in particular. It was a very zeitgeisty moment. I really think that MGS4 is the Shenmue of this generation, and probably the death knell of the "traditional" big budget single-player experience.
When Act 4 was accidentally spoiled for me, instead of going "what! really! FUCK YEAH!!" I kind of was aghast and was like "what? really? fuck, yeah?" It was the moment when the series actually did disappear up its own asshole.
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I've already been to Shadow Moses about 8 times, between replaying the original and Twin Snakes. Once more isn't going to do anything special for me.
Anyways...that's my thoughts.
