#10 Length of game

This game is short. You can literally beat it within 3 hours if you skip the cut scenes, and I'm sure some players will beat it in less time (just wait for the Youtube vid). 'nuff said.

#7 Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers

This game is so full of twists and secrets that it becomes almost impossible to talk about with someone who hasn't played it through. Even though I highly recommend that you DO NOT purchase this piece of crap, many of my readers will do so, so I don't want to spoil an already bad game.

By filling a game with so much "spoil-able" content, the developers shoot themselves in the foot. Fans can't talk about the game without worrying that something will slip. Even before I played it through, I had accidentally read about several MAJOR elements that spoiled the game. Thus I was left anticipating those events as the game went on, instead of trying to enjoy things as they come (which is hard enough because the game blows).

It's great for games to have twists and turns, but when the whole game depends on people not knowing things that they are bound to encounter beforehand if they're not careful, it sucks.

What's more, this blog would have 1000 times more entries if I were allowed to mention ALL of the aspects of MGS4 that totally suck, but to do so would involve revealing many, many spoilers.

#4 Cut scenes!

Webster's dictionary defines a game as a "a freakin' thing that you play -- like, you interact with it, y'know." A movie, on the other hand, is defined as, "A thing that you watch while sitting on your hands and not interacting." So why when I payed for a game do I get a movie half the time...??

How frustrating is it to attempt to play this game, but instead be forced to watch over-long movies. My blood pressure skyrockets everytime I just want to have a little fun playing, but instead am subjected to these melodramatic inturruptions. Why don't I just skip it, you ask? Well, then I will be even more lost in MGS4's incredibly convulted plot.

I have no idea why game developers think they can incorporate a full-length movie (and then some!) within their game.

#3 Violence

Though this was an issue in the previous MGS games, it's especially bad in MGS4. This is partly because with the better graphical capabilities of the PS3, the violence looks more real. When you shoot someone in the head, or a mech rips a soldier apart, it looks like you're watching it on the 10 o'clock news rather than playing a cartoony game.

Moreover, because players can often get away with shooting their way through to reach their objectives, they're encouraged to wreak a lot more carnage than in the previous games. Now what happens when little Johnny finishes the game and joins his friends? That's right: He starts snapping necks and shooting people in the crotch. It's a well-known fact that simulated violence is linked with aggression in the real world. Next time you hear of violence in the work place or in the school yard, there's a good chance that those involved were playing MGS4.

#2 Indecisiveness

Pick a genre!

In past MGS games, if you went into a scene with guns blazing, you were sure to die. Metal Gear is in the genre of stealth-based action games. Then why the hell doesn't it stick to the genre. The game doesn't know what it wants to be: FPS, stealth, or a freakin' melodrama.

I went into it thinking that this would be an awesome stealth game. Turns out that you can FIRE AT WILL and shoot your way out of many scenarios if you choose to. Well, that defeats the whole purpose of going stealth, now doesn't it?

Moreover, there are multiple paths you can take to accomplishing your objectives. Now I don't know about you, but this diminishes my sense of accomplishment. Did I do it right?? Or did I just get lucky?

Take a classic game: Super Mario Bros. How many ways to kill the dragon 1. How many ways to advanced the level: Hop on the fuckin' flag pool. How many ways to kill a Goomba: jump on him (or fireball or run through him when invincible, but still).

I take a certain satisfaction in finding the ONE course of action and taking it.

Why Metal Gear 4 blows...

Now, I know that most of the reviews rave about the game, accept for the most contrarian, attention-seeking reviewers. Yeah, it can be argued that the game has many good points, and the only people who would poo-poo it are those who wouldn't know a great video game from a hole in their head. Unfortunately for Metal Gear fans, the naysayers are actually right!

The game actually is terrible! It feels like it was just thrown together in Hideo Kojima's basement, programmed for the Colecovision and ported to the PS3 by a 14 yr old with bad ADHD. I anticipated the game for the longest time, and putting this into my PS3, I was BLOWN AWAY by the level of disregard that Kojima has for his fans.

In no specific order, I'm going to proceed to tell you you should NOT waste your money on this worthless piece of shit!