I'm feeling up to a short review now.
Graphics: The best of the series, arguably best on Playstation 2 at the moment. The cut scenes are damn-near movie-like, and the environments are life-like and real. Spoiler: 50% of the game takes place INSIDE. Hideo pulled a fast one on us again. Yes, the game is about jungle warfare, but you play inside buildings a large portion of the game.
Gameplay: Fucking awesome. Combines the elements of all the MGS games into one sweet package. Your radar is gone, but you have two or three items that substitute as a radar. For instance, the Sonar item gives you a map ala MGS and MGS 2, but you have to "ping" it to make the enemies show up. You click the L3 stick on the PS2 controller, and it makes a "ping" sound (similar to a submarine) and it shows up on the map where bodies are. Just all kinds of stuff like this make the game awesome. You truly are Charlie in the Bush in this one. You can change your camoflauge and facepaint to blend in with your environments. The Boss Battles are very nice. One of them is border-line EPIC. Took me 50 minutes to do it......
Plot/Characters: The plot is very good also. It's not nearly as complicated as MGS2 but it does have the classic "MGS" feel to it (psycho-fuck characters, huge plot twists, torture, etc.). The three best characters are The Boss, Snake, and Revolver Ocelot. Ocelot truly shines in this game. He moves from being absurdly cocky to having respect for the battlefield. You also find out why he uses (or who told him to use) a Single Action Army in the later games. I can't stress how badass the plot is overall, it has unity and closure at the end as well.
Spoiler: No, you don't play as Solid Snake, no, it's not a time paradox, no it's not Virtual Reality or a simulation (a la MGS2). I'm glad they chose not to do this. It gives you more respect for Solid Snake by learning about who his father was. You play as Big Boss (who doesn't get his title 'til the last 10 minutes of the game) the entire time, no different characters. It really is Big Boss and you really don't play as Solid Snake.
Overall, I'd say this one is tied with MGS for best of the series. Perhaps better than Metal Gear Solid........
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Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.
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