METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots - Master Collection Version

GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS IS FINALLY UNCHAINED So I'll try and make this short and sweet. Metal Gear Solid is a legendary video game series with one of the most ambitious and intricate political/military narratives of all time. Right out of the gate I'll touch on two things. First, this is absolutely the GRAND finale of the entire Metal Gear Solid story (so ideally I would recommend you play this as the FINAL stop in your mainline MGS journey if you can) and holy CROW does it deliver on the plot/narrative front even when compared to every other game in the series. Secondly? As someone who within the last 6 or so months tracked down a PS3 and copy of MGS4 just to play through this game for the first time I can tell you THIS release is the best this game has ever officially run and looked. It's not absolutely perfect for everyone but it absolutely is a class above what it was natively on the PS3 with a LOCKED 60fps (as opposed to the PS3's 30ish with dips and stutters you had to bear with). It's the definitive version of a game we have waited YEARS and YEARS to be freed from the PS3 platform. The gameplay is good. Standard Metal Gear Solid faire broken into acts (each one taking you to a different part of the world) with a handful of really cool additions like Octo Camo (improvised camo based on the surface you're hiding on/against) and the notorious Solid Eye. The story is pretty dense and as such the cutscenes are famously on the lengthier side. So just be ready with a figurative bowl of popcorn for some of them. Graphics: 7/10 (looks good for a PS3 game and looks MUCH better now being at 60fps versus struggling to keep 30) Gameplay: 8/10 (really good, solid Metal Gear Solid faire but I keep it to an 8 because it only modestly added some new mechanics...which can be a pro or a con depending on the individual player...if you liked the gameplay of MGS1-3? You're getting more of it with a handful of new toys...if you're looking for a massive overhaul and expansion in gameplay like was the case with MGSV The Phantom Pain? Not the case.) Music: 8/10 (some great tunes and a lot of old favorites from previous games like Snake Eater and Theme of Tara among a ton of others listenable during gameplay via the iPod item) PC Optimization: 9/10 (nearly perfect for me but I'm taking a point off because anti aliasing in a handful of scenes could look a little smoother and SOME people claim the game uses dynamic resolution which smudges the image but in 40 some odd hours of play I never noticed it myself). Narrative (story, characters, etc.): 11/10 (it's the finale MGS both deserves and the one it thankfully got...a lot of decades long character arcs and development is tied in a bow beautifully and it FEELS like the culmination of everything that chronologically came before it) So if you've already journeyed through Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2, Metal Gear Solid 1-3 and Peacewalker (and I would recommend playing MGS5 Phantom Pain right before this game) and are looking to experience Solid Snake's final mission in all of its glory? To see the ending of the magnum opus Hideo Kojima spent years painstakingly creating? This is the game/release that you want to pick up.