Kojima Productions

When I got home from the store [with Metal Gear Solid HD Collection], I was looking forward to popping the disc into my PlayStation 3 and seeing how the games looked in HD... but upon reading the disc, I got the message that I've seen way too many times over the course of this console generation: Version 1.01 found.

Ghost in the Machine

HIGH The excellent expanded characterization of The Boss.

LOW Watching a tank slowly circle an area for 30 minutes while attempting to non-lethally disable its entourage.

WTF The ending after the ending. Pacifica Ocean?

After rolling credits for both the main campaign and the Overtime mode that comes after, my thoughts about the game are basically the same—it's a note-for-note reproduction of the original with a much gentler difficulty curve and a create-a-weapon mechanic that doesn't feel like a good fit for the schedule-oriented structure of play.

I would love to have a chance to sit down with Hideo Kojima, one of the industry's most well-known, well-respected auteurs and find out exactly what place Guns of the Patriots holds in his mind. Why? Quite honestly, the game is a shadow of what it could, and should have been.

Make no mistake. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is Hideo Kojima's game. The question is: are you okay with that?

Game Description: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, is a next-gen experience complete with top-of-the-line graphics and surround sound designed for the Sony PlayStation 3. Featuring the most revealing display of Kojima Production's premier title, MSG4 details the world where Snake must under go his final mission. Joined by a familiar cast of characters, Snake must once again return to the battlefield to confront his lifelong rival, Liquid Ocelot, who is manipulating the world's wars from the one world where soldiers will always have a place. But Liquid Ocelot is not the only one who will be able to manipulate the world's wars—Snake can destabilize opposing forces by working behind the scenes, supporting the local militia as they fight PMCs, creating a smokescreen that allows Snake to move freely within the war-zone.

Regardless of its flaws, I'd say that is probably one of the safest purchases for PSP gamers, easily trouncing most of the junk in the PSP section. Snake is definitely one of the most compelling characters in videogames today, and I'd take a slightly flawed adventure with him over another carbon-copy racing game or generic puzzler any day.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes and Violence

Game Description: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops boasts ground-breaking online play that lets gamers recruit comrades to form a unique fighting force. The game follows the events of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, as Naked Snake establishes FOXHOUND in an attempt to hunt down the treacherous FOX unit, which has started a bloody revolt in South America. Set in 1970, the game will be the missing link in the ongoing Metal Gear saga, as players will learn more about returning characters such as Para-Medic, Major Zero and Sigint and also witness Naked Snake's greatest tragedy—a loss that sets into motion the events of later games in the Metal Gear Solid timeline. Full voiceovers for cinematics, performed by returning cast from MGS3: Snake Eater.