When i think over each title individually i get very different conclusions about all of them. The very first in the series (the NES version anyways) though enjoyable was incredibly frustrating. The second, Solid Snake, was everything a good game should be and seems to surpass everything that the newer titles have done. As you can guess things start to slip a bit from here on.
When Metal Gear Solid came out on Sony's Playstation it blew everyone away. Amazing graphics and equally as impressive game play, this game had it all. Though elements of the plot were a bit over done, it did it in a new way and managed to keep it fresh. Everyone wanted a piece of Snake. Then we come to Metal Gear Solid 2. Some new graphics and game play features helped keep things new but ultimately you were playing through no.1 in a new environment, fun at the time but when i look back on it a bit lazy.
Next we move onto no.3, Snake Eater. This one tells the story of the man whom Snake was cloned from. The legendary super soldier himself, the Big Boss. I thoroughly enjoyed this. A whole new type of environment, brand new story, it just reeked of excellence. The inclusion of jungle was a step of genius and I'm yet to find another environment like this in a stealth game that seems to work so well. In my opinion this was the last great title in the series.
Then my friends we move on to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I was intensely amazed when this came out, hell it's the reason i bought a PS3, and don't get me wrong it is a damn good game. The game play tweaks over the years have led to a finely tuned, excellent performing game. Sadly though it seems to lack the heart and soul of it's predecessors, sure the story is all wrapped up and we finally know everything that's happened (after a good 20 hours trying to figure out what the hell has just happened), but after all is said and done there just isn't a feeling of accomplishment behind it. Hideo Kojima, the creator of the Metal Gear series, had scenes from no.2 omitted because he didn't want the player to be chased down a corridor by a wall of water and ultimately succeed or die trying, he wanted options. The same things he didn't want in previous games showed up in this one. It seems like they just tried to shove too much in and in the end it seems hacky, very amateur.
What happened? Did Hideo just get bored? Was he running out of money? Was it rushed? Whatever the case may be lets hope that we're all a little older and wiser because of this.
Lets also hope the next big release, Metal Gear Rising, can bring some new and very much needed life into the series.
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