I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about Metal Gear Solid 4, but my only issue is that I haven’t played any of the other three. Is this a problem?
Yes. Yes, yes, yes. If you haven’t played the first three you will be so very, very confused.
I would also recommend playing the first three.
…and not 4. 
Cro, that’s rarely helpful. This is a video game forum, it’s a perfectly legitimate question.
You should go through the first two at least, and the third game while a prequel to the of the other games (by about 40-50 years) is good enough on its own that I’d recommend getting it just for the sake of it (get sustenance though since it’s the definitive version and also for ports of the first two Metal Gear games).
Although I wouldn’t get MGSIV unless you already have a PS3 (the system is still far too expensive just to get one or two games).
Yeah, play all the others. The plot will be somewhat less confusing, and everything will be much more meaningful, artistically.
Don’t forget to play the original Metal Gear for the NES.
And by NES he means get the originals for the MSX
And Snake’s Revenge.
I did that the other day. It’s good to know that the remote control missiles were always basically cheating.
Forget 2 and 4, only play 1 and 3. Believe me, this might be the best choice ever.
I thought 4 was great. Two was much maligned, but it’s worth playing once, I’d say. It’s definitely the worst one.
I found MGS4’s gameplay to be really lacking, and that’s what turned me off.
The way my friend and old-time forumgoer Green_Mage put it: “You know how the MGS series are Tactical Espionage Action games? Well, MGS4 is a tactical espionage ACTION game.”
The irony of this is that I enjoyed playing MGS1-3 in the most unstealthy manner I could get away with. In MGS4, though, it’s like you’re not even encouraged to be stealthy most of the time. It kind of bored me in that regard.
I just watched all the cutscenes on YouTube, since I don’t have a PS3 and didn’t like the gameplay in MGS3 or Portable Ops anyway.
I think there were something like 80 videos, 6-10 minutes each, so something like NINE HOURS of cutscenes. O_o
I remember hearing that MGS4 is more of a movie than an actual game, with all the long cutscenes and whatnot. Granted, I’d love to play it, but no PS3.
Maybe I’ll watch all the cutscenes or something over the summer.
I mean, the game’s certainly possible to get through without sneaking on lower difficulties, even easier that way. The goal, though, is to never been and not kill anyone. That requires a substantial amount of stealth. It’s also not easy to be stealthy and not just cap fools; the whole point is making you risk your own life for the sake of your foes.
That said, at least 50/50 movie/game.
I don’t know if I agree with that. Otacon even encourages you to use those skirmishes to your advantage by helping one side take out the other, which really augments the ‘action’ aspect… I would think that, if the game really wanted you to be super sneaky, both sides would treat you as a hostile.
I mean, the game straight-up gives you a better score for being sneaky. It’ll be to your advantage sometimes to just run out guns blazing and kill people, like in the skirmishes. The whole point is that choosing not to kill makes things harder. You have to really work and take risks to go that way, but it’s dominant option, in the end.