http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143788

Complete description of the trailer for Hideo Kojima's latest.
by Shane Bettenhausen, 09/15/2005


Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima continues his reign as the gaming 
industry's most respected visionary with a wicked sense of humor. After 
teasing attendees at this May's Electronic Entertainment Expo with an 
irreverent, joke-laden trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4 (that offered no 
gameplay footage or substantive info about the game), he finally unveiled 
the fourth installment in his legendary stealth-action series at today's 
Tokyo Game Show.
The nine-minute long promo for the newly-christened Guns of the Patriots 
opens with a cunning ruse: You're immediately thrust behind a rifle amid a 
squad of soldiers who are carefully surveying a bombed-out urban wasteland. 
The sheer visual prowess of the PS3 instantly impresses: Futuristic 
helicopters hover overhead, realistic clouds of dust and debris sweep across 
your field of vision, blinding lens flares and high-dynamic range lighting 
paint the city with stunning shadows...it's all very, very pretty. Just as 
you're coming to the realization that MGS4 appears to be a full-on 
first-person shooter, complete with strafing, Kojima pulls one of his 
trademark wordplay jokes. Several zany acronyms for FPS spray across the 
screen, climaxing with the question: Is MGS4 an FPS? Suddenly, a 
silver-haired Solid Snake appears from off-screen and pulls some punishing 
close-quarters combat moves against the enemy solider whose view you've been 
sharing. "No way!" erupts across the screen. Guess that clears that up...

Snake proceeds to take cover within a crumbling edifice while large patrols 
of enemy soldiers, armored personnel carriers, and giant bipedal Metal Gear 
robots march through the windswept streets. As Snake takes a breather, you 
can access how he's changed. Snake now sports a silvery mullet, slightly 
embarrassing moustache, form-fitting new sneaking suit, and a highly 
futuristic "Solid Eye System" electronic eyepatch. Snake obviously looks a 
bit worse for the wear, and the trailer doesn't divulge exactly how much 
time has progressed since the events of MGS2. A mysterious "X years after 
the events of Big Shell" gives some hint, but the battle-scarred, 
world-weary Snake here seems to have taken a page from the Sam Fisher "I'm 
too old for this sh!t" for this latest adventure. Snake's health even seems 
to be in danger: While hiding out in this building, he's gripped by a nasty 
coughing fit that he quiets with a sudden ampoule to the neck. After having 
to hunt wildlife and mend wounds in MGS3, having to constantly give Snake 
his meds in MGS4 could easily win the "most depressingly realistic minigame 
yet" prize.

Snake's respite ends when a Metal Gear busts into his hiding place. Well, 
not so much bust in...this miniature Metal Gear (bearing a striking 
resemblance to the cute helper 'bot from Kojima's acclaimed Sega CD graphic 
adventure Snatcher) comically putts around, revealing a direct-feed 
viewscreen of Snake's nerdy pal Otacon. This remote-controlled robot allows 
Otacon to aid Snake's quest while keeping him out of harm's way, and he gets 
Snake back into the fight with a fresh machine gun clip. Otacon quips that 
his robot runs on the Cell processor, but Snake has no time for tech 
babble - a war is raging outside.

Suddenly, the trailer cuts to the viewpoint of the larger Metal Gears 
patrolling the street: It's spotted Snake, so he has to make a run for it. 
Snake's high-tech new eyepatch comes in handy, allowing him to scan the 
area, view a large overhead map, and get critical info on targets. Snake and 
his robot pal make a run for it, leaping and shooting in majestic slow-mo as 
the stunningly realistic cityscape shatters around him. The spindly, 
bidpedal Metal Gears leap across the street, causing massive, earthshaking 
thuds as they land. Bullets fill the air, absurd amounts of debris, smoke, 
and particles obscure your vision, and intense waves of heat warp your view. 
War on the PS3 looks like hell, and MGS4's "No place to hide" mantra seems 
all too true.

Sadly, the action comes to an end quickly, leaving you wanting more. Snake 
recalls Otacon's explanation of his little robot and asks, "Hey, what is 
that Cell processor, anyway?" Here, Kojima breaks the fourth wall and goes 
all meta on us: Otacon breaks out his laptop (complete with Zone of the 
Enders 2 wallpaper) and shows Snake Sony's rubber-duckies-in-a- bathtub 
demo, followed by the too-good-to-be-true Killzone PS3 demo from E3. Otacon 
continues, telling Snake that the Cell processor is "The key to winning the 
console war." He also promises that MGS4 will be "worth the wait." We're 
guessing he's right.