Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots preview

It has been nearly nine years since Hideo Kojima, dating-sim producer and Anglophile film buff, was thrown into the spotlight by 3D opus Metal Gear Solid. Much has changed since the days when off-kilter anime-inspired storytelling, staccato stealth action and walloping big robots could take the world by storm. With Guns of the Patriots, the closing chapter in the oft-imitated saga, the unpredictable director seems set to lay the series- and possibly Snake himself- to rest.In the first of several major changes, Kojima has given major directorial control to Shuyo Murata, making this the near-unknown designer's second major gig since 2004s Zone of the Enders 2. With Kojima involved primarily to prevent a lynching from an overprotective fan base, its possible those left out in the cold by the eccentricity seen in MGS2 and 3 will be more at home with Muratas spin on the universe.His influence is already apparent. Despite the raft of typically oblique dialogue thrown up by promotional videos, the games plot seems impressively simple. Whereas previous titles have introduced rafts of new characters, this time we're being treated to an ensemble of old faces from the existing roster. Is Murata setting the scene for one final showdown between an aging Solid Snake and his brother? As ever, all bets are off until the title hits our consoles.Mercifully, those not interested in an overblown plot have not been abandoned. At this month's Tokyo Game Show, gameplay footage revealed many significant improvements over previous titles; the third-person camera from MGS3: Subsistence will be in by default, along with a massively simplified variation on the camouflage system from the same title. Called Octocamo, rather than spend your time in a menu asking if that leopard-print suit really does go with the woodland face paint, it does all the hard work for you. Mimicking the appearance and texture of any object Snake is in proximity to, it allows crafty players to literally hide in plain sight.You'll need it too. Thrown into an urban war zone where cardboard boxes are scarce and entire buildings are often a grenade blast away from collapse, the game makes good on the motto No Place to Hide. Near-invincible robots stalk the world on the lookout for our elderly hero, guards will no longer be restricted to set routes around the game world, and the crossfire of any number of competing factions will block Snakes path.Throw in a genuinely rehabilitated Raiden, the inevitable stack of media references ("I've had it with this moogerfooging Snake", anyone?), and a new, mysterious young Snake and you've got the game that may well sell PlayStation 3 to a dubious audience. More importantly, it may sell itself to an increasingly disenfranchised fan base, demanding change. Stay tuned to Gamestyle for more information on the last days of Snake as we get it and the definitive review next year.