Metal Gear Solid 4 In-Game Cutscene Cinematography and Visuals are some of the best in the business

[NeoBob688]

Certainly MGS4 has some issues with the plot as well as dialogue editing. And the cutscenes were widely criticized for their length resulting in Kojima opting for a less story-heavy approach going forward.

But with that said, holy cow, it can be overlooked that many of the cutscenes are absolutely great visual setpieces in this game. For example, the intro (linked below), Act 2 ending (from Snake being saved by Drebin to Raiden fight), Act 3 getting ready for motorcycle chase (hype as heck), etc. Just really superb from a visual eyecandy standpoint. Further, most of the cutscenes (with a few exceptions) seem to run in-engine which makes this an even greater accomplishment. Really good camera work, absolutely ridiculous animation for the main characters for a PS3-era game, at times the scenes look so freaking good even today despite the lower resolution it could pass for current generation.

I actually miss the times when we had more games like this. I think there is nothing wrong with having longer cutscenes in a game.

Intro:

Metal Gear Solid 4 Opening Cutscene in HD

This is the opening cutscene for the game Metal Gear Solid 4.Disclaimer:I do not own any of the clips shown

www.youtube.com

 

[rude]

Great for its time (microwave cutscene is one of the all-time greats), but now I think GZ, V and Death Stranding do it all much better. Kojima and his visual team improve exponentially with every new game.

MGS4 was great though. My first platinum trophy.

 

[PS9]

Microwave Hall is the greatest.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Yeah, I kinda didn't like a lot of the stuff story wise, but they were always fun to watch.

 

[Ahti]

I agree. I`m currently replaying the game for the third time and I´m still impressed. The intro alone is a classic.

 

[Modest_Modsoul]

While 4 was great, I think Ground Zeroes & The Phantom Pain truly improved for Kojima & the studio.

 

[denpanosekai]

I see MGS4 is on PS Now, but as a streaming-only title, which bothers me. Not sure how well it'll run :(

 

[dragonbane]

Yeah there is some super impressive shit in there cutscene wise.

 

[Opa-Opa]

Too many of them (and waaaay too many of the lesser ones too), but I agree, Kojima dominates this.
It's like the exact middle ground between realism and cheese, so either feels great. I believe that's what videogames should try for.

His problem is not execution, but control. Seriously, it was somewhat infuriating waiting 10 minutes to play 2 minutes and then cutscene for the next 10.

 

[oriic]

OMG, memories. The final-final boss fight is one of the most awesome fight ever. (Injection scene? Instant goosebumps. All times.)

 

[Modest_Modsoul]

Hypothetically, I want to see Kojima directed the cut-scenes from story not written by him.

Someday...

 

[Betty]

Absolutely, it is honestly startling how good they are actually, puts almost all other games with cutscenes to shame.

 

[Segafreak]

He took camera control and cinematography to another level in video games starting from MGS1, there's an award waiting for him there but I don't think cut scene direction/cinematography has ever been an award category. Those MGS cut scenes are the first movie quality cut scenes in gaming and I used to rewatch them like a movie. He also directs the best trailers in gaming.

Kojima, Rockstar and Naughty Dog are just so far ahead of everyone else it's almost criminal.

 

[Sakon]

Just the other day while making breakfast I started thinking about how well executed the Microwave scene is.

 

[Asbsand]

The Cinematography is much weaker than MGS3. There are standout scenes but there's a bunch of scenes where they do nothing to make the expository dialogue interesting.

 

[AzureFlame]

The cutscenes were unbelievably good, it's a shame that MGS5 is the complete opposite.

 

[Ravelle]

Really hope Kojima gets to make another spectacle again.

 

[Strings]

He took camera control and cinematography to another level in video games starting from MGS1, there's an award waiting for him there but I don't think cut scene direction/cinematography has ever been an award category. Those MGS cut scenes are the first movie quality cut scenes in gaming and I used to rewatch them like a movie. He also directs the best trailers in gaming.

Kojima, Rockstar and Naughty Dog are just so far ahead of everyone else it's almost criminal.

Click to shrink...

Which makes him being jealous of Vagrant Story all the better:

Yasumi Matsuno x Hideo Kojima (1999) - shmuplations.com

Yasumi Matsuno x Hideo Kojima – 1999 Developer Interview This short interview from late 1999 finds legendary directors Yasumi Matsuno and Hideo Kojima having a collegial chat about their myriad influences, game design generally, and their impressions of each other’s work. Twenty years later...

shmuplations.com

Jun Akiyama n1.

 

[E.T.]

Remake MGS please.
Thanks.

 

[Arex]

It's great, but I always hate the piss/color filter and still do lol.

 

[Prine]

The cutscenes were unbelievably good, it's a shame that MGS5 is the complete opposite.

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Id take MGSV approach if it meant avoiding MGS4 gameplay, which was utter trash.

I also thought MGS4 cutscenes stepped into the realm of pantomime, the Raiden scene for instance is a chore to watch, whole lot of nothing.

 

[Bishop89]

Yup absolutely amazing. Id love him to direct a live action movie one day

 

[shadowsdarknes]

This game seriously needs a remaster.

 

[Mugy]

This game seriously needs a remaster.

Click to shrink...

Yes, my god, YES. Is there any particular reason why this hasn't happened yet? Maybe the source code of MGS4 is a mess, impossible to work around with?

 

[criteriondog]

I remember so many crazy scenes from this game. I loved so many of the custscenes in this game. I wish it was on PS4.

 

[Crayon]

First raiden x vamp encounter is my fave.

 

[Bulby]

Always accented to me how jarringly stiff the actual gameplay was.

 

[Hayeya]

Yes, my god, YES. Is there any particular reason why this hasn't happened yet? Maybe the source code of MGS4 is a mess, impossible to work around with?

Click to shrink...

As i read somewhere at the time, the game was super optimised for PS3 architecture or something, porting it to any other platform is a nightmare.

 

[Dragon1893]

They were always entertaining to watch, even when the plot was going off the rails.
It was my first PS3 game and I was blown away tbh.

 

[Sams]

I see MGS4 is on PS Now, but as a streaming-only title, which bothers me. Not sure how well it'll run :(

Click to shrink...

I thought it got removed???

 

[absoluteMadLad]

Yes, my god, YES. Is there any particular reason why this hasn't happened yet? Maybe the source code of MGS4 is a mess, impossible to work around with?

Click to shrink...

No idea about the source code, but most likely because it's Konami. Let's not forget they remastered MGS3 on Fox Engine only for pachinko machines and nothing else.

 

[Secretofmateria]

:/ the last "real" metal gear game imo

 

[SolidSnakex]

Still wish that we'd gotten the original ending for the game. Would've really capped off Snake's journey.

 

[tokenflipguy]

Yeah, I kinda didn't like a lot of the stuff story wise, but they were always fun to watch.

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Except for the parts when concept art appeared when the storyboard artists couldn't figure out to fill time to do the big exposition dump.

 

[CaptainKashup]

My first and favorite MGS !

 

[Alienous]

> The cutscene-to-gameplay transition at the start of the Act 1 Frogs fight.

>The Act 3 chase having cinematic camera angles when you weren't aiming.

>

It really did some cool things for a game trying to merge cinema and gameplay. The split-screen moments in Act 4 & 5 were technically impressive - one where Vamp and Raiden are fighting as you have a seperate battle, and another when crawling through the microwave hallway.

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Yep.. it was a mind blowing back then. And still holds up pretty well.

Kojima did an undeniably fantastic job when it came to the feel of "next gen" when it came out.

 

[JustAnotherOne]

The development process behind 4 always fascinated me,what engine did it use? I don't think it was the FOX engine,correct?
I remember being a young kid amazed by the Raiden vs Gekkos scene and then my jaw being dropped a second later with his battle against Vamp.

 

[SuperBoss]

MGS4 was magnificent end to end, one of the greatest games of all time.

 

[Siggy-P]

The cutscenes are amazing. The geckoes are terrifying when they first appear. Like something or of a horror movie.

Conversely I think the in game camera is pretty poor.

 

[Dever]

Kojima's sense of style is fantastic, his only misstep is MGSV cutscenes. I dunno, the one shot camera just does nothing for me, regardless of how well it's technically executed.

 

[Vex]

Raiden was SOOOOOOOOOOO BAD ASS HERE JFC. He was so quiet. Even the way he stood with his sword was so sick af. This game made me a raiden fan.

I really liked the way they made him badass but still VERY vulnerable. It made you root for him even more. Especially because up until that point, those walkers were your bully. And he comes to save you.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Absolutely agreed OP

I FUCKING LOOOOVE MGS4's visual design.
Honestly it's my favorite of the franchise and really wished it was tied to a better "game"

Dammit, now I wanna do a replay, lmaoooo

 

[The Shape]

They blew my mind back in 2008. I actually bought a PS3 last October just so I could play this game whenever I feel like it. Of course, I ended up buying a lot more PS3 games that I missed the first time around.

 

[TechnoSyndrome]

No idea about the source code, but most likely because it's Konami. Let's not forget they remastered MGS3 on Fox Engine only for pachinko machines and nothing else.

Click to shrink...

They "remastered" about 30 minutes out of 5 hours worth of cutscenes and nothing from the gameplay but sure

 

[Midgarian]

I've become much more attuned to noticing cinematography when consuming media, an aspect of visual media I was ignorant about the last time I played this game. So I'll pay attention the next time I replay it (which will be on PC :P). So I can't comment, but I don't doubt it, Kojima is obsessive about this stuff.

Re: the narrative, the whole

Spoiler

"it was the MGS3 cast all along! And Big Boss is still alive! Oh Vamp is back and MGS2 wasn't a simulation!!!"

never ever sat tight with me and this game onwards the series never gave me the feeling the first 3 games did. Meryl didn't have to come back and that silly forced love story with Johnny was unnecessary and didn't feel genuine.

But the lore particular to this game (PMCs, ID tag system, nanomachine ubiquity etc.) was interesting. The design of the enemy robots was iconic, especially the ominous MOOOOO of the Geckos. The idea of the Patriots as a clandestine unknown entity, almost alien-like with a touch of the Lovecraftian about them, was setting up to be great.

The lack of traditional tight level design (felt much more like uninspired corridor or open levels) and the breaking up of the game into 5 disparate locations was a bad choice. One of the best things about MGS1-3 was they were framed around a set location. That location becomes the familiar theatrical stage upon which the events play out. The Bosses were good (last time that would be the case). Chapter 4 tugged on my heart strings and the concluding fight was amazing. But the lack of a new Metal Gear was disappointing. It's like Final Fantasy without Chocobos.

I loved the pre-game FMVs that that immersed us into that World .

One of the biggest burns was the development hype cycle where they hinted towards a battlefield where you could play each side against each other, but it appears they didn't achieve their ambition on that.

So I clearly have very mixed feelings of this game. But it certainly is a spectacle. That there is no doubt about and the cinematography is a big, big part of that I trust.

 

[BossAttack]

Reminds me of my whole thread regarding Kojima's superior cinematography.

Kojima is so far ahead in terms of Cinematography in Games (Warning: GIF Heavy)

Listen, say all you want about Kojima's writing/storytelling but one thing that you can't deny is his skill with regards to cinematography. In the past, individuals criticized his game as being too much like movies. But, with this criticism comes the acceptance that Kojima's game's have...

www.resetera.com

As I note, I keel MGSV and DS surpass all his prior work, which is saying something since all his games have excellent cinematography.

 

[Man God]

Game is ugly as sin and was even then. Such a drab color palette and the skin was too shiny and off putting. I know it was a tech marvel back then but I never liked the look of it. Good thing that was the least of the problems as it plays even worse and the story is atrocious.

 

[Deleted member 4869]

The scene in the Volta River is one of the best cutscenes of all time.

 

[Nintendo]

Not a fan. The cinematography is too anime sometimes and some shots take forever. It still has some cool scenes though.