Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

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Ducking and slinking your way through the battlefield, it feels almost natural to pop a few PMCs while you're in first-person, but in third-person view you have a few options. There's a semi-lock-on system that you can use, but we found it most times to be inconsistent, especially if there are multiple targets around you. CQC is back and has been deepened, and you now can CQC attack enemies with one-handed and two-handed weapons. Two-handed weapons give you a smaller move set, and takedowns take more time to pull off. Since Snake uses cover quite often, especially leaning around buildings or pillars, you have the option of switching to either an over-the-shoulder view from the right side or the left side, which will help you see around many obstructions.

Since Snake became friendly with the Militia, later on in the level he had a much easier time getting through their Base. Cruising through the base, Snake encounters two extremely mysterious characters -- Drebin and Little Gray. While Snake isn't sure whether or not to be able to trust Drebin or his creepy soda-drinking monkey, Drebin is a gun launderer who plays a key role. He's got his hands in the ID chip process and can modify weaponry so Snake can use weapons that aren't linked to him. When searching bodies of soldiers, if Snake comes across duplicate weapons, the Mk. II will automatically deliver those weapons to Drebin in exchange for Drebin points. Earned points can be spent on unlocking weapons and purchasing weapons and ammunition -- which can be done at any time. Many of the weapons that you come across or purchase from Drebin can now also be modified. Want to add a different scope or a grenade launcher? Want to use different ammunition rounds or grenades? All it will take is having enough Drebin points to close the deal. Upon leaving, Drebin hands you an M4 -- a rifle that's heavily modifiable. The M4 was one of my new weapons of choice, since it has the ability to change firing modes from semi-automatic, to three-shot burst, to full auto-fire.

As Snake arrives at the building where his contact is, he gets held up by an extremely nervous soldier. When that soldier's squadmates show up to assist, Snake notices that the woman soldier in the group has a Foxhound logo on her chest. That woman -- Meryl -- turns out to be the contact who knows where Liquid is. She explains that this new Foxhound unit, which is comprised of Ed, Jonathan and series joke Akiba, is called Rat Patrol 01. As everyone becomes acquainted, Meryl tells Snake that the Nanomachines in each of the soldiers work together in a new SOP (Sons of the Patriots) system, which is something that allows each member of a squad to share senses and health status.

Suddenly Ed picks up word that Liquid's private army of Haven Troopers, the Frogs, have located Snake and the Rat Patrol, and the game's pace of stealth immediately switches into a run-and-gun event. As you work your way through the building with the squad, waves of Frogs leap in and out of cover, sticking to walls and peppering you with gunfire. Even though you're traveling through the area with the Rat Patrol, you're not included in their SOP. The Rat Patrol members also do a good job of not getting in your way, and while the introduction of the SOP system is cool, it would have been pretty interesting to have included it in the single-player story instead of just being a reference to how Metal Gear Online will work.