Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

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I have beaten Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. I know what happens with the characters. I know the twists and turns of the plot. I have conquered the bosses. I know what really happens to Snake. I can say this because last month over a three-day period in the mountains of Japan, I played through the final chapter in the Metal Gear Saga in its entirety.

And sadly, for now, I can only talk about the first section of the game I played.

Along with five other North American and 10 European journalists, I got the chance of a lifetime in the middle of March -- to travel to Japan to participate in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Boot Camp. All we knew going in was that we would be able to play through the entire game someplace away from Tokyo. It was made clear to us that this was actually for Kojima Productions' benefit, and while we could report on some facets of the experience, we were there mainly to give feedback the team could use in the final tuning process.

We all met on Tuesday, March 11 at a hotel in downtown Tokyo to travel together via Shinkansen (the bullet train) to a place called Nasu. We were told we were going to Konami's Super Campus, and after the train we would travel by bus. To be quite honest, we really didn't understand why we were going all the way out to this place rather than just simply playing the game at a hotel somewhere in Japan or having a demo at Kojima Productions. For all of the Metal Gear fans that were going out to Nasu, I think any of us would probably have just as readily played through the game while being held upside down and beaten with a golf club.

Konami's Super Campus is beyond description. As the bus rolled up, we were shown the entire compound. On the side of this mountain Konami has basically created their own mini-city made up of a few main buildings including the hotel, the office building, and a museum dedicated to the company's original president, Kagemasa Kozuki (and current CEO and Chairman of the Board), called Spirit of Kozuki. We were also informed that if the campus lost power, we'd be fine, as the place could also be powered by solar and wind power. While still covered in some spring snow, there was a pond, tennis courts and fields where we were told Kojima Productions held their military and CQC training. As Kojima-san told us later that evening, they decided to hold the Boot Camp in Nasu because this is where the team gets away from it all to focus on the game. We could all quickly understand why.

As we arrived to the hotel, we were instructed to dump our bags, have lunch, and then immediately leave the hotel to board a bus to the office area where we would have our briefing. Upon entering the office space, it was as if we stepped into a James Bond movie and we were deep inside one of the nemesis' lairs. Everything was completely state-of-the-art and modern, with a clean, white, sterile appearance. We slid into slippers as we entered, as no normal footwear was allowed inside the premises. After being lead into a circular meeting room, our eyes were fixed on the monitors at each station that glowed with a message stating our ultimate goal.