Editor Oli Welsh writes: On the eve of Metal Gear Solid 5's release, we thought it would be fun to revisit my review of MGS4, one of our more controversial at the time (back when we did scores). In May 2008 I was only a few months into employment with Eurogamer and honestly had no idea that what I thought of as an affectionately sceptical review would be met with over 2000 furious comments and some pretty colourful personal feedback. Looking back on it now, the closing kiss-off was perhaps a provocation too far, but I stand by the rest of it - and I've been delighted to see Snake and Kojima prove me wrong by moving with the times, while preserving the games' unique flavour, in Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain.
Metal Gear Solid has always been a love it or hate it proposition. Millions love it for its involved, conspiratorial plotting, its arch sense of humour, its demanding stealth gameplay, its sprawling cinematic ambition, its preposterous stylishness and pretensions toward artistic weight. Millions hate it for exactly the same reasons.
Then there are those - this reviewer included - for whom Metal Gear Solid is a love it and hate it proposition. Flawed, intractable, unspeakably tedious at times, and yet blessed with incredible production values, imaginative design, and a brilliant, brave willingness to think and do the unexpected and impossible. At times they're barely videogames at all, but they're capable of moments of pure videogame genius, joy and shock that few other series can match.
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