UPDATE: The MGS4 demo is now available in Europe, as well as the US and Japan Stores.
Over in Japan, PS3 owners who didn’t get drawn in by the hype surrounding the launch of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots now have the chance to get a taster of Hideo Kojima’s Magnum Opus. Despite frequent assertions that there would be no demo, it is now being reported that an MGS4 demo has duly arrived on the Japanese PlayStation Store.
This makes us all the more optimistic about the prospects of the UK getting a no-cost peak at the source of so much excitement for PS3 owners earlier in the year. And to be honest, MGS4 could easily benefit from letting players try it for themselves rather than depending on others’ impressions.
Although other games in the series laid on the narrative in big thick slices, the fourth iteration took this to all new extremes, featuring some cut-scenes in excess of an hour in length. Superb news for the Metal Gear addicts out there and the extremely small subsection of the populace who had the faintest idea what was actually going on. Not so good for people who prefer playing games instead of watching them.
But that’s also a little unfair on the game side of the, err, game. Interspersed with the easily skippable video was a ton of really good, refined, diverse and challenging gameplay. You’re free to play it pretty much how you want, and any stealth fan would have found it a very strong contender against the likes of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.
Going on word of mouth alone is just a recipe for being put off by the sheer volume of cut-scenes. Hopefully then, a demo will remedy that and give people a chance to try out this top-notch title without risking their hard-earned cash.
