It's honestly... kind of hard to rate this game. It fails on a lot of levels, both in terms of clarity of the narrative and just... failing as a sequel to MGS2. I don't think I've ever seen a sequel with more retcons and plot contrivances as this one. Characters from previous games will appear and act nothing like how they used to with vague explanations being our only reasoning for why. Gameplay is also a tad strange, as you never really feel the need to sneak around, but it's also not that noteworthy of a shooter? It's just an odd middle ground that feels fine to play, but not something I'm particularly interested in revisiting. The plot also really loses itself by the end. It gets so wrapped up in the idea of tying up every single strand of hanging plot threads in the series that it forgets to tell its own story. The world of MGS4 is arguably the most interesting in the series, but the game is more interested in recapping the previous instalments than actually expanding on it.

And yet... despite all of that, the myriad of complaints I can dredge up about this game... I still enjoyed my time with it. I was still invested in it. I can say that I enjoyed the experience. And, you know what? I just enjoyed playing as Solid Snake one last time.

This game is no pillar of storytelling like the last two entries, nor is it close to a masterpiece, but it is still very much a vital experience of the series. Most of all, it holds a fitting conclusion for one of gaming's most legendary protagonists.
7.5/10