History YMMV / MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots

** Keen-eyed viewers will notice that Screaming Mantis' face is modeled after Scarlett Chorvat, who played Creator/ChristineTaylor's girlfriend Joyce in ''Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory''

** The battle between Metal Gear REX and RAY at the end of Act 4. It's literally two HumongousMecha piloted by vengeful old men beating the absolutely shit out of each other, and it's ''awesome''.

** The story in general. Some fans find that it is a satisfying conclusion that pulled off a large share of TearJerker moments and did as well as it could have to wrap up the [[JigsawPuzzlePlot huge number of dangling plot threads]] from all the previous games into a GrandFinale that made sense, even if it had to strain at times. Others think it contradicts everything previous games told (most notably the ending of ''Metal Gear Solid 2''). The changes that bothered them are Snake's depressive personality even though he's already used to these situations ([[http://www.1up.com/news/anime-expo-david-hayter-critical David Hayter came to complain about some of his actions]]), Meryl's romance is considered an AssPull, Raiden going from a normal man happy with his life to a depressed badass cyborg, Sunny overshadowing Otacon and Naomi despite her young age, and several plot mysteries being [[HandWave explained away]] with [[MemeticMutation nanomachines]].

** EVA saying that Zero considered Big Boss an "irreplaceable friend" seemed rather odd when moments prior, she had just described how Zero grew corrupt and power-hungry to the point where he cared more about Big Boss as an icon than he did as a person. And then at the end of the game, Big Boss even questions if Zero hated him or feared him.[[spoiler:''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' made it clear that for all his faults, Zero really did see Big Boss as an irreplaceable friends - one he never hated or feared.]]

* ThatOneLevel: ''Third Sun'' doesn't get very much love, thanks to its very high StoryToGameplayRatio, starting out with a long, slow trailing sequence which leads into a series of long, exposition-heavy, retcon-laden cutscenes. Many players felt that the action sequence after said cutscenes, along with the following boss fight, redeemed it a little bit.

** One of Raiden's lines in particular. [[spoiler:It even rained the day I was born! ]]
** Not to mention the backstories of the B&B Corps, which LetsPlay/ChipCheezum summed up as being like a series of [[TheAristocrats Aristocrats]] jokes without the punchlines.

** [[CoolOldGuy Old Snake]]: Aging at an accelerated rate thanks to being a clone, Old Snake also has to cope with his growing irrelevance and the fact that he [[spoiler:is well on his way to becoming a Person Of Mass Destruction. Actually, the last bit turns out to be false, though he doesn't know this until ''after'' the credits have already started rolling.]] And then there's the microwave hallway.

** [[WeCanRebuildHim Raiden]]: In addition to all the stuff he had to deal within in the second game, Raiden now has to deal with having been tortured beyond human capacity, turned into a cyborg killing machine (a la Gray Fox), seeing his girlfriend go off and marry the much older Colonel, and coping with the fact that their unborn child died in a miscarriage. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the last two turn out to be false, and the first seems to be remedied in the epilogue.]]

** In theory, the psyche (stress) gauge should have been a great addition to the franchise, building off how [=MGS3=] handled the stamina gauge. In practice, however, the gauge was criticized for depleting (psyche) and increasing (stress) too quickly. Minor comments ''in a cutscene'', like a side character making a light jab at Snake's age or health, would cause the gauge to lower by one full quarter, making it come across as if Snake was particularly thin-skinned or couldn't handle jokes (not the best perception for a tactical agent with thirty years' experience involved in an operation spanning multiple countries). The rationalization for the gauge (it promotes regeneration of Snake's health) seems particularly incongruous with its stated function in most cutscenes, where unless you mash X immediately after the forced drain or are lucky to have it happen in a cutscene where you later get a secret L1 view of [[MaleGaze a woman's breasts]], Snake will often begin at a disadvantage due to an ill-timed comment.

* SpiritualSuccessor: A story about PrivateMilitaryContractors who profit from a series of [[ForeverWar Forever Wars]], with an economy maintained by hooking up soldiers to a system that improves their capabilities and suppresses the horrors of war, and without which they are quickly driven to insanity? ''Guns of the Patriots'' can be considered what ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'' could have been without its TroubledProduction.

* {{Moe}}: Sunny due to her being an intelligent young girl who cares about Snake and Otacon well-being, tries to cook eggs, and sings different songs.

** The final battle with Ocelot. The entire fight is a nostalgic throwback to all three of the previous numbered Metal Gear entries on top of Outer Haven. To the music of Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3 and finally 4, you and the hypnotized-himself-with-the-personality-of-Liquid-Snake lunatic duel with nothing else but good old fashioned martial arts. There's a wide variety of quick time events that are used throughout the fight, getting progressively deeper and deeper as the fight progresses until, finally, the two combatants fight like they are two battered, tired, withered old men slugging it out until one falls down before the other does. It's an amazing send-off and tribute to an intricately detailed series that's looked fondly upon to this day.

* [[Awesome/VideoGameLevels Awesome: Video Game Levels]]: ''Twin Suns''. [[spoiler:A nostalgia-laden romp through the ruined Shadow Moses facility, topped with a sequence where you get to ''pilot Metal Gear REX'' and have a one-to-one giant robot fight with Liquid in his Metal Gear RAY, makes this a fan favorite.]]

** The story in general. Some fans find that it is a satisfying conclusion that pulled off a large share of TearJerker moments and did as well as it could have to wrap up the [[JigsawPuzzlePlot huge number of dangling plot threads]] from all the previous games into a GrandFinale that made sense, even if it had to strain at times. Others think it contradicts everything previous games told (most notably the ending of ''Metal Gear Solid 2''). The changes that bothered them are Snake's depressive personality even though he's already used to these situations ([[http://www.1up.com/news/anime-expo-david-hayter-critical David Hayter came to complain about some of his actions]]), Meryl's romance is considered an AssPull, Raiden going from a normal man happy with his life to a depressed badass cyborg, Sunny overshadowing Otacon and Naomi despite her young age, and several plot mysteries being [[HandWave explained away]] with [[MemeticMutation nano-machines]].

** A lot of fans were ''not'' happy with [[spoiler: Meryl ending up with Johnny.]] Many feel that this is because it cheapens the budding romance [[spoiler: Meryl]] had with Snake in the first game or even worse, makes [[spoiler: Meryl]] look shallow since [[spoiler: Johnny]] is revealed to be an extremely handsome man under his mask, implying that he wouldn't be a love interest if he were more plain.

* ContinuityLockout: If this is your first ''Metal Gear'' game, you ''will not'' understand anything that's happening or why. If you've played ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Metal Gear Solid 3]]'', at least ''seen'' some of the major scenes of ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Metal Gear Solid 2]]'' (at least one with each character), and been sprinkled with bits of info from a bunch of other scattered sources, [[note]]you ''might'' be able to make just enough correct assumptions and ignore ''just'' enough off-hand remarks referencing stuff from the previous games that you don't know about that[[/note]] the ''barest possible minimum'' of what's going on may be in your poor, befuddled grasp. ''[[EmphasizeEverything Maybe]]''. Simply put, your knowledge needs to be more advanced than "Solid Snake fights giant robots with a cardboard box," and sometimes even more than the essential "[[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Nanomachines, son.]]" This is presumably why the ''[[AllThereInTheManual Metal Gear Solid 4 Database]]'' was released, so that series newcomers could consult the ''Database'' to catch up on the previous titles.
** This applies to gameplay as well. The game literally drops you in the deep end and if you aren't intimately familiar with the franchise's stealth-play nature, you'll find it very hard to survive more than a few minutes once the game proper begins. And the fact the game rewards you for not using lethal force is not made evident to newbies until well into the first, perhaps even as far as into the second act (the fact non-lethal weaponry and ammo, beyond the Mk. II tranquilizer pistol you're given early on - which, for the record, Snake glosses over entirely in favor of the traditionally lethal Operator - is not clearly provided doesn't help).
** The start of Act IV ([[spoiler:which begins with a simulation of one of the beginning areas from the first ''Metal Gear Solid'']]) is likewise a treasure trove of confusion, especially since [[DamnYouMuscleMemory the controls are changed to how they were in that game]] - even people who are familiar with that game, but only through its [=GameCube=] remake, are in for a spot of hell on that one.

* HilariousInHindsight: The real-life Big Dog robots are basically real life Gekkos, something that thought to be absurd and surreal back in the day when the game was released. The only differences are that Big Dogs are the size of normal dogs, lacking organic parts, and are quadruped.
%%ZCE** In the ending, Drebin remarks that The Patriots played Snake and Otacon "like a violin." Come ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVGroundZeroes Ground Zeroes]]''...

** Ironically it’s been so long now, a whole fifteen years, that it’s begun to swing back around again, with it being easily the most fixated on game regarding [=PS3=] emulation. With changes in gaming culture, the amount of story has been re-reevaluated as elevating it above many games from after it (especially its own numbered prequel sequel). The narrative likewise has been reevaluated from “unnecessarily convoluted” to “not spoon-fed or worried about scaring off those who can’t handle it”, and ''Revengeance'' rehabilitated the reputation of nanomachines.
%%* IKnewIt: [[spoiler:Big Boss is alive.]]

%%* {{Moe}}: Sunny.
* {{Narm}}: [[Narm/MetalGear See here.]]

* ThatOneAchievement: "Sounds of the Battlefield" requires you to get every song in the game for your iPod. The "Snake Eater" song requires you to get all 40 Emblems in the game, which range from the difficult ("Big Boss" requires that you beat the game on [[HarderThanHard The Boss Extreme]] difficulty [[NoDamageRun without dying]], getting caught, [[PacifistRun killing anyone]], and without using recovery and special items, all in under 5 hours, making it That One Achievement within That One Achievement), to the [[ViolationOfCommonSense unintuitive]] ("Puma" asks you to get ''more'' than 75 alerts, 250 kills, and 25 continues), to the weird ("Gecko" requires you to press against walls for an hour total, "Tortoise" wants an hour inside the drum and/or cardboard box, and "Giant Panda" requires you to spend 30 or more hours in-game before you complete it).

** Ironically it’s been so long now, a whole fifteen years, that it’s begun to swing back around again, with it being easily the most fixated on game regarding [=PS3=] emulation. With changes in gaming culture, the amount of story has been re-reevaluated as elevating it above many games from after it (especially its own numbered prequel sequel). The narrative likewise has been reevaluated from “unnecessarily convoluted” to “not spoon-fed or worried about scaring off those who can’t handle it”, and Revengeance rehabilitated the reputation of nanomachines.

* RetroactiveRecognition: In the English version, Sunny's voice is provided by Creator/CristinaPucelli, who for fans of ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'' were already familiar with as the voice of the eponymous hero's main squeeze Silvia, and who would later go on to voice Luan Loud in ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse''.

** Ironically it’s been so long now, a whole fifteen years, that it’s begun to swing back around again, with it being easily the most fixated on game regarding [=PS3=] emulation.

** Ironically it’s been so long now, a whole fifteen years, that it’s begun to swing back around again, with it being easily the most fixated on game regarding PS3 emulation.