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With the media hurricane surrounding GTA IV it was easy to lose focus and forget all about this summer’s other major title, Metal Gear Solid 4. Lucky for all of you, I did remember, and took some time out of my busy hooker-punching schedule to participate in the beta for the online portion of Kojima’s much anticipated title.

I’m a pretty big MGS fan. Thing is, I never got to try the online when in came out with Subsistence. Needless to say, I’m a little green compared to all the MGSOnline vets who were also participating in this beta. After playing the game at New York Comic-Con, I knew I was going to need as much practice as possible if I wanted to be taken seriously when the real game came out. Once you download the beta, signing up is easy enough. First you create a name on Konami’s website. Then download two updates. Then install said two updates. Finally, the game is ready to be played.

I created my character and named him LarryHolmes (the real Easton Assassin). I was so stoked to play, I didn’t even care what game type I got first, I was just hoping to get a match going quickly. The options include your standard deathmatch, team deathmatch and CTF (Capture the Frog… it’s a Metal Gear thing) as well as sneak (where one character plays as Snake trying to steal dog tags) and base (secure points on a map without losing them). After 5 minutes I start to think something was wrong. After 10 minutes I turned on the Phillies game. I checked back after a quick 1-2-3 inning, and noticed a match wass ready to start. 12 whole minutes later.

Once I got hooked up with a group of guys I did get to stay with them as the rounds changed through random match types. The first time I played, “sneak” only came up once, and I think that’s for the best. Base and CTF are fun, especially since the close-quarter combat so prevalent in the single player shines through. It’s a little hard to pull off any fighting moves in standard deathmatch since it’s so much faster-paced. Team deathmatch is always my favorite mode in any shooter, and it really is the most fun to play here as well.

Even though I’ve played the single player stories in MGS before, it still took me a few matches to get acclimated with the controls (default auto-aim? Whose idea was that? Easily rectified by hitting “square,” but still...) and the lack of speed. At the onset, all the characters move very slowly. With more experience, you can upgrade your stats, but I was stuck on Level 1 Fast Move. That’s all well and good when everyone else is too, but it just felt strange having everyone move like they were running in water. The rest of the gameplay was very solid. Just imagine playing the single player against smarter opponents.

My favorite thing Konami implemented is the ability to change your weapon set before each spawn. They even have an Army of Two-like option where you earn points to get better weapons. The only major complaint I have is how easy it is to get headshots. On the other hand, the biggest complaint in the MGSOnline forums from veterans: Not being able to aim as fast when popping out of a cardboard box. Really? You can’t aim as fast when lifting a box over your head? Imagine that.

While I did have a decent time playing the beta, I’m certainly glad it’s only an addition to the regular game. It doesn’t really offer anything I can’t find in another game that does it just a little bit better. That’s not to say I won’t play at all, but you’d be hard-pressed to get me to play without a group of friends. Although it was fun, I just can’t see this game pulling me away from completing the single player. Or from punching hookers.

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