10 Video Games You Constantly Have To Defend Loving
5. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was one of the most eagerly awaited games of the PS3's life cycle, touted as the swan song for franchise protagonist Solid Snake.
The result is a game that wowed critics but split fans right down the middle.
To some, Hideo Kojima's self-indulgent storytelling tendencies reached an unbearable peak - or nadir, even - due to both the game's parodically long cut-scenes and a truly unhinged, fan service-soaked story that never once exercised restraint.
Some fans also disliked the game's heavy reliance on using nanomachines to explain and demystify previously ambiguous elements of the series' lore, many comparing it to the midichlorians reveal in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.
Yet Metal Gear Solid 4's gameplay was virtually peerless for its time, which combined with an array of creative boss battles and a story which brought Snake's arc to an emotional - if ridiculous - end, made it one of the most ambitious video games of its era.
While not everything it does is going to work for everyone, it delivers a thunderously entertaining collision of fan service and cutting-edge gameplay in a technically sublime, unapologetically messy package.
The thing is, when people point out the narrative inconsistencies, they're generally not wrong, but your overall opinion on Metal Gear Solid 4 likely depends on how much you care about that. The emotional heft of the game triumphs over its messy storytelling moments.