Metal Slug 4 & 5

"What we've come to know and love! (BUT BETTER!)"

Metal Slug has long been an arcade favorite. Intense action, challenging, and most of all addictive. Then it came to the home systems and it was received well. How does this current installment fare? Read on for the break down of both games.

Metal Slug 4

I beat Metal Slug 4 (MS4 and MS5 respectively for the rest of the review) in the arcade. I enjoyed it immensely, so let tell you what I liked about this game so much.

GAMEPLAY: 10

This makes the game, Contra started it and this game evolved it. While in this day in age side-scrolling shooters are considered ancient, this game manages to make young and old like it. At one point there may be as many as 20 enemies on screen at once and its your job to get through them. But you're in luck! You have 10 grenades and weapon upgrades, also you may be so fortunate as to come across on of the Slugs or any of the vehicles you use.
Some are simple tanks while others are submarines or hoppers. Some get even weirder but the are really fun, and I don't want to spoil it for you. Then through out the game you rescue POWs, who then in turn drop items to add to your score or give you ammo. The trick becomes living with that same life for the whole level even surviving the boss match to get the 10k bonus points for each of the little soldiers. You all so have to go through alternate paths to rescue all the POWs. While this happens on screen its all smooth and and fast, never making you get bored or stumped.

FUN FACTOR: 10

Challenge gets meshed in here too due to the fact that it is the challenge that makes the game fun. Like I said, at points you may have 20 or more enemies on screen, some of them mini-bosses. This can either toss you 1 of 2 ways:
Either you say,"WOW!" or "Man the hell with this its just too hard." And thats generally the reaction in the arcade too, either you'll spend the 20 or so bucks to beat it or after the first dollar you're like I can't be bothered. But then fun comes in at after you beat it and find that you rescued only 1 soldier and continued 30 times, you say,"hmm... could I do better?" And then you go back dying less and less trying to rescue more and more guys. So while you know the game its how well you navigate those parts and how high you can get you're score.

GRAPHICS: 8

Nothing special here. While they are good and fit the game, they were done just as well on the PSone games. So they have been seen and they wont be the reason you buy the game. That being said, you can see all the details and colors. When you shoot the bad guys and little spurts of blood come out its cool. Understand one thing, this game is uber violent, so violent its cartoonish. But its violent, and we get to see it in all its bloody glory. Even as the newly torched bad guys run around on fire, you can't help but say cool.

SOUND: 8

Really good. Booms sound like booms, guns sound like gins and screams of agony sound like screams of agony. Music is good as well, usually its a rock song that gets you pumped and ready for combat. After awhile you stop noticing the sound only because you're too busy trying not to die, so the sound gets kinda lost. Still good though and doesn't detract from the game.

CONTROLS: 10

No gripes or groans. Perfect. Its was perfected eons ago when games came out back in the 80's and these guys have simply made it work beautifully here. Fast and responsive your character moves where you want it to when you want it to. If there is a problem you're blaming the controls cuz you messed up and died.

Metal Slug 5

I heard of MS5 being brought out around the time of 4, but didn't know it was being released with 4. Imagine my delight as I bought a game that came with 2 Metal Slugs. Happy Happy! Joy Joy!

GAMEPLAY: 10

Same idea as MS4, but done differently. Stages now have moving parts, in other words, when you start level 1 you start on a boat that is moving and that you cant fall off. All the while mercenaries swing on like jungle pirates to do you in. Same concept but done differently, and the new Slug introduced in this game is practically the whole level. Not to spoil too much but trust me well worth the effort to get to mess with this bad boy. Also they seemed to have upped the ante as it were. Now expect to have enemies sporting tanks, or more accurately Slugs, more often and not just one. Usually its an arena match where you have to kill like 10 before moving on. New and old combine to make a comfortable feel like you've been there before but still don't know where you are. They also included a slide action now, while not necessary, its good for some situations.

FUN FACTOR: 10

Same as 4. Again either you love it or hate it, and the challenge is back with a vengeance. While the difficulty is adjustable, you will only get the most joy out of this game on the hardest difficulty. Still fun and still insanely difficult.

GRAPHICS: 8

Same graphics for all these game solid and colorful. Pretty good for this game, but its been done before.

SOUND: 10

Why 10 for this game and 8 for the other? Sound track is better. The music in this game is all heavy metal. From the start you're assaulted with heavy guitar rifts and drums. The music also fits into the areas you're in. For example, in one part you're in an old temple so the music has chanting in it like Indiana Jones with the guitar. Really good and cool. 10 all the way.

CONTROLS: 10

Kinda hard to screw up something you got so right in the previous game thats packaged with this one. The addition of a new move only makes these that much better, in fact at times it makes the game better. Perfect.

OVERALL: 10

RENT OR BUY?
How can you not buy this game at the shaweet price of $20 American? 2 awesome games that if you like them will give you plenty of entertainment. Even after you beat them you can go back and try to shave off some time and continues. Good fun at a good price. Don't rent buy, you'll spend more money on the rental, late fees, and constant re-renting of the game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/19/06