Well it came late....by like 3 hours I thought it would've come by the time I woke up, but it didn't so I played GTA 4 until it arrived, then after playing MGS4 for 6 hours the difference was shocking.

First of all let me tell you I have spent 6 hours playing the game & I am still in the "First Act" because I have been playing it like a STEALTH game & then REPLAYED it like an ACTION game to see the difference. Basically I find it more fun as a ACTION game but you get much more satisfaction of fooling the enemy AI (which is very smart) if you play it as a STEALTH game.

Another thing that impressed me was the beginning, it was almost like an interactive beginning movie & basically it showed you the scale & epicness of the game that was to follow.......I can't give specifics due to spoiler reasons.

The SOUND is absolutely incredible....no "ifs" or "buts" here, the uncompressed sound quality seriously shows if you have a good 5.1 Surround sound.....but even if you don't the sound quality is some of the best, from the sound of explosions, to "flying things" and right to bullets missing you by an inch.

What has satisfied me the most so far is the GAMEPLAY.......I mean you don't need to press 3 buttons anymore to shhot someone properly, it can e done easily. The Gameplay is definetely what I had hoped a nex-gen MGS game would give me, and it delivers 99% of the time. THe aiming is a bit weird and takes time to get used to, he is also a bit slow.....imo, but he is old after all.

The Music & Cinematics are extremely well done, they fit the mood & setting perfectly. The new codec is something I really really liked....gives a definite polished & modern feel. I have passed the stage where you really feel for Snake & how his old reltaionships react to his "aging process thing".....its quite intriguing at times.

Ok after the realy long bit.....as my thread title said MGS4 REPLACES Super Mario Galaxy (albeit not by a huge margin) as the best game this gen for me....just from the first 6 hours, now unless the game goes along n self-destructs I doubt SMG will regain its place at the top (atleast for me)........as for GTA 4, well its been Kicked in the nuts by MGS4 as far as my opinion goes.

I REALLY want to know what everyone else feels about this game......please post your impressions here n lets see if we all agree that this is the best game this genration (so far).

{I will continue to post more impressions further along in the thread}

For all the games I've played this gen so far, I would say MGS4 is the best but then the only 360 games I've spent some time playing are Bioshock and Halo 3 and I've never played any wii game so I'm the wrong person to pass judgement.

@Prsitine20

Well it all depends upon in the end what games we have already played and also our personal opinion of each one.

____________

I think I've kept CAPS to a minimum here

Of course you would think this Darthy

"the uncompressed sound quality seriously shows"

Either you're one of the very rare people who can tell the difference between uncompressed and (correctly) compressed sound, or it's just your fan goggles working in favor of the audio ;)

Anyway, what matters is that you're happy with the game and that's great!

So far, my favourite games this gen are Mario Galaxy and Gears--I really want to try MGS4, but I still haven't touched my Essentials collection... too many other games... just got hooked on the crack that is Mario Kart Wii... I'll try to get this soon, though

after 6 hours last night i got to the first boss (im all stealthy like).... the battle was amesome....

The new shooting mechanic is such a huge improvement...
I was pleasantly surprised at the graphics... the charecter models r unbelivable

i must say tho... at sertain points the AI dint seem that smart... sometimes there like supersoldeirs and sometimes there just dumb as doorknob... but thats very seldom and does not at all ruin the experience at all.

all the interactive cutsenes and mission breefing are awesome... just shows the attention to detail...

the sound score is does not disapoint

This game was deffinantly worth the wait

My first impretion: a solid 9.8

Ive got it and

MGS4>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>GTA IV>Halo 3

It is that good

@NJ5

Seriously I am one of the few people who recognize sound quality difference......example the HD video quality of blu-ray hasn't impressed me as much as the sound quality of the blu-ray movies so far.

But yeah what matters is Kojima delivered, especially after a if I may say so "boring-ish" MGS3

@swyggi

I as a fan knew the terrible shortcomings of previous game.....the main flaw, the gameplay (shooting, moving, camera angle) has been ironed out perfectly....that as a huge fan has made me really happy.

@THe Kitchensink

lol....I would recommend playing Essential Collection things first as the STORY has dragged me in and along with the nice gameplay & wow factor of what amazing thing will you see next has kept me going for 6 hours.

So get MGS4 even next year if you need (after playing essentials) to as I feel, you will feel feel MGS4 is a brilliant game, just like COD4 is a brilliant shooter and so on, but you won't appreciate the story which is like the icing on the cake.

GTA4 and MGS4 are different things,like apple and banana.