Konami asked games press to keep quiet about the massive length of Metal Gear Solid 4's cutscenes, claims MTV's Multiplayer blog.

It emerged earlier this month that the PS3 sequel has at least two cinematics "approaching" 90 minutes long, as reported by UK mag PlayStation World and now in the new issue of Edge as well.

Apparently, Konami was keen to keep these huge cinematics under wraps from print reviews.

"I've been told by two gaming media sources who asked to remain anonymous that Konami representatives had been asking print reviewers to keep some technical details out of their reviews, namely the length of the game's cut-scenes and the size of the game's installation on the PlayStation 3," reads the MTV blog.

"Such details wouldn't have been plot spoilers, but perhaps the publisher was concerned that they would be viewed as negatives?"

PSW called the game's story, "the videogame equivalent of all three Godfather movies on one disc," and "if you found previous games' story exposition laborious, then you'd better find yourself a nice cushion and plenty of teabags in readiness for MGS4's.

"They can be skipped, but you'll be missing out on some of the most finely crafted examples of FMV footage anywhere in gaming," the article boldly proclaims.

ETA: US magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly has refused to review Metal Gear Solid 4 until the retail release so as to avoid having to bow to Konami's restrictions. Kudos, EGM!

Courtesy of CVG.

Jun 2, 2008