And the winner of the most elaborate booth present at today’s Tokyo Game Show goes to… Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. Clearly not satisfied with having the best looking game on the show floor, Konami pulled out all the stops and leaving a lasting impression on visitors. Consider that while standing in line for a twenty-minute hands-on demo, booth babes passed around PSPs tethered to their camouflaged shorts. Having Portable Ops Plus and the attention of attractive women seemed to make the time fly by, and soon everyone was escorted into a closed theater and debriefed on the game mechanics.

Probably a sign reading “MGS4 This Way –>” would have sufficed in capturing the attention of game show attendees. However, instead of merely being escorted to the demo, Foxhound operatives in full regalia were on hand to lay down the mission objectives. Belting out their lines like trained men of war, they even goaded some of the introverted group of gamers into saluting like soldiers. Taking the theatricality of the event beyond what was expected, or really necessary, a siren went off in the middle of the presentation and a planted member of the audience was identified as a spy, escorted out of the room, and dispatched with thunderous gunshots.

Finally we were allowed to play an early mission of the game, surrounded by barbed wire and a chain link fence to add to the effect. Unsurprisingly, Guns of the Patriots comes off as a deeply immersive experience. Players can evade enemy AI by activating their thermal suit’s camouflage function, thereby blending into any environment. A variety of weapons are available to suit all manner of military need. There is even a new-fangled stun knife to bludgeon an opponent without the attendant guilt of committing murder. Old Snake can also interact with the environment in a variety of ways, including crawling into trash bins and dragging unconscious enemies around. The level of detail on every object in the environment is astounding. More impressions of the game itself should be up in the following days.