First and foremost, the packaging:
This 2-disc set comes in a rather boring DVD case that will look out of place with the rest of your MGS soundtracks. The external art is minimalist at best, with only a grayed-out picture of Old Snake on the cover, plain black non-series font text on the spine, and the Kojima logo and legal info on the back. The discs themselves are no better with nothing but the same gray close-up of Snake. The set does come with a nifty "12-page" booklet that details the track list, specific artists on each track, and select lyrics for two songs on the set (Love Theme and Here's to You). Notice the quotations around "12-page?" That's because the left page of each spread is completely blank!
Now for the music itself:
It's important to note that this is not the soundtrack that comes packaged with the Limited Edition of the game. However it does contain all the tracks from that disc and many more. This particular entry in the series struggles to find its own identity. Where the soundtracks for MGS 1 & 3 had very distinct tones throughout, this album falls into the same trap as that of the 2nd game: searching for a balance between the traditional series music and attempts to reinvent it. The result is a hit-and-miss OST that's worthy of the game itself but never truly carves out its own place in series history. That's not to say there aren't some real gems. Harry Gregson-Williams' "Old Snake" and "Gekko" are enjoyable enough to stand on their own, and "Metal Gear Saga" is the perfect final version of the series' main theme. But the real highlights come from the Japanese composers. "Laughing Octopus" is appropriately haunting, and songs such as "Atonement" strike the right emotional tones. On top of that, the set's bonus tracks highlight the music from actual gameplay moments rather than just cutscenes. The track list follows:
Disc 1
01 Old Snake
02 Love Theme
03 Gekko
04 Haven Troopers
05 BB Corps
06 Drebin 893
07 Vista Mansion
08 Laughing Octopus
09 Breakthrough
10 Endless Pain
11 White Blood
12 Call Me Hal
13 Midnight Shadow
14 Paradise Lost
15 Great Escape
16 Desperate Chase
17 Raging Raven
18 Confrontation
19 Mobs Alive
20 Violent Ceasefire
Disc 2
01 Next-Gen Control
02 Crying Wolf
03 One More Reboot
04 Sin
05 Atonement
06 Infinite Loop
07 Everything Ends
08 At Dawn
09 Screaming Mantis
10 Guns of the Patriots
11 No Place to Hide
12 Sorrow
13 Full Circle
14 Everything Begins
15 Father & Son
16 Metal Gear Saga
17 Here's to You
BONUS IN-GAME BATTLE TRACKS
18 War Zone
19 A Rebellion Rests
20 The Hunter
21 The Hunted
22 Forced Hand
23 Under Curfew
24 Unmanned Army
25 Cold Memories
26 For Liberty
27 Surrounded
In summary, this OST is a worthy entry in the storied legacy of Metal Gear, but buyers shouldn't expect anything ground-breaking.