You ever come home from work, sit down and decide to throw on a game? You start playing that game for a while and you soon realize that it's like two o'clock in the freakin' morning! You know why that happens? It's because you're playing a winner. I mean, c'mon, that's not news to any of us as gamers. We can all recall the days as kids when we would play the original NES until we passed out, only to start playing it again in the morning, with a bowl of half-eaten soggy cereal in warm milk sitting in the corner. That was the life, my friend!

That doesn't mean we can't live those days again. Right now the game industry is one of those industries where you can't say "they don't make then like they used to anymore," because there is a variety of great games out there. Sure, they don't look the same or play the same as the oldschool stuff, but give credit where credit is due; it's a great time to be a gamer because the quality of games nowadays is the highest it's been in years (well, all except for the games from last month's article, that is.) If you're really looking for some quality out of the game industry, then let me introduce you to a handful of winners in this month's edition of "Press Start"!

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is the first MGS title for the current-gen home systems and it is a serious piece of work.

Metal Gear Solid 4 for the PlayStation 3; Publisher: Konami; Developer: Kojima Productions; Release Date: June 12, 2008; ESRB Rating: M for mature; Genre: action/adventure; Players: 1; Support: DualShock 3 rumble; Online: N/A

Wow, this game has a ton of backstory! I'm talking about story in the game and out of the game. Let's talk about the Metal Gear Solid series for a second. If you are lucky enough (or old enough) to own the very first PlayStation system, then it's a safe bet that you have played Metal Gear Solid. Needless to say, it was outstanding; complex and enjoyable gameplay, a huge array of weapons and items, engaging story, excellent graphics for that time and, of course, all the little extras that catered to the gamer's heart -- like "Psycho Mantis," the boss who can read your mind and also read your memory card and tell you what other games you've been playing, not to mention physically looking on the back of the game case to find Meryl's radio frequency.

Metal Gear Solid 2 was the first Metal Gear Solid title to hit the PS2, and it was also an excellent addition to the series, with more of the same from the first MGS. Metal Gear Solid 3 changed things up a bit with a jungle setting and, although it still had the typical MGS top-down view, there was no radar. Although this made some sense in the story, it also made the gameplay unapproachably hard! Later Konami released MGS3: Subsistence, which was a remake of the same game with a few much-needed fixes, such as the new ability to view the game in a third-person camera angle instead of the fixed, top-down view. Shortly after that, every Konami employee was made to write "No more top-down camera angles" on a chalkboard 100 times!

At last we come to Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. This is the first MGS title for the current-gen home systems and it is a serious piece of work. First and foremost, fans instantly noticed that the main character, Solid Snake, looks like Sean Connery. Snake is suffering from a condition that is causing him to age rapidly. The graphics in MGS4 make it the first game on the PS3 to truly take advantage of the huge digital capacity of Sony's Blu-ray Disc media. The graphics in MGS4 actually play a huge part in the new cloaking system. Players can have Snake press up against a wall or lay down on the ground and his suit will automatically duplicate the color and texture of the wall or ground. Konami has also added a new threat system to MGS4; a faint white circle will appear around Snake when he's crouching, and parts of the circle will spike up if there is a threat near.

Big characters, including Otacon, Roy Campbell, Raiden and Meryl, return in MGS4, joining newcomers such as Drebin and his creepy hairless monkey. Courtesy of Konami.

Gameplay is exactly what you would expect from an MGS title. Holding down L2 will bring up the items menu, while holding down R2 will bring up the weapons menu. Typical gameplay controls just like an action/adventure game should control; character movement with the left stick, camera control with the right stick. Konami has also added an over-the-shoulder view when aiming weapons, which is a huge selling point in this game. Players could only aim using the iron-sight in previous MGS titles, which meant that it was as if you were actually holding a gun and looking through the sights. Players can also change the aim to be from Snake's left or right shoulder at any time, which makes shooting a heck of a lot more satisfying.

The story line sparks up a whole tidal wave of nostalgia for the MGS fan. Big characters make a return to this installment of MGS, including Otacon, Roy Campbell, Raiden and Meryl. Some new characters have also been added this time around, such as the weapons dealer Drebin and his creepy hairless monkey. There's not much to complain about in this version of Metal Gear, except for the fact that the dialog is still a little cheesy at times -- but nowhere near as cheesy as the first MGS. In short, this is the number-one reason to own a PS3.