Only five weapons can be equipped to the quick-select menu at any given time. From the in-game menu, a complete list of your weapons enables you to assign whatever five firearms you want access to during combat. The same applies to items, given that only five items can be set to the quick-select menu. A range of new items are making their way into Metal Gear Solid 4, one of which was demonstrated by Kojima himself. In a surprising collaboration with Apple, Snake can listen to tunes via an in-game iPod. The right analog stick lets you scroll through the digital music machine's menus to select a song. Kojima hinted at the possibility of finding tracks throughout the course of the game to accompany the slew already packed onto the device's 30GB hard drive.

Whether it's rifling through playlists on Snake's iPod or sneaking past PMCs using camouflage, there's an enormous variety in gameplay. Of course, it's all up to you to find it; it's entirely possible to run straight through the game without involving yourself in any of these bits and pieces. Kojima promises answers for the dozens of lingering questions and plot threads raised in the series' two decade history, so uncovering them all with a quick play through is certainly an attractive option when the game ships next month.

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