Video Game Vintage Title: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is an action-adventure stealth video game developed by Kojima Productions exclusively for the PlayStation 3 console. It was the sixth Metal Gear game directed by Hideo Kojima and is set nine years after the events of Metal Gear Solid and five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Guns of the Patriots made its worldwide release on June 12, 2008.

Guns of the Patriots received widespread critical acclaim, garnering perfect reviews and Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which claimed that the game is "technically flawless". The game has been a financial driving force for Konami, reaching 5 million units sold in the financial year of 2009. The game is a direct sequel to Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2, and concludes the story of both the Patriots and Solid Snake.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Plot

Shortly after learning of a year-long lifespan from Werner's Syndrome, Snake is given mission by Colonel Roy Campbell to assassinate Liquid in the Middle East. Snake infiltrates the area where Liquid's army is camped where he meets Drebin 893, a black market arms dealer, who then injects Snake with nano machines that enable him to use the latest generation of weaponry. At the rendezvous point, Snake encounters a patrol unit led by his old comrade Meryl Silverburgh. When he finally reaches Liquid, Liquid releases a signal that incapacitates Snake and other soldiers in the area equipped with nano machines. As Snake collapses, he sees Dr. Naomi Hunter again for the first time since Metal Gear Solid.

Via an encoded message, Naomi explains she is being forced to do research for Liquid in South America and asks for Snake's rescue. Snake finds Naomi, who explains that Liquid plans to use Big Boss' biometric data as a key to access the Patriots' core AI and take control of its firearms control system, the SOP. After tests, she tells him the cause of his accelerated aging, and that the FOXDIE virus inside him will mutate within six months, spreading a deadly version of FOXDIE to the population. PMC members kidnap Naomi, and Snake pursues Naomi and her kidnappers through the jungle. After retrieving her, Snake and Naomi make their escape out of the country with the help of Drebin and Raiden, who is badly wounded by Vamp. Snake finds an Eastern Europe resistance group that have both the equipment to heal Raiden and the remains of Big Boss. Once there, EVA, leading the resistance group under the alias "Big Mama", reveals that she is the surrogate mother to Snake and Liquid Snake through the "Les Enfants Terribles" cloning project. Liquid's armed forces attack Snake, Big Mama, and the decoy vehicles pretending to transport Big Boss' remains. Snake helps Big Mama escape to the riverside, where Big Boss's remains were really kept. Liquid reveals that he no longer needs Big Boss's body, and that he has already infiltrated the system using his own system core to act as a trojan. U.S. military forces arrive, but he disables their firearms via his trojan core. Vamp throws Big Boss's body into the flames, where Big Mama follows to save it. Snake's fruitless attempt to save her leaves him with a burn scar. Liquid escapes with Naomi as collateral, but Otacon's robot makes it onto Liquid's boat.

The video reveals that Liquid plans to destroy the Patriots' core AI with a nuclear strike using Metal Gear REX's railgun. Then he will substitute the core with his own to gain control. To facilitate it, Liquid needs a non ID-tagged nuclear warhead, which is to be recovered from Shadow Moses facility. Snake infiltrates Shadow Moses Island and reaches REX's hangar only to be ambushed by Vamp with Naomi at his side. Raiden joins Snake and kills Vamp. Naomi, revealing she is riddled with cancer and tormented by her mistakes, disables her nanomachines holding off the cancer and dies. Snake and Raiden use REX to head out of the hangar. As they emerge at the port area, Liquid reveals Outer Haven, a colossal submarine ready to fulfill his launch plan. Liquid orders the submarine to ram the dock Snake is on, but Raiden pushes it back. The USS Missouri (BB-63) arrives and starts firing at Outer Haven, forcing it to retreat. Aboard the Missouri, Mei Ling, as a U.S. Navy Captain, orders the battleship to intercept Outer Haven. Seizing the moment it surfaces to launch the nuke, Snake, Meryl, and Johnny board the ship via catapults. Enemy soldiers storm in, with Meryl, Johnny, and Raiden holding them off. When Snake arrives at the core, he uses Otacon's robot to disable the core AI with a computer virus. The virus destroys Liquid's AI core and the Patriot system controlling the entire world, leaving the bare necessity for the modern civilization to survive. The destruction of the Patriots brings the war economy to a halt, counteracts the Patriots' upcoming civilian control scheme, and causes a mental breakdown for the enemy soldiers. Snake, after passing out in the core room, awakes atop Outer Haven's tower to find Liquid, and defeats him in hand-to-hand combat. In the aftermath of the battle, Meryl reconciles with Campbell, and marries Johnny. At the wedding, Drebin reveals his origin as a child soldier as well as his role in Patriots' schemes. He also reveals that Meryl's unit has been an unwitting pawn used by the Patriots, but they and Drebin are now free. Otacon decides to Sunny her live a normal childhood. Raiden reconciles with Rose after learning that her relationship with Campbell was only a sham to protect Raiden's family from the Patriots.

In the game's epilogue, Snake attempts suicide before Big Boss arrives at the grave site with a vegetative Major Zero on a wheelchair. Big Boss explains that the body burned in Eastern Europe was actually Solidus Snake, and reveals that the Patriots were originally an interpretation of The Boss' will, founded by Major Zero, EVA, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Big Boss himself. While their power increased, two rival factions arose within the Patriots' ranks: Zero's, who stood for complete control; and Big Boss', who dreamed of a soldier's world. He also explains that Ocelot purposefully used nanomachines and hypnotherapy to implant the persona of Liquid as his own. Over the years, Zero let the newly established AI network assume control, eventually leading to dependence on the war economy, a vision far from The Boss' original will. Big Boss kills Zero, and informs Snake that the nanomachines Drebin injected into him came with a new strain of FOXDIE, engineered by the Patriot AIs to eradicate the old strains and to kill the rival Patriot faction. Thus, Snake's presence will kill Big Boss, and Snake has no risk of becoming a biological weapon. Taking his father's words by heart, Snake then decides to live out the rest of his life peacefully with Otacon and Sunny, vowing to live long enough to see what the future holds for the new world he has helped create.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots Gameplay

In MGS4, players assume the role of Solid Snake (colloquially referred to as Old Snake), using stealth, close quarters combat, and traditional Metal Gear combat. The overhead third-person camera of earlier games has been replaced by a streamlined view and over-the-shoulder camera for aiming a weapon, with an optional first-person view at the toggle of a button.

A further addition to gameplay mechanics is the Psyche Meter. Psyche is decreased by non-lethal attacks, and is influenced by battlefield psychology. Stressors (including temperature extremes, foul smells, and being hunted by the enemy) increase Snake's stress gauge, eventually depleting his Psyche. Adverse effects include difficulty in aiming, more frequent back pain and the possibility of Snake passing out upon receiving damage. Among the available methods of restoring Psyche are eating, drinking, smoking, and reading an adult magazine.

Snake has a few gadgets to aid him in battle. The OctoCamo suit mimics the appearance and texture of any surface in a similar fashion to an octopus, or a chameleon, decreasing the probability of Snake being noticed. Additionally, FaceCamo is made available to players after they defeat Laughing Octopus. FaceCamo can be worn by Solid Snake on his face and it can be set to either work in tandem with the Octocamo or instead mimic the face of other in-game characters. However, to get access to these unique FaceCamos, players have to complete certain in-game requirements first. When the FaceCamo is worn with OctoCamo, under ideal conditions, Snake's stealth quotient can reach 100%. The Solid Eye device highlights items and enemies, and can operate in a night vision and a binocular mode. It also offers a baseline map, which indicates the location of nearby units. The latter function is also performed by the Threat Ring, a visualization of Snake's senses that deforms based on nearby unit proximity and relays them to the player.

Metal Gear Mk.II, a small support robot that always tags Snake along, later substituted by Mk.III, offers codec functionality and a means to the in-game menu for a large part of Snake's mission. It can be remote controlled to stun enemies, provide reconnaissance and interact with the environment. Its design is based on the namesake robot from Snatcher, a game designed by Hideo Kojima. It is also controlled during the beginning of each separate "Act", although the player is not able to utilize its capabilities during this time.

Whenever the Drebin menu is available, weapons, attachments and ammunition can be purchased via Drebin Points (DPs), awarded for on-site procurement of weapons already in the inventory and by initiating specific scripted events or destroying Unmanned Vehicles. The conversion rate between weapons and DPs depends on current battlefield conditions, with more-intense fighting yielding higher prices. Also, Drebin would purchase items from the player at a discounted price, especially at certain points in the story and certain days in real life.

The Virtual Range, similar to the Virtual Reality training of previous titles, functions as a test facility for weapon performance and gameplay controls.