Game: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots 

Condition: Pre-Owned 

Included: Game Disc, Manual & Case 

License: No Product License Key Present 

Year: 2008 

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami exclusively for the PlayStation 3 console. It is the sixth Metal Gear game directed by Hideo Kojima.

Set five years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the story centers around a prematurely aged Solid Snake, now known as Old Snake, as he goes on one last mission to assassinate his nemesis Liquid Snake, who now inhabits the body of his former henchman Revolver Ocelot under the guise of Liquid Ocelot, before he takes control of the Sons of the Patriots, an A.I. system that controls the activities of PMCs worldwide. It was released worldwide in June 12, 2008.

Guns of the Patriots received universal acclaim, garnering perfect reviews and Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which claimed that the game was "technically flawless". The game has been considered one of the best games of the seventh generation of console gaming and among the greatest of all time. Its release caused a boost in sales of the PlayStation 3, where it sold over six million copies worldwide.

Gameplay

In MGS4, players assume the role of an aged Solid Snake (also 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 The overhead third-person camera of earlier games has been replaced by a streamlined view and over-the-shoulder camera for aiming a weapon, with an optional first-person view at the toggle of a button.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 (later replaced with Mk.III), a small support robot that always tags along with Snake, offers codec functionality and a means to the in-game menu for a large part of Snake's mission. It can be remotely 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 game may also be finished without killing anyone, using non-lethal weapons.

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

Plot

Setting

Guns of the Patriots is set in 2014, nine years after the events of the original Metal Gear Solid and five years after Sons of Liberty. The world's economy relies on continuous civil wars fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. Soldiers are equipped with nanomachines that monitor and enhance their performance on the battlefield, controlled by a vast network known as the Sons of the Patriots (SOP) system. Revolver Ocelot, missing since the events of Sons of Liberty, is possessed by the will of Liquid Snake and re-emerges from hiding to launch an insurrection against the Patriots, a secret cabal which manipulates global affairs from the shadows.

Solid Snake, meanwhile, is experiencing accelerated aging and has about a year left to live. He is living on board the airplane Nomad with Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich and Olga Gurlukovich's daughter Sunny, a child prodigy in computer programming. Since the aftermath of the Big Shell Incident, Raiden has drifted away from Rose, who had apparently suffered a miscarriage with their child and gone to live with his former commander Colonel Roy Campbell, and has become a cyborg ninja fighting against the Patriots. Meryl Silverburgh commands a PMC inspection unit in the U.S. military, which includes Johnny Sasaki.

Story

See also: List of characters in the Metal Gear series

Shortly after learning of his year-long lifespan from symptoms similar to Werner syndrome, Snake is asked by Campbell, now working with the UNSC, to assassinate Liquid Ocelot and stop his insurrection. Snake travels to the Middle East, infiltrating a war zone occupied by Liquid's PMC Praying Mantis, where he meets Drebin 893, an underground arms dealer, who injects Snake with nanomachines that enable him to use the latest generation of weaponry. When Snake reaches his target, Liquid transmits a signal that incapacitates the nearby members of Liquid's own nanomachine-equipped PMC, Meryl and her inspection unit, and Snake himself. As Snake collapses, he sees Dr. Naomi Hunter again for the first time since he infiltrated Shadow Moses.

Naomi explains via an encoded message that she is being forced to do research for Liquid in South America, and asks Snake to rescue her. Snake locates Naomi, who explains that Liquid plans to use Big Boss' biometric data as a key to access and take sole command of the Patriots' firearms control system, the SOP. After a medical examination, Snake learns his accelerated aging is due to intentional genetic mutations made before his birth, shortening his natural lifespan. In addition, Naomi discovers the FOXDIE virus inside him will mutate within three months, indiscriminately spreading to the rest of the population. Pieuvre Armement PMC soldiers kidnap Naomi, but with the help of Drebin and Raiden, Snake is able to retrieve her, and they succeed in escaping the country, though Raiden is injured by a returning Vamp.

Snake finds an Eastern Europe resistance group that has both the equipment needed to heal Raiden and the living yet comatose body of Big Boss. Once there, EVA, leading the resistance group under the alias "Big Mama," reveals that she was the surrogate mother to Snake and Liquid Snake through the "Les Enfants Terribles" cloning project. Liquid's Raven Sword PMC attacks Snake, Big Mama, and her decoy vehicles pretending to transport Big Boss. Snake helps Big Mama escape to the riverside, where Big Boss' body is hidden to be taken to safety by ship. They arrive to find Liquid has already captured the body, thus obtaining Big Boss' biometric data. He reveals the next phase of his plan to seize the Patriots' entire control system by infiltrating their network using an AI core previously thought to be defunct, to act as a Trojan. US military forces attempt to arrest Liquid, but he disables their firearms and incapacitates them, leaving them vulnerable and helpless to be slaughtered by his elite troopers. Vamp throws Big Boss' body into the burning wreckage of the resistance transport ship, leaving the side of Snake's face severely burned after he saves Big Mama from jumping in after it. Liquid escapes with Naomi as collateral, but Otacon's remote mobile robot sneaks onto Liquid's boat after them. Big Mama dies from her injuries.

Through footage recorded by the robot, Snake and Otacon learn of Liquid's intention to destroy the Patriots' master AI with a nuclear strike using Metal Gear REX's railgun, allowing the Trojan AI under his control to ascend to the highest authority. To facilitate his plan, Liquid needs a non-ID-tagged nuclear warhead, which is to be recovered from the Shadow Moses facility in Alaska. Snake infiltrates Shadow Moses Island and reaches REX's hangar, only to be ambushed by Vamp, who has Naomi with him. Raiden and Vamp duel again, and Vamp is killed. Naomi reveals that she has terminal cancer and, overcome with guilt over her mistakes, disables the nanomachines holding off the effects of the cancer and dies. Snake and Raiden use REX to escape the hangar, where they encounter and battle Metal Gear RAY. Liquid reveals Outer Haven, a modified version of Arsenal Gear, ready to fulfill his launch plan. The Haven charges at Snake attempting to crush him, and Raiden is nearly killed when he holds off the ship. The USS Missouri, captained by Mei Ling, arrives and begins firing on Haven, causing it to retreat.

Seizing the moment it surfaces to launch the nuke, Snake, Meryl, and Johnny board the ship via catapults. When Snake arrives at the core, he uses Otacon's robot to install a computer virus coded by Naomi and Sunny into Liquid's Trojan AI that destroys not only the core AI but the entire Patriot AI network controlling global affairs as well, while leaving the bare necessities for modern civilization to survive. The destruction of the Patriots brings the war economy to a halt and foils their plan to impose SOP onto civilian populations worldwide. After passing out in the core room, Snake awakens atop Outer Haven's tower to find Liquid. Liquid explains that he allowed the virus to be installed, knowing it would achieve his goal of destroying the Patriots. Liquid says he "still has a score to settle" with Snake, and the two engage in a final fistfight, with Snake emerging victorious. Liquid becomes Revolver Ocelot once again before dying.

In the aftermath of the battle, Meryl reconciles with Campbell, her real father, 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 had been an unwitting pawn used by the Patriots, but that they and Drebin were now free. Otacon decides to raise Sunny to allow her to live a normal childhood. Raiden reconciles with Rose after learning that their child was not miscarried and that her marriage to Campbell was a ruse to protect them from the Patriots. Snake, meanwhile, visits the grave of Big Boss at a cemetery. With nothing left to fight for, and to prevent a global epidemic from his mutant FOXDIE strain, Snake attempts suicide.

In a post-credits scene, Snake is surprised when Big Boss, very much alive, arrives at the cemetery with a vegetative Major Zero in a wheelchair. Big Boss explains that the body burned in Eastern Europe was actually Solidus Snake and reveals that the Patriots were founded by Major Zero, EVA, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Big Boss himself. Their goal was to realize the will of the Boss, a World War II hero, and Big Boss' mentor. While their power increased, differing interpretations split the group into two rival factions - Zero's, which stood for complete government control of society to prevent conflict, and Big Boss's, which yearned for a world where soldiers fought solely for what they believed in and not politicians or governments. Zero captured Big Boss, placed him in an induced coma, and consigned control to artificial intelligence networks, which lead to the war economy, a vision far from The Boss's will. Ocelot and EVA then devised a plan to destroy the Patriots and bring Big Boss back to life. The "possession" of Ocelot through Liquid's right arm was a ruse to draw attention away from Snake. Big Boss kills Zero by turning off his life support 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 Big Boss's rival Patriot faction, and were, therefore, the actual cause of EVA and Ocelot's deaths. With the new strain destroying the mutated strain, Snake poses no risk of becoming a biological weapon, so long as he does not live long enough for the new strain to mutate. However, Snake's very presence would kill Big Boss. After understanding his mentor's will, and telling Snake to find a new reason to keep living, thus making amends with Snake and acknowledging Snake as both his son and brother, Big Boss dies beside the Boss's grave. Snake quits smoking and decides to live the short time he has left peacefully with Otacon and Sunny, vowing to live long enough to see what the future holds for the world he has helped create.