Contains Spoilers !
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots features an aging and exhausted Solid Snake in the middle of a futuristic battlefield. In spite of his failing body, Snake is equipped with a crucial new device tentatively known as "OctoCamo," a high-tech suit that dynamically transforms its texture based on Snake's surroundings. This revolutionary new gameplay mechanic allows him to seamlessly blend into the environment, providing him with the means to stalk his enemies like never before. This latest chapter in Hideo Kojima's legendary tactical espionage actin series marks the return of several characters from previous Metal Gear Solid games including Revolver Ocelot, Meryl Silverburgh, Naomi Hunter and Raiden, and features an unforgettable story that depicts the desperate state of the future as seen through the eyes of an older Solid Snake.
After the Manhattan Incident, Snake once again went into hiding, and began suffering from inexplicable accelerated aging. His body began to age rapidly, with no doctors being able to figure out the cause. It was not until 2014 that Snake resurfaced for a final time.
Liquid Ocelot (a fusion of Liquid Snake's spirit and Revolver Ocelot's body) was the leader of a new Outer Heaven, this time incarnated as less of a physical thing, and more of a dummy corporation, acting as a single mother company to five of the largest PMCs on the planet. With PMCs now taking over the world's armies in terms of firepower, Liquid was finally on the verge of world domination. With the world once again in crisis, Snake was dispatched to the middle east as a personal favor to Campbell to assassinate Liquid.
Snake, now codenamed "Old Snake", successfully made it to the PMC base that Liquid was using as his headquarters. He once again met Meryl, who was now in command of a reformed FOXHOUND group called Rat Patrol 01. He, however, failed to assassinate Liquid in time due to Liquid's sudden deactivation of the SOP (Sons of the Patriots) system. The SOP system was run by the Patriots with the purpose of monitoring and controlling every soldier engaged in combat action. Liquid's plan to disarm the system and take it for himself at first went horribly wrong when it caused the Middle Eastern base to descend into chaos (although the chaos unknowingly saved him from Snake's mission to kill him).
Later, Otacon received a message from Naomi Hunter, who had been there in the Middle East to save Snake when the SOP system went wrong. The message contained a distress call as well as an encrypted map of Liquid's South American base in Soliton Radar format (a sign from Naomi that it was truly from her), the location of which Olga's daughter Sunny was able to trace. Snake made it to the base where Naomi was held, and she gave him a thorough medical examination. It was during this that Snake discovered the harsh truth: his aging was not part of any external source, it was merely the way he was designed as a clone, and also that the FOXDIE that Naomi injected him with almost a decade earlier will finally claim his life within six months. This was because the FOXDIE was also starting to mutate due to Snake's rapid aging, and would eventually lose its ability to kill by specific DNA patterns and indiscriminately infect anyone and everyone, effectively turning Snake into a walking biological weapon who could cause the deaths of millions. Because of this, Naomi openly suggested that Snake commit suicide after he put a stop to Liquid's plan, so that the FOXDIE wouldn't be able to mutate to that point.
After defeating Beauty and the Beast Unit member Laughing Octopus, Snake escaped with Naomi with the help of Drebin, a "gun launderer" he'd met in the middle east. They also picked up Raiden, who was now a Cyborg Ninja.
Raiden explained that he was acting under the orders of Big Mama, the leader of a small resistance group in Eastern Europe. Snake found Big Mama, discovering she was the former Chinese spy who Big Boss had known, back when his codename was Naked Snake, as EVA. Due to her ties with Big Boss, she was able to explain most of the Patriots' history to him. She also revealed that she had Big Boss' body in her possession. After escaping an onslaught of FROGS and defeating the second B&B member, Raging Raven, Snake found Liquid, who was in the midst of implementing the now perfected version of his plan. Taking control of the SOP system, Liquid used his now unbeatable army to kill every last soldier there, including Big Mama, save for Old Snake and the members of Rat Patrol. Luckily, in the chaos, Otacon was able to stow the Mark II away with Naomi (who had returned to Liquid), and discovered Liquid's true plan: to destroy the Patriots themselves.
Knowing Liquid was planning to do this by using the only non-Patriot controlled weapon in existence - the rail gun from Metal Gear REX - Snake followed Liquid back to Shadow Moses Island. There Snake managed to defeat Vamp, B&B member Crying Wolf and a Metal Gear RAY piloted by Liquid, with Snake himself piloting REX for the latter. However, he was unable to kill Liquid or stop him from stealing the rail gun in time, a prize which Liquid quickly equipped to his own recreation of Arsenal Gear, Outer Haven. Snake, Meryl and Rat Patrol team member Johnny "Akiba" Sasaki infiltrated Outer Haven, where Snake defeated the last of the B&B members, Screaming Mantis, as well as finally destroying GW, the Patriot's former AI which Liquid managed to reassemble. Thanks to Sunny's virus, FOXALIVE, the infection spread to the rest of the Patriots, eliminating them once and for all, and saving the world from destroying itself. Atop Outer Haven, Snake faced his "brother" in hand-to-hand combat one last time, where it was revealed that Liquid Ocelot didn't actually have the right arm of Liquid Snake; it was a cybernetic prosthetic instead. Snake defeated Liquid, who quickly died, but not before revealing to Snake that he had wanted him to succeed in destroying the Patriots. Revolver Ocelot regained control at the very end, and before dying, performed his signature hand gesture while saying "You're pretty good." His mission, as it turns out, was the same as Snake's, putting them technically on the same side.
Some time later, Snake prepared to commit suicide to prevent the spread of the mutated strain of FOXDIE. He sat in front of Big Boss' grave with his gun in his mouth, but in the end was unable to end his own life. Big Boss then appeared, returning the Patriot to the grave of The Boss and confirming Big Mama's story that the true brains behind the Patriots were himself and Zero, and euthanized the now-vegetative Zero himself. He also revealed to Snake that Revolver Ocelot was never truly possessed by Liquid, but had put himself through hypnotherapy and implanted himself with nanomachines in order to make himself believe that he was Liquid Snake. This was done to throw off the Patriots who, being a computer program, could only repeat the same processes and would send Snake in to take down Liquid if they thought he was alive. Big Boss also reveals that when Drebin injected Snake with modern nanomachines in order to make him compatible with SOP weaponry, he also injected him with a second strain of FOXDIE, which was programmed to kill Big Mama, Liquid Ocelot, and Big Boss himself, but also canceled out the original mutating FOXDIE; thus, Snake is no longer in danger of becoming a biological weapon. Snake and his father, who calmly accepted the fact that he was dying, finally made amends, and Big Boss, before dying, made Snake promise to live, however much time he had left "not as a snake, but as a man." Determined to fulfill this promise, Snake retreated with Otacon and Sunny, this time for good, to live the remainder of his life in peace.
Raiden returned in 2014, and while Solid Snake was in South America, he contacted him through Codec, helping him track Naomi, also commenting that he had been helping Big Mama find the corpse of Big Boss. Raiden appeared in person in the South American Marketplace where he helped Snake and Otacon escape by fighting off the Gekko and later Vamp. He defeated Vamp once again and escaped with Snake, Otacon, and Naomi, but not before being badly injured from the previous fights.
After a dialysis and a "white blood" transfusion with the help of Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar, he returned again and saved Snake's life at Shadow Moses after disabling the suicide gekko that were attacking. He has a final face off with Vamp, after Snake returned him to a near mortal state via the nanomachine supressors Naomi gave him, on top of Metal Gear REX, with Raiden emerging the victor, finally killing Vamp once and for all. With Snake controlling REX, Raiden assisted in his escape by warding off the Gekko chasing them, eventually being caught under debris caused by the Suicide Gekko. He sets himself free from under the debris by removing his right arm. After doing so he put himself in the way of Outer Haven, stopping it in its path and holding it back from crushing Snake allowing him to get out of the way. Raiden eventually was crushed under it, screaming Rose's name and remembering a conversation of how they met as well as images reuniting with her at Federal Hall during the the end of the Manhattan Incident before he loses consciousness. He was confirmed later to be alive by Otacon but was in no state to help Snake in his final mission aboard Outer Haven.
However, as Snake made his way deeper into Haven, he was saved once again by Raiden, missing both arms and wielding his sword in between his teeth, from a group of FROGS. He was able to defeat several of them but was eventually overwhelmed and taken down. Once Snake andOtacon destroyed GW along with the other four AIs, the FROGS were incapacitated and unable to kill him.
Afterward, Raiden was sent to a hospital where he is fitted with with a new cybernetic body that appears far more human. Upon Raiden waking up from his surgery, Rose and a small child entered the room, with Raiden ignoring them both, thinking that the child was Roy Campbell's, who Rose had married during Raiden's disappearance into the Alaskan wilderness. Rose told Raiden that the child was his, and her miscarriage was a lie. She explained that her marriage to Campbell was a plan that they both had orchestrated to protect herself and their son from The Patriots so as to not give the Patriots any reason to capture Rose and John, as they would provide no leverage against Raiden. In other words, Raiden's lack of awareness of his son and his disdain for Rose meant that both would serve no purpose to the Patriots, as their suffering would not move him in any way. Stunned, Raiden forgave Rose once again, as she felt desperately guilty from being unable to tell him from the danger it presented. She proceeded to introduce their son as Johnand the three huddled together in reunion. To him, at that moment, it felt like a scene from Beauty and the Beast. But Rose reassured him that he was no beast, but her husband. Raiden then vowed that he was done running, while Rose vowed that she was no longer afraid.
After The Manhattan Incident, Snake and Otacon disappeared, and lived a quiet life. Sometime after The Manhattan Incident, Raiden was able to rescue Sunny Gurlukovich from The Patriots' clutches, and Otacon adopted her. In 2014, thanks to the booming War Economy, Roy Campbellcontracted Snake to help eliminate Liquid Ocelot, head of the PMC mother company Outer Heaven. Snake and Otacon reluctantly accepted, and Otacon assisted Snake from his ship, the Nomad, using Metal Gear Mk. II. Their first mission in the Middle East was a failure after Liquid activated his first test attempt at disabling the SOP system in his PMC troops.
When Snake then infiltrated South America and managed to rescue Naomi Hunter, Otacon piloted the helicopter which was able to get her, Snake and Raiden out. Afterwords, aboard the Nomad, Otacon and Naomi Hunter became romantically involved, and he started to not wear his glasses because Naomi commented that he looked "handsome" without them.
However, Otacon was crushed when Naomi left the Nomad and re-joined Liquid Ocelot and Vamp again. On Shadow Moses Island, after Raiden defeated Vamp, Naomi confronted Snake, Raiden and Otacon (via the Metal Gear Mk. III). It was then she revealed that she had terminal cancer, suppressed only by the life-supporting nanomachines in her. She then injected herself with the nanomachine-suppressing syringe to disable them, effectively committing suicide. Otacon, devastated, could not help but recall how many women in his life whom he had loved had died.
Otacon later assisted Snake when they boarded Outer Haven and helped him to dismantle GW which had been restored by Liquid Ocelot. After Liquid Ocelot himself was defeated for good, Otacon was seen a guest at the relatively small wedding of Meryl and Johnny Sasaki. Here, after Sunny made her first outside friend, he finally gave consent for her to live on the outside. It appeared as though Otacon was aware of Snake's plan to kill himself, as he started to cry and explain that Snake wouldn't be back for a long time when Sunny asked where Snake was.
When Snake did not commit suicide, Otacon and him had a short conversation about what they would do now. Otacon said he would gladly stay with Snake and chronicle the remainder of Snake's life as Snake waited to see what the era would bring.
From then on, Ocelot set up his final steps to plunge the world into total war and destroy The Patriots. By the year 2014, war relied heavily on armies of mercenaries to do their work, and Liquid capitalized on this. Eventually, the five largest PMCs were run by a "mother company" which Liquid had set up, known as "Outer Heaven".
He placed genetic engineering scientist Naomi Hunter under house arrest and forced her to work for him to access the Sons of the Patriots system. He also began cooperating with Vamp.
Using Big Boss's genetic code to enter the Patriots' AI network, Liquid Ocelot succeeded in taking over the SOP. Calling this plan "Guns of the Patriots", he used it to disable every gun and weapon in the world. He then stole the Arsenal Gear-class battleship from the Patriots, and outfitted it with Metal Gear REX's rail gun. He then attempted to use a nuclear warhead launched into orbit from the rail gun to destroy the Patriots' core AI, "JD" in space. While his plan was in motion, Liquid had enough time to use one of the mass-produced Metal Gear RAY units which now protected Outer Haven.
Liquid's plan was "foiled" by Snake and Otacon who infiltrated Outer Haven and implanted a virus created by Sunny and Naomi, which destroyed not only GW, but also spread to the Patriots other AIs, eliminating them once and for all.
Once Snake inserted the virus into GW, he soon passed out. He was then brought atop Outer Haven by Liquid, who stated that Snake had accomplished what he had sought all along, to free the world from the Patriots' control, and that Big Boss's Outer Heaven was finally a reality. Liquid then helped Snake get back up, seeking one last fight with his "brother"; he was subsequently defeated, and as he lay on the ground, he regained his consciousness and died as Revolver Ocelot. His last words were: "You're pretty good", the same phrase Big Boss spoke to him fifty years before.
It's later revealed that Liquid Ocelot was not the result of possession due to Liquid's hand, but induced with gene therapy and hypnosis. Ocelot willingly became the Liquid persona in order to create a threat for the Patriots to focus on, as part of Big Boss's plan to destroy them.
After Shadow Moses, she re-entered the military thanks to Campbell's connections, where she was posted to the Army's PMCwatchdog, the USACIDC (U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command), as the head of her own team, Rat Patrol 01. In 2014, she became involved in a secret operation to capture Liquid Ocelot.
When she meets Snake again for the first time during the Guns of the Patriots incident in the Middle East, she expressed her shock upon looking at Snake's more aged appearance. She was once more shocked (and infuriated) that Campbell sent him to the Middle East. In an attempt to take Liquid by force, in Eastern Europe, she became involved in a massacre that wounded her and her unit, as well as killing most of the nearby military soldiers and damaging some of the vessels.
Meryl also helped Snake infiltrate Outer Haven, and she and Johnny attempted to hold back Liquid's forces while Snake headed toGW's control room. After the incident Meryl and Johnny married, and Meryl made peace with her father, Roy Campbell.
In 2014, Naomi sends Otacon and Solid Snake a video message claiming to have been kidnapped by Liquid Ocelot in order to hijack the SOP System. In reality, she is working with him in order to destroy the Patriots' AI. Snake finds her in South America, and she discovers the cause of Snake's accelerated aging, as well as informing him that FOXDIE would cause an epidemic due to its genetic mutation. She also found the second strain of FOXDIE within him, which, unbeknownst to them, was injected by the Patriots viaDrebin to kill EVA, Ocelot, and Big Boss. Naomi accompanies them to Eastern Europe. Aboard the Nomad she forms a bond with Sunny Gurlukovich, the daughter of Olga Gurlukovich, and becomes romantically involved with Otacon. She also tells Snake about the differences between his DNA and Liquids DNA when explaining the SOP's genetic locks, and also states that these same differences made FOXDIE unable to target Solid Snake, but infected Liquid Snake. She even felt a deep sympathy for Raiden, who became the next Cyborg Ninja, succeeding her foster brother and Sunny's mother. She creates 2/3 of the program that destroys GW and leaves the last part of the new program,FOXALIVE, to be finished by Sunny. She escapes the Nomad and returns to Liquid. After Vamp's death, she reveals she had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, kept in check through the use of nanomachines. She dies shortly afterward by suppressing said nanomachines.
In the debriefing, Naked Sin, it is revealed that she had been working with Ocelot and EVA, and that the three of them planned "Liquid's" uprising in advance. Naomi wanted to stop the Patriots and revive Big Boss, whom she loved along with Gray Fox. She left him a message telling about the plan, as well as the results of further research she did, explaining that the second strain of FOXDIE stopped the old strain from mutating, meaning Snake would not have to commit suicide.
In 2014, Vamp had joined with Liquid Ocelot, becoming one of his mercenaries. He was first spotted by Solid Snake when he traveled to South America to rescue Naomi. After tracking Naomi, Snake spotted her along with Vamp boarding a helicopter and Snake shot Vamp in the head. Despite the fatality of his injury, he was revived by his nanomachines, surviving his third head shot. Shortly after, still in South America, Vamp fought with Raiden.
Later, when Liquid Ocelot headed to Shadow Moses to obtain Metal Gear REX's railgun for his own ends, Liquid told Vamp to stay behind, as he knew Snake would eventually come to stop them. When Snake finally arrived, Vamp challenged him. After seemingly "killing" him several times, with Vamp simply collapsing only to rise again moments later, Snake injected Vamp with a drug that repressed his nanomachines, thus making him "mortal" again. Raiden appeared to eliminate several Suicide GEKKOs, before Vamp challenged Raiden to finally finish him. As Otaconattempted to revive Metal Gear REX, Snake held off the Gekkos while Vamp and Raiden fought on top of REX with their knives. After Vamp incapacitated Raiden, he reached for Raiden's sword, only to have Raiden gain the upper hand, stabbing him in the stomach and finally bringing Vamp's life to an end. Vamp fell from REX's head onto the ground below, where Naomi arrived and gave him a syringe that shut off his nanomachines, allowing him to finally die.
Campbell, now working for a counter-terrorism branch of the United Nations, contacted his old friend Solid Snake, along with his partner Hal Emmerich, after he had discovered the whereabouts of the long missing Liquid Ocelot. Not content with the UN and other governments simply ignoring Liquid's attempt to plunge the world into total war, in effect aiding the economy of the 21st Century, Campbell took the matter into his own hands and hired Snake to perform an assassination. Upon reaching the Middle East, Snake met up with Meryl, Campbell's daughter, who revealed to Snake that Campbell had remarried to Rosemary and she was no longer speaking with "that womanizing piece of shit." Campbell was visibly upset when Snake divulged his daughter's opinion of him, but Campbell had to keep the secret that his marriage to Rosemary was a lie up until Raiden was done with his mission in order to protect John.
At the end of the mission, Campbell attends Meryl's wedding to Johnny Sasaki, finally making amends with her after years of deceit and not speaking. He congratulates Meryl for getting married but she ignores him. Campbell begins to walk away before Meryl pulls her Desert Eagle from her holster, holding it to Campbell's neck. She then releases the clip, forcefully telling him, "You're going to walk me down the aisle." Campbell laughs and tells Meryl that finally, they have plenty of time to get to know each other. Campbell remarks how beautiful Meryl looks, making both her and Mei Ling, Meryl's bridesmaid, break down in tears.
Drebin met Solid Snake early on in his mission in the Middle East, and tells him about his gun laundering activities, claiming to be an employee at ArmsTech Security. After giving Snake an M4 Custom as a "welcoming gift", he tells Snake about the War Economy, and how one day it will plunge the entire world into war.
He next meets Snake in South America, and tells him about The Beauty and the Beast Unit, and later on comes to Snake and Naomi's rescue when Naomi Hunter is seconds away from being taken by Vamp. He also comes to the rescue of Snake, andMeryl Silverburgh's Rat Patrol in Eastern Europe after they were nearly killed by Liquid Ocelot.
Lastly, he is seen by Snake and Otacon on the Missouri where he tells them that thanks to Liquid Ocelot disabling the SOP System, his sales have dried up and offers Snake a discount because of the slump.
After finishing their mission and destroying The Patriots, it was revealed that Drebin was originally ordered by the Patriots to help Snake succeed in his mission, but only because they believed Snake would assassinate Liquid Ocelot and end his mission. The Patriots had no idea their system of global control would be taken offline thanks to Sunny, Naomi and their FOXALIVE computer virus. He also mentioned to Otacon that he and all of the other Drebins in the world have taken over the gun laundering business and formed their own "company", called DREBINS.
It is revealed that Drebin secretly injected Snake with a second FOXDIE, which was programmed to kill EVA, Ocelot, and Big Boss.
In 2014, under her alias of Big Mama, EVA, now an elderly woman at the age of 78, contacted Solid Snake (Old Snake) during his mission to terminate Liquid Ocelot.
Snake followed a member of her resistance and ultimately reached Big Mama's hideout. There, she revealed to him to creation of The Patriots. She also revealed to Snake that she was in possession of Big Boss' corpse, which was being kept alive by nanomachines (However, in reality, this was really Solidus Snake's corpse. Raiden and Big Mama had earlier recovered Big Boss and were repairing the damage done to his body with body parts from Solidus and Liquid Snake while waiting for the AI system to be brought down so Big Boss could be revived from his nanomachine-induced coma).
Soon after, their location was discovered and PMCs were locking in on them. As EVA, members of the resistance, and Snake moved out, decoy vans were set to allow the van with the corpse of "Big Boss'" to get away. Riding with EVA on her motorcycle, Snake protected Big Mama and the van from PMCs in a wild chase until Raging Raven's continuous attacks caused them to crash. After Snake defeats her, he tended to the injured Big Mama (oddly enough, she was injured at the same spot on her body she had been injured during Operation Snake Eater and crashing in a similar manner) and they headed for their getaway cruiser only to find Liquid Ocelot waiting for them. After Liquid beat Snake with CQC techniques and defeated Meryl's men by activating Guns of the Patriots, Vamp tossed the corpse of Big Boss to Snake and EVA as it burns (since Liquid no longer needed Big Boss' DNA). EVA, in an attempt to save the body, leapt onto the fire. Snake saved her from Ocelot's gunshot but badly burnt the left side of his face in the process.
Snake held Big Mama in his arms until the moment she died. It appeared she died from the combination of her injuries from the motorcycle crash and the fire into which she leapt attempting to save Big Boss' body. However, it was later revealed that Big Boss was still alive, and that the brain-dead body Vamp had burned on the Volta was actually the body of Solidus Snake. Big Boss revealed to Snake that Big Mama had, in reality, died from the new strain of FOXDIE within Snake. In addition, she planned "Liquid's" insurrection from the beginning, together with Naomi and Ocelot himself, as part of their plan to destroy the Patriots' system once and for all and revive Big Boss.
Metal Gear Solid 4 introduces four new bosses, who are all part of a unit named "The Beauty and The Beast Unit". The theme around these characters is how the
horrors of war have transformed a beauty, in this case a beautiful woman, into a beast, the bosses which debued in the GC 2007 Trailer. Their names are Crying Wolf,
Raging Raven, Screaming Mantis, and Laughing Octopus. Metal Gear Solid fans will quickly notice that their names are related to the names of members of the
FOXHOUND unit, and the emotions relating to members of the Cobra Unit from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. For example, Crying Wolf = The Sorrow + Sniper Wolf.
Screaming Mantis
Screaming Mantis appears to share more than a name with Psycho Mantis. Screaming Mantius can manipluate anything seemingly with her mind, much like
Psycho Mantis. In the GC 2007 trailer she is seen literally crushing a PMC soldier with her mind, holding him up with what looks like puppet strings coming from no
where. On closer inspection, she has two puppets of two previous Metal Gear Solid bosses: The Sorrow and Psycho Mantis.
Laughing Octopus
Not much is known about Laughing Octopus, other than she uses her tentacles to move and attack at the same time. In the GC 2007 trailer she is seen lifting up a
man and impaling him on one of her tentacles. Relevant or not, her tentacles resemble Solidus' from MGS2 somewhat.
Raging Raven
Raging Raven acts as their ariel support. She has wings and can swoop down on an enemy, either lifting them and dropping them or simply bombing them. She
wears a mask, presumably for an oxygen tank which looks a lot like Naked Snake's mask from MGS3.
Crying Wolf
Almost nothing is known about this character. She has a gun on her back and appears to be rather strong and agile, more than able to take down the 10 or so
soldiers she does in the GC 2007 trailer.
