Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a 2008 action-adventure stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami for the PlayStation 3. 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. The game was released on June 12, 2008. After 18 years of being exclusive to the PlayStation 3, on August 27, 2026, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots port was released to Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S, and is now a part of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2 compilation on these platforms. However, Metal Gear Online is not included in the ports. Guns of the Patriots received universal acclaim, with praise for its gameplay, graphics, characters, and emotional weight, while criticism centered on its plot as convoluted and its emphasis on cutscenes. The game garnered Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications. It is one of the most significant titles for the seventh generation of video game consoles, as its release caused a boost in sales of the PlayStation 3, and had sold six million copies worldwide by 2014.
Gameplay
In Guns of the Patriots, players assume the role of an aged Solid Snake (colloquially referred to as Old Snake), using stealth, close-quarters combat, and traditional Metal Gear combat. The overhead third-person view camera of earlier games has been replaced by a streamlined view and over-the-shoulder camera for aiming a weapon, with an optional first-person view like a first-person shooter at the toggle of a button.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 extreme temperatures, 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. If Snake kills too many enemies in a short amount of time, he will have a vision of Liquid and vomit, greatly reducing his Psyche. 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, 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. 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), is 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. Drebin would also 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.
Synopsis
Setting
Guns of the Patriots is set within an alternate history timeline in which the Cold War continued into the 1990s, ending before the turn of the century. The events themselves take place in 2014, and form the final chapter in the storyline covering the character of Solid Snake, providing conclusions to the events that led up to Guns of the Patriots. The world's economy relies on continuous civil wars fought by private military companies (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. Liquid Ocelot re-emerges from hiding to launch an insurrection against the Patriots, a secret cabal that manipulates global affairs from the shadows. In the meantime, Solid Snake is experiencing accelerated aging and has little time left to live. He is living on board the airplane Nomad with Dr. Hal Emmerich, nicknamed Otacon, 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 Snake's 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.
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