Ready For MGS4? - The Entire Metal Gear Solid Plot Explained

(in chronological order)

Applicable titles:
Metal Gear Solid (PSX)
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (NGC)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance (XBOX, PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)

Non-applicable titles!
Metal Gear (MSX2, NES)
Metal Gear 2 (MSX2)
Snake's Revenge (NES)
Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (GBC, Japan, UK)
Metal Gear Solid (GBC, US)
Metal Gear AC!D (PSP)

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

If your planning on BUYING MGS4 and you HAVEN`T played the previous MGSs.

do your self a favor and read this.

trust me.

@below

no problem.

b3li3v3.

[marinelife9]

This definitely helped a lot. I remeber seeing the MGS4 trailer and only hearing the names of the characters mentioned but not knowing who they were.

MGS4 will be my first Metal Gear but now I might go back and try to play some of the older ones.

[mikeslemonade]

MGS is so hard that if you know story now you will forget all the small details once MGS4 is released in 3 months. It's best to read this like a week before MGS4 is released.

[TheTwelve]

This an awesome read. I've played all of the Metal Gears except for 3, and I'm still confused so I'll be all over this.

12

[Bebedora]

Sounds more like a spoiler??? (haven't read it)

[rawg]

I've only played MGS1 and MGS2 so this article answered a lot of questions I had about the prior games. Good reminder of how complex and rich the MGS games are. Makes me want MGS4 even more now.

And yes - full of spoilers if you haven't played all of the prior games.

[Spike47]

I had to stop reading.

This is too confusig, but kojima sure knows how to make up a good storyline, not you're typical ww2 or fps scifi shooter.

This is one of the best storylines in games.

[kevoncox]

The story line is complex but it's utter crap.
It is a grown up story line is pretty bad.
Scenerio 1:

Snake is in a air duct, codec goes off. Snake is told to find the head of some army division and rescue them. Snake navigates the base he is sent to and finds said army offical locked away. But wait, it's a reversal of fortune, the army offical he is sent to find is really his half clone brother in disgues. Snake escapes but not before fighting a group of rebal soliders, each with their own unique battle style. Snake's last battle is with a mech he was sent to destroy....

Change the names and the setting and slap a different # on the cover and you have MGS.

I thing MGS is the 2nd Greatest game of all time. I sold my N64 for a PSx to play that game. However, 2 and 3 were 8's at best. Come on Kojima give me

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

STFU.

and keep saving up for your ps3.

until then, STFU.

please and thank u

@kevin(below)

my ps3 purchase was validated day 1.
my 360 purchase was NOT.

you sold your 360, right? like me.

MGS2 was NOT perfect, but for how early in the ps2 lifecycle is was SUPER AMBITIOUS.

give respect where respects due.

and don`t try to be THAT GUY.

[kevoncox]

Why should I stfu. i'm entitled to my opinion. You may not like it but it's mine. The games plot is filled with mindless plot twist and tons of unanswered omissions. Can you honestly say MGS2 was anythign but a graphic whore's wet dream?

Again, MGS1 is a close 2nd to Mario 64 for G O A T, so I'm not a MGS hater. I just think that the series has been going down hill since it's amazing start.

I believe you feel that way becaus eyou purchase of a ps3 has to be validated by MGS4. I haven't bought a ps3 yet so I can give a f8ck about validating anything. I am telling it like I see it, so please keep crying like a lil b*tch.

********
Above
********

MGS2 was nor revolutionary during the timeframe it came out. It came out at the same time as DMC and GTA. MGS1 was revolutionary, Part two ws not. It did however, have amazing graphics.

[Lord Cheese]

damnit i really need to buy back a copy of MGS3 - i sold it on having not even loaded it once...

[mighty_douche]

Hell yeah im ready and waiting!!

(come on xbox crowd, im ready for the "this is waiting" comments)

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

only on the waitstation. lol.

btw,

would you rather wait for a good game or wait to get your system fixed?

agree- good game
disagree- system

[mighty_douche]

well i wouldnt know about waiting for your system as ive never had to return one.

But i can easily say, id rather wait for a game to be finished to the standard it deserves than have it released on time but half assed and buggy.

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

lucky you.

i had to return 2 360s(one to MS, one to a Pawnshop), it sucks.

being super into a game, and then boom........you don`t get to play it for weeks/ever.

NOT FUN.

@creeping death

i know, same thing happen to me, but they wanted $170 i payed it once, second time, i sold it to a pawnshop (which isn`t the nicest thing to do) to get something back.

did you get the "disc unreadable error" w/ the japanese writing screen after?

i was playing DEAD RISING lots at the time,
the funny thing is it died right after i got the kill 53,000 (i think) zombie acv. (which was great fun, just driving thru the tunnels all day)

also, when i was one the phone w/ a MS employee she advised me to stay away from the 360 cause they won`t be able to actually fix the problem.

between me and 5 friends.

we`ve gone thru about 16 xbox360s.

when i want to play something i`ll rent it or borrow my friends(but not for to long, so it doesn`t die on ME)

I said, F**k MSFT
and it looks like i made the right decision.

[cr33ping_death]

my 360 died on 2 days ago..... sold everything for it the very next day..... i had to pay 99 bucks for repair......f@ck that..... i now only own " the most reliable console" on the market... the PS3.... i jumped in but sh!tty console spit me back out. to hell with microf@ck

edit: i got a black screen with white dots going across it.... i could hear everything like it was fine...but no video was showing. i bought UT3 and finished paying off MGS4 with the money i got back from selling my 360 stuff.

[akaFullMetal]

yea you can say wow again, really if you havent played many of the previous mgs, then yea your going to be lost.

[mighty_douche]

maybe not....

they've said that MGS4 will have all the cut scenes from previous MGS titles, here how its gonna work, say suddenly someone "new" pops up in MGS4, you have no idea who they are but Snakes seems to, you can hit triangle and view the cut scenes from previous title to give you a better understanding of their story and relationship to snake/mgs.

i hope thats understandable^^

[Hapimeses]

Really, are they doing that? I missed that little gem. That rests my worries a great deal, as I've only played MGS2 (although I'm thinking of picking the others up to play before I hit the new game).

I'm bubbling you up -- I meant to on another thread, but I seem not to have, so here they come.

:)

[Z501]

Portable Ops?
That's pretty much the whole backstory for Gray Fox, one of the greatest video game characters ever, let alone one of MGS greatest characters.

[Skerj]

I don't know, it is canon as well unlike Ac!d and Ac!d 2. Also why is MG and MG2 listed as non applicable?

[King2008]

That was a great read and makes alot of things that were fuzzy quite clear. The story is amazing. Although I never watched any of the star wars movies from what i've been told it reminds me of that how as the story progresses it actually showed why you did what in the first couple of games...lol does that even make sense. Its bad when you can confuse yourself. Anyhoo great great read cant wait to really "FINISH THE FIGHT" lol....dear lord protect me bubbles hahaha

[Torch]

Since I haven't had the liberty of playing the Metal Gear series (other than Portable Ops), trying to decipher the story via miscellaneous bits & pieces of trailers, cutscenes and character descriptions really makes my brain hurt.

So this is very much a welcomed surprise, especially considering that MGS4 is looking to be a purchase.

My brother-in-law gave me his copy of Sons of Liberty, but I don't want to play it without getting through the first one (which is harder to get a hold of than plutonium these days.)

(PlayStation Network, I'm talking to YOU!!!)

[IntelligentAj]

Yeah I know. I kept my original copy and have played through it 10 times. It's not that hard to find on Ebay though and i'm sure they'll release it on the PSN or release a collector's edition with all the games in one.

[King2008]

funny stuff torch. The first on PSN would be great. Those are some of the greatest boss battles ever. The best is of course the hour long sniper fight against THE END...epic stuff Kojima epic indeed.

[AceLuby]

That's the one in the snowfield right? Want to know an easy way to beat it?

Go to the bottom left or right corner behind a hill and use the seeking missles and guide them around until you hit the boss. Really one of the easiest boss battles in the game. The first time I used the sniper and you're right, it took like an hour to beat it.

[Daray]

The snowfield fight is against Sniper Wolf from the first Metal Gear Solid game. The sniper battle against The End is from Snake Eater.

[tfur]

http://www.gametrailers.com...

And a nice quality TGS clip here...
http://www.stage6.com/Extre...

[Maddens Raiders]

"(MGS2-style gameplay on a Gamecube
controller is an abomination under the Lord),"

[Valik21]

to buy and play the first ones. It's because i don't like the stelth games, but everyone told me that MGS had a wonderful storyline, so i'm interested in MGS4 only because of this, and maybe palying it on a next gen machine will cause me to change my mind about stealth games, who knows.........

[Bonsai1214]

already started my replays. i finished mgs2 over christmas break without killing anyone on hard (didn't have the patience for extreme..) and i play to replay mgs3 over spring break.

anyways, thats a great read though. here's wishing for an mgs movie..

[Charlie2688]

Why did they leave out Portable Ops and Metal Gear 1 and 2? all three of those games explain a lot of backstory, even more Portable Ops if you actually include MGS3

[xionpunk]

while I pretty much have most of the MGS plot memorized, I did miss out on portable ops (no psp). This a pretty awesome article though. Then again I am obsessed with MGS.

EDIT: After reading through the entire article, I am now (if possible) even more excited about MGS4.

[jcgamer]

nice find Anego...

[Pain]

Copy n pasted and Printed.

Wont go it to much detail wher ill read but WOOOOOO good readin here i come!!!!

[Account deleted]

Solidus is crazy, he has noble goals but uses crazy methods = psychopath
Solid is ..... you'll know what i think of him when i speak of liquid
The Boss is too idealistic, too good to be true
The Big Boss is your typical pissed-off person who wants his rights
Now liquid in the end is the true hero (bare with me a few lines to know why) because he accepts who he is and sees the true path, dwarfing a nation lead by hypocrites, why would you defend a group that would stab you in the back anytime(that's why Solid is too idealistic too), so liquid works for the good of his own kind baring all of his past and looking up to the Big Boss(his goal, and that's another point i hold against solid, he rejects who he is but a man is only defined by his origins and past, on the other hand as i said liquid embraced his past)..
but finally what does exactly define the word hero? from the way i saw it, i would say liquid is the one...

If you agree, no prob glad to see someone on my band
but if you disagree explain why, don't just hit the damned button.

[kingOVsticks]

O kay i get what your saying but which liquid are you talking about? From what your describing it sound like liquid ocelot liquid snake views imo were petty and blinded by his jealously of Ssnake.

[Account deleted]

but i don't think that's the case, can you give me one proof that corroborates your theory??
and as for which liquid i am talking about, i think they're pretty much the same, but now we have liquid ocelot in play so i'll say him

[heyheyhey]

im ready- its going to be amazing

my most anticipated title of 08 if not, well EVER!!!!

the wait is killing me, i have to play this now (i too am waiting for "this is waiting" comments)

[Anego Montoya FTMFW]

i hope you enjoyed the read.

i know theres alot of people who want MGS4 who haven`t played a MGS before.

this is for you.

only a couple months left.

can`t wait.

[HarryEtTubMan]

Swwet man MGS has the best story in gaming. Period.

[cmrbe]

Hell yeah. MGS4 alone justified my PS3 purchase. I can't wait.

[sonyfanonly]

NO NO NO ACCORDING TO THE XBOTS THEY ARE WAITING TILL THE 360 VERSION SO WE'LL LET THEM KEEP WAITING TIL HELL FREEZES OVER