Friday, December 19, 2008

MGS4 Walkthrough / Act 4


Heliport

Anyone who has played the first Metal Gear Solid way back on PS will be aware of what's going on here. It’s the initial insertion to Shadow Moses Island, ported straight from MGS1. You don't have to complete it, but if you succeed you get the Facecamo from the MGS model of Solid Snake, which is just the low-resolution Snake head from the first game.

When the scene starts you can either go north towards the searchlights and wait for one to start moving away from you, or follow it across the heliport and down the stairs to the west. Stepping in the Spot Light will activate an Alert. Alternatively you can head right, towards the boxes. Make your way down, keeping in the mind the guard who will come down and that he will notice your footprints.

Move north to the Cargo truck. To the northwest is a camera which will activate an alert, but you can sneak past it by pressing to the wall. On easy levels, you can crawl through the vent beneath the camera, but on higher difficulties, there'll be a sleeping guard there, so you'll have to either, press against the cargo truck and knock it, this will wake the guard so he comes searching for you, when he comes around the truck run the other way, being mindful of the camera and crawl through the duct just north west of the trucks cabin, or, sneak to the east beneath another camera. Climb the stairs, and wait for the guard at the top to walk past before continuing forward. Hide in the nook to the right of the searchlight and wait for the guard to come back. Follow him as he walks past your position (keeping your distance), then crawl though the duct half way along this walkway. The screen fades and a cut scene shows Old Snake waking up telling Otacon that he's "having that dream again".

Snowfield and Heliport

This place reeks... of nostalgia... Ahhh...

Once you regain control of Snake, you'll find yourself in the middle of a snow field. Due to a blizzard, there is hardly any visibility. However, this can easily be countered by switching to the NV mode on your Solid Eye. Around the area there are a number of ammo crates you can collect; once you're ready head up the slope to the east. There will be a single Gekko patrolling the area. As it moves away from your position, slide down the bank and crawl through the rocks to the other side. From here, run to the west and head up towards the Heliport.

The Heliport is the same area from the dream before, only there are a few differences. There are a number of items lying around so you can collect and reminisce in equal measure due to there being no enemies. Occasionally you will get those audio flash backs from the original MGS. Also, you get to hear The Best Is Yet To Come. Head towards the center of the helipad to grab some Chaff grenades, and then go north and crawl beneath the truck to collect the Mk. 23 SOCOM which was the main pistol used by Snake in MGS, and head to the stairs on the right. Head up these stairs and crawl through the duct in the middle of the walkway.

As you’re crawling through a few rats will notice you and run away from you. Follow them to make your way through the duct. If you call Otacon, he will ask if you remember the way, Snake will mention his little, furry friends, referring to the rats that guided you through this same duct in MGS1. Continue through to the Tank Hanger.

Tank Hanger and Canyon

When you reach the broken end of the shaft, press Triangle at the prompt to hang from the shaft. In the corner is a Scarab, like the ones EVA destroyed in the resistance meeting area last Act. Once its scanning beam moves away from you, drop down and head behind the box to your left. Let the Scarab scan again. After a moment, the tank in the middle of the room will be clear of scouts, jump over the rail and drop, immediately go prone and crawl under the gap to the left of the doors. In here there are a bunch of Scarabs hanging on the wall. Once there beams are horizontal, crouch to the other end to reach the Canyon.

Two interesting facts I discovered while wasting time here on a "Chicken" emblem playthrough:

1 - The scanning beam of the Scarabs will not detect Snake if he is hiding immobile inside a Cardboard Box or Drum. So long as you equip the item and do not move while the beam scans over you, no Alert will be raised.

2 - By collecting the Chaff Grenades on the Heliport, passing through the Warhead Storage Building to the Snowfield and then doubling back to the Heliport, the Chaff Grenades will have respawned. If you wish to stock up now in order to attempt a Bandana-less playthrough later, here is one of the few places you can grab these things in large quantities.

On each side of this canyon there are two 'sleeping' Gekkos. If you're not interested in the items around you can simply crawl between them to the Nuclear Warhead Storage Building and they won't attack. But if you're after a little thrill or a just want more items, you'll risk waking them up. If you do wake them, best thing to do is just run, run as fast as your little pixel legs can to the next building.

An easy way to grab the items without waking the Gekkos is to use the Metal Gear Mk. III. As long as you don’t touch the Gekkos with the Mk. III, you should be fine.

Nuclear Warhead Storage Building

Your goal is to go through the door at the north end of Floor 1, but you will soon discover that this door is locked.

Otacon will tell you that in order to open this door, the security system must be activated, and it can be done from his old office on Floor B2. He will give you a password to use.

In order for you to get there, Otacon will activate the power to allow you to use the elevator (located on the balcony). Take the elevator down to B2 and head to his old office by heading down the corridor, turning left and following the path round. You are now in the room where you first met Otacon and fought Gray Fox in the first game. Ahh... I love hating him.

A cut scene will occur and you will be prompted to enter the password into the computer terminal. Dont worry if you forgot it (Like me!) as Otacon has jotted it down. He will however make an amusing comment about Snake's memory failing him in old age.

This is where you enter those secret codes. My favorite is 14893. 100000 Drebin Points! Use them to buy the Mosin Nagant. You'll need it for the next boss fight if you want the Solar Gun.

After you regain control of Snake you will need to head back to the elevator and back up to Floor 1. Return to the main corridor and scream as a Gekko falls into the corridor! Shoddily made facility, this. You can try and sneak round it, blow it up with a flew blasts from the RPG or, for something a bit different, you can take the Mark III around the generator you deactivated years ago with the Nikita missile and use it to switch the electrified floor back on, frying the Gekko and netting you 5000 Drebin Points in one fell swoop. Head back to the elevator and back to Floor 1.

Head down to the door to the North once more and Otacon will take control of the Mark III to disable the security. While he's doing this, you will have to keep a Gekko busy, but a glitch renders it invincible to rockets. You can destroy it by equipping the Solid Eye, and it will reveal the Gekko's weak points. There is one on each leg. You can take them out with the M-4. Once both legs are shot the Gekko will squirm on the ground, run around to the top of his head for his final weak point, shoot there and destroy the Gekko, you can kill any Gekko this way. After three minutes, Otacon will deactivate the security and you can pass through the door to the next area.


Both Gekkos in this area can be taken out with the rail gun "very helpful if you’re trying to beat the game in under 5 hours."

Snowfield and Communications Tower

You arrive in a small area with a few goodies to pick up before heading West to the main snowfield (where you fought Sniper Wolf in MGS1).

You will now have to fight Crying Wolf (see what they've done there?).

This a sniper battle. Use your M82A2 or the Mosin Nagant. Equip the Solid Eye's Night Vision, crawl under a truck, and wait. The FROGs won't be able to find you under there.

You can also equip the Facecamo and allow the OctoCamo to adapt the snow’s color. Find a good area to lie in the snow. Granted this is somewhat dangerous because Wolf is stalking around, but I found it to be slightly easier than running around the buildings, because the FROGs won’t be able to spot you if you move around carefully and slowly.

1. Rail Gun. This is almost like a particle accelerator. Sniper. Thing.

2. Pounce! Smash. Owwee...

When Crying Wolf uses her Rail Gun, she reveals her head to scope in on you. Shoot her here to kill her easily. Also, you can shoot the smoke grenades on her hind legs if you are trying for a non-lethal kill.

One thing to remember is that Wolf can track you by scent. That means if the wind carries your scent towards Crying Wolf, she's gonna come charging at you.

The truck can be an asset, because the FROGs really can't get to you. Crying Wolf is a different matter all together. Her Rail Gun bullets will still damage you, so if you know she's aiming for you, pop her head, or get out of the truck.

Crying Beauty. Ugh. Not another one... you should know what to do. Beat Wolf non-lethaly, and the Wolf doll is right behind you when you start fighting the Beauty, beat her non-lethaly, blah blah blah facecap. You also get that shiny Rail Gun. It can kill a Gekko in a single fully charged payload to the head.

Once you regain control of Snake, there are a few rooms to look in around the perimeter of the snowfield, where you might find some goodies. When you're ready, head to the room to the West and go down the stairs towards the Blast Furnace, triggering a piece of Codec gold as Otacon tells you that you need to change the disc, forgetting briefly that technology has advanced since the PS1 days!

Blast Furnace and Casting Facility

Walk up to the main entrance, and you will find yourself in a large factory room with a conveyor belt in the center. Scarabs are all over the place and you can either attack all of them or sneak by them. The Saiga 12 is fun to use here.

Your best bet would be to take out the patrolling Gekkos and wait for the Evasion meter to go down, after that climb onto the conveyor belt and crawl down to the end, there will be three Scarabs that continually roll back and forth, hide behind the left hand box, and when it is clear make a run for it. Remember to don a Box or Drum if you need to evade a Scarab, but bear in mind that a Gekko will not be fooled by this simple disguise. If you are too lazy to sneak past the Scarabs and Gekkos, use a Chaff Grenade to stun the Scarabs and then pick the Gekko off with

Underground Base and Supply Tunnel

The boss fight with Vamp is different than most in the game. When you fight him, the MGL-140 with white phosphorous grenades is a great choice, as you can roast him multiple times. You have to "kill" him by depleting all of his health or psyche. Make sure you avoid his dashes and knives, as if he is on top of you when he knocks you down, he can knock you down again two more times, not allowing you to get up. When he's low on health/psyche, make sure you "kill" him when he is on the ground rather than on top of the rubble to make the next part easier.

Once you've "killed" him one time, he will revive himself due to his nanomachines. However, if he is standing on the ground, make sure you have the syringe equipped and run up to him. Stand behind him and hold R1 to hold him. Then, press triangle to inject the syringe into him, rendering his nanomachines useless.

Also, if you get the Solar Gun from the subsequent playthroughs, a single charged shot from the gun will take out all of Vamp's psyche. Guess something to do with vampires hating light.

For the next part, Raiden will be fighting Vamp, while all you have to do is shoot at the Gekkos and Suicide Gekkos that will be trying to destroy you and REX. Make good use of the Rail Gun by using it against them when it is fully charged or nearly fully charged.

Once Raiden has finally killed Vamp and both he and Naomi die, you take control of REX. Now you must get out of the base.

Escape from the Underground Base

Metal Gear REX has several different attacks. Use R2 to choose between the Gatling Guns, Anti-tank Rockets, and a laser. Just follow the tunnel along shooting at the Gekko that will attack you, but try to make it through the tunnel as quick as possible. If the Gekko start to overwhelm you, just plow straight through them. When you reach the end of the tunnel, you will be confronted by Liquid Ocelot piloting Metal Gear RAY.

Metal Gear RAY Boss Fight

RAY uses similar attacks to the ones he used in Metal Gear Solid 2, such as shooting with guns in his "arms" and firing missiles from his knees and back. He'll also use the water cannon at times. RAY can also close in and use melee style attacks. Hitting R1 will also allow REX to use similar kinds of attacks. Try not to use these unless you are sure they will work, as RAY is much more agile than REX and can easily dodge and counter melee attacks.

Try to focus on shooting RAY with the Gatling Guns to wear him down, occasionally switching over to the rockets which can knock off large chunks of his health at a time. When he shoots at you with missiles, use the Gatling Gun to shoot them down, which will leave him open for an attack.

Also, when you press X and move forward at the same time, REX will dash forward. Time it right, and CRASH! RAY will be stunned, which gives you the chance to inflict a special attack, such as headbutting RAY's head against a building, or lifting RAY up while frying it with a laser.

So long as you don't let up, this fight is really easy.

Refference: metalgear.wikia.com