Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots/Walkthrough
From GameWiki
Spoiler-Free Walkthrough
This is my spoiler-free walkthrough. You shouldn't be able to read this and not have to play the game. Plus, I don't want to even attempt to describe what happens in all the cutscenes. But I've also read some other "spoiler-free" walkthroughs of some games and they stink. It's like reading a list of actions. They're like
Step 1: Walk here.
Step 2: Kill this guy.
Step 3: Go through this door.
Step 4: Fight the boss.
I hate that. I don't want an itemized list of tasks. I want some humor and some good explanations and some maps. So that's what you'll get. I don't profess to be any sort of pro at this game, but I enjoy exploring and messing around. I'll try not to divulge any story elements, but sometimes, I'll have to refer to a character by name to tell you of some action related to them. This walkthrough may take a while, but I want to make it a good one. It's my first.
Here's the format. I'll go checkpoint by checkpoint and each one will have a description and some pictures. If there's something fun or interesting to do (that isn't really story related), I'll put that in too. Rather than have 900 pages for all this stuff, I'll have one HUGE page, but at the top, there will be an outline, with each entry being a link to the proper section of the same page. This way, you can read through the whole thing without having to navigate to lots of different pages, and also, if you want to jump to a certain section, just click on the page link at the very top.
At the end of each section, I may want to comment on something you're shown in the cutscene. I won't describe anything before the scene, unless there's a certain action (like making sure to press L1) you shouldn't miss. All these "cutscene comments", which will really be me complaining about some broken law of physics or other implausibilities, will be printed in red so you don't accidentally read them when you really just want to see what's next.
Any additions you have are welcome, but please stick to my original format. I want it to be easy to navigate through. Not a lot of scrolling up and down to find where you are.
The legend for my maps is as follows:
Legend
| Player Start | Blue Dot |
| Destination | Red Dot |
| Blocked Routes | Black Lines |
| Crawlthrough | Green Parallel Lines |
| Jump/Climb Over | Green Zig-Zag Line |
| Enemy | Purple Dot |
| Number/Letter | See below map for description. |
| Cutscene Trigger | Orange Lines |
I'm not even going to bother to show item locations. There are so many, plus dead people drop so many, that you won't likely ever run out of anything.
For my first walkthrough guide, I'm playing on Liquid Easy. This allows me the most freedom when it comes to exploring all I can and trying out different ways of getting caught or hiding or really an general experimentation I can think of. Yeah, it's a little wussy and there will be more enemies than the ones I show in my maps on harder difficulty levels, but for writing a walkthrough, this is the easiest, so get bent if you don't like it.
All the map pictures are taken from digital photographs of my television and then manipulated with the GIMP. Sorry if they're not the best, but I did what I could, you know? Most of them will be small, but you can see a larger one by clicking on it. From Snake's perspective, the top of every map is North. I turned Snake until the "N" was at the top of his orientation circle before taking the picture. Just so you know.
Opening
This is a pretty short part of the game, just to introduce you into the story and get you used to the controls. Really though, if you get totally used to the controls during this section of the game, you're way better than I am.
Right after the game installs, either for the first time, or after you just beat it and you're starting a new game, you get to watch a couple crazy commercials or a snippet of a television show that was made in the reality of the game. There are several to choose from and they're all equally strange. There's a quiz show, a talk show, a cooking show, and commercials for all of the PMC companies in the game. You can change channels using the "X" button. You cannot skip these.
After the first cutscene (skippable), you're left with nothing but your Stunknife to defend yourself. The object is to make it to the checkpoint without getting killed. Simple. Read on!
Checkpoint 1 - Middle East: Ground Zero
This is by far the shortest checkpoint in the game. Crawl under the truck. Midway through, you'll trigger another cutscene. When it's over, you will have reached the checkpoint. This is the first place you can save your game without having to start fresh. You still don't have any weapons, but that will change.
Checkpoint 2 - Middle East: Ground Zero
This comes in a close second for the shortest checkpoint. You start in a corner and all you have to do is walk to the next intersection in either direction to start another cutscene and get the next checkpoint.
Checkpoint 3 - Opening: End
There are a couple buildings that you can enter here either because they're mostly rubble, or there are doors in them. I've tried to illustrate their openness by filling them with white. Eventually, all the people will be killed, but the Gekkos won't ever leave. There isn't enough ammo lying around here to even attempt to destroy any of them, so just run by when they're facing the other direction. You'll get the Alert tone if they detect you, but no Alert timer.
Get to the red dot on both the game's map and mine to trigger another cutscene. There's an "L1" flag in it, so keep alert if you want those Drebin Points.
| Trivia: The box the Gekkos think you're in says "No Place for Hideo", which is an obvious reference to Hideo Kojima, the franchise's creator. This seems to be poking a little fun at the ridiculousness of hiding in a cardboard box a la Ace Ventura. More likely though, it will get a laugh out of anybody who spent significant time hiding in one while playing MGS1. Why there would be a cardboard box full of fresh watermelons on the second floor of a blown up building in the Middle East is quite beyond me. That's some strong cardboard to hold that load. |
Act I
This act takes place in the Middle East, same as the Opening. Here is where you finally get to play the game as you remember. You are still free to kill everything in sight of course, but I don't recommend it. Generally, if you kill a PMC, he'll be replaced by another one who will see the body and sound a Caution alert. There is no end to the number of enemies that way. However, if you stun one or put one to sleep, he won't be replaced. Kind of a hint not to kill if you don't have to.
Checkpoint 1 - Middle East Red Zone NW Sector
In the Opening section, the description of a checkpoint ended at that checkpoint. If you think of the beginning of the game as point "0", there was nothing to save before you've done anything. So unless you made it to Checkpoint 1, you'd just start over if you reloaded. So the description was what had to be done to reach the checkpoint that the section was titled after. But now, since there is a "before" section to where you are, you start at Checkpoint 1 and proceed to Checkpoint 2, with the description in between. Make sense?
At the start of this section, you finally get to use the Octocamo.
To get the next checkpoint, simply walk out towards the main street and trigger the cutscene. That's it. If you backtrack down the hallway you're in, you can pick up some various items. You can get another by shaking the corpse of the guy by your feet. Isn't it sweet of Snake to tiptoe over bodies?
Checkpoint 2 - Middle East Red Zone NW Sector
Don't worry. Not all of the checkpoints are that close together.
Now, you have to make your way a bit farther than before, and there are several guards in the way. On the map, you see some purple dots. These are the enemies. The dot at the corner is a PMC APC.
If you avoid getting pointed at with the gun, you shouldn't be seen. You can't take this on for now, so just avoid it (15 Petro Bombs and 400 AK102 rounds don't do squat). The two dots nearest you are PMC soldiers and they're on patrol, so their positions will change. If you're bored enough, you can watch them make their rounds and try and time sneaking by, but if you'd rather get some better weapons and your radar, just sneak through the buildings instead.
Point 1: Located at this point is a Cardboard Box for you to hide in. There is also a locker here with an item inside. You can hide in it if you wish, but the PMCs don't come close enough for you to need to. If you're lying down at 85% camo, they have to be hilariously close to you to see you.
If you get found here and fail to kill somebody before they can use their radio, you may not always be able to make out what they say, but you will always be able to hear what HQ says. If HQ says "We can't spare any more reinforcements. You'll have to make due.", that means that you can usually kill everyone in the area. Sometimes though, if you outlast all three Alert phases, when things go back to normal, replacement PMCs may come and refill the posts of the ones you killed.
Point 2: There is another APC here, and two PMCs creep towards it from the Southern alley. Make it to the next checkpoint however you wish. I recommend crawling on the ground down that alley, and then ducking into the doorway near the end, but whatever tickles your fancy. You can also kill the PMCs near the APC and sneak past it down the road. Most of it is blocked, but you can make it on the sidewalk. Either way will get you to the next area.
Checkpoint 3 - Middle East Red Zone
Depending on which place you exited the last area, you'll enter this one there.
I'm going to change my pictures a bit from here on out. They take way too long to doctor up. Instead, I'll mostly leave them as they're presented in the game, but I'll make numbered notes about important things and I'll still mark enemy locations. There are quite a few places to go upstairs here and those are tough to mark on a map, so I won't try. You'll get the gist of it here and then figure the rest out when you're playing with me by your side.
If you come to an open window or half-wall, in all the places where you'd get a triangle icon telling you you can vault over it, you can also dive over it by pressing the X button while running. This saves a little time, and is especially handy if you're running from PMCs.
There's not too much exploring to do here. Not many items either. After you hit the next checkpoint, you'll be set loose in this same area again, but with much better weapons, so don't bother smelling the roses here. Just move on.
Your goal here is to make it inside the building located at the red marker. You can kill everyone in this area or you can sneak by them all. There are several dumpsters to hide in if you want, but it really isn't that necessary. Only if you keep to the main road do you have a decent chance of being seen. If you stick to the blown up structures, it's way easier to sneak by. Don't forget your StunKnife. You can wait just around corners from PMCs on patrol and zap them when they get too close.
Checkpoint 4 - Middle East Red Zone
Ahhh. Now that's better. With your new items, this game becomes much more interesting. This is also the place where, if you've already beaten the game, you get all your stuff back.
This is the same area as the previous checkpoint, but now you have a different place to go. This is also the first time you can interact with the rebel forces. In the previous pieces of the game, they usually weren't alive long enough for you to get to know.
This can be a really short area if you wish, but it's more fun if you take your time. You can run straight to your destination, or you can lend your skills to the rebels. You can kill every PMC here if you wish, or you incapacitate them using any other means you wish.. There are two APCs here, but if you're playing a new game, you won't have anything powerful enough to destroy them. There are a finite number of PMCs, but there are an infinite number of Rebels, and you won't be hurt by any ... uh... "atmospheric" fire. With that I mean, there are constant explosions happening all around, but if you look around, nobody in that area is firing the shells. They're just there for the atmosphere. So you won't be hurt by walking through them. That's not to say you can't be hurt by stray bullets fired from either side, so you're not safe to walk right in between the troops.
Point 1 - Right as you walk out of the building, there are three PMCs making their way towards the Rebels. Due to all the ambient noise, they won't notice you unless you pass really close to them or pass right in front of their eyes.
Point 2 - Here is the first APC. There are two PMCs in front of it, hanging out. A little farther away is another APC and some PMCs at Point 3. The only way to take these out, if you're in a new game, is to grab the RPGs at Points 4 and 5. Rebels will come out with RPGs every so often, so if you want to wait long enough for one, you can get it that way. I should mention that at Point 5, the RPG is upstairs. You have to walk across a really narrow beam and then jump on to a ledge on the other side of some crates to get it.
If you take out, or help to take out, all the PMCs in this area, the Rebels will cry "We did it!" and a hurray of cheers will burst forth. Anytime you hear this, it means that all the PMCs in that area have been wiped out and you're free to walk around at your leisure.
To make friends with Rebels, you can take an enemy out while they're watching, or, when you're standing facing one, you'll get an icon if you have any type of recovery item equipped. If you press triangle, you'll give that Rebel one of whatever you have. He'll thank you and sometimes give you ammo or something in return. Once you do this once, all the Rebels will be your friends and you can walk among them without raising the alarm.
