The story is set in February 2005, where a genetically enhanced next-generation special forces unit commanded by FOXHOUND lead an armed uprising on a remote island in Alaska's Fox Archipelago. This island, codenamed Shadow Moses, is the site of a nuclear weapons disposal facility. The forces that seized this island have acquired the nuclear-capable mecha Metal Gear REX, and are threatening the US government with a nuclear reprisal if they do not receive the remains of the "legendary mercenary" Big Boss within 24 hours.
As the game begins, Solid Snake is forced out of retirement and is dispatched at the request of Colonel Roy Campbell to penetrate the terrorists' defenses and neutralize the threat. Snake is also ordered to locate hostages DARPA Chief Donald Anderson, and ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker. Colonel Campbell's daughter, at the time believed to be niece, Meryl Silverburgh, is also held captive in the facility after refusing to take part in the uprising. Snake enters the facility via an air vent and eventually locates the DARPA Chief in a cell. He informs Snake of the new Metal Gear REX unit housed at the facility and how he can prevent it from being launched using a secret detonation override code, but then suddenly dies of what appears to be a heart attack. Meryl, who is held in adjoining cell, manages to break out and assists Snake in his escape as enemy soldiers are alerted to his presence. Snake then finds the other hostage, Kenneth Baker. Whilst attempting to free Baker, Snake is confronted by Revolver Ocelot who challenges Snake to a gunfight, which is interrupted by a mysterious cyborg ninja who cuts off Ocelot's right arm. Baker briefs Snake on the Metal Gear project and advises him to contact Meryl, whom he gave a PAL card that could be used to prevent the launch, but like the DARPA Chief, he suddenly dies of what appears to be a heart attack.
Snake then contacts Meryl via codec, and agrees to meet her in the base's warhead disposal area on the condition that he contacts Metal Gear's designer, Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. As he emerges onto a canyon, Snake receives an anonymous codec call. The mysterious voice calls himself "Deepthroat" and warns Snake of an ambush up ahead. Snake is confronted by Vulcan Raven in an M1 tank, but manages to defeat the two gunners and proceeds to the warhead disposal area. Snake locates Otacon in his lab. The ninja reappears, and Snake realizes that it is actually his former ally Gray Fox, whom he believed was killed years earlier. Otacon agrees to aid Snake remotely, using special camouflage to procure information and supplies while he remains invisible. Snake meets with Meryl and agrees for her to accompany him on his mission. Meryl gives Snake the PAL card Baker gave to her and as they head for the underground base, Meryl becomes possessed by Psycho Mantis's mind control tune and pulls her gun on Snake. Snake disarms Meryl and defeats Psycho Mantis and before he dies, Mantis informs Snake that he read Meryl's mind, and discovered that he has "a large place" in her heart. After they reach the underground passageway, Sniper Wolf ambushes them, wounds Meryl, and after a brief duel captures Snake.
Liquid Snake, the main antagonist and Solid Snake's twin-brother.
While Snake is imprisoned, Liquid confirms Snake's suspicion that they are twin brothers. Snake is then tortured by Ocelot and the player can choose whether or not to give in to the torture. When Snake is taken to his cell, he discovers the body of DARPA Chief Donald Anderson lying in the corner; however, though it was only hours before Snake watched Anderson die in front of him, the body has been decomposing as if he were dead for days. Eventually Snake is able to escape by fooling the guard (by either lying in ketchup or hiding under a bed) or by waiting for the Ninja to come break him out.
As Snake makes his way up the facility's communications tower, he is ambushed by Liquid in an attack helicopter, but swiftly defeats him. As he emerges from the tower onto the snowfield he is confronted once again by Sniper Wolf, and after a second duel he fatally wounds her. Otacon, enamoured with Wolf, is overcome with grief as Snake is forced to kill her to end her suffering. Snake descends into the bowels of the Shadow Moses facility. After defeating Vulcan Raven, the shaman reveals to Snake that the man he watched die was not the DARPA Chief. It was Decoy Octopus. However, Raven leaves the cause of death for Snake to find out. Shortly after, Master Miller calls and reveals that Dr. Naomi Hunter, a support agent, has given Snake the genetically engineered virus "FoxDie" during his mission preparations, and is sending coded messages into the facility. Campbell swiftly orders her arrest. The virus, designed to kill people with particular genetic markers via cardiac arrest, was responsible for the deaths of Octopus and the ArmsTech president. Naomi contacts Snake and confesses that she joined the mission to sabotage it. But upon learning of Snake's own past, she no longer had the heart to kill him directly having reprogrammed the virus.
Infiltrating Metal Gear's hangar, Snake overhears Liquid and Ocelot preparing the launch sequence for Metal Gear REX. Thinking he is deactivating it by using the PAL card, Snake activates Metal Gear REX. Master Miller then reveals himself to be Liquid in disguise. He informs Snake that his entire mission was manipulated by the renegades to allow the launch of the nuclear weapon. Liquid explains that they are the product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a government sponsored effort to clone Big Boss, that was conducted during the 1970s. Liquid explains that Solid received all of Big Boss' dominant genes, while he received all of the recessive genes. He also reveals to Snake the government's true reason for sending him in: the reprogrammed FoxDie virus would kill all the members of FOXHOUND, allowing the government to retrieve REX undamaged.
Solid Snake in battle against Metal Gear REX.
Liquid assumes control of Metal Gear REX and a battle ensues. Gray Fox suddenly appears and destroys REX's radome and dies trying to fend off the bipedal tank from Snake. Snake destroys Metal Gear REX and is challenged again by Liquid in person. He fights Liquid atop REX and defeats him after knocking him over the edge. He is then reunited with Meryl or Otacon, depending on the player's actions. They escape through an underground tunnel, while being chased by Liquid, in a jeep. After the two vehicles crash at the tunnel entrance, Liquid emerges and pulls a gun on Snake but suddenly dies from the FoxDie virus. Colonel Campbell, briefly ousted from command of the mission, calls off a nuclear airstrike intended to obliterate the evidence of the day's events and officially declares Snake killed in action to stop the US government's search for him in the future.
There are two possible endings, depending on the player's actions during the torture sequence. If the player gives in to the torture, Snake discovers after defeating Liquid that Meryl has died and escapes with Otacon. If the player does not give in to the torture, Meryl survives and escapes with Snake while Otacon volunteers to stay behind and sacrifice himself to help Snake and Meryl get out, not knowing that the nuclear strike intended to hit the disposal facility would never come (Meryl surviving is the canon ending).
After the end credits the player finds out Snake is actually genetically inferior to Liquid and has an indeterminate amount of time left before FoxDie kills him. Ocelot is revealed to be a double agent for the President of the United States. His intention was to obtain Baker's disk containing Metal Gear's specifications and deliver it to the President, and kill whoever knew of his true motives, the reason for his "accidental" killing of the DARPA Chief.
Sons of Liberty opens on the George Washington Bridge in New York City, in 2007, two years after the Shadow Moses incident, the events of the original Metal Gear Solid. Solid Snake and Otacon, now members of the non-governmental organization Philanthropy, are investigating the development of a new Metal Gear consistently described as being amphibious and having been designed as a counter-Metal Gear unit which have been built since Metal Gear REX's design was leaked. Shortly after Snake's arrival on the disguised oil tanker U.S.S. Discovery, a group of Russian ex-military terrorists under the command of Russian nationalist Sergei Gurlukovich attack the ship. After sneaking up to the bridge, Snake encounters Olga, Sergei's daughter, who has refused to leave the tanker despite being pregnant.
After he successfully tranquilizes her in combat, Snake sneaks down to the hold in order to record pictures of the new Metal Gear, RAY. Matters rapidly escalate as Revolver Ocelot betrays and murders Sergei Gurlukovich. It is revealed that Ocelot has received a new arm after Metal Gear Solid, that of the late Liquid Snake, which causes a change in Revolver Ocelot's demeanor and behavior, with Liquid somehow 'possessing' him. Under Liquid's control he sinks the tanker, and escapes with RAY before regaining command of his body.
The player finds themself in control of Raiden, supposedly operating under a reformed FOXHOUND two years after the Tanker Chapter on April 29, 2009. Initially referred to as "Snake", Raiden has orders to rescue hostages, including the US president, from the terrorist group Sons of Liberty, backed up by the rogue anti-terror training unit, Dead Cell, who are also threatening to destroy the Big Shell clean-up facility they have seized. Raiden infiltrates the Shell via sea while SEAL Team 10 enters by air. He joins forces with SEAL Lieutenant Junior Grade Iroquois Pliskin and bomb specialist Peter Stillman to disable explosives planted on the Shell by Stillman's former pupil, Fatman, now a terrorist. While Raiden successfully eliminates Fatman, Stillman is killed as a result of one of Fatman's traps. The SEAL team manages to rescue the President, but before they are able to extract him, all of the SEALS except for Pliskin are killed by Dead Cell members Vamp and Fortune.
With the assistance of a mysterious cyborg ninja calling itself Mr. X, Raiden locates the president, and discovers that the Big Shell is actually a disguise built right on top of a new Metal Gear. Known as Arsenal Gear, it houses a powerful AI supercomputer, "GW", capable of controlling information transmitted digitally. The president also claims the democratic process is a sham, and the true rulers of the United States are an organization known as the Patriots. Revolver Ocelot kills him soon after, and Raiden proceeds to his final objective: disabling Arsenal Gear and thus halting a nuclear strike. Pliskin, having revealed himself as Solid Snake, and Emma Emmerich, an Arsenal Gear engineer, assist Raiden in attempting to destroy the "GW" AI by uploading a virus. On the way to the computer room, Vamp attacks Emma. The virus is still installed, but aborts partway through; Emma dies due to a fatal knife wound from Vamp. Snake and Raiden are left with no choice but to disable Arsenal physically. As Snake's partner Otacon escapes with the surviving hostages by helicopter, Mr. X returns, revealing itself to be Olga Gurlukovich, and knocks Raiden unconscious. The Big Shell has been destroyed.
Awakening in an Arsenal torture chamber hours later, Raiden is probed by Solidus Snake, the true terrorist leader. Solidus reveals that he once adopted Raiden, a former child soldier, as his son during the Liberian civil war and that Raiden is now a Patriot agent. Olga, working as a Patriot double-agent within the Sons of Liberty, helps Raiden escape, and he locates Snake within Arsenal Gear. As they fight through the mammoth vessel, Raiden's commanding officer begins to act extremely erratically, often speaking complete nonsense. Some of his nonsensical speech is derived from commands given in previous Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games. It becomes apparent that the "Colonel" that Raiden has been taking orders from is actually a creation of the GW super-computer, pieced together from information about Colonel Roy Campbell coupled with Raiden's own expectations in order to manipulate him. The erratic behavior of the simulation is the result of the virus uploaded earlier beginning to damage GW's systems.
With Snake holding off a vengeful Fortune, Raiden is forced into battle with the 25 Metal Gear RAY units guarding Arsenal Gear. Olga intervenes to protect him, but is restrained by one of Solidus' robotic tentacles. Olga explains that two years ago, right after giving birth to her child, the Patriots took her away and have been holding her child hostage ever since. Olga continues to explain that the Patriots blackmailed her, ordering her to become a double-agent and make the S3 plan a success or her child would be killed. Then, Solidus shoots Olga and throws her corpse out of the way. The RAY units begin to malfunction, attacking each other and Solidus as the virus tears through the GW AI's program.[63] Arsenal begins an emergency ascent, and Snake, restrained by Fortune, Solidus, and Raiden are carried to the roof of the fortress as it surfaces. To Solidus' increasing rage, Ocelot reveals that he too is a Patriot agent, the entire episode was a carefully coordinated attempt to reenact the events of the Shadow Moses incident; what Ocelot describes as the 'S3 Plan', or Solid Snake Simulation, designed to create super-soldiers in the image of Solid Snake.[66] He kills Fortune and boards the prototype Metal Gear RAY stolen from the tanker two years previously, and attempts to finish off the survivors of the exercise. However, Liquid possesses him, and announces his plan to hunt down the Patriots based on his host's knowledge. Setting Arsenal on a collision-course with New York, Liquid launches RAY into the ocean, followed by Snake.
Arsenal comes to a halt in downtown New York, launching Raiden and Solidus onto the roof of Federal Hall. Solidus reveals to Raiden his reasons for trying to steal Arsenal: a nuclear electro-magnetic pulse would take down Manhattan's digital infrastructure and allow Solidus to lead it as a republic against the Patriots, a nation of "Sons of Liberty". Likewise the Patriots, via another AI, contact Raiden to reveal the truth of their actions, the AIs being programmed to becoming "digital censors", removing trite and needless information from the electronic world in what they call "Selection for Societal Sanity", or "S3 Plan". The information fed to Ocelot was another part of this plan. However, with such a control over the flow of digital information, they could as easily be manipulating perceived history for the Patriot's needs. Believing the only option available is to track down the Patriots using the information in Raiden's neural implants, Solidus offers his son one final duel.
Raiden defeats Solidus, and as crowds descend upon the wreckage of Arsenal Gear, Snake and Raiden meet one last time, where his mentor informs him that only he can choose what to believe in, and that he must pass on what he believes to be true. Having planted a tracking device on Liquid-Ocelot's Metal Gear, he and Otacon plan to follow him, and to hunt down the Patriots, whose details were hidden in the GW computer virus disc. As Snake disappears into the crowd, Raiden is finally reunited with Rose, on April 30, 2009?the 220th anniversary of George Washington's inauguration as President of the United States, and the anniversary of Rose and Raiden's first meeting.
In a brief epilogue, Otacon and Snake discuss the decoding of the virus disc, which contains the personal data on all twelve members of the Wisemen's Committee (the Patriots' high council). It is revealed on this disc that one of the members of the committee was a major sponsor of Philanthropy. Another shocking revelation found on the disc indicates that not only are all twelve members of the Wisemen's Committee dead, but have been dead for approximately 100 years.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is set five years after the Big Shell incident, in 2014 [17]. The world economy relies on continuous war, fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are outfitted with nanomachines to enhance their abilities and control the battlefield. The control network created through these nanomachines is called Sons of the Patriots (SOP), and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the system. Snake accepts a request from Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid, with Otacon and Sunny providing mission support from the Nomad aircraft. Seeking information on Liquid's whereabouts, Snake infiltrates a Middle Eastern urban battlefield, and heads for a rendezvous point with U.S. Army informants. On his way, he encounters Drebin 893, a gun launderer who injects Snake with nanomachines that enable weapon sales. At the meeting point, Snake finds the US Army informants, the Rat Patrol 01 unit, lead by Meryl Silverburgh. The group is ambushed by Liquid's personal troops, the FROGs, and after the encounter, Snake heads towards Liquid's camp alone. En route, Snake witnesses four cyborgs wreak havoc on a group of armed militia men. He finally arrives at the camp, where Liquid activates the test phase of his SOP destabilizing system, reducing PMC soldiers, Rat Patrol and Snake to a faltering state. Snake catches a glimpse of Naomi Hunter, who had injected him with FOXDIE in MGS, before she and Liquid escape. Johnny Sasaki, curiously unaffected by SOP's effect, transfers Snake to safety. Via an encoded message, Naomi explains she is being forced to do research for Liquid in South America and asks for Snake's help. Snake enters the South American locale, and witnesses one of the cyborgs and Vamp turning the local rebels against him. He yet again meets Drebin, who reveals the true identity of the cyborgs: the Beauty and the Beast Corps, four female soldiers suffering from PTSD with orders to kill Snake. He also explains that SOP is currently controlled by the Patriots, a network of AI cores.
Snake reaches Naomi who explains that Liquid plans to use Big Boss' biometric data to access the Patriot's core AI and take control of SOP. Her tests indicate Snake's rapid aging is genetic, and that the FOXDIE virus will cost him his life within six months. Before that, however, Snake will start spreading a deadly mutated version of FOXDIE, effectively becoming a biological weapon. Naomi is kidnapped by FROGs, leaving Snake to battle Laughing Octopus. Snake later tracks Naomi down and they make their escape with the help of Drebin. When they end up surrounded by Gekko, Raiden, now a cyborg himself, appears to assist them and, at great bodily harm, stall Vamp, ensuring their escape.
Safely aboard the Nomad, the team decides to get medical treatment for Raiden in Eastern Europe. Naomi builds a friendship with Sunny and shares intimate moments with Otacon. She explains that an Eastern European resistance group possess the remains of Big Boss. Snake trails a resistance member to their leader, Big Mama, who is revealed to be EVA and surrogate mother to Snake though the Les Enfants Terribles project. True to Big Mama's prediction, the Raven Sword PMC attacks the vehicles transporting Big Boss' remains. Snake and Big Mama's motorcycle escort ends in a crash, forcing Snake to battle Raging Raven. He subsequently helps Big Mama escape to the riverside, where Big Boss's remains were really kept, and is confronted by Liquid. Unfazed by the military forces ordering him to surrender, Liquid destabilizes the SOP system once again, and easily claims victory in the ensuing firefight. He throws Big Boss's body to the flames, where Big Mama follows to save it. Snake's fruitless attempts to save Big Mama leave him a burn scar. Liquid escapes with Naomi, but the Metal Gear Mark II makes it onto their gunboat. Before it's destroyed, Mk. II sends a transmission revealing Liquid's plan. He intends to destroy the Patriots' core AI with a nuclear strike using Metal Gear Rex's railgun, then substitute it with his own core, and gain control. To this end, he needs a non ID-tagged warhead from the cache left in the Shadow Moses facility.
Snake returns to Shadow Moses Island (the setting of the original Metal Gear Solid), makes his way though the complex and defeats Crying Wolf and her FROGs outfit. When he reaches Rex's hangar, he finds the railgun has been removed and Vamp waiting for him, with Naomi at his side. Snake suppresses Vamp's nanomachines and holds off suicide Gekko while Raiden fights and kills Vamp. Naomi, revealing she's riddled with cancer and tormented by her mistakes, disables the nanomachines that kept her alive. Snake and Raiden use Rex to head out of the collapsing hangar, but Raiden ends up pinned under its rubble. Snake, now operating his previous nemesis, Rex, is left to duel with Metal Gear Ray, piloted by Liquid. After both Metal Gears are destroyed, Liquid reveals Outer Haven, a submersible warship ready to fulfill his launch plan. Liquid uses this weapon as a ram to kill Snake, but Raiden, who cut off his arm to free himself, stalls him. Eventually, cannon fire from the USS Missouri forces Outer Haven to retreat.
Aboard the Missouri, Mei Ling, now a U.S. Navy Captain, orders to intercept Outer Haven. Snake, Meryl and Johnny agree to catapult onto it and avert Liquid's plans by implanting a virus in Liquid's AI core. The catapult landing leaves Snake alone, and he sneaks into the control room, where he confronts and defeats Screaming Mantis, who had Meryl under her control. FROGs storm in, and Meryl decides to hold them back while Snake proceeds. Johnny arrives to Meryl's assist, and confides he isn't influenced by SOP due to him lacking nanomachines. Meryl and Johnny's romance heats up in sync with the battle, culminating in the two exchanging marriage proposals. On his way to the core, Snake is aided by Raiden. The last part of the way, filled with lethal microwave emitters, Snake traverses on his own. Half dead, he finally arrives at the core, where the Metal Gear Mark III uploads the virus. Programmed by Naomi and Sunny, FOXALIVE destroys all the AI cores, disables the SOP system and brings the war economy to a grinding halt. It effectively counteracts the Patriots' upcoming civilian control scheme while preserving the energy and resource networks essential to modern society.
Snake, having passed out in the core, awakes atop Outer Haven's sail where Liquid Ocelot asserts he is ready to gain control. As Revolver Ocelot, he had allowed the will of Liquid Snake to be implanted onto him, to promote their common agenda of destroying the Patriots. Snake and Liquid have their final showdown from which Snake emerges triumphant.
Meryl and Johnny's wedding is underway, after Meryl accepts Roy Campbell as her father. The wedding ceremony concludes with a kiss and the celebration begins. Drebin reveals that both he and Rat Patrol were pawns in the Patriots' schemes, but are now free. Raiden, hospitalized after restorative surgery, receives a visit from Rose, who introduces him to their son. The three realize they are a family. Snake stands before the grave of Big Boss, ready to take his own life to avert becoming a biological weapon. Snake sticks this pistol in his mouth and the camera turns away. A gunshot is then heard. Yet Snake doesn't end his life. Big Boss, very much alive, appears and explains that the body burned in Eastern Europe was of his perfect clone, Solidus Snake and reveals that the Patriots were originally an interpretation of The Boss' will, founded by Major Zero, EVA, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Big Boss himself. With increasing power, two rival factions arose within the Patriots' ranks, Zero's who stood for complete control, and Big Boss's, who dreamed of a soldier's world. Eva and Ocelot joined Big Boss in his cause. Over the years, Zero let the newly established AI network assume more and more control, eventually leading to depend on the war economy, a vision far from The Boss' original will. Big Boss puts an end to the last remnant of this false vision by shutting down Zero's life support unit.
Big Boss informs Snake that Drebin's injection included a new strain of FOXDIE, programmed by the Patriot AIs to kill the rival Patriot faction and eradicate the old versions of FOXDIE. Thus, Snake has no risk of becoming a biological weapon, at least before his own death. Big Boss succumbs to FOXDIE, but not before he makes amends with Snake.
When all is settled, Snake decides to live out his life peacefully, in the company of Otacon and Sunny, and vows to see this new age off.
As the game begins, Solid Snake is forced out of retirement and is dispatched at the request of Colonel Roy Campbell to penetrate the terrorists' defenses and neutralize the threat. Snake is also ordered to locate hostages DARPA Chief Donald Anderson, and ArmsTech president Kenneth Baker. Colonel Campbell's daughter, at the time believed to be niece, Meryl Silverburgh, is also held captive in the facility after refusing to take part in the uprising. Snake enters the facility via an air vent and eventually locates the DARPA Chief in a cell. He informs Snake of the new Metal Gear REX unit housed at the facility and how he can prevent it from being launched using a secret detonation override code, but then suddenly dies of what appears to be a heart attack. Meryl, who is held in adjoining cell, manages to break out and assists Snake in his escape as enemy soldiers are alerted to his presence. Snake then finds the other hostage, Kenneth Baker. Whilst attempting to free Baker, Snake is confronted by Revolver Ocelot who challenges Snake to a gunfight, which is interrupted by a mysterious cyborg ninja who cuts off Ocelot's right arm. Baker briefs Snake on the Metal Gear project and advises him to contact Meryl, whom he gave a PAL card that could be used to prevent the launch, but like the DARPA Chief, he suddenly dies of what appears to be a heart attack.
Snake then contacts Meryl via codec, and agrees to meet her in the base's warhead disposal area on the condition that he contacts Metal Gear's designer, Dr. Hal "Otacon" Emmerich. As he emerges onto a canyon, Snake receives an anonymous codec call. The mysterious voice calls himself "Deepthroat" and warns Snake of an ambush up ahead. Snake is confronted by Vulcan Raven in an M1 tank, but manages to defeat the two gunners and proceeds to the warhead disposal area. Snake locates Otacon in his lab. The ninja reappears, and Snake realizes that it is actually his former ally Gray Fox, whom he believed was killed years earlier. Otacon agrees to aid Snake remotely, using special camouflage to procure information and supplies while he remains invisible. Snake meets with Meryl and agrees for her to accompany him on his mission. Meryl gives Snake the PAL card Baker gave to her and as they head for the underground base, Meryl becomes possessed by Psycho Mantis's mind control tune and pulls her gun on Snake. Snake disarms Meryl and defeats Psycho Mantis and before he dies, Mantis informs Snake that he read Meryl's mind, and discovered that he has "a large place" in her heart. After they reach the underground passageway, Sniper Wolf ambushes them, wounds Meryl, and after a brief duel captures Snake.
Liquid Snake, the main antagonist and Solid Snake's twin-brother.
While Snake is imprisoned, Liquid confirms Snake's suspicion that they are twin brothers. Snake is then tortured by Ocelot and the player can choose whether or not to give in to the torture. When Snake is taken to his cell, he discovers the body of DARPA Chief Donald Anderson lying in the corner; however, though it was only hours before Snake watched Anderson die in front of him, the body has been decomposing as if he were dead for days. Eventually Snake is able to escape by fooling the guard (by either lying in ketchup or hiding under a bed) or by waiting for the Ninja to come break him out.
As Snake makes his way up the facility's communications tower, he is ambushed by Liquid in an attack helicopter, but swiftly defeats him. As he emerges from the tower onto the snowfield he is confronted once again by Sniper Wolf, and after a second duel he fatally wounds her. Otacon, enamoured with Wolf, is overcome with grief as Snake is forced to kill her to end her suffering. Snake descends into the bowels of the Shadow Moses facility. After defeating Vulcan Raven, the shaman reveals to Snake that the man he watched die was not the DARPA Chief. It was Decoy Octopus. However, Raven leaves the cause of death for Snake to find out. Shortly after, Master Miller calls and reveals that Dr. Naomi Hunter, a support agent, has given Snake the genetically engineered virus "FoxDie" during his mission preparations, and is sending coded messages into the facility. Campbell swiftly orders her arrest. The virus, designed to kill people with particular genetic markers via cardiac arrest, was responsible for the deaths of Octopus and the ArmsTech president. Naomi contacts Snake and confesses that she joined the mission to sabotage it. But upon learning of Snake's own past, she no longer had the heart to kill him directly having reprogrammed the virus.
Infiltrating Metal Gear's hangar, Snake overhears Liquid and Ocelot preparing the launch sequence for Metal Gear REX. Thinking he is deactivating it by using the PAL card, Snake activates Metal Gear REX. Master Miller then reveals himself to be Liquid in disguise. He informs Snake that his entire mission was manipulated by the renegades to allow the launch of the nuclear weapon. Liquid explains that they are the product of the Les Enfants Terribles project, a government sponsored effort to clone Big Boss, that was conducted during the 1970s. Liquid explains that Solid received all of Big Boss' dominant genes, while he received all of the recessive genes. He also reveals to Snake the government's true reason for sending him in: the reprogrammed FoxDie virus would kill all the members of FOXHOUND, allowing the government to retrieve REX undamaged.
Solid Snake in battle against Metal Gear REX.
Liquid assumes control of Metal Gear REX and a battle ensues. Gray Fox suddenly appears and destroys REX's radome and dies trying to fend off the bipedal tank from Snake. Snake destroys Metal Gear REX and is challenged again by Liquid in person. He fights Liquid atop REX and defeats him after knocking him over the edge. He is then reunited with Meryl or Otacon, depending on the player's actions. They escape through an underground tunnel, while being chased by Liquid, in a jeep. After the two vehicles crash at the tunnel entrance, Liquid emerges and pulls a gun on Snake but suddenly dies from the FoxDie virus. Colonel Campbell, briefly ousted from command of the mission, calls off a nuclear airstrike intended to obliterate the evidence of the day's events and officially declares Snake killed in action to stop the US government's search for him in the future.
There are two possible endings, depending on the player's actions during the torture sequence. If the player gives in to the torture, Snake discovers after defeating Liquid that Meryl has died and escapes with Otacon. If the player does not give in to the torture, Meryl survives and escapes with Snake while Otacon volunteers to stay behind and sacrifice himself to help Snake and Meryl get out, not knowing that the nuclear strike intended to hit the disposal facility would never come (Meryl surviving is the canon ending).
After the end credits the player finds out Snake is actually genetically inferior to Liquid and has an indeterminate amount of time left before FoxDie kills him. Ocelot is revealed to be a double agent for the President of the United States. His intention was to obtain Baker's disk containing Metal Gear's specifications and deliver it to the President, and kill whoever knew of his true motives, the reason for his "accidental" killing of the DARPA Chief.
Sons of Liberty opens on the George Washington Bridge in New York City, in 2007, two years after the Shadow Moses incident, the events of the original Metal Gear Solid. Solid Snake and Otacon, now members of the non-governmental organization Philanthropy, are investigating the development of a new Metal Gear consistently described as being amphibious and having been designed as a counter-Metal Gear unit which have been built since Metal Gear REX's design was leaked. Shortly after Snake's arrival on the disguised oil tanker U.S.S. Discovery, a group of Russian ex-military terrorists under the command of Russian nationalist Sergei Gurlukovich attack the ship. After sneaking up to the bridge, Snake encounters Olga, Sergei's daughter, who has refused to leave the tanker despite being pregnant.
After he successfully tranquilizes her in combat, Snake sneaks down to the hold in order to record pictures of the new Metal Gear, RAY. Matters rapidly escalate as Revolver Ocelot betrays and murders Sergei Gurlukovich. It is revealed that Ocelot has received a new arm after Metal Gear Solid, that of the late Liquid Snake, which causes a change in Revolver Ocelot's demeanor and behavior, with Liquid somehow 'possessing' him. Under Liquid's control he sinks the tanker, and escapes with RAY before regaining command of his body.
The player finds themself in control of Raiden, supposedly operating under a reformed FOXHOUND two years after the Tanker Chapter on April 29, 2009. Initially referred to as "Snake", Raiden has orders to rescue hostages, including the US president, from the terrorist group Sons of Liberty, backed up by the rogue anti-terror training unit, Dead Cell, who are also threatening to destroy the Big Shell clean-up facility they have seized. Raiden infiltrates the Shell via sea while SEAL Team 10 enters by air. He joins forces with SEAL Lieutenant Junior Grade Iroquois Pliskin and bomb specialist Peter Stillman to disable explosives planted on the Shell by Stillman's former pupil, Fatman, now a terrorist. While Raiden successfully eliminates Fatman, Stillman is killed as a result of one of Fatman's traps. The SEAL team manages to rescue the President, but before they are able to extract him, all of the SEALS except for Pliskin are killed by Dead Cell members Vamp and Fortune.
With the assistance of a mysterious cyborg ninja calling itself Mr. X, Raiden locates the president, and discovers that the Big Shell is actually a disguise built right on top of a new Metal Gear. Known as Arsenal Gear, it houses a powerful AI supercomputer, "GW", capable of controlling information transmitted digitally. The president also claims the democratic process is a sham, and the true rulers of the United States are an organization known as the Patriots. Revolver Ocelot kills him soon after, and Raiden proceeds to his final objective: disabling Arsenal Gear and thus halting a nuclear strike. Pliskin, having revealed himself as Solid Snake, and Emma Emmerich, an Arsenal Gear engineer, assist Raiden in attempting to destroy the "GW" AI by uploading a virus. On the way to the computer room, Vamp attacks Emma. The virus is still installed, but aborts partway through; Emma dies due to a fatal knife wound from Vamp. Snake and Raiden are left with no choice but to disable Arsenal physically. As Snake's partner Otacon escapes with the surviving hostages by helicopter, Mr. X returns, revealing itself to be Olga Gurlukovich, and knocks Raiden unconscious. The Big Shell has been destroyed.
Awakening in an Arsenal torture chamber hours later, Raiden is probed by Solidus Snake, the true terrorist leader. Solidus reveals that he once adopted Raiden, a former child soldier, as his son during the Liberian civil war and that Raiden is now a Patriot agent. Olga, working as a Patriot double-agent within the Sons of Liberty, helps Raiden escape, and he locates Snake within Arsenal Gear. As they fight through the mammoth vessel, Raiden's commanding officer begins to act extremely erratically, often speaking complete nonsense. Some of his nonsensical speech is derived from commands given in previous Metal Gear and Metal Gear Solid games. It becomes apparent that the "Colonel" that Raiden has been taking orders from is actually a creation of the GW super-computer, pieced together from information about Colonel Roy Campbell coupled with Raiden's own expectations in order to manipulate him. The erratic behavior of the simulation is the result of the virus uploaded earlier beginning to damage GW's systems.
With Snake holding off a vengeful Fortune, Raiden is forced into battle with the 25 Metal Gear RAY units guarding Arsenal Gear. Olga intervenes to protect him, but is restrained by one of Solidus' robotic tentacles. Olga explains that two years ago, right after giving birth to her child, the Patriots took her away and have been holding her child hostage ever since. Olga continues to explain that the Patriots blackmailed her, ordering her to become a double-agent and make the S3 plan a success or her child would be killed. Then, Solidus shoots Olga and throws her corpse out of the way. The RAY units begin to malfunction, attacking each other and Solidus as the virus tears through the GW AI's program.[63] Arsenal begins an emergency ascent, and Snake, restrained by Fortune, Solidus, and Raiden are carried to the roof of the fortress as it surfaces. To Solidus' increasing rage, Ocelot reveals that he too is a Patriot agent, the entire episode was a carefully coordinated attempt to reenact the events of the Shadow Moses incident; what Ocelot describes as the 'S3 Plan', or Solid Snake Simulation, designed to create super-soldiers in the image of Solid Snake.[66] He kills Fortune and boards the prototype Metal Gear RAY stolen from the tanker two years previously, and attempts to finish off the survivors of the exercise. However, Liquid possesses him, and announces his plan to hunt down the Patriots based on his host's knowledge. Setting Arsenal on a collision-course with New York, Liquid launches RAY into the ocean, followed by Snake.
Arsenal comes to a halt in downtown New York, launching Raiden and Solidus onto the roof of Federal Hall. Solidus reveals to Raiden his reasons for trying to steal Arsenal: a nuclear electro-magnetic pulse would take down Manhattan's digital infrastructure and allow Solidus to lead it as a republic against the Patriots, a nation of "Sons of Liberty". Likewise the Patriots, via another AI, contact Raiden to reveal the truth of their actions, the AIs being programmed to becoming "digital censors", removing trite and needless information from the electronic world in what they call "Selection for Societal Sanity", or "S3 Plan". The information fed to Ocelot was another part of this plan. However, with such a control over the flow of digital information, they could as easily be manipulating perceived history for the Patriot's needs. Believing the only option available is to track down the Patriots using the information in Raiden's neural implants, Solidus offers his son one final duel.
Raiden defeats Solidus, and as crowds descend upon the wreckage of Arsenal Gear, Snake and Raiden meet one last time, where his mentor informs him that only he can choose what to believe in, and that he must pass on what he believes to be true. Having planted a tracking device on Liquid-Ocelot's Metal Gear, he and Otacon plan to follow him, and to hunt down the Patriots, whose details were hidden in the GW computer virus disc. As Snake disappears into the crowd, Raiden is finally reunited with Rose, on April 30, 2009?the 220th anniversary of George Washington's inauguration as President of the United States, and the anniversary of Rose and Raiden's first meeting.
In a brief epilogue, Otacon and Snake discuss the decoding of the virus disc, which contains the personal data on all twelve members of the Wisemen's Committee (the Patriots' high council). It is revealed on this disc that one of the members of the committee was a major sponsor of Philanthropy. Another shocking revelation found on the disc indicates that not only are all twelve members of the Wisemen's Committee dead, but have been dead for approximately 100 years.
Metal Gear Solid 4 is set five years after the Big Shell incident, in 2014 [17]. The world economy relies on continuous war, fought by PMCs, which outnumber government military forces. PMC soldiers are outfitted with nanomachines to enhance their abilities and control the battlefield. The control network created through these nanomachines is called Sons of the Patriots (SOP), and Liquid Ocelot is preparing to hijack the system. Snake accepts a request from Roy Campbell to terminate Liquid, with Otacon and Sunny providing mission support from the Nomad aircraft. Seeking information on Liquid's whereabouts, Snake infiltrates a Middle Eastern urban battlefield, and heads for a rendezvous point with U.S. Army informants. On his way, he encounters Drebin 893, a gun launderer who injects Snake with nanomachines that enable weapon sales. At the meeting point, Snake finds the US Army informants, the Rat Patrol 01 unit, lead by Meryl Silverburgh. The group is ambushed by Liquid's personal troops, the FROGs, and after the encounter, Snake heads towards Liquid's camp alone. En route, Snake witnesses four cyborgs wreak havoc on a group of armed militia men. He finally arrives at the camp, where Liquid activates the test phase of his SOP destabilizing system, reducing PMC soldiers, Rat Patrol and Snake to a faltering state. Snake catches a glimpse of Naomi Hunter, who had injected him with FOXDIE in MGS, before she and Liquid escape. Johnny Sasaki, curiously unaffected by SOP's effect, transfers Snake to safety. Via an encoded message, Naomi explains she is being forced to do research for Liquid in South America and asks for Snake's help. Snake enters the South American locale, and witnesses one of the cyborgs and Vamp turning the local rebels against him. He yet again meets Drebin, who reveals the true identity of the cyborgs: the Beauty and the Beast Corps, four female soldiers suffering from PTSD with orders to kill Snake. He also explains that SOP is currently controlled by the Patriots, a network of AI cores.
Snake reaches Naomi who explains that Liquid plans to use Big Boss' biometric data to access the Patriot's core AI and take control of SOP. Her tests indicate Snake's rapid aging is genetic, and that the FOXDIE virus will cost him his life within six months. Before that, however, Snake will start spreading a deadly mutated version of FOXDIE, effectively becoming a biological weapon. Naomi is kidnapped by FROGs, leaving Snake to battle Laughing Octopus. Snake later tracks Naomi down and they make their escape with the help of Drebin. When they end up surrounded by Gekko, Raiden, now a cyborg himself, appears to assist them and, at great bodily harm, stall Vamp, ensuring their escape.
Safely aboard the Nomad, the team decides to get medical treatment for Raiden in Eastern Europe. Naomi builds a friendship with Sunny and shares intimate moments with Otacon. She explains that an Eastern European resistance group possess the remains of Big Boss. Snake trails a resistance member to their leader, Big Mama, who is revealed to be EVA and surrogate mother to Snake though the Les Enfants Terribles project. True to Big Mama's prediction, the Raven Sword PMC attacks the vehicles transporting Big Boss' remains. Snake and Big Mama's motorcycle escort ends in a crash, forcing Snake to battle Raging Raven. He subsequently helps Big Mama escape to the riverside, where Big Boss's remains were really kept, and is confronted by Liquid. Unfazed by the military forces ordering him to surrender, Liquid destabilizes the SOP system once again, and easily claims victory in the ensuing firefight. He throws Big Boss's body to the flames, where Big Mama follows to save it. Snake's fruitless attempts to save Big Mama leave him a burn scar. Liquid escapes with Naomi, but the Metal Gear Mark II makes it onto their gunboat. Before it's destroyed, Mk. II sends a transmission revealing Liquid's plan. He intends to destroy the Patriots' core AI with a nuclear strike using Metal Gear Rex's railgun, then substitute it with his own core, and gain control. To this end, he needs a non ID-tagged warhead from the cache left in the Shadow Moses facility.
Snake returns to Shadow Moses Island (the setting of the original Metal Gear Solid), makes his way though the complex and defeats Crying Wolf and her FROGs outfit. When he reaches Rex's hangar, he finds the railgun has been removed and Vamp waiting for him, with Naomi at his side. Snake suppresses Vamp's nanomachines and holds off suicide Gekko while Raiden fights and kills Vamp. Naomi, revealing she's riddled with cancer and tormented by her mistakes, disables the nanomachines that kept her alive. Snake and Raiden use Rex to head out of the collapsing hangar, but Raiden ends up pinned under its rubble. Snake, now operating his previous nemesis, Rex, is left to duel with Metal Gear Ray, piloted by Liquid. After both Metal Gears are destroyed, Liquid reveals Outer Haven, a submersible warship ready to fulfill his launch plan. Liquid uses this weapon as a ram to kill Snake, but Raiden, who cut off his arm to free himself, stalls him. Eventually, cannon fire from the USS Missouri forces Outer Haven to retreat.
Aboard the Missouri, Mei Ling, now a U.S. Navy Captain, orders to intercept Outer Haven. Snake, Meryl and Johnny agree to catapult onto it and avert Liquid's plans by implanting a virus in Liquid's AI core. The catapult landing leaves Snake alone, and he sneaks into the control room, where he confronts and defeats Screaming Mantis, who had Meryl under her control. FROGs storm in, and Meryl decides to hold them back while Snake proceeds. Johnny arrives to Meryl's assist, and confides he isn't influenced by SOP due to him lacking nanomachines. Meryl and Johnny's romance heats up in sync with the battle, culminating in the two exchanging marriage proposals. On his way to the core, Snake is aided by Raiden. The last part of the way, filled with lethal microwave emitters, Snake traverses on his own. Half dead, he finally arrives at the core, where the Metal Gear Mark III uploads the virus. Programmed by Naomi and Sunny, FOXALIVE destroys all the AI cores, disables the SOP system and brings the war economy to a grinding halt. It effectively counteracts the Patriots' upcoming civilian control scheme while preserving the energy and resource networks essential to modern society.
Snake, having passed out in the core, awakes atop Outer Haven's sail where Liquid Ocelot asserts he is ready to gain control. As Revolver Ocelot, he had allowed the will of Liquid Snake to be implanted onto him, to promote their common agenda of destroying the Patriots. Snake and Liquid have their final showdown from which Snake emerges triumphant.
Meryl and Johnny's wedding is underway, after Meryl accepts Roy Campbell as her father. The wedding ceremony concludes with a kiss and the celebration begins. Drebin reveals that both he and Rat Patrol were pawns in the Patriots' schemes, but are now free. Raiden, hospitalized after restorative surgery, receives a visit from Rose, who introduces him to their son. The three realize they are a family. Snake stands before the grave of Big Boss, ready to take his own life to avert becoming a biological weapon. Snake sticks this pistol in his mouth and the camera turns away. A gunshot is then heard. Yet Snake doesn't end his life. Big Boss, very much alive, appears and explains that the body burned in Eastern Europe was of his perfect clone, Solidus Snake and reveals that the Patriots were originally an interpretation of The Boss' will, founded by Major Zero, EVA, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Big Boss himself. With increasing power, two rival factions arose within the Patriots' ranks, Zero's who stood for complete control, and Big Boss's, who dreamed of a soldier's world. Eva and Ocelot joined Big Boss in his cause. Over the years, Zero let the newly established AI network assume more and more control, eventually leading to depend on the war economy, a vision far from The Boss' original will. Big Boss puts an end to the last remnant of this false vision by shutting down Zero's life support unit.
Big Boss informs Snake that Drebin's injection included a new strain of FOXDIE, programmed by the Patriot AIs to kill the rival Patriot faction and eradicate the old versions of FOXDIE. Thus, Snake has no risk of becoming a biological weapon, at least before his own death. Big Boss succumbs to FOXDIE, but not before he makes amends with Snake.
When all is settled, Snake decides to live out his life peacefully, in the company of Otacon and Sunny, and vows to see this new age off.
Well...that's the best I could do.
