A major character will be offed in dramatic circumstances

"I'm always the survivor," laments Otacon after his sister is killed by Vamp in MGS2. Not for much longer. We're of the opinion that Otacon is heading for a heroic (or, contrastingly, humiliating) end during MGS4.

Pick your prediction - killed by Vamp, for plot symmetry; shot by Ocelot to give Snake further motivation; or even infected with FoxDie (or a variant) by Naomi Hunter for out-of-left-field shocks. At least it'll bring an end to his weepy, whiny theories and mega-scientific discussions about genes.

We'll see some 'interesting' ways of reducing Snake's stress levels

Snake's already got the lad's mags that we've mentioned before - which you can leaf through to 'calm' him down, ironically. But Kojima will clearly have some risque alternatives. For one, don't bet against being able to take a dump or widdle up against a wall of sandbags in order to chill the old man out.

Or how about some saucy rendezvous? Meryl's back in the picture, EVA's prowling around like a prize MILF, and then there's Naomi Hunter (James Bond style honey trap?) or the set-to-return Rosemary (stepping in on Raiden's territory, there) or Mei Ling. The possibilities are endlessly entertaining.

We'll finally forgive Raiden for everything. Including being a bit fey

As we've already touched on, you'll once again play as Raiden in MGS4 (well, we believe you will). But not only will his new, super-powered self go a long way to eradicating any lingering memories of Raiden's irksomely fey outing in MGS2, he'll also cap it all off with a hero's death - by sacrificing himself to kill Vamp and so help bring Snake back to life.