Metal Gear Solid 4 walkthrough: complete guide and tips for every Act and Boss Battle

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Guide Solid Snake through Kojima's epic journey with our complete walkthrough of every mission and boss fight

Act Three: Third Sun

Top Tips

1. When using the tranq gun, aim for the head, neck or spine. The sedative will work faster and knock your enemy out before he gets a chance to raise the alert.

2. Auto-aim not flicking to your desired target fast enough? Release [L1] briefly and press and hold again. Assuming you’re facing the enemy you want to shoot, the auto-aim should now get the message.

3. Watch out when the resistance member goes up the steps and enters Liberty Park. He looks like he’ll speed to the distant exit, but actually stops out of sight to have a slash behind some bushes.

4. At one point your mark disappears through an archway only for a PMC merc to walk out seconds later. Keep back and look closely. You’ll notice the merc is wearing a bicycle helmet and not a military helmet. It’s actually your resistance member in disguise.

General Strategy

MGS4’s third act is a brilliant change of pace that sees Snake donning a trench coat and tailing a resistance member through the mist-laden streets of Prague during a curfew. By following the mark you’re trying to discover the location of Matka Plutku, or Big Mama, but with soldiers from the Raven Sword PMC enforcing the curfew, your work is cut out for you.

Not only do you need to locate your mark initially, using a Radio Signal Interceptor, but once you do you need to follow him without making him suspicious and clear his path ahead of any PMC roadblocks or patrols. Locating your mark is easy enough, but once he sets off, keep back. He often checks behind him and will occasionally double back or stop and listen. Move only when you’re sure he’s going on ahead. You usually get a few minutes to deal with the PMC patrols before they spot your mark, so keep your silenced tranq gun (the Mk.2) armed and ready. You should be able to knock them out in time.

This will spook your mark, but not enough to send him scurrying away so keep your nerve and stay hidden while he makes sure the coast is clear. Towards the end of the mission you’ll hear the sound of a patrolling vehicle approaching. Hiding in the shadows is okay, but you’re close enough to the resistance HQ by this point to get rid of your disguise, don the OctoCamo suit and blend in with the cobbles. This way, you won’t risk losing the resistance member and the patrol will just drive on by, oblivious.

After you’ve met up with Big Mama and had a gutful of exposition, it’s time for a brilliant on-rails level that sees you riding shotgun with Big Mama on her Triumph T100 Bonneville, shooting at PMC patrols, missile spewing flying drones and the second member of The Beauty and the Beast Unit, Raging Raven. As ever when things get very busy in MGS4, flicking on auto-aim is a godsend here. Complete this breakneck run through Prague in one piece and you’re all set to take on Raging Raven.

Boss – Raging Raven

Equip – MK.2 Tranquilizer pistol, M4 Custom, P90, RPG-7, Javelin
Special item prize – MGL-140 Rapidfire grenade launcher, Raging Beauty facemask

Where the boss battle against Laughing Octopus is all about tension-soused cat and mouse tactics, Raging Raven’s big fight is full-on shock and awe. Taking place in and around a substantial stone tower in MGS4’s mist-draped interpretation of Prague, you must tackle not only the missile firing winged harridan herself, but also squadrons of automated attack drones circling the skies with her.

With Raven pounding chunks of masonry out of the tower, you have to navigate between an enclosed ground floor and two balconies circling the structure, picking off the drones until Raven is enraged enough to draw near and give you a good shot with your heaviest weapons. This process can be a bit of a slog, so be sure to keep moving (to avoid becoming a sitting duck for your opponents’ crippling mini-missiles) and buy in a heap of ammo for your best SMG, rifle, and grenade launcher/missile launcher.

It’s not a bad idea to equip auto aim while tackling the drones. This way you can stick with rifles and keep your heavy weapons for Raging Raven herself. As soon as she gets close, swap to either Javelin or RPG-7 and try and get off at least two shots before she retreats. The Javelin will home in on Raging Raven so is good over distance, but if she’s getting close, the RPG-7 has a quicker reload so it’s your best bet. Wear her down and – as with all the members of the Beauty and the Beast unit – eventually you get the opportunity to offer the beautiful woman beneath the armoured exoskeleton release or redemption. Use your Mk.2 tranq gun to send her into a dreamless sleep and you earn her kickass MGL-140 grenade launcher as your reward.

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Iain Wilson
Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 1,000 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.