31-07-2025, 11:36 AM
Oops, I sort of forgot to update this.
Act 5 - "Anybody got a smoke?"
A battered, bruised and burned Snake is still willing to crack a few bleak jokes about his impending death and volunteers himself to get cooked alive by the microwave emitters in the corridors going towards the AI they intend to destroy. Outer Haven is the most linear section of the game, comprising of one small sneaking section on the bow of the ship as Snake proceeds to the centre, alongside a couple of boss fights. Plus a few hours of cutscenes. The sneaking section is actually decent as the FROGS are actively on the search for intruders and you have a few ways to take this section on. There are vents you can crawl through below (which I genuinely never noticed until this playthrough), you can climb up high, or you can try to sneak through the main area. Much like with the end of Act 1, it's just a bit too short. Hard not to feel like this couldn't have been expanded a bit (a little bit of an MGS2 Tanker chapter-like sequel?) as it's a nice challenge on higher difficulties and felt like the type of sneaking challenge that I like in a Metal Gear game.
After this you're launched head-on into a battle against the FROGS in a circular chamber and then have to take on Screaming Mantis. It's an obvious nostalgia trip for MGS1 fans but the battle is quite different to that of Psycho Mantis, as she utilises the bodies of FROGS and Meryl to try to take down Snake. Needing to knock her dolls down to take her power away from her makes for a fairly decent battle, although then acquiring those dolls to beat her does make it a bit trivial on subsequent playthroughs.
There's one more boss battle before things finish up, the final encounter between Snake and Liquid Ocelot atop Outer Haven. Perhaps one of the most fitting final tributes to the lasting legacy of MGS1, 2 and 3, this mirrors the hand-to-hand battle on top of Metal Gear REX that Snake and Liquid fought at the end of MGS1, but with the 3 stages representing each of the above games through its changing music and Liquid's attacking style. Liquid Ocelot goes all the way from a basic punch and kicking combo (MGS1) up to utilising CQC grabs and attacks (MGS3). The final (MGS4) phase of the fight brings us back to reality, highlighting the fact that this is a struggle between two aged men whose glory days are long behind them.
Pre and post-battle, the majority of this act is made up of cutscenes, including some of the more egregious ones of the series. Snake getting cooked (not as the kids say) in the microwave corridor while we see the rest of the battle of Outer Haven taking place simultaneously is probably the one exception and is arguably one of the more affecting scenes of the series. However if that is the exception, then the norm involves things like Raiden transforming into an armless lightning conduit; Johnny going from incompetent buffoon to expert sniper and making Meryl fall head-over-heels through this newfound battle prowess; Drebin explaining why its OK that he was MGS4's deus ex machina, and more of that stupid monkey; the return of Big Boss so he can talk about nanomachines, The Boss and The Patriots for an age; and Ocelot's (very brief and rushed) reveal that he was never really Liquid and was just pretending and hypnotised himself. It's all quite sloppy, but it does provide us with that sense of events in the Metal Gear Solid series coming to a close.
Act 5 - "Anybody got a smoke?"
A battered, bruised and burned Snake is still willing to crack a few bleak jokes about his impending death and volunteers himself to get cooked alive by the microwave emitters in the corridors going towards the AI they intend to destroy. Outer Haven is the most linear section of the game, comprising of one small sneaking section on the bow of the ship as Snake proceeds to the centre, alongside a couple of boss fights. Plus a few hours of cutscenes. The sneaking section is actually decent as the FROGS are actively on the search for intruders and you have a few ways to take this section on. There are vents you can crawl through below (which I genuinely never noticed until this playthrough), you can climb up high, or you can try to sneak through the main area. Much like with the end of Act 1, it's just a bit too short. Hard not to feel like this couldn't have been expanded a bit (a little bit of an MGS2 Tanker chapter-like sequel?) as it's a nice challenge on higher difficulties and felt like the type of sneaking challenge that I like in a Metal Gear game.
After this you're launched head-on into a battle against the FROGS in a circular chamber and then have to take on Screaming Mantis. It's an obvious nostalgia trip for MGS1 fans but the battle is quite different to that of Psycho Mantis, as she utilises the bodies of FROGS and Meryl to try to take down Snake. Needing to knock her dolls down to take her power away from her makes for a fairly decent battle, although then acquiring those dolls to beat her does make it a bit trivial on subsequent playthroughs.
There's one more boss battle before things finish up, the final encounter between Snake and Liquid Ocelot atop Outer Haven. Perhaps one of the most fitting final tributes to the lasting legacy of MGS1, 2 and 3, this mirrors the hand-to-hand battle on top of Metal Gear REX that Snake and Liquid fought at the end of MGS1, but with the 3 stages representing each of the above games through its changing music and Liquid's attacking style. Liquid Ocelot goes all the way from a basic punch and kicking combo (MGS1) up to utilising CQC grabs and attacks (MGS3). The final (MGS4) phase of the fight brings us back to reality, highlighting the fact that this is a struggle between two aged men whose glory days are long behind them.
Pre and post-battle, the majority of this act is made up of cutscenes, including some of the more egregious ones of the series. Snake getting cooked (not as the kids say) in the microwave corridor while we see the rest of the battle of Outer Haven taking place simultaneously is probably the one exception and is arguably one of the more affecting scenes of the series. However if that is the exception, then the norm involves things like Raiden transforming into an armless lightning conduit; Johnny going from incompetent buffoon to expert sniper and making Meryl fall head-over-heels through this newfound battle prowess; Drebin explaining why its OK that he was MGS4's deus ex machina, and more of that stupid monkey; the return of Big Boss so he can talk about nanomachines, The Boss and The Patriots for an age; and Ocelot's (very brief and rushed) reveal that he was never really Liquid and was just pretending and hypnotised himself. It's all quite sloppy, but it does provide us with that sense of events in the Metal Gear Solid series coming to a close.
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