is a 2008 action-adventure stealth game developed by Kojima Productions and published by Konami for the PlayStation 3. Directed, written, and designed by series creator Hideo Kojima, it is the sixth mainline Metal Gear game and a narrative sequel to Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001). Set five years after the events of Sons of Liberty, the story centers around a rapidly aging Solid Snake, now known as Old Snake, as he goes on one last mission to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, the body of Revolver Ocelot inhabited by Liquid Snake, before he takes control of the Sons of the Patriots, an A.I. system that controls the activities of PMCs worldwide.

Guns of the Patriots received universal acclaim, with praise for its gameplay, graphics, characters, and emotional weight, while criticism centered on its plot as convoluted and its emphasis on cutscenes. The game garnered Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications. It is one of the most significant titles for the seventh generation of video game consoles, as its release caused a boost in sales of the PlayStation 3, and had sold six million copies worldwide by 2014. The next mainine game, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, was released in 2010, and a spin-off game set four year after Guns of the Patriots, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, was released in 2013. In August 2026, the game was released for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S as part of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2.

Gameplay

In Guns of the Patriots, players assume the role of an aged Solid Snake (colloquially referred to as Old Snake), using stealth, close-quarters combat, and traditional Metal Gear combat. The overhead third-person view camera of earlier games has been replaced by a streamlined view and over-the-shoulder camera for aiming a weapon, with an optional first-person view like a first-person shooter at the toggle of a button.

A further addition to gameplay mechanics is the Psyche Meter. Psyche is decreased by non-lethal attacks and is influenced by battlefield psychology. Stressors (including extreme temperatures, foul smells, and being hunted by the enemy) increase Snake's stress gauge, eventually depleting his Psyche. Adverse effects include difficulty in aiming, more frequent back pain and the possibility of Snake passing out upon receiving damage. If Snake kills too many enemies in a short amount of time, he will have a vision of Liquid and vomit, greatly reducing his Psyche. Among the available methods of restoring Psyche are eating, drinking, smoking, and reading an adult magazine.

Snake has a few gadgets to aid him in battle. The OctoCamo suit mimics the appearance and texture of any surface in a similar fashion to an octopus, decreasing the probability of Snake being noticed. Additionally, FaceCamo is made available to players after they defeat Laughing Octopus. FaceCamo can be worn by Solid Snake on his face and it can be set to either work in tandem with the Octocamo or instead mimic the face of other in-game characters. To get access to these unique FaceCamos, players have to complete certain in-game requirements first. When the FaceCamo is worn with OctoCamo, under ideal conditions, Snake's stealth quotient can reach 100%. The Solid Eye device highlights items and enemies and can operate in a night vision and a binocular mode. It also offers a baseline map, which indicates the location of nearby units. The latter function is also performed by the Threat Ring, a visualization of Snake's senses that deforms based on nearby unit proximity and relays them to the player.

Metal Gear Mk.II (later replaced with Mk.III), is a small support robot that always tags along with Snake, offers codec functionality and a means to the in-game menu for a large part of Snake's mission. It can be remotely controlled to stun enemies, provide reconnaissance and interact with the environment. Its design is based on the namesake robot from Snatcher, a game designed by Hideo Kojima. It is also controlled during the beginning of each separate "Act", although the player is not able to utilize its capabilities during this time.

Whenever the Drebin menu is available, weapons, attachments, and ammunition can be purchased via Drebin Points (DPs), awarded for on-site procurement of weapons already in the inventory and by initiating specific scripted events or destroying Unmanned Vehicles. The conversion rate between weapons and DPs depends on current battlefield conditions, with more-intense fighting yielding higher prices. Drebin would also purchase items from the player at a discounted price, especially at certain points in the story and certain days in real life. The game may also be finished without killing anyone, using non-lethal weapons.

The Virtual Range, similar to the Virtual Reality training of previous titles, functions as a test facility for weapon performance and gameplay controls.

Synopsis

Setting

Guns of the Patriots is set within an alternate history timeline in which the Cold War continued into the 1990s, ending before the turn of the century. The events themselves take place in 2014, and form the final chapter in the storyline covering the character of Solid Snake, providing conclusions to the events that led up to Guns of the Patriots.

The world's economy relies on continuous civil wars fought by private military companies (PMCs), which outnumber government military forces. Soldiers are equipped with nanomachines that monitor and enhance their performance on the battlefield, controlled by a vast network known as the Sons of the Patriots (SOP) system. Liquid Ocelot re-emerges from hiding to launch an insurrection against the Patriots, a secret cabal that manipulates global affairs from the shadows.

In the meantime, Solid Snake is experiencing accelerated aging and has little time left to live. He is living on board the airplane Nomad with Dr. Hal Emmerich, nicknamed Otacon, and Olga Gurlukovich's daughter, Sunny, a child prodigy in computer programming. Since the aftermath of the Big Shell incident, Raiden has drifted away from Rose, who had apparently suffered a miscarriage with their child and gone to live with Snake's former commander, Colonel Roy Campbell, and has become a cyborg ninja fighting against the Patriots. Meryl Silverburgh commands a PMC inspection unit in the U.S. military, which includes Johnny Sasaki.

Plot Five years after the Big Shell Incident, Snake is told by Otacon that he has only a year to live due to Werner syndrome-like symptoms. Snake meets Campbell, now working with the United Nations Security Council, who tells him that Revolver Ocelot, missing since the Big Shell Incident, possessed by the will of Liquid Snake, now under the guise of 'Liquid Ocelot', was located in the Middle East, and Snake is tasked to assassinate him. In a Middle-Eastern war zone occupied by one of Liquid's PMCs, Snake meets Drebin, an arms dealer who injects him with nanomachines to use the latest weaponry, and Meryl, now leader of Rat Patrol Team 01 who keeps a resentment against Campbell for being her biological father as well as his marriage to the much-younger Rose. Snake reaches Liquid, but the latter transmits a signal that incapacitates those nearby with nanomachines. He spots Dr. Naomi Hunter, who assists him against the signal and then departs with Liquid.

After waking up a day later in the Nomad, Snake and Otacon receive a video from Naomi, who reveals that she is in South America, kept as prisoner by Liquid to do research. In Colombia, Snake locates Naomi who explains that his accelerated aging is due to intentional genetic mutations as a human clone of Big Boss, and that the FOXDIE virus she infected him with will also mutate within months, spreading to the general populace and causing a deadly pandemic. She also explains that Liquid plans to use the biometrics of Big Boss to access and take command of the Patriots' firearms control system. Liquid's PMC soldiers kidnap Naomi, but Snake rescues her, assisted by Drebin and Raiden, and they escape, though Raiden is injured by Vamp.

Snake finds an Eastern European resistance group in Prague led by Big Mama (revealed as EVA, Snake and Liquid's surrogate mother). EVA reveals that after Operation Snake Eater, Major Zero used the Philosophers' Legacy to form the Patriots—composed of Zero, EVA, Ocelot, Sigint, Para-Medic, and Big Boss—to fulfill The Boss’s will. Zero used Big Boss as an icon but, as Big Boss resented this, Zero initiated the Les Enfants Terrible project with Para-Medic and EVA to clone replacements (Snake and Liquid). Big Boss left to oppose Zero, forming Outer Heaven, starting a secret war over The Boss's will. Big Boss failed to stage a coup with FOXHOUND, defeated by Snake in Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land. Zero then put him in a coma and secured the Patriots' control via the AIs: GW, TJ, AL, TR, and JD. She reveals to Snake that she is in possession of Big Boss's body, which they move by boat while Liquid's PMC soldiers attack decoys.

Liquid captures the body and obtains the biometrics, intending to infiltrate the Patriots' system by using the repaired artificial intelligence (AI) core, GW, as a trojan. U.S. soldiers arrive to arrest Liquid, but he eliminates them after disabling their firearms. Big Boss's body is incinerated, and Snake saves EVA from the fire when she tries to save it, but both are badly injured in the process. Naomi leaves with Liquid, but Otacon tracks them. EVA seemingly dies from her injuries.

Snake and Otacon learn that Liquid aims to destroy the Patriots' master AI with a nuclear strike, allowing GW to take control. A non-ID-tagged warhead is required from Metal Gear REX at Shadow Moses in Alaska. There, Snake is ambushed by Vamp, accompanied by Naomi, but he is killed when his self-healing nanomachines are disabled via injection. Naomi reveals that she has terminal cancer and, overcome with guilt for her mistakes, disables the nanomachines keeping her alive and dies. Snake and Raiden use REX to escape and fend off Liquid piloting a Metal Gear RAY. Liquid reveals Outer Haven, a modified Arsenal Gear. Raiden saves Snake from being crushed before the USS Missouri, captained by Mei Ling, arrives and forces Haven to retreat.

Snake, Meryl, and Johnny board Haven when it surfaces in order to launch the nuke. At the core, Snake installs a computer virus coded by Naomi and Sunny into Liquid's trojan, which destroys both the core AI as well as the entire Patriot network controlling global affairs, leaving the necessities for civilization to survive. Atop Haven, Liquid explains to Snake that he allowed the virus's installation in order to destroy the Patriots. The two fight, with Snake victorious and Liquid becoming Ocelot again before dying. Meryl reconciles with Campbell and marries Johnny. Raiden reunites with Rose after learning that their son, John, was not miscarried and her marriage to Campbell was a ruse to protect them from the Patriots. Snake visits the grave of The Boss at Arlington National Cemetery and, feeling that he has no further purpose and must prevent an epidemic from his FOXDIE, attempts suicide, but hesitates at the last moment.