The mission briefing this time features lots of hot Mei Ling action, so that's a plus. The plan is for Snake and Co to launch onto Outer Haven. Shortly thereafter, we learn that Raiden is in fact still alive, and we meet up with Drebin again who is selling his wares for super cheap. After a series of cutscenes Snake is catapulted into the last area of the game - and boy is it short.

Snake starts out in a large room already in Caution mode. The room is full of FROGs and Gekkos waiting to jump in at the first sign of trouble. I was able to sneak all the way over to the area's exit, but that's when I got caught. To get into the next area you have to open a door and it takes a little while. So since I was constantly getting interrupted by gunshots and Gekkos kicking me, I had to mow down a dozen people before I could proceed.

In the next area is the last real boss fight of the game sadly, and as you might imagine it's against the last B&B member Screaming Mantis. This was a pretty funny encounter since it had many elements and references to the Psycho Mantis battle. The battle itself was fairly easy, though it's a puzzle like the Vamp fight. Oddly the solution remains the same - use the syringe. Though this time you use it on Snake so she can't control you.

Staying true to the B&B formula, nothing changed this time either. Not like I was expecting it too at this point. Still it's really a bummer when you consider the fact that this is the last Metal Gear Boss Battle ever - supposedly. Anyway, after the fight things start looking grim as Meryl stays behind to cover Snake while he makes his way to the control room. She gets overwhelmed by FROGs and runs out of ammo - until Johnny shows up to save the day.

We then learn that this Johnny is in fact the same one we've seen in Metal Gear Solids 1 and 2, and he proposes to marry Meryl. What follows is a pretty funny action scene with the two both professing their love and discussing wedding plans. Yeah, it's a little weird. Meanwhile Snake continues on towards the core until he finds himself in a room overcome by the seizures and faced against several knife wielding FROGs.

At this point the now no armed Raiden jumps into the room with sword in mouth, and apparently lightning powers as he strikes down a couple of the FROGs. Once again Snake is able to continue thanks to the help of Raiden who holds the FROGs at bay. What follows is a pretty dramatic interactive scene where you slowly move Snake through the intense microwaved hall. All the while we see a split screen of what's going on with Meryl, Raiden, and Mei Ling and Otacon.

Snake finally reaches the core, his Octocamo suit torn to shreds, and the Solid Eye broken. Otacon controlling the MK III starts to upload the virus into GW. However Snake starts to get overwhelmed by dozens of Dwarf Gekkos, Johnny and Meryl are shot to hell and nearly out of ammo again, and Raiden can't even wield his sword anymore. All hope is lost until suddenly the virus kicks in and knocks GW the fuck out.

A video left behind by Naomi plays as she reveals her true intentions. The virus they inserted into GW not only knocked GW out, but the rest of the Patriot AIs as well. With this the entire system comes crashing down, and the world is no longer under the control of the Patriots. The day seems won, and Snake seems like he's about to kick the bucket...

Luckily our hero doesn't die just yet, he wakes up to find himself on top of Outer Haven - along with a half naked Liquid Ocelot. Liquid reveals that everything had gone according to plan, even though Snake destroyed GW. However it's not over yet, as Liquid wants one final showdown with Snake. Classic Fist only style. The following is the final "boss battle" of the game, as retro Metal Gear Solid music and their respective life bars set the tone for a brutal showdown between the two.

After a long battle, Snake finally comes out on top, and Liquid - or is it Ocelot? passes on. Afterwards we start to see the final scenes of the game. First we see Meryl in her wedding dress, after an awkward exchange with her Father - the two make their peace and Cambell walks Meryl down the "aisle" of the Nomad and down to her former squad mates and new husband Johnny.

Next up we find Raiden laying in a hospital bed. He's somehow obtained new arms, and his mouth isn't fucked up anymore. Rose enters the room with their son John in tow. After some awkwardness between the two, they decide to be a family again. We then cut to Snake who is back at that graveyard, after a few moments Snake prepares himself for his final task, and he puts the barrel of his pistol in his mouth - the camera cuts away at the gunshot.

Back to Meryl and crew. Otacon and Debrin have a chat, and Debrin reveals that he was working for the Patriots all along. The Patriots had not only sent Debrin, but Meryl's unit to help Snake along the way. However they weren't able to predict the outcome which would be the virus that destroyed them. Around this time Sunny ask where Snake is, and Otacon tells her that Snake has gone on a journey to cure his illness.

Finally the credits start to roll, and at this point I'm pretty upset with the ending. I'm thinking to myself "You can throw as many happy endings as you want at me, it doesn't change the fact that Snake dies though". The credits roll through the various voice actors in the game until finally we get to.... Big Boss. Wait what? When did Big Boss show up in living breathing form in this game?

Cut back to the graveyard, Snake is on his hands and knees sweating, his gun to the side of him. The camera pans over to none other than Big Boss who is here to drop some revelations on your ass. Turns out that Liquid Ocelot was just Ocelot all along, and the body Ocelot burned that was supposedly Big Boss was none other than his perfect clone - Solidus. While Ocelot did get Liquid's arm transplanted onto him, it didn't posses him or anything like that. Ocelot went under hypnosis so that he would be Liquid's perfect doppelganger.

It's then revealed that Ocelot, EVA, and Naomi intended to bring down Zero and The Patriots AI once and for all. Thus everything was set into motion. Since the other founding members of the Patriots had died - it was just Zero and Big Boss now. Luckily Big Boss brought a crippled and aged Zero along with him to meet up with Snake. At this point Big Boss pulls the plug on Zero's life support and finally puts an end to his iron grip over the world.

Before we can finish things though, it seems like Big Boss is about to die again. It occures to him that the FOXDIE that was in Snake managed to kill EVA and Ocelot, and now it would claim Big Boss as well. Now this is where things get a little foggy, I'm still unsure what this means for Snake. Is the FOXDIE going to kill him or not? Will it even have a chance to? It's become painfully apparent that Snake is going to die of old age at this rate, so is FOXDIE done with now? I'm not entirely sure.

The game ends with Snake leading Big Boss over to The Boss's grave, and Big Boss dying. Afterwards Snake realizes that he has one last thing to do, and it's not suicide this time. Now he needs to live his life for as long as he can, to see the new world, this new age without the control of the Patriots. And Otacon is going to be right there with him. The End.

Wow... that's a lot to take in. I think I'll need some time to reflect on the game in it's entirety, but I thought the ending to be quite a bit better than I thought it would be. Sure Snake is still old, and he's still going to die at some point. But he doesn't have to die alone now, he doesn't have to kill himself. He gets to see what he, and so many others have fought so hard for. And I consider that a good ending.

I ended up getting three emblems, or ranks for beating the game. They are the Inchworm, Hyena, and Scorpion. There are a total of 40 emblems though, and there is no way in hell that I'm getting them all. Big Boss, Fox Hound, and Fox are all way out of my league. But hopefully I can snag the Bandana and Stealth Camo.

So the last act.... while not much in terms of gameplay - really did a nice job of wrapping up the series. Like I said, I'm still not ready to determine if such a lack of gameplay is going to effect my opinion on the game in the long run or not. Plus I still have some more playthroughs and the Online mode to play. So while this may be the last of my 5 Part Metal Gear Solid 4 crazy posting spree - expect to hear more about MGS4 in the future.