Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (メタルギア・ソリッド4・ガンズ・オブ・ザ・パトリオット), commonly abbreviated to MGS4, was directed by Hideo Kojima and Shuyo Murata. It was developed by Kojima Productions exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and was designed around the motto, "No Place to Hide!" Ryan Payton stated that Metal Gear Solid 4 is the final canonical Metal Gear game to feature Solid Snake as the main character. The game was released worldwide on June 12, 2008, exactly 10 years after Metal Gear Solid and 20 years after the North American release of Metal Gear.

Metal Gear Solid 4 has received widespread critical acclaim, garnering Game of the Year awards from several major gaming publications, including GameSpot, which hailed the game as technically flawless. Since its release, more than 4.33 million copies of the game have been shipped. On June 16, 2009, a little more than a year after the game's initial release, Metal Gear Solid 4 was re-released under the Greatest Hits banner.

Development
Metal Gear Solid 4 was first announced at a 2005 Sony press conference shortly before E3 2005, alongside the "No Place to Hide!" slogan. Initially, Kojima announced that he would be retiring as director of the Metal Gear series after Metal Gear Solid 3, and would leave his position open to another person for Metal Gear Solid 4, as he did after Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2. As a joke, the new director was announced as "Alan Smithee", but in R, a 400-page book bundled with Metal Gear Solid 3 's Japanese Premium Package, the director was revealed to be Shuyo Murata, co-writer of Metal Gear Solid 3 and director of Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, who has also contributed humorous easter eggs in Metal Gear: Ghost Babel and Metal Gear Solid 2.

At E3 2005, Kojima announced that he would be writing, producing, and directing the game alongisde Muratya after substantial negative fan reaction, including death threats. He also announced that his newly-created studio owned by Konami, Kojima Productions, would be developing the game. Kojima also showed a trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4 that used Metal Gear Solid 3 's game engine, showing what the game would eventually be, though he stressed that the game was still in early development. Kojima further stated that the game would take place several years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 2 and would feature an online battle mode. Kojima also announced that Meryl Silverburgh, Otacon, and Liquid Ocelot would be in the game and that Solid Snake would be the main character, as well as hinting that Raiden might make an appearance. Kojima also stated that the game was to include connectivity to Metal Gear Acid 2, though this was dropped as development progressed.

In a June 2005 issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, Kojima stated that the reason that the PS3 was chosen as the format for Metal Gear Solid 4 was that the Metal Gear series has been brought up with Sony hardware, the Sony market, and through the support of Sony, making the choice a simple one. Kojima also stated in the interview that he would not mind porting it to other hardware. In the September 2005 issue of Famitsu, the first screenshots of the game's engine was revealed, showing a much older Solid Snake. A robot named Metal Gear Mk. II was also revealed, alongside Otacon. The magazine also featured an interview with Kojima where he stated that Raiden would be returning and that his appearance would be radically different. Kojima also mentioned that Snake would be in a warzone with two groups fighting each other and that there would be a new element of "psychological warfare" featured in the game.

At the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, Metal Gear Solid 4 made its first full appearance. The full title of the game was announced to be Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, and a trailer for the game featuring in-game footage of the new game engine made specifically for the PS3 was shown. Kojima also stated again that Metal Gear Solid 4 would be the last game in the Metal Gear series. Kojima also showed a trailer titled Metal Gear Raiden: Snake Eraser that featured Raiden trying to kill Big Boss so that he can take Solid Snake's place as the main character in Metal Gear Solid 4. Afterwards, Kojima demonstrated Metal Gear Solid 4 running off an actual PS3 development kit with a DualShock 2 used as a controller, which revealed the real time graphics the game would be using. Kojima demonstrated some of the lighting and effects possible with the PS3 game engine, stating that he "always wanted to do self-shadowing, but couldn't" before the PS3. Yoji Shinkawa also appeared alongside Kojima, where they explained that a filtering effect would be used in the game that could not be done in the previous Metal Gear games. Kojima stated that "there's no sense of atmosphere [in the game], so on top of this we add a metal color and make it look like a movie on film. Using various effects, we dirty it up." Kojima also revealed "the new Metal Gear", a half-living, half-machine creation. Kojima also demonstrated that Metal Gear Mk. II was being controlled by Otacon, who was far away from the battlefield. Kojima further stated that player choice would have a role in the game as the player would be able to make soldiers into friends or enemies. Kojima also stated that the game's theme would be "SENSE"; previous themes in the series had been "GENE" (Metal Gear Solid), "MEME" (Metal Gear Solid 2), and "SCENE" (Metal Gear Solid 3).

In an interview with Japanese gaming magazine Hype Magazine in September 2005, Kojima mentioned that Snake has aged so much because he is a clone of Big Boss, resulting in him aging quicker than a normal human. Kojima also confirmed that Ocelot would be returning and that the player could expect a fight between Snake and Ocelot. He also clarified the "No Place to Hide" theme, where in Metal Gear Solid 4 Snake is in the center of a war zone where battles are common and where buildings are damaged and destroyed, leaving Snake with situations where there really is no place to hide. The phrase also has another meaning where the player may decide there is no reason to hide. Kojima explained that Snake may find himself between two groups, and that it is possible that a third and a fourth group will also engage in the battle. Snake can then choose to make an alliances with the groups to infiltrate other groups, making it so that hiding is not a requirement. Kojima clarified the "psychological warfare" he previously mentioned; he described the actions of the enemies in previous Metal Gear games to be unrealistic, as the enemies appeared to be cold killing machines. Metal Gear Solid 4 would change this in that standard soldiers are psychologically weak, and by surprising them with a noise, the player can reduce their preparedness for battle.

At Konami's E3 2006 press conference, Kojima Productions showed a new trailer for the game that demonstrated OctoCamo, a camouflage system Snake would use in the game. OctoCamo acts like an octopus, where it will change the texture of Snake's suit to match the environment. The trailer also revealed Ocelot, Meryl, Naomi Hunter, and Raiden. In the May 2005 issue of Famitsu, Kojima stated that Metal Gear Solid 4 will wrap-up the whole Metal Gear story and that "we'll clear up all mysteries in 4 and, in the end, after this, will Snake die!?" Kojima also said that "nearly all the characters from the Metal Gear Solid games will make an appearance" and that gameplay from Metal Gear Solid 3 would return in Metal Gear Solid 4. Kojima gave an example of OctoCamo, saying that if Snake is standing next to a wall worn out with holes, he too will appear to have holes. Kojima further confirmed that the game would feature online play, stating that "the online in Subsistence was just the preparation for 4."

At the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Kojima stated that Kojima Productions have done a lot of research for the development of the game. They went through military training and traveled to different parts of the world to develop the settings for Metal Gear Solid 4 and showed photos of the Middle East which closely resembled the setting for the trailers. Kojima further stated that the game would have 3D models created from real people through 3D capturing. Kojima confirmed that Harry Gregson-Williams would return to compose the game's soundtrack, and that the game's logo was made by Logan, a group of artists that has worked on recent Madonna and U2 videos. Regarding Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, which was still in development, Kojima stated that "if you change the Ops story, you have to change 4. If you change 4, it also becomes necessary to change Ops. Until Ops is finished, 4 's story can't be finalized."

In March 2007, it was announced that David Hayter, Quinton Flynn, Paul Eiding, and Christopher Randolph would be returning to reprise their roles as Solid Snake, Raiden, Roy Campbell, and Otacon, respectively. In July 2007, Kojima announced Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus and Metal Gear Online. In August 2007, Kojima announced the Beauty and the Beast Unit will be the main enemies in the game. The unit consists of four females – Laughing Octopus, Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming Mantis – who are empowered with special, unique abilities and have individual backstories which outline how they have become the beings they are. All four of the women were born out of innocence, but were transformed by the horrors of war into beasts, physically and mentally. The game would also be set across various stages, including the Middle East and South America as Solid Snake, now "Old Snake", has been asked to assassinate Liquid Ocelot. The game would also feature an upgraded CQC system first introduced in Metal Gear Solid 3.

In January 2008, Ryan Payton stated that the game was almost completed and was about to go through beta testing. On February 28, Konami announced that the game would be released on June 12, 2008. Konami also stated that Metal Gear Online would be bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4 and that it would support up to 16 players. To promote the game, Konami announced that people who pre-ordered the game would receive a DVD titled Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2 which contains a prologue recapping the franchise, a 20th anniversary retrospective, character bios, and a collection of trailers for Metal Gear Solid 4. It was also revealed that beta testing for Metal Gear Online would last for approximately 2 weeks. In March 2008, Kojima stated that the player will move between different countries in the game. However, Kojima stated that he was not entirely satisfied with the game's quality and that the 50 GB of data the Blu-ray Disc can hold was not enough for the game and that the game had to be compressed for it to fit on the Blu-ray Disc.

The game was originally to have featured scenes of female nudity, but these were removed in order to secure a lower rating. For example, the Beauty and the Beast Unit's Beauty forms were to have been naked, but was changed in order to avoid the game receiving an AO rating. Similarly, a subplot of the Naomi tracking scene had Snake following a trail of female clothing, eventually leading him to a naked female soldier; according to the Integral Podcast, this was cut for the same reason.

On June 12, 2008, after being in development for more than three years, the game was finally released worldwide.

In the aftermath of the release of Metal Gear Solid 4, Ryan Payton, in an interview with 1UP.com, admitted that they didn't plan on continuations of the Metal Gear series when they made Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3, and remarked that it "was nothing short of a miracle" that they were able to tie up all the loose ends in Metal Gear Solid 4. According to KazRadio, Hideo Kojima didn't plan on making Metal Gear Solid 4 and only did so because the fans wanted the pursuit of the Patriots due to Metal Gear Solid 2.

A game that dealt with the documentaries and making of Metal Gear Solid 4, called The Document of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, was originally to have been produced but it was ultimately cancelled.

Trophies
From the day the game was released, Kojima Productions made no effort to add trophies to the game. This resulted in many fans sending e-mails to the developers to convince them to patch the game with trophies. On March 3, 2009, a Konami employee stated on the official PlayStation blog:

"'On the subject of MGS4/MGO trophies and Konami ID - we hear you. We have been circulating these issues internally, and we will report back as soon as we are able.'"

Several months later, on August 7, 2009, Sean Eyestone stated:

"'Just to address one issue that we've been getting a lot of comments about. And this is, of course, about trophies. I just wanna tell everybody out there right now that your voices are being heard and that we're not ignoring you. We hear everything that you are saying. It's just that we can't say anything just yet. But as soon as we have something to say, we will announce it. So, if we can just ask everyone to just be patient, we will give you an answer. But right now we can't say anything. So we just ask for everyone's understanding with that and just ask for everybody to remain patient and we'll let you know.'"

This led to speculation that an updated version of Metal Gear Solid 4 would be released, similar to Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, along with a patch that contains trophies.

One year later, on September 1, 2010, Hideo Kojima tweeted the following:

"'I wanted to make a 'Complete Version' with trophy support and 3D, but if I did that I wouldn't be able to work on a new game. I wonder if someone else would make it for me.'"

On July 11, 2012, Famitsu reported that Metal Gear Solid 4 would receive trophy support via an upcoming patch, and that the "new budget version" of Metal Gear Solid 4 would be released in August of the same year. In addition, to prevent people from having to wait until then, the 164th Kojima Productions podcast released on July 17 detailed the creation, development, and eventual implementation for the trophy support. Around 5 PM on August 6, 2012, the trophy patch download was released.

On November 8, 2012, it was announced that a special edition of Metal Gear Solid 4 was being developed which had trophy support being pre-included on the software. It will be released on December of the same year.

Plot
In 2014, the world is in chaos, the "war economy" plunging the world into never-ending battle. This fuels the need for private military companies, the five largest of which (together rivaling the power of the entire United States Army) are owned by a single mother company, Outer Heaven, with Liquid Ocelot at the helm. Liquid Ocelot, a fusion of the consciousness of Liquid Snake and the body of Revolver Ocelot, is once again set on world domination and Solid Snake, now suffering advanced accelerated aging and under the codename of "Old Snake", is dispatched as a personal favor to Roy Campbell to assassinate him.

The game is divided into six acts, the last a two-part, epilogue-like "debriefing":
 * Liquid Sun
 * Solid Sun
 * Third Sun
 * Twin Suns
 * Old Sun
 * Naked Sin/Naked Son

The acts are all named after the Snake characters in the series, with the name of Act 4 also referring to the Metal Gear Solid remake, The Twin Snakes.

''In the original draft of Metal Gear Solid 4, the ending had Solid Snake and Otacon turning themselves in for the crimes they committed, and executed. Most of the staff vetoed this ending, so it was not used.''

Theme
The main theme of Metal Gear Solid 4 is "Sense" – someone's understanding of the world that is lost when they die. Throughout the Japanese version, the word "will" is supertitled as "SENSE." However, this is translated simply as "will" in the English version. This theme is prominent throughout the game, from Snake's attempt to understand Naomi's intentions to the misguided attempt of Zero to follow The Boss's will, and JD to follow his. In all of these cases, the individual's original intent and sense of the world is questioned and unclear and seemingly is deliberately left for the audience to answer.

Another theme of the game is the world's new reliance on technology. The main example of this is the Rat Patrol as in the beginning of the game, they were highly tactical due to the nanomachines, but all it took was Liquid to hack them and the entire army was rendered useless. In fact, technology has been present throughout the series as each game deals with a mechanical threat created by someone as a means to rule the world in their image. This game differs as instead of one giant robot, there are multiple machines roaming around (the Gekkos) and the Beauty and the Beast Unit themselves are proof that mankind has gone too far as they are essentially living breathing machines.

Perhaps another theme in the game could be based on the Beauty and the Beast Unit. One of the reasons is because even though all four of the Beauties were dealing with different emotions, it seemed as if they were "guided" by one thing (fear). Screaming Mantis is their leader and her emotion was based on fear in which all four of the beauties went through when the damage was being done to their minds. Every story that Drebin tells describes what each member did in order to suppress how scared they were when their ordeals were happening. Each Beauty did things based on how scared they were in their situation and when they were ordered to eliminate Snake by Liquid, Screaming Mantis was controlling each one of them. In a way, it is shown that even though the women are away from their previous endeavors with war and battle, they are still being guided by fear which caused them to go through the emotions they went through before they became Beasts.

Another theme was the concept of "Haven." Ocelot's primary goal was to ensure Big Boss's goal of a haven for soldiers. As a consequence of the Patriots actions in the Big Shell Incident, the Patriots also unintentionally engineered their own downfall by making GW (at the time believed to have been destroyed by Emma's worm cluster) a data haven due to disconnecting it, under the belief that it was destroyed. According to Kojima in a tweet in April 2010, he chose this as a theme because of his son talking about the subject while still in primary school during the time of Metal Gear Solid 4 's development, about the HavenCo data processing company that made headline news at the time, and was also considered the smallest sovereign nation in the world.

Also, another theme present in the game that can be seen is the excessive amount of how many soldiers are going through PTSD. In a way, Hideo Kojima may have been trying to show that even though the story is fictional, a lot of what is being seen is actually happening, as people who don't even volunteer to be in war are very much affected in many ways. One example of this is Raiden, who was a child soldier in the Liberian wars. Because of how much torment he went through fighting in the wars, he became an unstable man and couldn't tolerate reality which led him to become an alcoholic and run away from home - something that he wouldn't normally do, much like the Beauty and the Beast Unit. However, unlike the Beauty and the Beast Unit, Raiden went from a former soldier with a damaged mind to someone who made a difference in his reality and proved that despite how damaged his mind was from his violent past, he overcame his obstacles in life and was able to move on from the past. Perhaps Kojima was trying to show that no matter how much trauma someone goes through, they can always overcome it if they try.

Gameplay
In Metal Gear Solid 4, the player must navigate the game world in order to progress. It uses the series' traditional third person view with full camera manipulation, but also allows the freedom to play in first-person mode, as well as an over-the-shoulder view which can be switched from right shoulder to left for easy corner maneuvering. The CQC system has been completely revamped.

Several elements from previous titles return in modified forms. The player uses a new form of camouflage called "OctoCamo", which replaces the camouflage system featured in Metal Gear Solid 3. Dark blue when disabled, the OctoCamo suit allows the wearer to blend in with any surface within a few seconds. A new monocular device called "Solid Eye" replaces the various binoculars and image intensifiers from previous titles. Also, similar to Metal Gear Solid 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 contains a model viewer that allows Snake to change OctoCamo without having to insert himself onto the area to alter his pattern as long as the player saves the camouflage. Also similar to Metal Gear Solid 3, the player can also make Snake vomit by spinning his model viewer model around.

Snake is also partnered with a robotic drone, the Metal Gear Mk. II (and later, the Metal Gear Mk. III), which allows him to communicate with other characters, in addition to the Codec radio system from previous games. It is also capable of engaging enemies using an electric shock, as well as providing reconnaissance. This drone is reminiscent of Gillian Seed's robotic sidekick Metal Gear Mk. II from the game Snatcher.

Due to the lack of a rumble feature during much of the PlayStation 3 development, the game has been designed with a new feature: a white "threat ring" that visibly vibrates when sound is made nearby. The threat ring was retained even after rumble was implemented.

Snake's health plays some factor during gameplay. If injured on the battlefield, cuts and burns will remain on his skin. However, the developers wanted to avoid putting the stress of Snake's health on the player, so he wears a muscle suit, allowing the player to move in a similar fashion to previous games.

Other changes includes the new "Psyche Meter" which replaces the stamina meter from previous Metal Gear games. This Psyche Meter functions as a normal human's adrenaline meter. If Snake is in a combat situation, then the meter will rise, and Snake can fire rounds off faster and receive less damage. However, if Snake is near something that smells bad or hears something debilitating in a cutscene, then the meter will lower, Snake's accuracy will fall and he'll move slower. The Soliton Radar is no longer used by Snake, but the Solid Eye acts as a "Baseline Map" that responds to Snake's "presence."

Characters and voice cast
Many of the Japanese voice cast from Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 returned to reprise their roles in the game, with the notable exception of Kōji Totani, the voice actor of Revolver Ocelot, who passed away in February 2006. Totani was replaced by Liquid Snake's Japanese voice actor Banjō Ginga. Houko Kuwashima and Kikuko Inoue also reprise their roles of Mei Ling and Rosemary respectively, and Inoue also voiced a new character, Sunny, the daughter of Olga Gurlukovich. Japanese film director Shinya Tsukamoto provides the voice for Vamp, replacing Ryotaro Okiayu. An elderly EVA also appears, and her voice is provided by singer Mari Natsuki.

The English voice acting was recorded under notable voice director Kris Zimmerman. All the notable voice actors and actresses reprise their roles from previous titles (e.g. David Hayter as Solid Snake).

Cam Clarke, who performed the voice of Liquid Snake, was not part of the cast, but his voice came through for flashbacks through archived voice samples. The role of Liquid Ocelot was given to Patric Zimmerman, Revolver Ocelot's voice actor. Kris Zimmerman, denying allegations of nepotism, has clarified that Kojima always intended for the character to use Ocelot's voice.

Other new characters include arms dealer Drebin, his monkey pet Little Gray, a new FOXHOUND team, Rat Patrol Team 01, under the command of Meryl Silverburgh, and the Beauty and the Beast Unit.

Rat Patrol Team 01
A U.S. Army Special Forces team sent to investigate PMC activity. The four members include Meryl Silverburgh as squad leader; Ed, Meryl's second-in-command, a sniper and radioman for the team; Jonathan, a hulking soldier acting as grenadier; and Johnny Sasaki, also known as "Akiba" (formerly known as "Jail Guard Johnny" the guard Meryl stripped naked and left unconscious in Metal Gear Solid), the team's electronics and demolitions expert. Meryl, Ed, and Jonathan use the SOP system to share each other's senses via the nanomachine network inside their bodies. Unknown to the rest of Rat Patrol however, Akiba does not as he is "scared of needles" and did not go through with receiving the nanomachines, causing him to be less efficient in the battlefield. Meryl introduces the team as "Rat Patrol Team 01" and states that they are investigating PMC activity with the U.S. Army CID. Ed and Jonathan take their names from the main characters in Kojima's Policenauts, from which Meryl also originally gained her name. It is revealed in the conclusion of Metal Gear Solid 4 that, like Drebin, "Rat Patrol Team 01" was yet another plan by the Patriots to suppress the growing threat of Liquid Ocelot. Such can be seen when re-arranging the letters of "RAT PT 01" (the common abbreviation for the team) the word "Patriot" (PATR10T) is revealed. Though they wear the insignia, the team is in no way affiliated with FOXHOUND.

The Beauty and the Beast Unit
Four new bosses are also introduced: Crying Wolf, Raging Raven, Screaming Mantis, and Laughing Octopus, of The Beauty and the Beast Unit. Their animal names openly reference characters from Metal Gear Solid 's FOXHOUND unit and the emotions relating to the Cobra Unit from Metal Gear Solid 3, and they each share a weapon with a member of Dead Cell from Metal Gear Solid 2. A closer inspection of Screaming Mantis reveals two marionettes of previous Metal Gear Solid bosses: Psycho Mantis and The Sorrow.

All four of them are women who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. The only way they can cope with the damage done to their minds is to become war machines. Their inner appearance is referred to as "Beauty", while their outer appearance is referred to as "Beast." Four real-life models were chosen for their in-game appearances as their "Beauty" side: Lyndall Jarvis (Laughing Octopus), Scarlett Chorvat (Screaming Mantis), Mieko Rye (Crying Wolf), and Yumi Kikuchi (Raging Raven). The English dubbing for the characters is done by having the female voice actors perform the lines while Fred Tatasciore overdubs on top of the female voices, creating the split-voice effect that the characters have.

Soundtrack
Metal Gear Solid 4 's score was led by Harry Gregson-Williams, his third Metal Gear Solid soundtrack, and Nobuko Toda. Directed by Norihiko Hibino, GEM Impact employees Yoshitaka Suzuki and Takahiro Izutani also made compositions late in the game's production. Other contributors are Konami employees Shuichi Kobori, Kazuma Jinnouchi, Akihiro Honda, and Sota Fujimori. Ennio Morricone has also been involved in the soundtrack.

There are two vocal themes for the game. The opening theme, "Love Theme", is sung by Jackie Presti and composed by Nobuko Toda. The ending theme, "Here's to You", is sung by Lisbeth Scott. Before the release of the game, "MGS4 - Theme of Love - Smash Bros. Brawl Version" was provided for Super Smash Bros. Brawl in the Shadow Moses Island stage.

The official soundtrack was released on May 28, 2008 by Konami Digital Entertainment under the catalog number GFCA-98/9. It is comprised of two discs of music and 47 tracks. A soundtrack album is also included with the North American and European Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Limited Edition, which only features the tracks composed by Harry Gregson-Williams.

Marketing
At a press conference on May 13, 2008, Kojima announced a marketing campaign and agreements with several companies to promote the game. An Apple iPod is an in-game item that Snake can use to change the background music, and collect hidden songs scattered throughout the game. ReGain Energy Drinks are used in the game as a stamina booster, and Sony Ericsson mobile phones are used.

Konami and Ubisoft put an unlockable costume in the game for Snake: Altair's from the Ubisoft stealth game Assassin's Creed. Initially revealed on April Fool's Day 2008, Kojima later announced that it would actually be in the game, unlockable by doing "something special."

Releases
Three special editions of the game were released, The first was released in Japan. It contains the game, a box with artwork by Yoji Shinkawa, and a Blu-ray containing two "making of" documentaries. A North American version which contains the game, the making of Blu-ray and the soundtrack all coming inside a special edition case. And finally a European version which contains the game, the making of Blu-ray, the soundtrack and an additional 6-inch limited edition olive vest Old Snake figurine by Medicom Toy.

In Europe, UK and Australia, two bundles were released for the game's release. The bundles contained the game itself (without its cardboard sleeve), a Dualshock 3 controller and PlayStation 3 of either 40GB or 80GB.

In North America, a bundle containing an 80GB PlayStation 3, a DualShock 3 wireless controller, a downloadable game coupon from PSN, and a copy of Metal Gear Solid 4 was released for US$499 to coincide with the release of the standalone edition. There is also a Limited Edition bundle which contains the limited edition of the game instead and a limited edition "Gun Metal" colored 40GB PlayStation 3 with a limited edition DualShock 3 wireless controller in the same color to match the console and a downloadable game couple from PSN.

Japan saw the release of the Guns of the Patriots Welcome Box that contains the game itself, a DualShock 3 controller, and a 40GB PlayStation 3 in the limited edition "Gun Metal" color.

Sony also announced a limited edition pre-order bundle containing Metal Gear Solid 4, a Blu-ray video disc, a Metal Gear Online starter disc and a matte gray 40GB PlayStation 3. First announced in Japan on March 18, 2008 at a cost of ¥51,800, the bundle sold out within six days from March 20 to March 25. An identical bundle was also set to be released in "very limited" supply in North America for US$600, and was made available for pre-order exclusively at Konami's official website starting May 19.

Reception
Metal Gear Solid 4 has received very positive reviews. The first review was a 10/10 from PlayStation Official Magazine (UK), commenting "[MGS4] shifts gears constantly, innovating again and again." The game has been awarded 5/5 from GamePro, as well as a 5/5 from PlayStation: The Official Magazine. It was awarded a 40/40 by Japanese magazine Famitsu, Metal Gear Solid 4 being the eighth game to ever earn a perfect score from the magazine. GameSpot also awarded the game a perfect 10 score, being only the 6th game to do so.

The game received a 9.9/10 from IGN UK and IGN Australia gave it a 9.5/10. Both Edge and Eurogamer gave the game a 8/10.

Reviewers were unanimous in approval of the way the title continues and concludes the series. Eurogamer stated that "You could not ask for a funnier, cleverer, more ambitious or inspired or over-the-top conclusion", while IGN Australia found that the result "refines the MGS formula and introduces just enough new (or respectfully influenced) ideas to ensure that it stands on its own as a game." Edge concluded that "it is faithful to its fans, its premise and its heart, delivering an experience that is, in so many ways, without equal." The new control scheme and shift to more free-form, "replayable" gameplay were particularly highly praised with a few minor annoyances. The game was also lauded for its technological and artistic achievements, with Edge describing Otacon as "the real star", and "a gaming revolution" while they found the game's score to be superior to that of many Hollywood offerings.

Criticism was levelled at the game's storyline, which some reviewers found confusing although ultimately rewarding, particularly for fans. It was generally conceded that although the plot is intrusive, with many lengthy cutscenes, they are somewhat appropriate given their prominence in the rest of the series, and the addition of a pause function for these story sequences was welcomed. Edge and Eurogamer alike concluded that although the game represents an apotheosis of the series style, it ultimately fails to revitalize it, and will not win over new fans. Some fans were disappointed with the game's plot and were also slightly disappointed with the absence of trophy support on the game, despite trophies being introduced to the PlayStation Network after the release of the game.

Konami review limitations
Several publications have commented on limitations given to pre-release reviewers by Konami, including discussion on the length of cutscenes and size of the PS3 installation. These limitations have resulted in EGM delaying their review. In lieu of a review, the magazine printed a roundtable discussion about the game, with a proper review expected to print in the magazine and post on 1UP.com after Konami's restrictions have been lifted. Kojima Productions spokesperson Ryan Payton has since explained more specifically what the NDA restricts, and has amended "some items [that] are outdated and require more explanation." He also listed the length of install times, noting that the restrictions were intended to prevent spoilers regarding what occurs during the installations.

Following this statement, GameSpot published an article in which they claim they will be unable to review the game either, claiming Konami have withheld review code because of non-compliance with the limitations. The article originally implied that the absence of a review was due to their refusal to attend the "Boot Camp" event at Kojima Productions' offices. However they have revised it to state that the Boot Camp was a mid-development feedback and PR exercise, and would not have led to a review in any case.

The limitations were of particular interest due to a widely-publicized claim by CVG that the game had "cut-scenes that approach the 90 minutes mark", misattributed to PlayStation World magazine. GamePro and Ryan Payton have described this as an exaggeration.

Novelization
On June 12, 2008, a novelization of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was published in Japan, penned by Project Itoh. It contains some info not detailed in the game itself, including Zanzibar Land originally being Tselinoyarsk. An English version of the novelization, titled simply as Metal Gear Solid: Guns of the Patriots, was released on June 19, 2012 by Viz Media. The book itself is told from the perspective of Hal Emmerich, written by him shortly after Solid Snake's death, in a manner similar to the in-universe novel In the Darkness of Shadow Moses: The Unofficial Truth by Nastasha Romanenko.

References to other games and consoles
The worldwide game release date of Metal Gear Solid 4 on June 12, 2008, is the same as the release of the original Metal Gear Solid in 1998. It is also the date on which The Boss and Big Boss went their separate ways, in 1959, according to the canon of Metal Gear Solid 3.

Although Metal Gear: Ghost Babel is non-canon, it is mentioned in the game's weapons description for the Five-seveN that Solid Snake used the pistol in Galuade.

During the Act 2 mission briefing, a PlayStation 3 console can be seen on the table, in the upper level of the Nomad. In one cutscene, Sunny can be seen playing a video game where the sprite on Nomad's screens appears again.

During Act 3, Snake's clothing and FaceCamo make him resemble Gillian Seed from Snatcher. In the same act, four posters can be seen in the Paradise Lost Army's church hideout during a cutscene, showcasing the events from Metal Gear Solid, Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3 and Portable Ops, all illustrated by Noriyoshi Ohrai. Likewise, the montage cutscenes for EVA's, Liquid Ocelot's, Roy Campbell's, and Big Boss's montage scenes occasionally used stills from Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Portable Ops, and the MSX2 version of Metal Gear.

If the player looks around Otacon's old office in Act 4, they can see the spot where Otacon wet himself while being attacked by Gray Fox in Metal Gear Solid.

References in other media
The newspaper comic strip FoxTrot briefly mentioned Metal Gear Solid 4 in its December 13, 2009 strip. In it, Jason and Marcus are discussing what they should ask for Christmas, with Jason considering asking again for Metal Gear Solid 4. When asked by Marcus why he didn't get it the previous Christmas, Jason admitted that he didn't get it the previous Christmas because his father, Roger mistook his request as being for four solid metal gears with the implication that Jason received those for Christmas.

In the 2011 game edition of the Guinness World Records, Metal Gear Solid 4 was awarded the record for the longest sequence of cutscenes in a video game in large part due to the Epilogue Naked Sin/Naked Son, which was 71 minutes overall. It also won the record of longest cutscene time in a video game, 21 minutes between gameplay.

One of the DLC levels for the interactive game Little Big Planet involves the player character trying to stop Liquid Ocelot (actually a cardboard cutout of him) from activating Metal Gear REX. After fighting and defeating REX, Liquid breaks down and claims that he only wanted to be loved. In its sequel, Little Big Planet 2, skins for the player character were released that were based on Old Snake, Meryl, Raiden, and Screaming Mantis.