CQC

"Snake, try to remember some of the basics of CQC..."

- The Boss

CQC is a form of close quarters combat which is used with a knife and one's own bare fists, and is useful for when an enemy is close by. It was developed together by The Boss and Big Boss.

In the typical CQC stance, the user holds his gun and his knife together. Opponents at long range can be fired upon with the gun, allowing the user to advance and engage the enemy with the knife. The style also incorporates various grabs and throws used to disarm and disable opponents. One powerful CQC slam could knock even the strongest opponent unconscious.

History
CQC was developed by Big Boss and The Boss in the 1950s. Later, it was adopted by most special forces units, being an easy to learn and incredibly proficient fighting technique that combined hand-to-hand and firearm combat.

During the San Hieronymo Takeover, all the soldiers of the Red Army, whom Big Boss and Roy Campbell would go on to recruit over to what would later become FOXHOUND, had varying skill levels in CQC. This could be because a lot of them already had basic training in it.

Big Boss would later train Solid Snake extensively in CQC, however, after Big Boss betrayed Snake in the Outer Heaven incident, Snake vowed to never again use that part of his training.

Years later, before the events of the Guns of the Patriots Plan of 2014, the Patriots declassified highly sensitive documents regarding the events of Operation Snake Eater and the San Hieronymo Takeover. Thus, Big Boss' popularity grew once again, prompting nearly every mercenary and soldier in the active world to learn some form of CQC. It was at this point that Solid Snake, now codenamed Old Snake, decided to lift his self-imposed ban on CQC, beginning to use the fighting style once again.

Prominent CQC Users

 * The Boss
 * Big Boss
 * Ocelot
 * Solid Snake
 * Liquid Snake (as implied by Liquid Ocelot's quote: "When it comes to CQC, I've got the upper hand")
 * Liquid Ocelot

Controls (Metal Gear Solid 3)
For a full list of controls see the MGS3 walkthrough

Using the directional buttons to sneak up on your opponent, press O to grab your opponent. Pushing O with a direction held on the Left Analog Stick throws the enemy to the ground. After grabbing you can then do a number of things -- moving the Left Analog Stick will drag your opponent, Pressing L3 will interrogate your opponent, pressing Square will allow you to shoot other guards while you using the grabbed opponent as a shield, Pressing the Left Analog Stick while pressing O will throw the opponent to the ground stunning him, pressing O hard will slit your opponent's throat and tapping the O button will stun your opponent, while if you continue tapping Snake will snap their neck.

Attacks Pistols allow you to attack opponents from a distance and stop them from shooting back. Once Snake is close enough punches can be used. Pressing the O button once will make Snake punch once. pressing it twice and Snake will make a one-two punch combo. Three presses and Snake does a one-two combo followed by a kick.

By repeatedly punching an opponent you can stun them. kicking or rolling into them sends them flying, if there are other guards nearby they'll knock them down too. It's worth figuring out where a guard will end up once you kick them, as kicking them off a cliff, into an electric fence or into quicksand will kill them.

Weapons Weapons that are able to be used with CQC have a red CQC symbol in the corner of its icon on the weapons menu. Generally they are weapons that can be operated with one hand. Although CQC cannot be performed with the other weapons, pressing the O button will still allow snake to knock over an opponent using the weapon.

Controls (Metal Gear Solid 4)
Due to the O button's use for initiating a reload, the R1 button has taken its place for both melee strikes and CQC. (Holding L1 -- "ready" weapon/over-the-shoulder -- determines whether R1 performs a melee attack/CQC or fires an equipped ranged weapon.) Otherwise, however, the basic idea is the same; you can still Grab the enemy with R1 from the standing or crouched position, Throw the enemy to the ground (move left analog stick and press R1, either knocking them out or leaving them conscious to be held up on the ground), use them as a Human Shield (standing L1), or kill them with a Throat Slash (standing Triangle).

New functions of CQC from the grab include the Ground Choke and the Disarm. The former is simply a variant on the standing Chokehold (Snake forces the target into a sitting position with X before rolling over -- push the left analog stick left while holding R1 -- so that they're prone and then hold R1 to choke them), while the latter (hold R1 to initiate a grab and tap R1 just as Snake pulls the target towards him) has Snake pulling the target's arm and causes them to drop their weapon. Finally, the basic Hold Up (hold L1 from behind or from the front, see below) can be combined with a Frisk (Triangle to start, then Triangle when prompted) to acquire items and then upon patting the target's crotch subdue the target. (For obvious reasons, the FROGS are immune to this method of subduing.)

Unlike Metal Gear Solid 3, you cannot interrogate a target or snap a target's neck. However, submachine guns, assault rifles, and shotguns have limited CQC compatibility. While the majority of CQC-related moves are still reserved for one-handed weapons, you can still throw the enemy to the ground, strike them with the butt (his R1 melee strike), and even perform disarms, as well as hold up an enemy. For example, it is possible for Snake to strike an enemy from behind, grab their right arm and spin them around, causing them to drop their weapon, then immediately raise his weapon and causing a hold up, all as part of one CQC combo.