Act Four: Twin Suns
Location: Shadow Moses, Alaska

Basic Tips
1. If you forget the pass code that Otacon tells you, Snake will feel it’s because of his age and he’ll lose a quarter of his Psyche gauge just like that. It’s 48273.

2. The snowy plain between main buildings (and the site of Snake’s battle against Vulcan Raven in MGS) appears to be empty, but don’t think you can just skip through the big flakes whistling to yourself. There are two snow-covered Gekko mechs here. It is possible to avoid ‘waking’ either, so consider yourself forewarned.

3. It pays to explore all the areas of the Shadow Moses base as there are a number of points that will trigger memories of Snake’s first mission here, and earn you valuable Drebin Points. It’s also just fun...

4. Keeping the Solid Eye night vision mode on will eventually drain the battery, so, when you can, flick it off to enable it to recharge. You do not want to be fighting blind.

General Strategy
Ah, Shadow Moses – scene of Solid Snake’s breakthrough mission in Metal Gear Solid on PS1 and one of the most famous game locations ever. In a brilliant nod to that first visit, the act begins with a section of the 32-bit PS1 game in which Snake has to infiltrate the base from the heliport. It’s just a bit of fun, but you won’t progress until you successfully make it past the guards and into the building.

When you do, the game will snap back to the present, with Snake getting dropped off in a raging blizzard a short way away from the self-same heliport. Between you and it is a patrolling Gekko mech, and while the snow means next to zero visibility for you it doesn’t affect the Gekko’s sensors. Even the odds by switching on the night vision mode on Solid Eye. Yes, it should blind you, but instead it enables you to make out the Gekko’s movements and even the direction its sensors are scanning in.

Once again, you can try and take you get spotted just equip your favourite SMG (stock up on ammo if need be) flick auto-aim on, and fire, backing away from the approaching Scarabs as you do. Fail to keep a little distance and you will get hurt when the damaged Scarabs self-destruct. They’re also quite fond of leaping onto Snake’s back. If they do, shake the left stick furiously to shake them loose. Before you reach the snow-whipped location of the boss battle against the ferocious Beauty and the Beast Unit’s Crying Wolf, you’ll find yourself forced to fight several Gekkos inside the building.

The key to success here is to use cover to keep from getting stomped on, and to head to Drebin’s Store immediately to shell out for a Javelin missile launcher (didn’t we tell you to get one of those ages ago?). Until you earn Crying Wolf’s rail gun, it’s by far the best way of making sure the Gekkos stay down. Now brace yourself, because from her until the end of the act it’s virtually wall-to-wall boss battles.

Boss
Crying Wolf
Equip – MK. 2 Tranquilizer pistol, M4 Custom, MGL-140 grenade launcher, SVD Sniper rifle
Special item prize – Rail gun, Crying Beauty Facemask

This brilliant sniping level cleverly updates the classic confrontation against Metal Gear Solid’s best boss, Sniper Wolf. You must navigate the exterior of the base while a stinging snowstorm reduces visibility almost to nil. Complicating your attempt to locate and take down the feline mech form of Sniper Wolf are squads of elite Haven Troopers.

Taking them down is hard enough, and with Crying Wolf capable of tracking you when you’re downwind of her, finding a safe vantage point from which to scope the area using your night vision is the real challenge here. First thing to do is make a sweep of the area and acquaint yourself with it, taking down any Haven Troopers you see as you go. The reason for this is that, as Crying Wolf tracks you, you’ll briefly be able to see through her eyes. Learn the location’s landmarks and when this happens you’ll be able to figure out where she is in relation to you and aim at her before she opens fire or stamps your face into the snow.

If you’re running low on rations and Regain, the best tactic is equip a sniper rifle and full OctoCamo (face and body), scale one of the two towers and lie low, scanning the area for signs of Crying Wolf. She often prowls around the distant tree line, so keep looking there. Even if you can’t actually see her with your eyes, the Solid Eye night vision will reveal her nanomachine marker tag if your crosshairs pass over her. Spot her as she temporarily emerges from her armoured exoskeleton to draw a bead on you and you can score maximum damage.

However, if you’re feeling bullish and have a lot of rations, you can forgo the stealth, equip Raging Raven’s MGL-140 grenade launcher and go hunting for Crying Wolf instead. Keep thinning out the Haven Troopers and it won’t be long before she comes at you. If you’re quick you can knock her off her feet and get a good three to five shots in before she recovers. Then it’s just a case of retreating, reloading and repeating. Just be warned – if the battery in your Solid Eye runs down, you’ll be forced to fight blind. Show Crying Wolf mercy and you’ll earn yourself her awesome DSR-1 sniper rifle.