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DejaVuPortableOps Cropped2 "Hmm, I don't remember that one. It mustn't be that important."
This article is about a subject from outside Hideo Kojima's core "Metal Gear Saga." Its canonicity within the continuity is disputed, therefore reader discretion is advised.[?]
Metal Gear RAY (Unmanned Gear)
RayRoar1Cropped
Metal Gear RAY (Mod.) in 2018.
Type Unmanned Gear
Origin USA United States
Conflicts Assassination of N'mani
Designer United States Navy; modified by Desperado Enforcement LLC.
Crew None (AI-controlled)
Armor Rigid armor over CNT muscle fiber
Standard Armament Quad machine guns (4)
AGM-65 Maverick missiles
HEMP rockets / bombs
Stealth cruise missiles
Plasma cannon
Heat blade

The modified Desperado Metal Gear RAY was a new and improved model of the original RAY. It was encountered by Raiden in 2018 during the events of the World Marshal Incidents.

Design[]

The new RAY was an UG (Unmanned Gear), meaning it was controlled by an internal or external AI instead of a human operator. Improvements in technology led to RAY's original synthetic muscle actuators being replaced with carbon nanotube (CNT) muscle fibers, saving significant internal mass; this opportunity was used to equip the RAY with both improved sensor systems and a vastly increased arsenal of weapons. Rigid armor was laid over the CNT core to provide additional protection. The new design featured the blocky thighs of the mass-produced RAY models from earlier conflicts, but a tail even longer than that of the prototype and a redesigned head with multiple compounded eye sensors.

The refit made RAY's back-mounted cluster missiles and the hydraulic cutter obsolete, replacing them with stealth cruise missiles and a hugely powerful plasma cannon. This refit also replaced the oscillating propulsions mounted on RAY's "wings;" the unit on the machine's left was replaced with storage for more missiles, both a variant of the AGM-65 Maverick and large cylindrical High Explosive Multi Purpose (HEMP) rocket/bombs with folding tail fins, while the right "wing" was instead fitted with an enormous folding heat blade. The water propulsion system used by this variant is not clear, but it could still travel underwater.

The modified RAY also dispensed with the knee-mounted anti-tank rocket launchers and "wing"-tip mounted Gatling guns, replacing these with four retractable quad machine gun turrets, two on the thighs and two on the lower parts of the "wings" just above the shoulder.

History[]

At an unknown point between 2015 and 2018, Raiden managed to uncover blueprints relating to the modified RAY.

World Marshal Incident[]

See also: Raid at World Marshal, Ambush in Africa, Abkhazian Coup, Investigation in Guadalajara, Raid in Denver, and Operation Tecumseh


During the Raid at World Marshal in 2016, Monsoon sent the modified RAY after the Brazilian swordsman Samuel Rodrigues as a "test" regarding the latter's combat abilities. After managing to destroy it, Steven Armstrong then invited Sam to the roof of World Marshal HQ for a final battle.

RayBar

RAY towers over Raiden, barring him from pursuing Sundowner.

During the Ambush in Africa in 2018, Raiden encountered the rebuilt UG during his mission to protect Prime Minister N'mani in Africa. Just before his arrival at N'mani's immobilized limousine, RAY attacked the Maverick bodyguards defending it, now accompanied by Sundowner. It utilized its plasma cannon to flip over the limousine, while destroying a large building in the process. Making his escape with N'mani, Sundowner left Raiden to deal with the "reborn" Metal Gear. The commander of Maverick, Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov, expressed utter shock that Desperado actually had, and was using, a Metal Gear.

Raiden faced RAY in single combat, and the giant machine proved to be no match for his skills as he cut away at its external armor, damaging the core systems as he did so. Eventually, the weakened RAY aimed a heavy swing at him with its heat blade; Raiden blocked it and hurled the large Metal Gear into the air, before running up RAY's blade and easily hacking off its right "wing." RAY then deactivated as it fell to the ground, and Raiden took up pursuit of the fleeing Sundowner.

RayParry

Raiden parrying RAY's giant heat blade.

As Raiden made his way to a rooftop overlooking a sprawling church, the damaged UG returned a second time, and signified this by firing missiles at the area below the roof. After fighting it again, Raiden ran along a volley of RAY's missiles and sliced through the remaining wing; while seemingly defeated again at first, the persistent RAY suddenly reactivated and lunged at him with its jaws. Raiden succeeded in stabbing its jaw as it held him, but RAY hurled him against the top of a nearby clock tower. The severely damaged UG made one final attempt to kill Raiden with the remaining missiles it had and the plasma cannon while the cyborg ran down the vertical face of the clock tower, but its efforts failed and was ultimately cut clean in half by Raiden's HF blade.

Maverick eventually managed to retrieve the blueprints after Raiden was wounded in a fight against Samuel Rodrigues (who combatted RAY two years before), via the data stored in Raiden's severed left arm. Only one of the three sets of blueprints was intact, the other two, alongside most of the rest of Raiden's combat data, ended up being corrupted and placed in quarantine. In addition, the wreckage of the mech itself was also analyzed by Maverick, which caused them to discover that it was actually composed of CNT musclefiber, rather than synthetic muscle actuators like the older variants.

Gameplay[]

Main Story[]

The two fights against RAY are the only ranked battles in R-00. In both fights with RAY, the likelihood of missile and rocket attacks dropping nanorepair paste is determined by the difficulty level. On Easy, every such attack will, while higher difficulties reduce the drop rate considerably.

First Phase[]

RAY is the first boss in the game and is thus relatively easy. However, it has a surprisingly large number of attacks, with Raiden's distance from it being the main factor in determining what it will do. The first battle takes place in a long rectangular arena with parked cars and palm trees, which are quickly destroyed by RAY's attacks. After several attacks, RAY will jump high into the air to either both ends of or the middle of the arena. In this battle, it has the following attacks:

Close range[]
  • Bite: Raiden must be in front of RAY for this attack to trigger. RAY rears back and then snaps at Raiden with its jaws, before delivering a final lunge that buries its head in the ground and briefly leaves it open to attack while it tries to pull itself out. Doing damage during this vulnerable phase or parrying the bites will result in a Blade Mode prompt, which allows Raiden to destroy the armor at the top of RAY's head.
  • Foot stomp: RAY raises the foot nearest to Raiden and tracks him with it for a short time, before stomping hard on the ground. A red line indicates where it is aiming and a circle on the ground shows the damage radius; when at a short distance outside this radius, Raiden will be stunned briefly. Easily avoided by moving out of the way; it can also be parried for a Blade Mode prompt.
  • Heat Blade: RAY unfolds its massive Heat Blade and swings it from side to side to cut whatever is in front of it. This attack can be parried or avoided entirely by moving closer to RAY.
Medium to long range[]
  • Charge: RAY rears back and then runs the length of the arena with its head lowered, dealing damage if any part of its body touches Raiden. Raiden is capable of parrying this attack, which will bring up a Blade mode prompt that allows Raiden to cut RAY's face armor.
  • Cruise missiles: RAY fires a series of cruise missiles from its back with aim and radius lines much like the stomp attack. If any of them strike Raiden directly, they will explode; otherwise, they will stick in the ground and explode after a short delay. In this state, they can be cut to drop nano-repair paste, which heals Raiden's health.
  • Homing missiles: RAY opens its left "wing" and fires a series of Maverick missiles in a horizontal spread, which home in on Raiden. Even though Boris tells the player to cut them in Blade Mode, this is actually difficult to do without taking damage; therefore, it is better to simply avoid this attack.
  • Machine guns: RAY's gun turrets pop out and red laser sights appear, which is followed by immediate machine gun fire that can be deflected by using the Ninja Run. The machine guns can actually fire at any time, even if RAY is in the middle of another attack.
  • Plasma Cannon: RAY bellows and an orange glow appears around its mouth; it then fires two beams that pan along the ground. The first of the weaker version is always at Raiden's current position, while the second pans from left to right and is best avoided by jumping or running directly under RAY. The charged and stronger version shoots much more powerful and larger beams, but they travel slower. Both beams are aimed at Raiden's current location.
  • Tail whip: RAY turns and swings its tail around, from left to right and then from right to left. The range of this attack is deceptively long, reaching up to half of the arena. It can either be avoided by jumping or parrying; to parry this attack, the player must press the stick towards RAY, not towards the tail. Parrying the attack brings up a Blade Mode prompt, which allows Raiden to destroy most of RAY's tail. Successfully doing so will award the player the achievement/trophy "Steel Tail."

Boris instructs Raiden over Codec throughout this battle, telling the player how to deal with most of RAY's attacks. Actually damaging RAY requires that Raiden reduce the health of its body to bring up a Blade Mode prompt and destroy part of the Metal Gear's armor; parrying the tail gives a free attack on it, while the other vulnerable areas are the head after the bite attack and the two feet. Each foot can be attacked for two Blade Mode prompts; the first will destroy the lower leg armor, and the second destroys the gun turret on the respective leg.

When RAY's health is reduced to 0.1%, it will jump away from the player, with Boris telling Raiden to finish it off. As he approaches, RAY will perform a plasma cannon attack, before swinging at Raiden with its Heat Blade; this is blocked with an Execution (Triangle+Circle / Y+B) prompt. From here, a QTE follows, with the player called on to repeatedly press Square / X, Triangle / Y and then Square / X again to finish RAY off.

The first battle is ranked only by time and damage; the maximum time bonus is +1,000 for completing the battle in 3:00 or less, and a bonus of +1,000 is given for taking no damage. The S-rank threshold is 1,000.

Second Phase[]

The second encounter with RAY takes place on a narrow platform with little room to maneuver, making the UG's attacks substantially more dangerous. RAY has the following attacks here:

  • Bite: RAY rears back slightly and then snaps its jaws, before burying its head in the platform and getting stuck for a moment. Parrying this attack will give an instant Blade Mode prompt if either of the two armored areas remain.
  • Cruise missiles: RAY leaps away from the platform and fires cruise missiles from its back as it did in the first fight. It is more important to cut them before they explode in this battle, due to the smaller space.
  • HEMP bombs: If Raiden is standing at the far left of the platform when RAY starts its HEMP rocket attack, it will instead drop two salvoes of bombs straight down out of the "wing." These can be cut in Blade Mode and may drop nanorepair paste.
  • HEMP rockets: RAY swings its remaining wing over to the far left of the arena and opens it up; it then fire two salvoes of slow-moving HEMP rockets. They can be cut in Blade Mode, and have a chance of dropping nanorepair paste.
  • Lunge: RAY rears back and orange energy gathers around its head, before lunging from left to right and buries its head in the side of the building to the right of the arena, getting stuck for a moment. The left side of the platform is safe, or the attack can be parried like the bite for an instant Blade Mode prompt.
  • Machine guns: RAY's remaining gun turrets pop out and fire. If the machine guns on RAY's thighs were not destroyed in the first stage of the battle, they are also able to fire here, especially when RAY jumps away to do the cruise missile attack.
  • Plasma cannon: RAY always begins the battle with this attack, openings its mouth wide and gathering energy before firing. The beam now pans across the arena from right to left and then left to right at torso height, and is best avoided by jumping; slashes can be used to gain extra "air time."
  • Wing smash: RAY lifts its remaining "wing" and slams it on the platform. If it hits the right side of the platform, it then fires a single volley of HEMP rockets at Raiden, parallel with the ground.

This time, the main target in this battle is RAY's head, with the first Blade Mode prompt destroying the armor on RAY's jaws and the second the gun turret on the left "wing." Once RAY's health is reduced to zero, it will trigger a QTE; Raiden must use Ninja Run (R1 / RB + left stick) to run up RAY's missiles, then a Blade Mode prompt will appear to destroy the armor of RAY's left shoulder. Following this is a brief sequence running down the clock tower; the far-right is safest, and the gap in the side of the tower does not actually exist in gameplay terms. Once Raiden reaches RAY, a prompt to repeatedly press Square / X will appear, followed by Raiden cutting the UG in half automatically.

The battle is again only ranked by time and damage; the maximum time bonus is again +1,000 for 3:00 or less, and another +1,000 is given for taking no damage. In addition, an automatic bonus of +1,000 is given for the single compulsory kill in this stage. The threshold for an S rank is 2,000.

Jetstream DLC[]

The battle largely utilizes the same strategy and attacks as the first fight in the main story mode, albeit its attacks being executed more quickly and aggressively. If the player utilized the Zandatsu Quick-Time Event to defeat it, Sam will vertically bisect it. If the player simply relies on depleting RAY's health down without performing the QTE finisher, it will instead collapse to the ground before exploding.

Behind the scenes[]

This Metal Gear RAY unit appeared in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance as the boss of Chapter R-00: Guard Duty, where it is fought twice. Its boss theme, "Rules of Nature", is also shared with the Grad UG in Chapter R-02 and the twin Grad fight early in Chapter R-03.

The fight between Raiden and RAY was shown as early as the VGA 2011 trailer revealing the change from Metal Gear Solid: Rising to Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, with it ultimately being similar to the start of and the conclusion of the first battle, although it bore some differences: one difference was in its design, its plasma cannon was apparently externally applied to its head via a device similar to Peace Walker's head, and had a blade at the end of its tail. Another difference was that Raiden fought RAY while in his custom armor, rather than his modified Metal Gear Solid 4 armor as was the case in the final version, and the setting was hinted from graphics to be late morning or early afternoon; the final version indicated it was nearing the evening.

The modified RAY's final design was later issued via the viral marketing site "Make it Right" by typing "Metal Gear RAY" onto the command key, where it popped up as a blueprint that was explained as being downloaded from Raiden's arm. A bit more than a week later, another, corrupted blueprint data of RAY's parts were also uploaded onto the site and accessible via keyword, this time by inputting into the command key "KA-120," based on someone's Codec ID on the Saga timeline portion of metalgearsolid.com. A corrupted blueprint depicting a cross-section of RAY's body was later uploaded onto the site via a similar method to the previous one. This time, the passcode was "Big Shell," with the Codec ID in question (KA-119) only acting as a hint as to where to look for it. There was also initially supposed to be a demo showcasing the beginning of the fight against RAY at E3 2012, but outside of a low-quality screenshot for RAY, the demo was cancelled for unknown reasons.

The presence of the modified RAY's blueprints on Raiden's arm, alongside similar data being found on thirty other cyborgs' arms that were explicitly referred to as Patriot data, implies that this model was conceptualized by the Patriots prior to their destruction in 2014.

Portions of RAY's fight were eventually shown at the Santa Monica boot camp for Metal Gear Rising, with a trailer being issued showcasing portions of the first and second phases, ending just as the Metal Gear lunges at Raiden. In addition, a second demo showcasing the fight with RAY was later issued to select stores in Japan, with any customers participating who managed to defeat both encounters in under 10 minutes receiving one of two double posters, one depicting the two different variations of Raiden's sword brandishing pose, and the other with a 25th anniversary illustration and the Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes promotional art. In addition, the English Locations trailer released around the same time also showed how Raiden finished off RAY, although it ended just as Raiden put away his sword.

Besides its appearance in the main game, RAY also appears as the penultimate boss of the Jetstream DLC, in which the player character is Samuel Rodrigues instead of Raiden. Additionally, its likeness also will appear in some VR missions in the VR DLC, acting as a large cardboard cutout for target practice with a Gatling gun.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

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