The Metal Gear Solid 4 Instruction Manga is a manga that is included in the instruction manual for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. As its name suggests, it is a manga that covers gameplay elements in the form of a short narrative. In this case, it contains a portion of Liquid Sun. Unlike prior Instruction Mangas, it encompasses large parts of the manual rather than being dedicated to only a few pages. It should not be confused with the Metal Gear Online comic.
Plot summary
Old Snake is on the back of a truck reflecting about his being assigned to kill Liquid Ocelot, who had been discovered in the Middle East three days and 18 hours earlier. He eventually disembarked from the truck to commence with his mission. During his mission, Otacon gave Snake advice on how to get through areas while Snake going along with them. Eventually, he reached the city limits, and proceeded to evade the soldiers in various ways. Eventually, Otacon rendezvoused with Snake via the Metal Gear Mk. II and supplied him the Solid Eye, with Snake also electrocuting a patrolling soldier with the Mk. II. However, Snake ended up having to get into a fight with a soldier despite his use of camouflage, eventually running out of ammo after shooting the soldier. Snake then met up with Drebin 893, a local arms dealer, after running out of ammo who offered him a grenade. Snake then aided some rebels, earning their respect.
Differences
There are several differences between the game and the manga:
- In the manga, the events of his being hired are shown while he was still disguised on the truck. In the actual game, his hiring isn't shown until after being ambushed by a pair of Gekko and narrowly evading them.
- The ambush on the rebels in the beginning of the game, as well as the Gekko's pursuit of Snake, is omitted.
- Drebin 893 appears shortly after a firefight between Snake and several Praying Mantis soldiers to supply him with ammo and unlocking his weapon. In the actual game, Snake encounters him inside of the rebels' hideout. In addition, in the manga, Drebin 893 manages to supply ammo and unlocks Snake's procured weapon with virtually no hassle, while in the game, Drebin had to inject him with an updated nanomachine base (and another unwanted ingredient) to work within the deactivated ID lock.