|
The Beauty and Beast Unit is a good place to start
dissecting MGS4's recombined Saga references. Each game in the
Saga features a troop of elite, stylized soldiers whom the player must
defeat to progress. MGS4 creates its bosses by combining
references to the Saga's earlier elite units in order to fulfill the
series' boss tropes.
  Laughing Octopus combines the melee tactics of MGS1's Gray Fox with MGS2's
Solidus Snake, and then adds the ranged tactics of MGS3's The
Fear, The Pain, and The Boss. Her level blends the cabin environment of MGS3's
burned out factory with the high-tech equipment of Otacon's lab from MGS1.
 
Raging Raven's character design mixes together elements from MGS1's
Vulcan Raven and Psycho Mantis with MGS2's Harrier and MGS3's
The Fury. Her level features the overhead layout of Vamp's oxygen pool
in MGS2 and the vertical layout of the Shadow Moses
Communications Tower in MGS1. The buildup to her fight resembles
the motorcycle-escape buildup to Snake's fight against the Shagohod in MGS3.
  Crying
Wolf's
suit uses design
elements from Metal Gears Rex and Ray and features a railgun like the
one wielded by MGS2's Fortune, suggesting a more mobile version
of Vulcan Raven's M-1 Tank from MGS1. Her sniping tactics recall
Wolf's from MGS1; the presence of Frogs on the battlefield recall
Snake's fight against the Ocelot Unit in The End's boss level; and the
destructible environment recalls Raiden's fight against Fortune in MGS2.
  Screaming Mantis's
level design incorporates the feel and function of Psycho Mantis's
Commander's Office from MGS1, the spreading octagonal rings of
Raiden's fight against the Metal Gear Rays, as well as the bi-level
vertical design of the circular arena where Raiden and Snake fought
their second horde of Arsenal Gear Tengu. While her tactics overtly
reference Solid Snake's MGS1 fight against Psycho Mantis, they
also feature "walking dead" enemies such as Naked Snake encountered in
The Sorrow's river in MGS3.
<< [Flashback] [Scenarios] >>
Table of Contents
| 
