Metal Gear Solid 4 Boss Strategy: Vamp and Suicide Gekkos

The fifth boss fight in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a two part affair with one fight playing differently from another. To survive, you must be creative and efficient at the same time. Here are some tips to help you finally put Vamp to rest.

The Arena
Both fights take place in the old hanger that house Metal Gear Rex. Fans of the series should remember that this is the same place where they defeat Rex and Liquid in the first Metal Gear Solid game. The hanger is more cramp this time around thanks to the debris that resulted from the events that happened in the previous game.

The first part of the fight has no hiding places whatsoever. Old Snake will be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of mobility against Vamp, who can jump around the debris at will.

During the second part of the fight, you are enclosed to an even smaller area on the top-right of the hanger (right underneath Metal Gear Rex, in fact). Again, there is no place for Old Snake to hide.

Weapons
When fighting Vamp, a fully automatic gun like the M4 Custom will be your best choice. He will dodge your bullets every other time, rendering semi-automatic weapons almost worthless.

For the Suicide Gekkos, the weapon you start the fight with is the best option. The Rail Gun, when fully charged, can take one out with just one shot.

Vamp
The eccentric villain will occasionally throw knives at Old Snake. Since you can't really hide anywhere, you will have to dodge them by rolling to the side. His melee attacks are the ones you should be really looking out for though. If he gets relatively close to Old Snake, stop shooting and run to safety. Stay away from him when you managed to knock him down as well. As a last ditch effort, you can roll away from him in the last second.

Vamp is apparently immortal. No matter how many times you deplete his health and psych guage, he will pop right up. The game will give you hints to Achilles' heel of Vamp as the battle progresses. Part of the fun in this fight is to figure out the secret by solving it yourself.