Metal Gear Solid 4 Boss Strategy: Metal Gear Ray

The battle of the Metal Gears at the end of Act 4 is the coolest boss fight in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots. It is also one of the most surprising since you don't really learn about controlling about Metal Gear Rex until moments just before the fight. Here are some tips to help you out in this battle of two metallic monsters.

The Arena
The outdoor port area for the fight is quite big. Since you are in Metal Gear Rex, however, the area seems cramp by comparison. The icy port contains four main indestructible structures that can be used for cover. Otherwise, it's a head-on fight between Metal Gear Rex and Metal Gear Ray.

Weapons
Metal Gear Rex has three main weapons: Gatling Gun, AT Missile Launcher and FE Laser. If you fight Rex in the first Metal Gear Solid game, you should remember how devastating these weapons are.

The Gatling Gun will send a barrage of bullets to Metal Gear Ray. In addition, Rex will launch homing missiles toward Ray with the AT Missile Launcher. Finally, the FE Laser will send a line of powerful laser energy. The more you charged the FE Laser, the more devastating the attacks will be. While the reload time for each is quite slow, you can switch between the weapons in the process.

The game did a poor job at telling you that Metal Gear Rex can swap between these weapons. As a result, a lot of players will only utilize the Gatling Gun, making the fight needlessly tougher.

While you can also perform a kick and context-sensitive melee moves if you get close enough to Ray, it is better to keep your distance and rely on the trio of devastating long range weapons.

Controls
The controls in this boss fight are somewhat unique from the rest of the game. Immediately press the Select button to take a look at the button layout. Most of the buttons are actually the same set-up as when you are playing as Old Snake. The only real difference is the X button, which is used to dash in this battle.

Metal Gear Ray
Despite being built to rid the world of Metal Gears, Metal Gear Ray isn't actually all that strong.