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Metal Gear Solid 4 wanted players to forget MGS2’s wildest and most relevant plot point, and it worked
The article argues that Metal Gear Solid 4 effectively ignored a major technology introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Ocelot’s portable device that could deflect and disable projectiles. This matters because MGS4 centres on control of the world’s weapons systems, yet the earlier device would appear to make conventional weapons largely obsolete, creating a significant inconsistency in the series’ plot.
The device was initially used to explain Fortune’s apparent invulnerability in MGS2, although she later seems to reproduce its effects without a clear explanation. The writer suggests it served Fortune’s personal storyline more than the wider narrative, while MGS4 later attributed characters’ unusual abilities to nanomachines. Despite the apparent retcon, the article says fans have largely overlooked it amid the series’ many other elaborate plot developments.
In short
- MGS4 ignores MGS2’s weapon-deflecting technology.
- The omission weakens its central weapons-control plot.
- Fans have largely overlooked the apparent retcon.
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The case for
MGS4’s omission can be read as a deliberate effort to keep its story focused on control of weapons systems: if a portable device could reliably deflect projectiles, it would undermine the danger and importance of conventional arms. The device was tied to Fortune’s personal story and was already surrounded by unexplained effects, so treating it as exceptional or leaving it behind may have seemed a practical way to preserve the larger narrative.
The case against
The device was introduced as a technology with potentially sweeping military consequences, not merely a personal detail, so MGS4’s emphasis on weapons control makes its disappearance especially conspicuous. A clear explanation—such as limits on its range, availability or reliability—could have preserved continuity while allowing MGS4’s central conflict to work; attributing other extraordinary abilities to nanomachines does not by itself account for this specific omission.
Explained simply
Metal Gear Solid is a series of action games about soldiers, private military groups and advanced weapons. Metal Gear Solid 2 introduced a handheld device used by Ocelot that could deflect or disable incoming projectiles. It was linked to Fortune, a character who appeared able to avoid being hit.
Metal Gear Solid 4 takes place in a world where control of weapons and warfare is central to the story. It also uses nanomachines—tiny machines inside people—to explain some unusual abilities. The earlier projectile-deflecting device raises questions about how conventional weapons can still matter, but the series has many overlapping technologies and plot threads.