Select controller:The game is subdivided into individual missions with their own objectives and challenges, so the walkthrough will also be subdivided into pages detailing how to complete these challenges. Each page will start with a brief contextualization of the mission.
- The mission objective will be in bold.
Story[edit]
- Si vis pacem, para bellum.
deterrence, noun
- The act of deterring, or the state of being deterred.
- Action taken by states or alliances of nations against equally powerful alliances to prevent hostile action.
- The art of producing in one's enemy the fear of attacking.[1]
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker takes place in 1974, during a time when the Soviet Union and the United States held the world hostage with their nuclear arsenals and respective ideological ambitions. This "balance of terror" ironically ensured that the Cold War was an age of relative peace for the First and Second Worlds; an act of aggression by one superpower would be met with nuclear retaliation by the other and end the world. But the 1970s was also a time when subordinate states such as the United Kingdom, France, China, India, and Pakistan had amassed their own nuclear stockpiles as attempts to deter the hegemony of the United States and the Soviet Union, upsetting balance of power and the peace that came with it. It was a time when states such as Iran and China were breaking free from the superpowers' spheres of influence. The Cold War as it was known to intelligence professionals from both East and West had been changing.
Ten years prior, a hero of the West known as "The Boss" had defected to the Soviet Union. She brought her followers known as the Cobra Unit with her as well as two man-portable tactical nuclear warheads as gifts for her Red Army benefactor Colonel Yevgeny Borisovich Volgin. Volgin used one of them to destroy a Soviet research facility to cover his coups attempt. With reactionary elements in the Soviet Union frothing at the mouth for war with America, the Kremlin had no choice but to strike a deal with Washington: an American must kill The Boss to prove America's innocence and avert nuclear war. For the mission - code-named Operation: Snake Eater - the CIA chose to send in the most-beloved disciple of The Boss, a man known as "Snake." Snake completed his mission, foiling the plans of Volgin and defeating his mentor in single combat. He ended The Boss's life at her insistence, proving America's innocence and saving the world from nuclear annihilation. From then on, soldiers from both the West and the East would refer to this legendary soldier as "Big Boss."
But Snake would learn the truth about The Boss's defection: she was a double agent whose cover had been blown by Volgin's use of the Davy Crockett launcher. With no other recourse, The Boss continued to play the defector in order for Operation: Snake Eater to be a success. She allowed Snake to kill her. Snake had been haunted by the thought of having never truly surpassed his mentor or being worthy of the title of "Boss" she passed onto him. He had been vexed by what The Boss meant to communicate by choosing to die for a country that had abandoned her. But more than that, he seethed with resentment toward the CIA and the world superpowers for their callous discard of their "heroes." And after Operation: Snake Eater, the CIA was calling him a "hero."
Snake wandered the earth and amassed a following of soldiers drawn to the legend of Big Boss. With the help of his right-hand man and best friend Kazuhira Miller, these men were organized into a highly-trained private military company called "Militaires sans Frontières," or MSF. MSF participated in conflicts all over the world, acting as an army without borders. Snake refused to allow his men to be the army of any one state and feared that settling down and picking a side on the ideological divide would eventually make him into a warmonger like Volgin.
One day, Snake and his MSF were besought by a young girl named Paz who wanted her namesake to be restored in her home of Costa Rica, a country without an army of its own to act as a deterrent against invaders. According to Paz's benefactor Professor Ramón Gálvez of the University for Peace, Paz had escaped from a fortified encampment near Limón. Gálvez and Paz insisted that soldiers, weapons, and equipment are arriving by ship and begged Snake and MSF to drive them out. The invaders were almost certainly an attempt by the CIA to counter the KGB-backed socialist revolution in nearby Nicaragua and Snake wanted nothing to do with it.
However, what made Snake ultimately accept the mission was a recording taken by Paz of a woman whose voice was identical to that of The Boss.
Mission Prep[edit]
The Mission Prep section will often suggest a very small array of weapons and equipment. Never be afraid to bring something else. If you feel the need to equip the Love Box over pressing against walls with the 
, or if you prefer the Sneaking Suit when the Tiger Stripe is suggested, those are valid alternatives. Whatever keeps you hidden from the enemy and allows you to complete your mission is what you should bring with you.
Areas of Operation[edit]
An in-game mission will be divided into smaller areas and so will the walkthrough pages. Each in-game area will have its own section, headed by a brief contextualization, followed by a map ripped directly from the game. The map will be annotated with dots and lines representing routes and places to stop. Red dots and lines are enemy patrols, with stationary enemies represented by dots with a cone representing the area they are surveying, a general no-go zone during any mission. Enemy soldiers are represented by letters (A, B, C, D...).
Orange lines and dots represent the route prescribed to the player. Dots are annotated by numerals (1, 2, 3, 4...).
Yellow dots represent pickups. White dots represent targets such as prisoners of war whom you should rescue or crates of supplies you should demolish.
Completion[edit]
When you achieve a mission's objectives, you will move to the "Completion" phase, during which you may encounter a graphic novel cutscene. Some are interactive, and the walkthrough will explain their objectives.
You will be made aware of what is received by completing missions, such as Design Specs or Battle Cries as well as any Costumes and Versus Ops Maps that will be unlocked.
There will be some brief advice on what to do in Mother Base and where your equipment development should be.
The walkthrough will advise you on any Extra Ops you should complete before moving onto the next mission.