In a torrential downpour, former FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake stands on the George Washington Bridge - ready to launch himself to the deck of the U. S. S. Discovery as it passes below. Inside Discovery is a new generation of Metal Gear. But in the next hour, Snake's world explodes. Two years later, a young, unproven agent codenamed Raiden must penetrate the mystery of what went so insanely wrong that night. In a labyrinthine superstructure in New York harbour known as the Big Shell, enemies, allies, secret agents, and double dealers converge. Russian commandos, a cyber Vamp, a long-legged, leather-clad, rifle-bearing beauty named Fortune, a deformed, finely manicured bomber called Fatman, and a mysterious Mister X. Somewhere in the maze, as well, is the President himself - his biometrics coded to a bomb that can take out Manhattan, his loyalties unknown. Now, the rookie Raiden is fighting his way to one discovery after another, including the rebirth of Solid Snake himself and a nightmare organization with a history, a plan, and a terrifying superweapon hidden in plain sight.