The starter pack of Online was available worldwide bundled with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, with a standalone release for Japan.

Based on these weekly and long term statistics, characters receive Animal Titles that denote their in-game behavior.

They range from the straightforward, like Assault Rifle+ that decreases reload time and recoil, to more complex, like Mοnomania which effectively turns bullets into short-term tracking devices.

Patriots can select the namesake hand rifle, with infinite ammo and no reloading, in all game rules except Stealth Deathmatch and Team Sneaking.

Solo Capture Mission leaves each character to fend for themselves, while also trying to keep KEROTAN in their possession for a cumulative period of 60 seconds.

Sneaking Mission features two opposing teams, Snake, and with at least 12 participants, Metal Gear Mk II.

Under the eponymous setting, players gain "Drebin Points" for actions such as kills and headshots, and can redeem them for advanced weapons, attachments and ammunition at their base or at respawn.

The SOP system, as within MGS4, is a fictional, nanomachine based network which ensures linked members share vital information.

The body and equipment's visual presence, shadows, gunfire, footsteps, frozen breath and upset dust or snow from movement are the sum of these indicators.

As such, any surface that obscures the field of vision, be it a wall, car or even cardboard box, can serve as a hiding spot and set up to an ambush.

As a countermeasure, wary combatants approach corners carefully, inspect unconvincing cardboard boxes and check suspicious bodies.

Close Quarters Combat is a military technique that consists of throws and holds, used to incapacitate an enemy while bare-handed, or to gain a tactical, rather than lethal, advantage when armed.

Further actions become available by equipping weapons or skills, like planting C4 or a Sleeping Gas Satchel on the victim, throwing a grenade, using the foe as a human shield and firing at an impending threat (when armed with a handgun), slitting the enemy's throat (with Blades+3 CQC lvl 1 in use) or injecting a Scanning plug (only with it equipped).

Stun grenades, for instance, deplete the stamina of nearby opponents, but also cause temporary blindness and deafness to targets up to medium distance.

Stunned characters can be body searched for their primary weapon and support items, killed by the enemy to grant even more Drebin Points, or woken up to return to battle.

Its main drawbacks are that it leaves the bearer without a primary weapon, and requires a trip from his team's base to the enemy's.

Metal Gear Online was region locked, meaning that players must be in the same video game publication territory to play together.

The Startup Pack includes 5 maps, namely Ambush Alley, Blood Bath, Groznyj Grad, Midtown Maelstrom, and Urban Ultimatum.

[14] It also allows players to assume the role of characters from MGS4's plotline, bearing fixed skill-sets beyond the numerical limitations of ordinary soldiers'.

The Startup pack offers two playable special characters, available in Sneaking missions: Solid Snake, the Legendary Hero, is equipped with CQC EX (Which Knocks out the enemy Instantly) and a diverse armament of lethal and non-lethal weapons.

The Solid Eye provides a visualization of the same data through the Baseline Map, identifies items and can switch to Night Vision or Binocular mode.

The Mark II is equipped with stealth camo and can display a magazine on its viewscreen to captivate the interest of nearby characters.

It can also use its manipulator to electroshock enemies, collect and deliver dogtags to Snake, disarm mechanical traps, and knock on walls.

Players who install the expansion can create female characters and enter the GENE specific Survival lobby.

They can also compete in three new maps, Virtuous Vista, Coppertown Conflict, and Tomb of Tubes and enter battle as two special characters: The MEME[16] expansion pack was released on November 25, 2008.

They can also experience three more maps, namely Silo Sunset, Forest Firefight, and Winter Warehouse and engage in combat as two special characters: The SCENE[17] expansion pack was released on March 17, 2009.

After purchasing the expansion, players can compete in Tournaments, wear SCENE specific camo gear, fight in Outer Outlet, Hazard House, Ravaged Riverfront and Icebound Inferno.

On August 31, Konami issued a statement assuring players that any persons violating the codes of conduct will be banned from service.

[18][failed verification] On February 14, 2012, Konami announced via their website and in-game client that all Metal Gear Online services will be, and has been terminated on June 12, 2012.

[19] The announcement detailed cancellations of various services up to June 12 including the closure of the online store and that all expansion packs will be free of charge from April 24, 2012, onward.