Patterns of recombination into monsters and proxies also appear when examining the scenarios of MGS4's five Acts. Incisions into each Act's form show how disparate elements from the Saga intersect and give birth to an experience both old and new at once.

Act I features introductory tropes, such as the Poorly Equipped Infiltration sequence and Snake’s discarding of his initial garb. Its settings draw inspiration from MGS3’s Graniny Gorki lab and Sokolov’s Factory.

Specific images recall iconic moments from MGS2's Tanker, particularly Akiba's stitched laser trap and Ocelot's lecturing Snake from an elevated position. The members of Meryl's new Foxhound Unit recombine tropes from MGS1's Foxhound bosses, and Snake's fight against the Frogs blends the Saga's tropes of an Ambush Boss Fight (with Assistance) and Ambush Boss Fight (with Escort).

Act II's forest and mountain setting clearly draws inspiration from MGS3. The presence of wildlife alongside scenes of snakes eating rodents all recall MGS3's survival gameplay.

Fulfilling the Saga trope of a Mysterious Radio Call, Raiden initiates a swarm of references to MGS2. Campbell and Rose share a radio frequency; Vamp survives a headshot; a high-level enemy impersonates Solid Snake; and other references to MGS2's scenario emerge.

Solid Sun's escape sequence recalls MGS1's. It puts Snake in control of an armored vehicle's mounted turret, and he needs to destroy explosive barrels to clear checkpoints while enemies ram the ATV. Reinforcing the association, the sequence ends when Snake's vehicle overturns and its passengers limp from the wreckage.

Act III borrows its setting and atmosphere (as well as Snake's costume) from Snatcher. However, writing off the Act as an extended Snatcher reference overlooks the many Saga references embedded therein.

Snake contacts a Resistance organization, overtly recalling the Resistance group of the Saga's roots in Metal Gear 1. Snake stalks Resistance members, mixing elements from Metal Gear 2 (when Snake hounded a green beret to Kio Marv's cabin), MGS1 (when Snake tracked Meryl), MGS2 (when Raiden found Ames), and MGS3 (when Naked Snake stalked Raikov). Snake lays ground cover for the Resistance, recalling the sniping cover that Raiden laid as Emma crossed the Big Shell's oil fence.

Third Sun's second half draws inspiration from Naked Snake's and EVA's bike escape at the end of MGS3. The pair shoot through checkpoints of grunts and vehicles before dodging the explosive attacks of a boss enemy during the second half of the escape, as EVA and Snake had fought first through Groznyj Grad and then avoidedthe Shagohod's missiles on the base's runway.

Act III concludes with references to MGS2's Tanker Chapter. Ocelot hijacks the game's ultimate weapon, decimates a large group of American soldiers, and appears to have finally defeated Snake.

Act IV heavily references MGS1 in its setting and scenario tropes, but it remixes sequences familiar from MGS1 and sends Snake on a different tour of the Shadow Moses facility. Snake waits for Otacon (rather than Meryl) to open a bay door; Otacon forgets an important password as Armstech President Kenneth Baker had forgotten Meryl's Codec frequency; and Naomi replaces Meryl as the dead love interest left behind.

Twin Suns slips elements from other Saga titles into its scenario. MGS4 makes the second area of MGS1 playable and passes this off as Snake's dream, recalling MGS3's Guy Savage minigame. Vamp and Raiden (rather than Liquid and Snake) appear as rivals who battle atop Metal Gear Rex, and Snake reprises Raiden's Ray fight from MGS2 when he defeats several waves of Gekko.

The Act closes with a blend of MGS1's and MGS2's endings. Snake and Ocelot slump out of wrecked vehicles, and Snake pursues Ocelot with serious injuries and a machine gun as Liquid had encroached upon Snake at the end of MGS1.Haven plows into Shadow Moses as Arsenal Gear had plowed into Manhattan in MGS2, while Raiden stops it from killing Snake as Gray Fox had stopped Rex from killing Snake in MGS1.

Act V combines the setting of MGS2's Tanker with the polygonal aesthetics of the Big Shell and Arsenal Gear. Snake traverses the hull of a transport vessel replete with ladders, hanging wires, and water-tight doors, while he also sneaks around blockish obstacles that recall the crates that Snake and Raiden fought among aboard Arsenal Gear. Meryl and Snake revisit their roles of protector and protected from MGS1, all under the umbrella of reliving their fight against Psycho Mantis.

The microwave hall blends two Saga tropes (Snakes Final Exertion and the Torture Sequence) into one complex experience. Metal Gear 1's switchless electrical floor, Snake's being on fire at the end of Metal Gear 2, and Naked Snake's near-death experience slogging upstream The Sorrow's river combine with the button-mashing torture sequences from MGS1 and MGS2.

MGS4's characters and scenarios are the culmination of the Saga's established roles and tropes. They are outlines, filled-in with concrete details that have been hacked out of previous games and then recombined to give the appearance of newness. All here are monsters, details spliced together and circumscribed by form. As iterations of form – as proxies for past experiences – MGS4's characters and events can only repeat the Saga's patterns, never attaining independence.

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