Metal Gear Solid - Big Boss/Speed FAQ without cheats... and save Meryl! Table of Contents I - Intro/Assumptions II - Disclaimers/Legal Blah Blah III - Codename: BIG BOSS (requirements, tips) IV - Walkthrough 1) Infiltration 2) Building one 3) Warhead Building 4) Sniper Wolf 5) Capture and Backtracking 6) The Comm Towers 7) Fire and Ice 8) Metal Gear 9) The Inferior One V - Closing/Thank Yous ___________ I. INTRO "You've got to believe. If you believe with your whole heart, you will succeed." - Master Miller ___________ If you want to be the ultimate Metal Gear Solid player, you've come to the right place. This in-depth guide will show you how to earn the Big Boss ranking without resorting to Stealth Camouflage or the bandana and even save your girlfriend. To even be playing in Extreme mode, you must have already beaten the game once, and even then, don't expect to get the Big Boss rank that easily if it's your first Extreme run-through. However, it's certainly doable - don't sweat it. This guide assumes you're farely competant playing the game, i.e. you can switch weapons/items quickly, have moderate skill controlling Snake, etc. If you need some suggestions in those areas, the other Big Boss FAQ by Samuel Riesterer at has some good tips, as do the rest of GameFAQs MGS FAQS. You can also find there: - What makes Extreme harder - Checkpoints (compare your damage/time to the FAQ's) I strongly advise at least skimming through the tips part of that FAQ before taking on our endeavor. **** "Don't ever hesitate. The slower you react, the greater the chance that you'll be beaten." **** This guide can be very exact, but many parts need to be followed step by step, and it's often literally the fastest you can go. If you take too long at one step, the whole sequence may not work :P Make Master Miller's quote above your mantra, and try and take to heart his other nuggets of wisdom sprinkled through the guide! Shorthand key - PPK - Punch, Punch, Kick combo - FPV - First-person view mode - GC - Gun Camera - SGs - Stun Grenades - NW, SW, NE, SE - obviously directions :) - DFS - Dumb-Fire Shot: Used with Stingers. Fire the missle aiming manually, without waiting for a lock. Much faster, very important to master. - RnG - Run and Gun: Technique to run and shoot at the same time. W/ gun equipped and while holding a direction to run, tap square, then hold X, as well as a direction. Now you can run and fire. (You can do this right out of the weapons menu, too. Hold R2 to open the menu. Highlight your gun. Hold X. Now hold a direction AS SOON AS the animation of the menu closing begins.) _______________________ II - Copyright crud - "I think I’m developing kleptomania. I just keep puttin’ things in my pocket." - Solid Snake _______________________ This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. If you want to lift pieces of this guide for your use (for another FAQ or something like that), just email me first - I'll probably OK it! All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright 2003 Chris Hatala The following are copyright of Samuel Riesterer from his Big Boss FAQ - The Vulcan Raven strategy in quotes and all the line art from the Cyber Ninja fight to the end. _____________ III - Codename: Big Boss Become "The greatest solider of the 20th century" _____________ You certainly need the incredible combat skill of Big Boss to achieve his code name ranking. The requirements are: 1. Finish the game in 3 or less hours 2. Use no continues 3. Use one or no rations 4. Kill 25 or less enemies 5. Be found 4 times or less Here are the reasons why these are far from impossible to achieve: 1. TIME LIMIT There is a quick way to get past EVERYTHING you encounter in the game. Remember to: - Skip through ALL Codec conversation (mash X or square repeatedly to scroll). - Skip EVERY cutscene possible. - Don't EVER leave it on pause or at the Codec screen (time counts). 2.& 3. CONTINUES/RATIONS *IMPORTANT!!!* There are UNLIMITED saves allowed. - Even if you save before and after every minor event in the game, you won't even be over 50, and there's no penalty for this. - Everytime you screw up, simply RESET or soft boot (do NOT continue, obviously) and start from your previous save. 4. KILLING LIMIT OF 25 This number includes enemies you MUST kill (will be pointed out) - This ceiling leaves about only 5 guys for you to waste at your discretion. - The only extra soldiers you should kill will also be pointed out. - You CAN blow up gun cameras w/ no penalty. - Wolves count as enemies, so DON'T kill any! - I'm not sure if crows count... I'd let 'em live, just to be safe :P 5. FOUND 4 OR LESS All 4 of those times are part of the plot...you can't be found any time apart from a story event. SO, if you are, go back to rule #2! - Being seen by GCs DO add to the "Found X times" total - Being seen by wolves does NOT add to your total ___________________ IV - WALKTHROUGH "Your mind is your most dangerous weapon. If things are getting too complicated, try and simplify your thoughts." - Master ___________________ I've played through the game on Extreme dozens of times and have found this is the best way to do it. If you find faster or more efficient ways to tackle some parts, stick w/ yours, and hey, email them to me while you're at it! ____ 1) Infiltration - "You think you're some kind of one-man army?" ____ **Docks** After you crawl under the pipe, go into the shadow ahead (A) and stare right. As soon as the guard turns and sneezes, run all the way right (do NOT step in this puddle [P1]) to the east side of the southeast box (B). Without stopping, run straight up to (C). Don't worry about the one guy hearing the puddle (P2) noise. Take cover until the elevator starts to come down. Once it does and the siren is going off, go to (D) and push up against the wall right next to the elevator. As soon as the guard steps off and looks west, go in. If the guard who patrols around (B) and (C) saw you, d'oh. Try again... this works 9/10 times. elev. ------- ------- | D **C- forklift | || | *** *** ***^| | *** *** ***|| | ^| | *** *** ***|| | *** *** ***P2 | || | *** *** ***^| | *** *** ***|| A-->-P1-->--->----B> | *| | *| **Heliport** Run up to the searchlights. As soon as they move, go through on the left side and immediately while there is a gap in the middle of the lights, grab the chaff box and run back left. Run left to the room w/ the camera & stun grenades. Press 'X' to skip the mini-cutscene when it starts about the surveilence camera, get right under the camera, and hit the deck, crawling towards the 'nades. Get up and get 'em when you're out of range of the camera, then crawl back right, hugging the boxes. Run NE to the truck north of the heliport & get the SOCOM. Hug the top wall and run east until you've made it under the camera and up the staircase. Go left at the top of the staircase and go into the FIRST indentation in the wall. Once the guard passes, go through the entrance vent. ____ 2) Building One - "2nd floor basement ventilation shaft..." ____ **Tank Hangar** Run under the camera on the right. Once it moves, go down and into the open east room, w/ the camera and thermal goggles. Go under the camera when it's safe, get the goggles when it looks the other way, go back, then exit once it's safe again. Run along the walkway towards the staircase in the NW corner. STOP in front of the 2nd door you pass on the left and look ahead, a step below the noisy grate. When that camera is facing perfectly to the east, run down the stairs then beeline towards the elevator. <> Always push the elevator button twice to get it faster!! **Cell** Just run to the vents. Once inside, make sure you take the path on the left in the shadows that leads to the SOCOM bullets, then back, then the normal path to the chief. ***Guard fight*** Just open fire on the first three w/o manually aiming, blasting as FAST are you can (auto aim will do it). <> Whenever firing a weapon repeatedly, ALWAYS reload by pressing R1/R1 when you have 2 or 3 three bullets left quickly instead of Snake manually doing it. You have to let her kill the rest. I usually just run around in the opposite corner (bottom right of the screen) as the guards. Run in a quarter moon arc tailing the bottom border of the screen. Change directions after one or two of the guards has just fired. Hide in the top left corner when the grenades come, then back to your dancing spot, doing the same thing. Also make sure you're running behind Meryl in general to use as a human shield! Just keep trying to get away unscathed, and settle for one hit if you get irked. **Armory** You know the drill... get the C4 in the room below the elevator, blow the walls on the right and left of the elevator along the top wall. Get the goods (grenades too in the room in the southwest corner), then make your way to Ocelot. ****BOSS - Revolver Ocelot**** MOST important is that you zig zag steadily, so Snake looks like a fish's tail or something, thrashing around - do NOT run in a straight line EVER against him. NEVER stop running unless: - You're aiming at his back or side - You're aiming as he is reloading I generally run clockwise because when you're at point (A) you generally have a good shot at him when he's around (B) if you're both moving. Just stop and fire to get an extra hit there... if you can't do that, just wait till he reloads and plug him. - Remember, he's way faster than you, so make your shots count. ** ** ** ** | | ** B | ** ^ | | |** ** | |** ** | --> A ---> **Armory** Guards everywhere... simply run right to the FA-MAS room, quickly crawl under the beams, get it and ammo without getting up, and leave, then go up the corridor on the right following it all the way to the north, then cut left to the elevator. Call it, get the stun nades you can now carry in the room that you blew away (to the left of the elevator), then leave. Call Meryl first (140.15), or call her on B1, then go top floor. **Tank Hangar** Run into the east room on the ground. Take 2 steps in and shoot the guard twice when the door shuts. Get the supressor. Use thermal goggles to see the beams and go through. **Canyon** Use thermals, get all the claymores, even the one off the immediate screen to the left (you should end up w/ 5), then go BACK through the south door, then right back to the snowfield. Now save (that was so you'd save w/ the claymores) and move north. ****BOSS - Raven's M1 Tank**** One of the hardest, most random battles on Extreme. <> Be careful not to step on your mines :P You can also damage the treads with grennades, but it's harder than just planting mines. - Start by chucking a chaff, then hug the left wall and go north till you're against the pillar. Wait for the gunner to cease fire, then whip out claymores. As long as the tank isn't already right on top of you (it should be a bit north), walk NE towards it for 4 or 5 steps and plant a mine. - Walk another 3 or 4 steps right and plant another, then repeat. Now try and lure the tank onto one of the mines. If this cunning strategy doesn't work, well, keep at it. In one of your games, he'll drive over one of the mines, which is GOOD, cos you can't beat him at full mobility. - Once you've at least destroyed one tread, starting trying to hurl grenades into the cockpit. It's best to launch them when you're - Right next to the tank & open cockpit - Standing still That's about it. They'll eventually go down like that! ____ 3) Warhead Storage - "One of your fans." ____ **Nuke Bldg.** No weapons, no problem. Once you get the message about not using guns, walk north a few steps and look east. As soon as you see the guard on the ground floor pass by the bottom of the stairs at (A), move straight up to (B), then left to the stairs, then down to (A). Climb the stairs partially and LOOK at the 2nd floor guard. Once he's past the elevator, go to it and call it. Go to B1. _________________ 2nd floor |__|__|__|__|__|_ |__| <---- B 1st floor |__| | ** ** ** |__| | ** **^ ** |__| ** **| ** |__|A ** **| ** _______________ | | **B1** Go south through the door. In this room, run right towards the bookcase and hide, either behind the bookcase or crouching against the small box. Once the guard starts marching away from you, go into the first door on the right of the room to get the Nikitas. Now go to B2. **B2 Gas Chamber** You HAVE to destroy 2 certain gun cameras w/ the missles to avoid your missle getting spotted. To blow up the first, fire the missle and guide it south down the corridor, then west to the camera straight ahead on the west wall (A). The second is guarding the second door (2) from the bottom in that room. Guide your missle to where (A) was, go up, then right once you reach the table. Then blow up (B). Snake | | | | | _ | | | B_2 | | |**** | | | |**** _ | | | _1 | | | ** | | | | ** _______ _______ |A ** | ________________________ To reach the voltage switch undetected, fire your missle and follow the outline of the left walls/barriers all the way to the top. Hug the north wall when approaching the east door to the lab to avoid the GC. ****BOSS - Cyborg Ninja**** PPK him 2x like normal, then run down to (A1). Stick by this corner until this segment of the fight is over. Part 1 - After Ninja's mini-cutscene, he should jump over the middle area and down to (B). Run up to (A2) AS SOON AS he flips over to (B). You always want to attack him AFTER he turns a corner and starts to change you. That's why you should hang around (A). - After you PPK him on one side of the table, turn the corner, take 2 full steps to (A1) or (A2) and wait for him. If he flips TOWARDS you right after you PPK him (while he's still flashing), start a PPK on him again AS SOON AS the last flip is done. You should at least tag him once. Repeat, repeat, repeat!! Part 2 - Hide at (C). Use FPV to watch where he's coming from. Usually he runs past (A) and (B) to get to you. Just PPK when he gets to you. Part 3 - Stay around (C) still. Try and punch him ONCE, then move outta the way of his teleport. PPK him once you see him recoil from his punch. Eventually he may teleport 2x before you can PPK him. Part 4 - Get AWAY from him and go to (A1) once his life is gone. Ninja should teleport to (D), the Middle Area, and/or (E). Keep your distance and plug him once w/ a gun at each stop. ___________________________________________________________ | | | | |_________| |___________ _____________________ | | D | | E | | |___ | | | | | | |________| |___| | | | _________________ | | | | | | _| | | | |_____________ | | | | | | | | |_| | | | ___ | | _| |___| | | | Middle area |___| | | | | A2| | | | |________| | | | | |________| | |_____________ | | | | South table | | | | |_________________| |_| | A1 B | | C | |___________________________________________________________| **B2 Gas Chamber** Remember to hug the north wall AS SOON AS you enter the room to avoid the GC. Get the SGs in the 2nd room on the way out. **B1** Run S into the main room, approach Meryl in disguise on the W side. Follow her to the bathroom.After the cutscene, loot the main room, getting everything here you can carry, then go north to the next boss. ****BOSS - Psycho Mantis**** Finally, one boss that WON'T get away from Snake! Flip Meryl 'till she's down for the count. Then... *Part 1 Switch your controller to port 2 during the "Hideo" blackout. SWITCH ON ANALOG AGAIN!! Equip those thermals. Use the FA-MAS for Phases 1 & 6, SOCOM for the rest. Mantis cycles through set patterns for part 1. - Phase 1 - flies around, tosses psychic projectiles RnG if need be - you need to be quick to hit BEFORE he launches his projectile. - Phase 2 - Mantis moves slowly from (B) to (B*) circled by chairs. Try and hit him from (A1) w/ the SOCOM. - Phase 3 - Run to (A2) for safety from the jars, open fire. - Phase 4 - Homing vases... stay at (C) until you hear both move once. Then run to (D). Fire. - Phase 5 - Run to (A2) to avoid the 3 vases, keep firing. - Phase 6 - Go to (A1) to avoid the paintings, fire w/ FA-MAS (save SOCOM ammo) *Part 2 Just flip Meryl like before, only punch Mantis after each flip. *Part 3 Same as Phase 1 *Part 4 Things get wacky... Mantis combines phases now. - Stay at (C) as long as possible or until you hear the two homing vases move twice, just like regular Phase 4. - Then retreat to the area btw (D) and (A2), along the left wall. Just be careful.After that barrage, stay a bit to the left of (A1) and just keep shooting at him at (B) w/ the SOCOM. |______________| |______________| ___| _____ _ |___ |D _____|_____|_____/ \ | | | / __| | __ |__________________/ |__| | |__| B ___| | A1 | | | _______ | | | | | |___| | | | ________ ___| | | | B* | | | | | | | |________| |___| | | | | | | | | | | | | |___| | |_______| _|____|_ | | | | | |___| | |________| | |___ ___| | A2 C | |_________________|___Door_____|___________________| "A strong man doesn't need to read the future... he makes his own." Get the goods next to the bottom of the stairs, then get a move on. ____ 4) Underground Passeage - "FOX-HOUND's best shooter." ____ **Cave** Stupid wolves :P Just RnG through the cave, spraying bullets where the wolves are, making sure you hit the wolves only ONCE w/ the FA-MAS. DON'T go to the south room w/ all the goodies yet. When you reach Meryl, flip her and IMMEDIATELY switch to Box B as soon as the animation starts to get a urine-soaked C.Box. **Underground Passage** Use thermals to get all the Claymores...Poor Meryl :( After the cutscene, get ready for some back-tracking... **Cave** Equip your C.Box to avoid getting devoured. **B1** Take the elevator up **Nuke Bldg.** Run west, down the stairs, then east to the door. Exit to the south. **Canyon** Glue yourself to the east side wall and follow it the WHOLE way. Nothing will see you or blow you up. There is only one place you have to stop. Remember where the 5th Claymore was before the tank battle, the one by itself and btw the left wall and that rock outcropping? You must get that mine, then exit south. **Tank Hangar** Hurry and go down to B2 **Armory** There is little margin for error to get out of here unseen and fast, but this method always works if timed right. SPEED!! Don't hesitate!! Follow the guard you see DOWN the corridor until you can run to the PSG-1, the top-left room, without him seeing you. DON'T worry about ANY other guards. Make sure to stay slightly behind him the whole way to keep outta sight. Run left and enter the room. You hopefully know where the beams start and their directions by now. Start crawling where the beams begin up and slightly right until you reach the wall and Snake puts his back against it. Now crawl to the right to get the rifle rounds, then crawl backwards left to where you were WITHOUT changing Snake's body direction. Put Snake's back against the wall in the same place as before to line yourself up. Now crawl down through the beams. Once you clear the beams, just run back to the elevator the same way you came. This may take a few tries, but once you get it down, it is THE fastest way to get in and out. **Tank Hangar** No fuss, just split. **Canyon** Get that same one Claymore again and do the same thing as last - hug that east wall as if your life depends, cos it does! **Nuke Bldg.** Do the same thing as the first time you were here. **B1** Keep movin' **Cave** Equip that Box. Also, this time, go to the room directly south of where the 2nd wolf is to get all the loot there instead of crawling to the east exit right away. Now get ready for a somewhat tough fight. ****BOSS - Sniper Wolf**** This can be a TOUGH battle. She is fast as sin aiming and firing. A little trick or two to make this easier. - "Have you ever heard of the Magnus Effect? Normally, a rifle bullet rotates and curves slightly to the right. That is called the Magnus Effect. Think about comrade Magnus when you are lining up your crosshairs." - Nastasha IMMEDIATELY run and put your back to the pillar on the left. Stay this way until Wolf is hiding behind her pillar. Count at least two seconds once she takes cover to make sure she isn't tricking you - you can see her breath AND you won't see any laser sight. Listen for the click of her rifle, too, which means she's gonna aim. - With Snake's back against that left pillar, inch Snake over so that his left arm is completely, 100% sticking out from the wall seemingly unprotected. When your opening to attack comes, move him WITH the D-PAD down until you reach the different, darker-colored rock. - Have him kneel, then with the D-PAD push up. Shimmey him so that there is a sliver of light colored rock btw his feet and the dark rock. Now equip the PSG-1. What should happen is that you can hit the RIGHT side of her pillar, but not her LEFT. This is insanely useful because: A) You don't have to worry about which side she'll appear from. Keep your cross-hairs trained on the right at (A). B) She CANNOT hit you if she's ever on your left side (aiming from anywhere in [E]). Even if you can see her laser sight, you won't be hit. - When aiming, use the analog stick to quickly move the cross-hairs and the D-pad for fine-tuning. The D-pad will allow you to set your aim VERY precisely. - Wolf has a pattern when she runs to your right. She will probably go to (B), then (C), then (D). She can fire VERY fast after getting set, so since you KNOW where she's going to stop, FIRE at that spot before she gets a chance to shoot you. If she is slow getting up, such as after (D), you can even shoot her again after waiting a second as she is rising. __________________________________________________________ |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXX| | | |XXXXX| | | |XXXXX| | | |XXXXX| | | E |XXXXX| | | |XXXXX| A | | |XXXXX| | |_____________|XXXXX|______________________________________| | || || |XXXXX| || || || || || | | || || |XXXXX| || || || || || | | || || |XXXXX| || C || || || || B | | || || |XXXXX| || || || || || | |__||___ ||___|XXXXX|___||_____||_____||_____||____ ||D____| |XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX| ------------------------------------------------------------ After the battle, get the PSG-1 rounds in the first gap in the left wall and where Sniper Wolf was and the SOCOM bullets by the oil drums at the top-left. "Snake, wouldn't now be a good time to save your mission?" Listen to Mei Ling! ____ 5) Capture & Backtracking - "Caught a nice nap on this revolving bed of yours. Too bad I was sleeping alone." ____ **Medi Room** Letting Meryl die just sucks :P This guide gives you enough speed that you can easily fit the whole torture sequence in, so there's no excuse!! It takes Grade-A button mashing to get through on Extreme...here are some tips, at least. - I've found that the best help is to hold the controller a certain way. Stick the controller up vertically, D-pad towards the ground, 4 action buttons to the ceiling. Put your left thumb in the gap btw the dual analog sticks. The cord goes btw your index finger and middle finger. Your knuckles should be closer to the cord than the analog sticks. You can really clamp it tight in your left hand and mash w/ your right thumb. I guess this varies for hand size, but try it something like this. You can't accidentally hit Select while you're mashing away, and the more you do it, the faster you get. - Drink caffeine for a boost!! I used to not be able to get through this without one or two Mountain Dews. - Keep your right arm as stiff as possible. - Once the time runs out each segment, mash EXTRA madly to get those last slivers of life back. This is probably the second most important part for success here. - Make sure the circle button of the controller isn't sticky. You want to be able to feel where the click is being registered. After the first break, call Otacon (141.12). When he comes after the 2nd torture sequence, lie in the middle of the room, NOT by the door, and use the ketchup (or just hide under the bed). When Johnny is standing over you, get up and keep flipping him until he's unconscious (twice will do it). After you get your stuff, chuck the bomb Ocelot for you, then use Chaff to get past the GC. Once through that door, hug the top wall to avoid the GC on the east wall and call the elevator. Head all the way back to the communications towers where Meryl was captured (get back through each area the same way as before, EXCEPT use the handkerchief through the Cave this time). **Underground passage** Hug the left wall to avoid the GC on the right, then enter the tower. ____ 6) The Comm Towers - "What's wrong, Snake? All that dog mushing get you out of shape"? ____ **Comm Tower A.** You should have 12 SGs on you right now... this will be enough. OK, after getting the ammo, go to the door, open it, but DO NOT go in. Throw an SG, count to 2 after it leaves your hands, then go in. Once you regain control, get the two items as the SG levels the two guards. KEEP RUNNING THE WHOLE WAY. - Once you start going up the 7th flight, throw one SG. - When you start up the 11th flight, toss another. - From here on, toss one AS SOON AS the previous one explodes. You'll certainly get to the top alive, which is all that's necessary here since you're health is replenished next. YOU CANNOT USE A RATION HERE. **Comm Tower Roof** Just use the rope to climb down after the cut scene. **Rope descent** Keep tapping X when you get close to the wall, and try to avoid the steam and gunfire :P There isn't a whole lot of strategy involved here... you may take a hit or two. It's up to you whether or not to reset. If you haven't used your ration in the first half of the game, you should be OK if you take a few hits here - the rest of the game isn't that difficult. **Comm Walkway** You can use a PSG-1 to take out the soldiers, but sometimes they shoot even if you think you're out of range! I recommend using Nikitas - it's safer. Stand to the far left of the walkway facing east so you're out of their range, then fire. It'll take about 5 or 6 missles to get rid of them all. After that, run along the left railing and equip your keycard. DON'T STOP, even when you see the Hind. **Comm Tower B** Go right and down the stairs ASAP, then go back to the elevator. After you skip the cutscene, throw a chaff and run up the stairs. Once you go up a flight and past the GC, toss another chaff. There are 4 sets of GCs.. Get all the ammo at the top of the stairs. ****BOSS - Hind D**** Another Metal Gear, another Hind D... this fight isn't bad when you know when to strike. - Consider equipping Night Vision or thermals for this fight (I prefer NV) - You're going to be hanging around that (RS) almost the entire fight. - Stingers fire from your RIGHT shoulder. If you're right next to a structure, make sure it isn't in the way so that the missle will hit it and YOU. - Use DFSes (Dumb-Fire Shots). If he's RIGHT in front of you (like he is most of the time during Part 2) it'd be much better for you to blast and then run. No need to lock or guide the missle when it's a sure hit. - When using DFSes, it's VERY important to unequip and RUN for cover as SOON as you fire. The hit will stun him for long enough that you can hide before he starts shooting again. **Part 1** <> This is the perfect scenario. If you end up deviating from it cos you missed a shot or the timing was different, just follow the same tactics to win ...the order just probably won't be the same as this. ___________________________________________________ | | | | | | F | | _____N____ | | | | | | | | A | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Random | D | | | W|Structure |E | | | | (RS) | | | | | | | F | | | | | | | | | | |____________| |__________| _______ | / B S | \ | / C |___ \| | \ | | ______________ | | | |____________ \ ___| | | \ \ _| | | \ \__|___________| | \ Stingers | | \ | |_ ________________________________\_____ | |__| | | _| | |__________________________________| - Hold up-left so you can run to (A) as soon as the fight loads! Once you get there, equip Stingers, face north, and WAIT for HIM to come close to the crosshairs. Lock and fire. - Run to (S). He'll show up directly east from there, so fire again. Hide at (W), then move to (C) after the gunfire and fire. - Hide a step north of (E), then keep your missles trained to the SE - he'll show up there in a sec. Fire, hide at (W). - Next he should be to the north somewhere... fire, go to (S), face east and wait to shoot again. - After the next hit, go to (W), and after he flies over you toward (C), you can generally get off a quick DFS even though he's still shooting. You don't have to chance it though... take cover and wait to plug him more safely if you want. After this, you get the "Nice shot!", so run and get the stingers, then back to (W). Part 2 He's much more aggressive now, but this makes the fight easier. - Take cover a step or two north of (W) when the missle comes. Watch what Liquid does here after it hits. He may decide to attack from the north or the south. Whichever he does, just hide on the appropriate side so you're safe. - Once he ceases fire and dives down low, track him w/ the launcher. Once he pops up, quickly fire (probably need to DFS) and run for cover opposite of his location. - Try to generally only take a shot at him when he's just popped up. Don't be afraid to venture out around (D) or around there - as long as you can hit him, you can get to cover. - When he's hoving around (F) airspace, just hide when he comes up and shoot when you'd have a better look - anywhere on the north or east sides and you should be able to tag him. "That takes care of the cremation." "'What was that explosion?' 'Oh, I had to, uh, take out that helicopter.'" **Comm Tower B** Don't forget to use chaffs for each set of GCs. Throw them like before, so you can run all the way through and only use 4 chaff. Call the elev, then go around and get all the items. Go through the level 6 door and then right back. ***Elevator Ambush*** You need to start RnGing as soon as this starts, so hold L2 during the soldier's taunt so you get the item menu ASAP. Highlight the thermals and hold R2. Let go of L2, and now highlight the FA-MAS, and hold X. RIGHT after you let go of R2, keep holding X and now hold a direction so you can RnG. Have Snake circle in place, spraying bullets in every direction. HOLD X THE WHOLE BATTLE FOR RnG. Just make sure to shoot each guy at least 4 or 5 times whenever he's up to knock him back down. Not too hard. **Comm Tower B Ground Level** Grab the PSG-1 box around the left bend, then around the right. Before entering the south room, throw a chaff. Once you're out of that room, throw another. Get all the stuff, then head north to the snowfield. ***BOSS - Sniper Wolf (Snowfield)*** Run all the way right, then follow the north outcropping until you get hit. - You CAN'T hit her exposed limbs while she's hiding - You CAN hit her while she's running around. - Don't forget your diazepam! - Once the battle starts, bust out the Scope (it does have a use!!). You should be standing below that rock outcropping, so she can't hit you. - Once you see her behind a tree, wait until she moves behind another tree or aims at you then goes back to hiding so you'll have time to get set up! - Now run 8 or so steps left so you can get a clear shot. It doesn't matter if you're wide open and have no cover. Now, just focus your PSG-1 where she was and nail her when she's vulnerable (don't take that out of context, heh). - The only thing to really watch out for is that mini-mountain in the middle. Once she disappears behind it, watch for at least one full second that she doesn't double back (she does this a lot on the right side). After skipping the most poignant scene in the game (in my book), enter the door first door to the west and throw a chaff. Enter, go down the stairs. ____ 7) Fire & Ice - “You must be a real threat in the muk tuk eating contest.” ____ **Blast Furnace** This first guard is a real jerk. Just hide behind the boxes until he gets down past the echo floor and faces west. Silently run up and flip him, then go west to the walkway thing you have to shimmey across. Make sure you don't run Snake into the thing while it's moving. Use FPV to make sure it's OK to keep moving when it's in front of you. When you get to the other side, wait till the guard is on ground level, then go down the first flight and hide by the little freight elev., which is south. Watch him, and as soon as he walks the other way, go down the stairs and enter the blast furnace to the south. Wait for a long jet of steam from the first one, then move. Hug the south wall to avoid the other jets. Now crawl through the hole in the west wall. Stand up and throw a chaff. Don't move 'till is goes off. Get the Stingers and body armor, then back through the hole. Exit and go north to the big cargo elev. **Cargo Elevator A** Equip your armor and grab the FA-MAS bullets on the left side while you wait. ***Shootout*** Hold R2 while the game loads - you need to re-equip the FA-MAS. Equip armor. RnG right from the start, aiming at the guy in the upper left first. Then get the lower left soldier, then the thug on the lower right. It's REALLY REALLY hard not to at least take one hit from all this. Just keeping RnGing the whole time, not giving any of the guys a chance to do anything once they stand up. **Cargo Elevator Relay Point** That camera has the potential to screw you over later with nothing you can do about it, so blow it away with a Stinger from the upper-left corner of the first room. I think this stops the bug later. Get all the Claymores for the upcoming fight, then descend. **Warehouse** Nothing important to get here. ****BOSS - Vulcan Raven**** ___________________________________________________________ | | | __>6___________________________ _______9<_____C | | | | | | | |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| |XXXXXXXXX| \/ | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| |XXXXXXXXX| 7 | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| | |________5<______ | | | | | _|_____________ | | | | | | | | | | | | |X| |XXXXXXXXX| 2 | |XXXXXXXXX| | | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| |XXXXXXXXX|/\ | |XXXXXXXXX| | | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX|\/ | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| 3 | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| | | | | |_|______>8______| | | | | | |__>10__B_____ | | | | | | _| |X| R |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| |X| | |XXXXXXXXX| | | |XXXXXXXXX| | |XXXXXXXXX| | |X| | B___________>1_| |_______4<____| | A | | _________________________11<____| | |____________________________S______________________________| You can start by heading to (A) and time a Stinger to hit Raven at (B) "This battle is easy if you know Raven's pattern. You can damage Raven with claymores, C-4s, Stingers, or Nikitas. Claymores are the easiest. Note the body armor does not protect you in this fight. The thermo goggles are good to equip in this battle if you lay claymores. Study the map above. Raven starts at (R) and continues to follow the pathway outlined. You start at (S). Note the pathway is only spaced apart to eliminate confusion. Wherever Raven goes, it is always in the middle of the walkway (he does round the corners though). The numbers represent the best places to set a claymore. Make sure you place them in the direction that Raven will walk in (note the cone shapes by the number, which represent the detonation field of the mine). You will have to be fast but it should be easy as you practice. Be aware that if Raven sees you he will stop and fire at you. He will continue his path when he cannot see you. If you mess up, keep to the pathway or improvise or reset. Listen to the explosions as he steps on them and count each time. Not only will this let you know if there are any mines that still remain, it will also reveal to you Raven's location. After he steps on 10 mines, the battle will end." An alternate, less specific strategy is to hang around (A) and the rightmost vertical corridor. Planting mines at (A) and (B) works very well, along with (C). Use Stinger to get it quick, impromptu hits on him, as well. Either way, after the battle, get the Stingers on both sides of the warehouse, then head north. ____ 8) "...Metal Gear..." ____ **Warehouse North/Waterfall** Get the chaffs, then toss one. Run up the stairs to the right and toss another. Get all the goods up there, then the Stingers to the left of the door, then go North. **Underground Maintenance Base** Go to the right, then climb. **2nd Floor** Go left, climb **3rd Floor** Go left, climb. Run left, climb down. Once you get to the NW corner, look south. Once the guard goes into the light, run south to the non-echo floor. From here, once you see the guard pass the staircase, move and go up those stairs. Do this everytime you need to get to the command room. ***Spotted*** Equip the armor just in case, run left, and just try and flip the guard before he shoots you. Now get to the first floor. It's no big deal if you take a hit - your life gets replenished once all three keys are input. **Ground Floor** The key could either be in a rat or somewhere in the ditch. Look for rats before you go for a sewage bath. The rat can either appear in the back left of Metal Gear or at the bottom of the east stairs that lead to the sewage. Get the key and get upstairs. **Command Room** Here's a great place to burn chaffs since you don't ever need anymore. You can slip past the cameras easy enough w/o them, but you have the option if you want to be safe. Input the first pal. **3rd Floor** Hide on the left edge of the south side of the pillar. Wait 'till the guard comes bumbling along, then flip him. You MUST be within one step of him so the floor won't alert him to you. Do the same thing everytime you need to get past him. Now run back to the warehouse. **Warehouse North/Waterfall** Hug the north wall and go right to the walkway. Go south hugging the east rail. Then go left hugging the south wall. Do this to and from here everytime and the cameras won't spot you. **Warehouse** Chill out for awhile (no pun intended... really) waiting for the PAL to freeze, then go back to input it. Now head towards the blast furnace. **Warehouse** Guards are around now, but just go down the corridor immediately to the left all the way south, then go in the door. On the way back, take the corridor immediately on the right. **Cargo Elevator Relay** Watch out for that GC. Sometimes, the GC will spot you as soon as the elevator stops, before you can move. I don't know why. I think shooting the GC earlier when I mentioned it eliminates this bug, though. ANyways, just be careful, cos it's back now. Make your way up to the Blast Furnace to warm the card, then aaaaaall the way back to the command room. ****BOSS - Metal Gear Rex**** Not really that big a deal. The key is distance. The only time you should get close to it is when it's launched missles. Start by heroically running away a few steps. Once you see it start to launch missles, move in close and fire at your target (radome or cockpit, whichever part you're on). The vulcan gun can't hit you when you're moving right or left. After you've gotten a shot off from close, run away again to lure him into firing missles. Just do this over and over. If you're slick, DFS him to hell. ____ 9) "The inferior one..." ____ ****BOSS - Liquid Snake**** PPK, baby! PPKs just became your best friend. The collision detection is kinda goofy, making this a sometimes frustrating fight. Part 1 Keep PPKing. When he retreats deep into a corner, he's gonna dodge your PPK, so just punch ONCE when he does that and PPK him after his retaliation. Part 2 Same thing, except he moves around more. He'll counterattack w/ a PP combo. Just make sure you run away after you PPK. He may also bullcharge. Part 3 Be careful - he'll bullcharge now AND do his own PPK combo. When he readies a charge, just stay in motion, moving laterally in relation to him. Always make sure that, if he charges, you have a bit of space that you can run to dodge. ***Escape*** If you're used to just eating hits on the easier difficulties here, this could be trouble. Most important is that you only get shot once or twice before you get out of the garage and on the road. <> ALWAYS ALWAYS ONLY FIRE WHILE IN FPV <> NEVER LET GO OF THE TRIGGER Until Meryl starts the jeep on the left, stay on the bottom of the right one and keep flipping the guard. Once Meryl gets it running, flip him once more, then get it. Shoot the barrels ASAP. Try and only injure the guards. As long as you shoot those barrels quick, you should only take 2 hits max. Once you're moving, keep the gun pointed right about 45 degrees. Once you stop, shoot the barrel in your sights and then shoot the one on the right. At the next stop, just shoot the guard on the far left 'till he's dead. Then alternate pumping the other two full of leady justice. ****"Not yet, Snake! It's not over yet!**** Phase 1 - Swerving back and forth You better not get shot here :P Just keep your gun trained on him. Stray your shots for a sec and he'll pop up. Train your bullets back on him to hit him. Phase 2 - Rams your jeep from behind The way to get through unscathed here is to retrain your line of sight back on him AS SOON AS get rammed. Your FIRST SHOT after the ram MUST HIT. So just readjust your aim. Phase 3 - Same as Phase 1 Phase 4 - He's in the opposite tunnel, taking potshots at you. Your shots have to appear to hit DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF Liquid to save you from being shot. It's weird to describe, but once you get the shot down, it's not too hard to keep it up. Also, once you hit him, keep your gun stationary, and you'll keep shooting him over and over as he goes back into your line of fire. Phase 5 - He's right next to your jeep You have to shoot him the same way as in Phase 4. Your bullets MUST appear to be hitting right in front of his body. KEEP AT IT, you can do it!! Just takes a little practice. "Washington isn't stupid enough to use nukes to cover up a few secrets.' 'I wonder about that.'" ____________ V. CLOSING - "Yes, thank you, goodbye... Mr. President..." ____________ "You mustn't allowed to be chained to fate, to be ruled by your genes. Humans can choose the type of life they want to live. The important thing is that you choose life. And then live!" - Naomi MEGA thanks to: - Konami and Hideo Kojima for piecing together my third favorite game of all time and what I consider the single greatest videogame ever made. (Lunar and Lunar: Eternal Blue for SEGA CD may not be BETTER games, but they're still my favs) - Samuel Riesterer for allowing me to use some of the material from his guide and for giving me a basic idea of how to write this from his example. This would have taken far longer to complete without his guide! - Mountain Dew for giving me the boost I needed through nights upon nights of replaying through MGS. - YOU for being very cool and reading my first guide.