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in the valley of darkness in the shadows of the night rising from the ashes of humanity he lives for honor THE REALM OF THE ROGUE MARINE |
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MGS-2 Notes
As you can probably tell from all the layout designs, I am a major MGS fans. Since almost everything under God's green earth has been uncovered about MGS-1, why not get started with MGS 2?
There are several things that I've noticed that are funny, crazy, and just outright silly. Plus a few genuine tips for those of you having trouble with beating the game/obtaining dog tags/whatnot. Be sure to either bookmark this page or check back often, as I will update this page as I find new tips or remember a few things.
Oh, if you want to see how the almighty Rogue Marine is doing on his missions, goto the Result Viewer by clicking here, and enter the ID code mgs00001939.
General tips:
1 - When playing the game, activate the AP sensor (even if you have the radar on) and learn how to tell an enemies position by the strength of the controllers vibration/pace of your character's heartbeat. This way when you play it through without the radar on for a better ranking, you know how it works and how to make an honest judgement about enemy positions.
2 - If you're having trouble holding up certain guards, the easiest thing to do is hit them with a tranquilizer from a distance, and then drag their bodies to a quiet place to rape...I mean, uh, wake them up. It works better in the "Plant" chapter after you have the coolant spray, since you can use that to wake up the doped-up guards faster than just picking them up and dropping them repeatedly.
3 - Not sure if you have a particular guard's tags? Switch to either your camera or scope, and hold the triangle/action button. If you bagged the freak's tags, their name will appear above their head(s).
4 - When in an area with a lot of guards, your odds of being spotted obviously are higher, and if you're spotted they'll call for backup. Knock either the guard out or their radio out. The radios are the grey rectangular thing on their right butt-cheek. Hit that and they'll have a really hard time of calling in reinforcements. Also if you knock out a guard, stuff him in any nearby locker. They never seem to wake up.
5 - If the enemy starts clearing a room that you're in, hide underneath or inside anything possible. If you're in a locker, crouch down so that if they just peek inside the locker without opening it, they won't spot you. If you're hiding underneath a desk, do not move. The guards normally will not think to check underneath them unless you make a noise. If you can't hide in or underneath anything, pull the pin on a flashbang (stun grenade), count to four, then throw it. They'll investigate the noise, but the flashbang will blow up in their faces and knock them out before they see you. When they drop, find better cover or get out of the area.
6 - This may hurt your pride (it really hurt mine), but start off beating the game in Very Easy and collect all the dog tags for each difficulty. This gets you special items that will be invaluable in Hard and Extreme (Thank god for Stealth, Bandana, and the Orange Wig). Check the footnotes for a listing of each special item that I've located in the game, and their function.
Tanker notes:
1 - If you go to the crew locker rooms located on Deck A, there are two Konami Eyes "softcore" posters. If you work it right, you can take pictures of them and have Otacon razz you about them later on. The trick to getting the "right" photo is to stand back about one lockerspace from the picture, and get all of the picture in the frame that you can. If you take a pic and hear Snake say "Good.", then you got the right image. Take pcitures of both to hear Otacon really lay into you (no pun intended). In the engine room, there's a little Vulcan Raven toy there. Take a picture of it, and Otacon will speak words of humor again. If you take a picture of Olga (after knocking her out), he'll speak as well, except that instead of saying "Good" when you have the right image, he'll making a kissing noise that's almost too faint to hear. (If anyone knows any other ones, email me. If I can verify it, I'll post it here and give you credit for it.)
2 - Try not to hang around the guard snoozing by the port entranceway to the engine room, or his fleas might decide to attach themselves onto you, and could give your presence away.
3 - Don't hang outside too long in the rain. Snake's immune system sucks and he easily gets a cold, which is only curable (if you catch it in time) with Pentazemin. You can find some on the starboard (right) side of the tanker when you first start the mission. If you don't take the meds before too long after he starts sneezing, he won't be able to cure it and you'll be stuck playing as Influenza Snake. You can sometimes avoid the sneezing from starting by taking the Pentazemin after you've been in the cold for awhile.
4 - When navigating through the three holds to take the Metal Gear photos, the best way through (in fact, the only real way through) is to get to the bottom level, and walk/crawl your way along the left side in the first hold, and the right side in the second. The locations for the MG photos are pretty straight forward. Use the M9 to knock out any wandering guards. If need be, you can knock out wandering guards with the M9 without anyone taking notice, but try to get them when they're not near anyone.
5 - If you're really bored, and have a lot of tranquilizer ammo or the Infinite Ammo Bandana, you can knock out the Marines in the thrid hold without alerting the Commandant. It's really funny to take a picture of all the guards (cameramen included) sleeping through The Big Cheese's speech. Just don't hit or shoot near the Commandant, or he'll see you and you'll be automatically arrested on the spot.
6 - Taking longer than expected to nab all the photos? When the first seven minutes are up, Commandant Dolph will go on for another three minutes. It really is a good speech to listen to, so if you're bored or have extra time, just listen in. If Dolph starts saying "We the Marines will lead the charge into a new world order with Metal Gear RAY! That is all, dismissed," you better get Otacon those photos and end the mission quick, or you'll be spotted.
7 - (EXTREME MODE ONLY) During the Olga fight, you cannot take out the light, nor can you shoot off the tarp. When dealing with Superbitch when she's hidding behind the tarp, just stay behind cover. She'll eventually bore of just sitting aroung and shoot away the tarp. She'll then blind you with the spotlight, which there's nothing you can do about. Just keep dodging her grendaes, and shooting at where you think she is. It truly becomes a game of luck. Oh, and by the way, don't let her bullets hit you. Two shots will put you six feet under (I'm not kidding, seriously).
8. - During all other modes when dealing with Olga, start off by shooting out the light and tarp. That way you don't need to stick your neck out to bag something that she's using to beat the crap out of you with.
9. - After the cutsence and you regain control of Snake in the tanker holds where the Commandant is giving his speech, backtrack to the door. You'll find some rations and some Tranquilizer ammo.
Plant Chapter - A lot of the game tips for the Plant section are the same really as the tanker. I'll give a few pointers specific to the plant, but the majority of my tips here will be centered around the bosses and Extreme Mode. Check out the info below the tips for the Boss Tips.
1 - In Very Easy and Easy modes, the M9 is located on top of the white boxes next to the watertight door (Very Easy), or in the vent covered with the sea lice (Easy). In all difficulty modes, however, the shaver is located with the Space Man (actually deep-underwater) suits. Flip over the rail opposite of the lice on the ground (in front of the vent), shimmy across, and flip back up to get it.
2 - The Thermal Goggles are located in the rear-right side of the water pool in Strut A's Deep Sea Dock. Dive underwater and swim down as deep as you can, and to the right side. If you see a spinning box, that's the goggles.
3 - The M9 (in all modes) is located in Strut F (warehouse). To get it, as you walk into the warehouse, go straight ahead and into a room with boxes stacked near the door and a ration behind the stack. Head in and get the gun first so that you can start bagging some dog tags. If you're ever in trouble in the warehouse and have to escape into the room, you can escape the room by crawling into the ventilation duct on the right side. It leads back out into the main area on the north end of the room, and has a medium-sized stack of boxes for you to hide behind if you crouch down.
4 - After Stillman gets done with his presentation about bomb disposal, head out the door leading to Strut D. What? There's a guard knocked out there...What the heck is that box? Shoot it to make Snake take some snide comments later about your accuracy. One catch though, you must do this within 60 seconds of Pliskin leaving the kitchen or you won't see it. This means in order to do this you have to stop the cutscene.
5 - Want some info on a piece of equipment or your favorite weapon? Select the curious widget, deselect any other items you have equipped, and call Pliskin for some info on it. If you did tip four, check out what Snake has to say about the boxes you shot up...
6 - In the Shell 1 Core, you have to disguise yourself as an enemy soldier to infiltrate sucessfully. Since I know you all want some dog tags, now is the time to get them, since you're disguised and can hide easier. Take out the surveillance cameras as well. It makes your escape much, much easier.
7 - While in the core, DO NOT bump into any guards. You will slip out of your uniform and be discovered (raped is the more realistic term).
8 - In B2 of the Shell 1 Core, there are a few more easter eggs. You'll notice a Parakeet on one of the computers. It says some random things, but hints at something at other times (HAL....HAL....). If you're smooth enough, spray the bird with the coolant to see what happens. Don't like what the bird is saying? Tough. The cage prevents your bullets from harming the defenseless creature (you monster). If you hang around long enough, you'll see two guards eventually kibitz in front of the bird, who then adds more words and phrases to his vocabulary (wowowowow.....BaBoom!.....Top of Locker! Top of locker!). Don't know what he's talking about? Punch the door of the locker closest to the back wall on the left side of the computer room. Five "books" will fall down. Also, look underneath the computers in the bottom-left side of the room. Check out the statue.
9 - When you're looking for Ames, notice the guard(s) moving around. You can knock them out if you want, but their snoring will block out the heartbeats of the hostages, and the hostages can't hear you. Also, don't kill the guard or destroy his radio, or it's game over. You can however distract the guards by using the porno magazines (book) to distract them safely. When you switch to the D-Mic during a cutscene with Ames, instead of aiming the mic at Ocelot and Snake, move it to the left towards the door (it's the bathroom). Listen to what this guy has to say. Does he sound familiar? Hmm....
10 - After you get the Level 3 card, return to the Warehouse (Strut F), and get the PSG1. If you look at the bottom of the wall next to where you picked up the PSG1, you might notice that there's a vent there. Crawl in there and collect the PSG1-T, which is the same rifle as the PSG1 except that it's chambered for tranquilizer rounds, and has a 5 round magazine instead of 20. You might be glad you picked this up. Check the footnotes for a list of locations of PSG1-T rounds.
11 - Just after the Harrier fight, you'll notice the fire off in the upper left-hand corner of whats left of the bridge. Use the coolant spray to put it out. At the bottom of the stairs is a ration, but the stairs will fall off about 4-6 seconds ater you step on them. So get it and get it fast or you'll get impromptu diving lessons. You'll find another C-rat at the south end (towards the bottom of the screen) of the pipe you need to jump down to.
12 - When walking on the pipe, it's best not to run, but walk instead. There's bird poop on the pipes, and if you running when you step on it, you'll fall and get more diving lessons.
13 - Halfway up the pipe, you might notice that there is a portion of the other end of the bridge remaining. To get across, move just beyond the hump with the bird shit on it, and switch to FPV. Align youself up with the landing, and, using the D-Pad, run to the edge and cartwheel across. This is not an easy task, and I recommend saving before trying this, especially for the first time. But "Who Dares, Wins," as Snake might say. In addition to 20 more PSG-1 bullets, at the top of the landing is the silencer for the AKS-74u. Yes, Virginia, you can have your very own silenced assault rifle. The catch is, you can only get it by cartwheeling across the pipe.
14 - You may notice that the Strut L Perimeter is kinda tricky to cross. There are really only two effective ways to cross it. One, is to chuck a flashbang, and knock the guards out. Problem is, that it will sound an alarm, and you'll be pursued by Gun Cyphers. Occasionally, there'll even be a guard hitching a ride on one to blast you in style. The other way is to crawl across using the D-Pad, because the Analog stick often puts your back against the wall and guards will see you, and you'll get shot again. When crawling along, you'll notice that two of the panels fall off. when you reach the first one, crawl back or you'll fall on the second one. When you crawl back from the first one, the two guards should both be looking out windows just next to your position. Remain flat on the ground, and when the guards move away, stand up and flip over the railing, shimmy across a couple of spaces, and then flip back over, and crawl around the side with the windows. If you cross the second way without being spotted, the came will get ot a cutscene featuring a guard who's had too much to drink and needs instant relief. Now, you can run right through the Fountain of Yellow Youth, and to be honest, probably start smelling like piss. This is a guess, because I've always done, this: Knock on the wall next to the guard, and you'll stop the Fountain, and run on by.
15 - The Nikita Launcher is in the B-1 floor of Shell 2's core. Swim straight down the first hallway that Raiden comes to, and it's at the far end. Explore around at the first hallway to your right, and you'll find a room in there off to the left with the Night Vision Goggles in there.
16 - The best way to knock out the switch is by shooting the Nikita from a small room on the south-west side of Floor 1 of Shell 2. It has two gun cameras in there, so be sure to shoot them out first to avoid some messy brain surgery. In HARD and EXTREME modes, you'll need to get the President away from the Control Panel first. Best way to do that is to flatten yourself against the wall straight from the elevator. You'll hit the sweet spot I'm talking about when the game switches to a little scene that shows the inside of the room and the President's location. Knock on the wall to get his attention, and he'll come over and investiage the possible sound for the next 3 years, giving you plenty of time to destroy the panel. In EXTREME mode, launch one Nikita and have it slam into the left wall with the light. That'll wake him up and get him out of your way. In any event, make sure he's clear of the panel when you hit it, or the explosion will kill him too.
17 - When escorting Emma out of the core, you have to play this carefully. Leave her in an out of the way corner or room, and clear out any emeny in the area. Do this quickly in case any guards show up late and start patrolling the areas you've cleared.
18- When you're trying to escape the MG-RAY hangar in Arsenal Gear to find Snake, the best way out is to stay on the bottom level, and make your way up along the right side, until you reach the last big box. Move around the guard and up the stairs, and use the first pathway to get to the right side of the hangar again, and head down the pathway to the door. You made it! Hope you didn't get shot, because you'll suffer more damage than normal. Don't get spotted either, because the guard's radios are built into their masks, and they can instantly sound an alarm like in MGS 1.
19 - Like your new sword? Pissed that Snake took your stuff? Feel free to practice your arts on him, but don't expect him to just take it. He'll punch back, and if you really make him mad, he'll pull out his SOCOM and loosen about twelve rounds to hurt you. Knock him out and pick up his body to get the last dog tag in the game. Just don't beat up on him too much, because even if your sword is on "stun", he'll still lose life and take some out of you. Think you can escape? Sorry, you can't hide, Snake always finds you. If you time it right, and you have enough distance between the two of you, you can cartwheel right on by his three-hit combo, but you're always going to be hit when he has his SOCOM out.
20 - The last major gun battle just after section 19 is intense, and has two phases. For all modes, I recommend using the sword, because if you hold down the L1 button, you can deflect ALL bullets that are being fired from guns on your level, and in about a 60 degree arc in front of you. For VE, E, and N modes, use something like the M4 or AKS-74u for variety. Snake will give you up to five rations if you need them in all modes, and ammo for your M4 and SOCOM, but nothing else. The first fight is a straight-up gun battle back through the hangar. Cover is plentiful, so use it. Snake is a dead shot, so take advantage of Snake's killing streak to advance on any sword-toting Arsenal Tengus. The Tengus can deflect bullets just like you can with their swords, but if you and Snake are shooting at him at the same time, he can't deflect both your bullets. If Snake's shooting at one, move to the Tengu's flank and shoot him while Snake's distracting him. If you have your sword, just run op to him and whack him twice for an easy kill.
The second fight is a harder one, because you and Snake are in an open area with no cover, and the enemy appears all around you. The sword is highly recommended in this level to save yourself some life. Snake will give you another five rations if needed. For Hard and Extreme modes, try your absolute best not to get hit, because whatever life you're left with carries over to the upcoming fights with MG-RAY, and they will zap your life. In EXTREME mode, it takes three hits with the sword to down an enemy. Watch out when you're fighting near Snake. If Snake does his three-hit combo, he could hit you and you will take damage. If you're using another weapon besides the sword, watch your field of fire, because you can hit Snake with friendly fire, and if Snake dies, it's game over. Fortunately, vice versa does not apply, so Snake can't hurt you with his bullets, only with his feet, fists, and if he rolls into you.
21. When you're looking at your stats at the end, keep in mind that the game forces you to go into alert mode three times, so if you see that, you've gotten a perfect score alert-wise. See if you can do it without being discovered AT ALL. Hmm...Can you make it through the game without killing anyone, including Vamp? Good luck, I've only done it once on Normal.
Boss Section - Plant Chapter. If you have any questions about the bosses, email me using the link in the navbar, or send it to [email protected].
1 - FORTUNE - In case you haven't gotten the hint, you can't hit her, even with your M9. Your best bet is to remain constantly on the move. Don't remain behind any particuar box for too long, or you'll be hit by falling debris (espcially hiding behind the boxes in the back, in addition to possibly catching fire from the burning barrels), or debris from boxes. Grin and bear it until Vamp shows up.
EXTREME NOTES - At all costs, DO NOT LET HER HIT YOU! In EXTREME mode, she double-taps the trigger (fires two bullets in rapid sucession), and each hit takes away one and a half (I repeat, 1.5) bars of life from you. In other words, you don't get a second hit unless you have rations. Since C-rats are rare, you really don't want to waste them by standing in one spot for too long. Your best chance of survival is to remain in the back of the room, moving back and forth using the D-pad, not the analog stick, because you might accidentally put Raiden up against a barrel and give Fortune an easy shot at you. If it becomes too dark to see anything, switch to your Thermal Goggles to level the playing field. The trick is to make your cover last as long as possible, so that you don't give her a clear field of fire for very long. I recommend that you save just before or just after this fight starts, because you will get killed very often and racking up a high "Continues" count this early isn't very good.
2 - FATMAN - This guy may be big, but he's rather smart and very quick. When the fight first starts, disarm the two bombs already planted (one is on the right of you, attacheds to the small stack of boxes, and another is down one row and one row to the left of where you start, on the back side of one of the big containers). Despite his appearance, Fatman can plant bombs on top of the containers, shelves, and if you're really unlucky, he'll plant them UNDERNEATH the big containers. If he's planting bombs, disengage from wahtever you are doing and disarm them immedaitely. You can tell he's planting bombs when he starts yelling "One!", "Two!", and the like. When he's planting new bombs, the countdown doesn't automatically start until he hits a remote control. The more you disarm, the more time you'll have to find the other ones he plants. Keep Sensor A going when you're searching for the bombs.
If you're having trouble locating bombs, look for the blinking green light and spray it. Also listen for the beeping noise; you'll hear it when youre very close to the bomb. In EXTREME mode, Fatman pulls out all the stops, planting anywhere from 1-6 bombs at a time, and giving you an average of 6-8 seconds to defuse each. He doesn't stop planting them go after you with his Uzi, and guards them from the get go. Since your bullets do little damage, even with headshots, it becomes a major battle. Saving is highly recommended for this fight as well. If you have the brown wig, swallow your pride and use it to stop losing bullets, since you need to hit Fatman at every chance you get and pointing an empty SOCOM at him might get embarrasing.
Fatman's EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) suit is designed to adsorb the impact from a bomb explosion, so it absorbs almost all the damage from your SOCOM bullets, but not the impact. Five to seven sucessive shots will knock the fat bastard to the ground. As you can probably guess, you really only do serious damage to him by hits to the head. This is your chance to do so, so hit him as he's picking his ass up. Eventually he'll stop planting bombs and settle for shooting his Uzi at you, except in EXTREME mode, when he becomes too good to do this. Hide when he shoots and keep knocking him down with the SOCOM. You can use Claymore mines if you have them, but like I said above, his suit is designed to take that damage. Claymores in the end really only wind up hurting you more than Fatman.
When Fatman finally screams in death, you think you've won, don't you? DON'T YOU!?! Well, not if there are more bombs counting down. You must disarm all the bombs or you go down with him (sucker). After a small cutscene, Fatman starts up one more bomb. Remember how I told you before to listen for a beeping sound? Hear it now, don't you? Hm...I wonder where it could be. Give up? Well then, get ready to break your character's back. Pick up the Fatman and move him. Gee, I wonder what will happen when that big brick thing that says C4 Explosive on it will blow up....
3 - HARRIER - This fight is a lot like the fight with the Hind-D if you've played MGS-1, but with a twist. Otacon and the Kasatka stick around to give Raiden support. Believe me, he'll need it at times. If you run low on ammo, Snake will chuck you more. Ditto with C-rats when you're short on health.
The Harrier has several attacks. Vamp and Solidus will start out by flying away, then come at you while firing the plane's gunpods. If you have your radar, look for the big triangle object. Point the Stinger launcher at the plane's general direction, and look for a flash. Point your missile at the flash and wait for a box to a apeear. When it does, fire a missile and take cover, just in case. Your missile should hit the Harrier and force them to break off their attack run. This is the simplest attack to counter/dodge, except in EXTREME mode. Instead of bullets, Solidus will try to shove about eight of his anti-personnel rockets down your throat. In this mode, take cover at all times and don't even try shooting Stingers at him until he flies on by.
After you hit them a few times, Vamp will actually stop the plane above your head and try to get you with the heat exhaust. This is a perfect opportunity to get some free hits. Head for the center of the bridge, flip over the railing and jump down to the lower level. Re-equip your launcher and let the Harrier have it. When you're on the lower level, the plane can't hurt you when they try this cheap Nazi trick.
The most devastating attack usually comes about halfway through the fight. The game will go to a cut scene where you'll see the plane drop two pods that break apart and a bunch of black dots appear. When you see this, STOP THE CUTSCENE, FLIP OVER THE MIDDLE RAILING AND LAND ON THE LOWER LEVEL IMMEDIATELY. If you don't stop the cutscene, you'll never make it. If you run for the stairs, you'll never make it. The Harrier has dropped it's CBUs (Cluster Bomb Units), which are little bomblets that cover a wide area to kill enemy personnel, and take about two seconds to hit you. If you don't get to the lower level, you'll become swiss cheese real fast.
After this point, the Harrier is throwing out enough smoke out blacken the sky, and will start attacking more viciously. One attack will be with its AP rockets. You'll know that this is happening with the screen shitfs to a side view. The best way to dodge this barrage of non-guided rockets is to get into the stairwell, and hide just below the first deck, so that no missile will hit you.
If Solidus is feeling very vicious, you'll hear him scream "I'll let you go out in style!" This means that he's lauching two AMRAAM's (Advanced Medium Range Anit Aircraft Missile, or "Slammer") at you. Just like with the CBUs, get down to the bottom floor and take cover. The Slammers have a flight time of about 3-5 seconds, so you must take cover immediately. If you can't make it to the bottom deck, hide behind the center posts or crouch behind the low walls that cover the stairs. You can also throw a chaff grenade the moment the missiles are launched to confuse them. If those missiles hit you, you'll be sorry.
The last form of attack Solidus will anounce by saying something like "I'll shred you to pieces!" This means that's closing in, and is just going to hover around and throw a shitload of bullets at you. Although you can take cover just about anywhere, I've never had Solidus hit me if I take cover behind those grey blocks on the bottom deck. If you lie down and keep you body behind the block, the top floor and the block as well will shield you. "How do you make him stop?" is what you're porbably wondering. After about a minute and a half of wasting lead, Snake will say "I'll take care of it." Otacon will swing the Kasatka around, and Snake will get in the action by shooting grenades from the M203 grenade launcher on his M4. The Harrier ignores Snake and Otacon while doing this, so just wait for the Harrier to fly off or, if you've really kicked the crap out of the plane, for Snake to finish it off. In EXTREME mode, Snake doesn't help you out at all, except with ammo. Sorry. You'll just have to wait for Solidus to bore of trying shoot you and fly off.
4 - VAMP - Get ready for a tricky fight. Vamp is harder than he looks. When fighting Vamp, remember that you have to get in FPV and aim your weapons manually, or Vamp will dodge your shots. When the fight first starts and Vamp bows, switch to your RGB6 Grenade Launcher, go into FPV, and hit him with a Grenade to knock him into the pool. As Vamp is swimming around, use your SOCOM to knock out the four lights around the island. I'll tell you why later, but it's important that you do this now rather than later.
In the beginning, Vamp will vault himself up to the catwalks above, and chuck knives every now and then at you. Just dodge these for now. If you feel lucky and are fast enough, you can try hitting him, but your best shot will come later. After throwing a few knives, Vamp will twirl a few times, and float from one end of a section of catwalk and throw knives at the ground (you) in predictable intervals, which are really easy to dodge. If you look while he's doing this, note that he's engulfed in a red light. When this red stuff is around him, you can't hurt him. Wait for him to pose, and then nail him with your M4, since it's easier to aim than the RGB6.
Eventually, Vamp will tire of jumping up to the catwalks and jump onto your little island-walkway. He leaps out of the pool, and takes about three seconds to compose himself and launch into an almost-unblockable attack. When he leaps out of the water, switch to the RGB6, go into FPV, and fire a grenade at him to knock his happy-ass back into the pool, or you'll regret it. If you fail to do this, he'll run towards you, then jump around, and to a full-circle attack with his knife that is very devastating. If you time a cartwheel right after he jumps, and your cartwheel takes you away from him (as opposed to Riaden just spinning into a wall), you may dodge the attack. He does this two or three times, and then, after saying a very cool "yee-ah.", hops back into the pool.
After knocking his health down to about 1/3-1/4 left, he'll jump up to the high catwalks, and throw multiple knives at you at once. Switch to your M4 or AKS and shoot the knives themselves, and then blast Vamp. If you don't hit him, he'll never go for a swim. When he's down to about a hit or three, he'll alternate between jumping up and down from the catwalks onto your walkway, and throw a bunch of knives as well. Follow the same strategy. Above all else, keep moving or Vamp WILL hit you. If you don't knock out those four lights, he'll throw knifes at your shadow. If it hits, you're pinned in place for a bit, and that means you get raped.
In EXTREME mode, Vamp becomes much faster, but a lot more predictable. He'll start off by jumping to the upper catwalks after swimming, walk for about six steps, throw a knife, hop over, walk a little more, and throw another knife. You know he's going to throw a knife by timing his steps. When he doesn't step when he should, MOVE! When he starts spinning and throwing the knives at one particular side and not at you, head underneath him and switch to your Stinger Launcher. This is important, because this is the only way I've been able to beat him. Aim for the floor beneath him, and fire away. The explosion should hurt him, and that's how you kill him. If you hit him direct, you can't hit him a second time in a row, but if he's being hurt just by the explosion, then it's a different story. Keep hitting him as much as possible.
He gets predictable because after his first little stroll on the upper walks. He'll then jump onto your level and try to give you a vivisection. He'll try to hit you twice, and then jump back into the water, and the go up to the catwalks again. When he does, he takes one step, throws a knife, and leaps to another section. He'll do this three times and go for a swim to wash away the sweat. Then he tries to rip your guts out, and then swim, then take a walk, you get the idea. I find that the only real effective weapon is the Stinger, and RGB6 for throwing grenades into the water. Yes, you can hit him while he's swimming.
Think you defeated Vamp? Not quite. During the sniper section, when you cover Emma as she crosses the oil fence, Vamp will jump onto the scene just as Emma reaches the last section before she reaches Strut E. He'll jump up, and slowly kill her by putting her in a stranglehold. Switch to the PSG1-T and aim for Vamp's head. This really isn't a hard fight if you saved some Pentazemin. Oh, it goes without saying, but DO NOT HIT EMMA!
5 - METAL GEAR RAY - Nice way to climax the game, eh? You start off by facing three Metal Gear Rays. There aren't piloted, but are controlled by GW, the Arsenal AI. You can't hide from them, and they pack a punch. Fortunately, they have a major weak point that you need to exploit to survive. Bring up your Stinger Launcher, lock on to a kneecap, and shoot it. Notice how the Ray nearly falls down and it's mouth opens? Lock onto the mouth and let another missile loose. Look at the massive amount of damage you caused. That's what you need to do to survive this fight. The higher the difficulty, the more you'll have to fight to win.
Their most devastating attack comes from their mouths and looks like a laser beam. It's actually a high powered water cannon, which in reality can be just as devastating. Same applies here. RAY will only fire the cannon in a straight line, so if you move to the side, you'll dodge it. While you're at it, throw a Stinger into it's mouth to do massive damage too.
Their next most devastating attack comes from the missiles that they launch from their backs. These are AT homing missiles, meaning that they won't hurt too much if they explode nearby, but a direct hit will kill. Throw a chaff grenade, and the missiles won't be able to track you. Remeber that for this fight in higher difficulty levels, as it becomes essential for survival. Another way to dodge them is to move inwards from the position that you were at when RAY start launching them, because missiles have a much more difficult time turning inward than outward.
Another attack is with the chain gun built into each of their wings/arms. They fire the bullets in an arc, and try to walk the bullets into you. Run to the side of Metal Gear to dodge this. If you have your sword out, you can deflect the bullets. Give yourself five more Realm points if you do this to piss them off. ;)
When you take away more than two-thirds of one of the RAYs lifebars, their tactics will change. The damaged RAY will hop onto the platform where you're at, and the other two will move to the sides to support the injured comrade. The one on the platform is really the only one you need to be most concerned with. It'll do the same attacks, and add two more: one is with two missile launchers from its kneecaps. You know it's about to do this when the RAY just stnads still there for about three seconds. To dodge them, run towards the RAY and cartwheel at the last possible second.
Watch out while you're so close, or it'll try the second attack: step on you. If the screen turns into a bird's-eye view of the fight, start moving away from RAY, or it'll try to step on you. Even if it misses you, the concussion wave might knock you off your feet. If you're in the middle of a cartwheel when it's foot hits the ground, you'll be ok.
The best time to attack is just before RAY attacks. I find it best to remain close, and off to the sides. RAY tends to try to attack with it's chaingun. When it moves it's arm down, move to the side. It'll notice that you're past the gun itself and abort the attack. Use this moment of pause to throw a Stinger on the kneecap to make it fall down and open it's mouth, and then hit 'em in the jaw to make them hurt. You can also his the kneecap to force RAY to abort any movement or attack it's trying to implement.
The only real diffrence between the five difficulty modes is the level of organization between the RAYs and the number of them you have to fight. For Easy and Very Easy, I think you only have to defeat three, Noraml it's five, Hard it's ten, and in Extreme it's 20. Try to do this fight when you have plenty of time and with no distractions, because this can require concentration and focus, and it's hard to get it back once it's lost without dying.
6 - SOLIDUS - This is it. The last dance, mano a mano, tit for tat, winner takes all, loser gives all, 'til death do you part, forever and ever, amen. In this fight, you have only your sword to fight with, but this hard isn't as bad as it may seem. You can only hit Solidus just before or after he attacks, or he'll block you. In the first half of the fight, try not to stay in close to Solidus for too long, or he'll pick you up by one of his tentacles and choke you, or sweep you off your feet with them. He'll also zoom away from you and lauch a different number of missiles at you, depending on your difficulty level.
When Solidus' health is down by about half, he'll zoom away and goto a cutscene where he'll say "Good work, Jack. But this is where it gets interesting." He'll discard the tentacles, and get real nasty. He'll zoom around a lot, and you can dodge that by just moving just a few steps as he zooms into you. He'll miss, and you can beat him with your ugly stick some more. There's not much you can do about this fight but move and whack. Try not to fall of the edge of Federal Hall either. When you knock his health/stun bar out, you've won. Give yourself a banana. You've earned it.
In EXTREME mode, well, get ready for the fight of your life. It took me about three weeks worth of attempts to defeat Solidus, and he is that hard. Fortunately, it also gave me a wealth of info on Solidus' strategies. Let's begin. During the cutscene after you defeat RAY, Solidus will spend some time trying to choke you to death. Try to keep your o2 bar from going out, or you'll take damage to your life. How much life you have after this will be how much you have when you fight Solidus, so it might be a bit embarrasing if you can't even take one hit before you die. Turbo controllers are a big plus if you have one available. During the fight, you'll notice that Solidus has a major blind spot on his left because of the eyepatch. There is a way to exploit this.
What I like to do is advance, and swing my stick at him a couple of times. He'll block, of course, which is what you want to do. When he blocks, move to his left and start whacking again. The point is to keep edging off to the left to exploit the blind spot. You might have to pull this a few times, but eventually he won't block and you can start whacking his life away. You might notice that each hit takes off about a sliver of health, so if you think this fight is going to go easy, forget it.
After you hit him for the ninth time, he'll switch to a different tactic. Every time you knock him down by hitting him three times in a row, he'll launch four missiles. There is a way to effectively dodge these. When he's down, start running to the side of the roof that's the farthest from Solidus, and, if possible, at a higher elevation. Now....run off of the edge, and watch yourself die like the good lemming you are! No, just kidding. Raiden will grab onto the side of the roof, and hang there. The missiles, if you do it right, will slam into the roof! When the second missile slams into the roof, go ahead and jump back up. Also, if for some reason you have to hop off the roof near Solidus, watch the missiles, and flip up before they hit you. One direct hit will knock you off the roof and you'll fall to your death. Sometimes a missile will actually make off the roof and come at you on the side. Flip back up if this happens or you'll become tomato paste on the steps of Federal Hall. If for some reason you can't make it to the side, there is a maneuver that you can try. It relies on precise timing, so use it only when absolutely necessary.
What you do is still move as far away from Solidus as you can. When the missiles are about a half-second from hitting you, turn around to face at an agle nearly directly behind them (but not right at them obviously and cartwheel. And cartwheel again. If you work it right, the missiles will lose track of you and go crashing where every. If one does turn, just dodge it again, as it will only make one attempt to follow you.
You strategy should be to move in and out. Move in close to Solidus to provoke him into attacking, and then move to the side to dodge, and then whack him for being a gullible sucker. Just try not to get hit by him, because you'll need all the life you can get during the last half of the fight. If you make that far, here's some tips:
Try not to move around too much. Solidus tries to box you in by sliding around alot and causing fire. The fire this time only stays around for about half as long as it used when he had his tentacle-tubes, but he gets a lot more vicious. You need to split you attention to watching Solidus and your position relative to the fires. When Solidus comes at you, move away by cartwheeling sidestepping. He'll try to elbow you, and then seriously slice into you. He'll doo a three strike combo, that ends with him taking a step and trying to lunge his sword into your guts. Use this opening to get behind him and start whacking. This is the most challenging part of the game, and requires the most focus. I find that it helps to ignore Solidus' and your life bars, because it gets distracting, and believe me, you'll start getting too excited when Solidus is nearly dead. Just keep hitting him until the screen fades out with a white flash. Enjoy the cutscene when this happens, because when you beat EXTREME mode, you've truly earned it.
FOOTNOTES -
For those of you who were clever enough to bag all the dog tags, the game will give you a web address to go visit. This site contains extras for your computer, like sounds, backgrounds, icons, and the like. Konami is promising to add more there later. I could post the address, but you also need a valid clear code to enter, so it wouldn't do me any good to post it. Sure, I could include that here as well, but I fought hand, tooth, and nail for that code, and I don't give away freebies. >:)
Personal Log, 25 Apr 2004 - 2004-04-25
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