Metal Gear Solid Noob Diaries #10: Survival Skills

Welcome to the Metal Gear Solid Noob Diaries. This is the recounting of my experience through the MGS series from MGS2: Sons of Liberty all the way to MGSV: Ground Zeroes. I’ll be updating every so often with new thoughts on sections of the games and taking a look back at memorable and enjoyable moments. I’ve never played the series before, so for the fans out there it could be an amusing tale of one noob’s journey, while those as green as myself could well learn a little about the mad world of MGS. Enjoy!

So today was my best session yet with Snake Eater, I got to spend a good chunk of time with the game, so I’ve got a fair few thoughts.

It was during today’s session that I really started to get a feel for the whole survival schtick. For instance, killing animals is necessary to keep Snake’s stamina up and not let him starve to death. It’s a cool feature that adds to the sense of independence; Snake is alone in the jungle and nobody is going to help him survive, except the player of course. Other jungle-themed survival elements are also really cool. The enemy’s use of booby traps is really neat and provides an intriguing Vietnam war feel that layers over the whole espionage stuff.

Today was also the day I learned to properly search for things. You see, my friend and I have a running joke (well, more of a comment) between the two of us that while he loves to search every nook and cranny of a game for hidden details or useful tools, I’ll just blaze through the game without even thinking about picking up extras. It’s something I’ve mentioned before, but it can’t be exaggerated just how bad I can be when it comes to rushing through levels. It’s a terrible trait, I know.

Well thankfully MGS has taught me that I need to take things slower, to examine my surroundings and to pick up every item I can find. I’ve moaned in the past about having to retrace steps to find useful items, but if I’d of just explored more in the first place, I wouldn’t have had the same issues. I’ve taken that to heart while playing Snake Eater, and so far it’s paying off. I’ve found all manner of useful tools and gadgets, although the only one I haven’t found is the mine detector, which is proving to be a slight annoyance. Still, I’m glad that I’ve gotten over that rather silly way of playing. I’ve got work to do in terms of my actual ability to search areas well, but at least I’m taking forward steps.

You know what else I’m getting better at? Actually being stealthy. Today I took out a whole base of guards without alerting a single one. I made use of high ground, silenced weapons and distractions to lure each one to a quick death. I was, I dare say, actually quite proud of myself. It all preceded a decent boss fight with Ocelot, one that reminded me of the first boss fight in Sons of Liberty with Olga.

A really neat underground section then led to a proper boss fight with The Pain, one of The Boss’ associates and all round freaky dude. He’s basically the world’s craziest insect enthusiast who seems to possess some kind of control over the little creatures. Which in turn means he’s covered in stings, assumedly some kind of initiation programme... Well it was a cool fight that was actually easier than I expected. Again, I do seem to find the full-on action segments a lot easier than the timing/stealth parts. Largely, I assume, due to my overall lack of experience with stealth-themed games.

So a great session on the whole that sadly ended with me getting stuck and not being able to work out where to go next. Don’t worry though, I’ll figure it out. Hopefully...