Just Beat It: How to win ver. 1.0 - Guide for Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: How to win Version 1.0
by Jim (reachable at [email protected])
Copyright info  Copyright date: 11/08/02| Date Last Updated: 11/08/02| 
Printability:  This guide is printable without consent to be used for personal use, 
but public use must require consent, and is not to be used as a prize in a giveaway 
or any charitable or otherwise event.  This guide can be used in a guide with 
consent and credit for the portion used.

Sneaking 101
Press a direction (d- pad or analog stick) to lean against a wall
Hold R2 or L2 while leaning against the wall to move right or left
Hold while near a corner to do a “peek maneuver.”  This allows you to see around the 
corner and then come back before a guard sees you.
Press square while leaning on the wall to do a “jumpout shot.”  This allows you to 
get the element of surprise on them.  Let go of square to go back to the corner.
Hold L1 to enter First-Person View mode.  You cannot move while in First-Person 
View, however and certain weapons can only be fired from First-Person View.
Hold R1 to move while aiming.  This is used best to run around to a guard’s front in 
Freeze mode.
Collecting dog tags is important.  To get them, sneak up behind a guard and hold 
square (note: works best with SOCOM or M9).  Snake/Raiden will yell “Freeze!” and 
the guard won’t move.  Hold L1 to walk around to his face (but don’t let go of 
square!) and then point the gun at his face or groin.  Most guards will comply with 
your wishes.  Some won’t.  To deal with them, shoot them in the arm or leg (kill 
weapons only) and point the gun at their face or groin.  They will give you their 
dog tags.
Sneaking Advanced:
In Extreme mode, there are NO rations, except in the plant, towards the end.  
Utilize hiding spots as best as you can to avoid damage.
Take advantage of your equipment; half the game is using them for other useful 
purposes.
Take advantage of your surroundings.  Hide behind boxes while crouching (X button) 
and other places where guards won’t see you.  Hide bodies in these places, too.
If selected in the options, the R2 and L2 buttons, when tapped once, switches to the 
last weapon or item used.  Use this in a firefight if you run out of ammo.
 Hold R2 and L2 simultaneously while in First Person to tiptoe.  This is used when 
you are hiding behind something and facing it.  Also, press R2 or L2 separately to 
lean in those directions.
Weapons in blue are non-lethal weapons, the ones in red kill.  It’s your choice on 
which to use.
Use rations ONLY IF NEEDED!  If your health is lower than half in very easy, 2/5 in 
easy, 3/5 in normal, and 4/5 in hard, then use a ration, unless you are close to a 
boss that is easier for you. 
Remember: Boss battles give you full health.  
Codec numbers: for reference ONLY
Snake:
Otacon: 141.12
Otacon (save): 140.96
Raiden:
Colonel: 140.85
Rose (save): 140.96
Pliskin: 141.80
Stillman: 140.25
Emma: 141.52
Otacon: see Snake’s numbers
Tanker mission:
Weapons used:
Guns: M9 and USP
Grenades: Hand, Chaff, Stun
Other: magazines
	After the beautiful cutscene, get to know your basics.  Fire, run, roll (X 
while running) and just generally get used to the controls.  Collect all the dog 
tags off the guards, then go inside.  On normal thru Extreme, only one door is open, 
on the left side of the ship and at the ground level.  
	Once inside, assuming you are on easy or very easy, watch the guard’s 
shadow.  Jump out and collect his dog tags.  Go upstairs and listen to how to get 
past the cameras.  Slink past or drop a Chaff Grenade and move along.  
	Up the stairs, you’ll find Deck D.  Don’t go into the room to the far end of 
the area, yet.  Either crawl under the lasers, or if you have stealth, go through 
the kitchen (first door you see on the left of the screen) and walk in front of the 
camera.  Go up to the bridge and stock up on rations and ammo.  Go outside into the 
air and fight Olga Gurlukovitch.  
	To beat her, first shoot the light and straps on the tarp (right in front of 
you).  Then, shoot at her when she is hiding behind the small box and has a part of 
her showing.  On Extreme none of the first two things work, so the best thing to do 
is to crawl to the boxes with a crack between them and shoot her.  She will always 
have some part of her showing.  But be weary; Olga will also lob grenades at you.  
When you hear “Take this!” Wait until you hear the clink of the grenade and then run 
to another spot for a second, then run back.
	After defeating her, a CYPHER will fly past.  You get an ammo-less USP 
pistol and, after shaking her (hold square while having no weapons out and standing 
over her body) you get her dog tags.  Go to the middle of the bridge and go up the 
stairs.  Climb the ladder to the top of the COM tower and grab the Thermal Goggles.  
These let you see in the dark.  Climb down and go to the far right.  A guard will 
walk out and check the area; get his dog tags and dispose of him.  Grab the wet box.
	Go through the door into the bridge and grab the USP ammo.   Knock the guard 
on the other side of the sensors out, and then use the USP to shoot the small box 
next to the things that say “SEMTEX” when looked at in First Person.  You should 
hear the whirr of a machine shutting down, and the Infrared sensors are knocked 
out.  You can walk through them as you please.  Head into the room at the back of 
Deck D after moving the body to the kitchen.  This is the food storage room.  Grab 
box 1 and equip it.  Wait until the guard walks through the door and walks to the 
rack where some stuff is kept.  Don’t move until the blue cone in front of him is 
gone.  This means that he is stretching or asleep.  Run over to him and collect his 
dog tags, then leave.
	Go all the way down to the first floor, Deck B.  Dispose of this guard again 
and run to the right side of the hall.  Go down until you see a door and then enter.
	You are now in Deck A.  Wait until the guard passes and get his dog tags 
with the M9.  A guard is sleeping downstairs and will wake up if you fire the USP.  
Go to the right and go downstairs.  The sleeping guard is there and you need his dog 
tags.  The door here doesn’t work, so go upstairs and to the right this time.  
You’ll find a second staircase with a door that opens to the engine room at the 
bottom.  The door on the lower side of the screen is to the locker room with another 
guard.  Get his dog tags and leave (or check out the babe posters in the lockers, 
one on the farthest left locker and one in the 3rd far right lockers).
	Once in the engine room, go through the sliding door.  Collect this guard’s 
dog tags and then get him close to the rail, then shoot him.  You’ll get an amusing 
scene where the guard falls onto another guard’s head and knocks him out.  Walk 
through this area and go into the room on the farthest left (go the long way around 
to that floor to get 2 hand grenades).  You will hear mechanical whirring, and a 
guard will come out and say that he will finish his search of the small room on the 
port side.  Get right next to him, wait for him to finish his call, and get his dog 
tags.  Then, go to the third weird machine with the bullets on top and press 
triangle to climb on.  Look in First Person and press and hold R2 and L2 
simultaneously to do a tip toe maneuver.  Shoot the first control panel, then go on 
to the second, which is after the first set of lasers, which are now turned off.  It 
is next to a set of bombs, so fire carefully.  After the 2nd one is down, the 3rd 
one must be addressed.  Walk forward until you are close to the large box with 
SEMTEX attached to it.  The control panel is directly behind it.  Enter the holds.
	In the holds, there are 3 guards.  They are the last three that will have 
dog tags.  Equip the Thermal Goggles (if you have ‘em) and run down the holds.  When 
you see a guard, hide in the nearest area and press against the wall.  When he walks 
past, follow him or leave his tags behind, it’s up to you.  The next one, however, 
you have to get rid of. Use M9 only.  The next guard you have to get rid of, too.  
Knock him out and move on.
	Here, you get trapped fighting enemies like crazy.  Walk down the hall if 
you don’t need ammo or rations.  Otherwise, head into the first room you come 
across.  There is USP ammo and rations.  Go down the hall a little bit and get ready 
for heck.
	After the cutscene, walk up to the box and then duck.  Use the peek maneuver 
to shoot them without getting hit.  After you get rid of the initial 6 or 7, another 
3 come in straight.  Shoot them till they die.  After that, unequip all weapons.
	Once the Codec call is finished, climb down the ladders to the floor.  Walk 
up to the box that the projector is on.  Crawl past it and then stand up.  Once you 
get to the metal grates in the floor (the light gray holey pieces of floor), crawl 
again to avoid sound.  Walk to the door after you get past 2 metal grates.
	In the second part, walk to the first maintenance hatch (the door on the 
floor to the left of the room) and begin to crawl through.  Once you get to the part 
where an ammo clip falls onto the ground, wait until the shadow disappears and then 
continue.  Get up and go to the other side and get in the vent.  Crawl forward when 
you get to a fork in the vent.
	After you enter the room, find the small vent you can crawl through.  Crawl 
until you get to a room with a ladder.  Climb the ladder and get up to the balcony.  
Take a picture of the “MARINES” insignia, or, if you prefer, of Ocelot.  Slide down 
the pole by pressing triangle (from here on, triangle will be referred to as the 
action button).  Wall slide past the sleeping guard.  Get a picture of the front-
left between the box and the platform that the camera is standing on.  Get a picture 
of the front from the back of the room.  Get a front-right between the box and the 
wall on the left side.
	After you get all the pictures; go to the machine in the far right corner of 
the room.  Press the action button to turn it on.  After Otacon has all of the pics, 
the speech will wrap up.  Watch the cutscene and wait for the Plant mission  to 
start.

Plant Mission
Weapons used:
Guns: M9, M4, AKS-74u, SOCOM, PSG1, PSG1-T 
Explosives/Grenades: Hand, Stun, Chaff, RGB6, C4, and Claymores
Missiles: Stinger, Nikita
Other: Coolant, Book, Magazine, HF Blade, HF Blade (stun), and D. MIC
(Note: because of the length of the plant mission, each area will be broken down.)
	STRUT A DEEP SEA DOCK: Wait until the call is over, then dive back into the 
water to get thermal goggles.  After they are in your possession (you need them 
later on from easy thru extreme), go to the hatch.  You should hear some groaning 
when you open the door, like someone getting punched out.  Go forward and to the 
right.  
Once the call is through, go to the weird-looking box by the elevator and press the 
action button.  Enter your name, along with your birthdate and blood type and 
country of ancestry.  The radar appears.  On very easy, the radar stays on the 
entire time you are in the plant after the first node.  On the rest of the levels, 
you have to log in to the node.  
	When the guards begin to wake up, jump onto the boxes arranged in a platform-
type way.  Press against the box on top of the other boxes, so you are not seen.  
Stealth is key here.  Once the elevator is down, make sure there are no guards 
watching you.  Ride the elevator up and learn a shattering thought.
	STRUT A ROOF: Not much to do here, just go to the fence on the left of the 
elevator.  There should be a hole you can crawl through.  Walk to the door, then go 
down the steps.  
	STRUT A: Once you see the node, either knock (press up against a wall and 
press circle [now called the punch button]) and then flee the area, or kill him by 
snapping his neck (sneak up behind him, stop, then press square [now called the 
weapon button] without any weapons equipped as fast as you can.  You should see an 
animation of Raiden snapping the guard’s neck).  Walk through the door that says AB 
Connecting Bridge.
	AB BRIDGE: Nothing much here, you learn how to enter Hanging mode (press 
action button when near a waist high railing).   Get past these guards and move on.
	STRUT B: Walk until you see the cutscene.  Here you meet Pliskin (guess 
who?) and he gives you a SOCOM.  Get a handle on it, grab the suppressor (in very 
easy, right next to you) and get a move on.
	BC BRIDGE: Nothing here either.  Watch the cutscene and move on again.
	STRUT C: Walk up the hall (stopping in the bathrooms for some ammo if 
needed) then turn right.  Go in the door and get your first mission.
	BOMB LOCATIONS: Struts will be noted by letters (for very easy through 
normal modes.  Email me at the address at the bottom for hard and extreme details).  
C: above the right mirror in the women’s bathroom. D: 2nd floor, maintenance hatch 
farthest to the left. E: on Heliport, underneath Harrier landing gear(crouch by the 
wing and then spray).  F: Group of boxes only accessible by hanging.  A: Crawl under 
pipes on the right side of the room until you reach the red one.  Crawl forward, 
then sit up and spray on the bomb.  B:  Behind the open door in the room where you 
met Pliskin.
	STRUT C (again): Go to the room where Stillman was hiding.  Grab the Bomb 
Sensor 2 and book like heck to Strut A.
	STRUT A: Go to the roof, then ride the elevator down.
	STRUT A DEEP SEA DOCK: Go to the room with the pool and spray the sub’s 
underside (on very easy thru hard.  On extreme, the bomb is found above the cabinet 
on the left side of the pool).  Walk back to the elevator room and then fight 
Fortune.
	FORTUNE: Tough battle.  To win on all modes, run around in the back.  On 
extreme, use a flip to avoid the twin blasts.  When chunks of ceiling start to fall, 
the battle’s over.  The colonel will call and tell you that Fatman just contacted 
him directly.  You should have around 400 seconds for a few modes.
	STRUT E HELIPORT: The bomb is out in the open, but stock up on SOCOM 
bullets.  After you defuse the bomb, Fatman shows up.
	FATMAN: Easy battle.  To beat him, use two methods.  One: Find and shoot him 
till he falls and you can get a head shot in. Two: Hide under the bins and shoot 
Fatman in the head till he dies.  Before he dies, he sets off the single biggest 
bomb in the place.  To find it, drag his body out of the way.  He’s sitting on it!  
Defuse the bomb and Fatman’s legacy.
	STRUT F: Get the AK from the lower room, then grab the M4 in the room down 
the hall to the left.  Head to Shell 1 Core.
	SHELL 1 CORE: Here, put on your BDU and equip your AK.  Walk around among 
the guards and head to the elevator.  Push the button and wait.  Get on the elevator 
to B2.
	COMPUTER ROOM, SHELL 1 CORE: Here, grab the D. MIC and dog tags and leave.  
To lure guards away, use any number of methods--knocking works best, but throwing 
spent magazines works very well too.  Go up the elevator and to B1.
	B1, SHELL 1 CORE: Here, just grab the patrolling guard in a headlock (all 
weapons unequipped and press weapon button while still) and drag him to the thing 
next to the door.  Head into the room.
	CONFERENCE HALL: This is tough, as you can’t hold up or kill the guard.  You 
can’t knock him out either, or put him to sleep, as his snoring doesn’t allow you to 
talk to Ames.  Ames is a man with brown hair and no bald spots.  Talk to him, then 
listen in on the conversation between Ocelot and “King” to gather more information.  
After you talk to Ames, put on your BDU and AK fast.  When you leave the conference 
hall, avoid the guards on caution mode (Or blow 'em away).
	STRUT F (once again): Grab all the doors that you haven’t opened and find 
the PSG1 and PSG1-T (if you like to spare lives) and as much ammo as possible.  Head 
to Strut D and the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge.
	SHELL 1-2 BRIDGE: You have to find all 6, 8, 10, 12, or 14 sensors (Email me 
at the address at the bottom for the bomb locations on extreme or hard).  The 
locations for the sensors on easy are: One behind you, 2 on the bridge to the left 
side, 2 on either side of the opposite door, one on the far left side of the bridge, 
one behind the flag, and one on the CYPHER floating in the distance.  After you get 
all these, the sensors stop.  Then, you learn some shocking info.  Plus, a boss 
battle, YAY!!
        Note--as I am tired of answering emails about the extreme mode sensors, here 
they are, in addition to the rest: one in the group of pigeons to the right of the 
Shell 2 door, one on the lower section of the shell 1-2 connecting bridge, one on 
the right side of the shell 1 side.
	HARRIER: Tough battle for the inexperienced.  To win, fight fast with the 
Stingers.  To avoid the missile barrage, go down the steps about four steps, crouch 
and wait. The barrage is signaled by the Harrier flying under the bridge.  To avoid 
the machine gun (which is signaled by the Harrier flying around Strut L), perform 
the same tactic.  Be weary on hard and extreme, however, the Harrier will fly to 
your spot, so be careful.  To avoid the Big missile (signaled by flying far away and 
saying “I’ll let you go out in style!”), flip over the rails and hide behind the far 
box on the second floor.  Persist and you shall win.
	SHELLS 1-2 BRIDGE: Flip over the rail on your right and hold R2 down to 
shimmy along.  Once you reach the pipe, crawl over carefully.  Once you get on to 
the bridge type thing on the perimeter, run quickly across as there are two falling 
platforms.  Flip onto the lower ledge, using First Person if you need to.  Once you 
get down there, two guards show up.  Hit them with a PSG1 or other weapon bullet to 
get them, then go along, sliding past on once place and hanging past another.
	STRUT L PERIMETER: If you have Stealth, use it.  Run past the guards with it 
on.  If not, crawl along as fast as possible.  You will probably die once, but you 
come back.  Wall slide past the area just past the windows.  Then run to the far 
side of this bridge and get rid of all the GUNCYPHERS.  Flip over the ledge and walk 
to the break in the bridge.  Run and flip as close to the edge as possible.  Then, 
shimmy past the second hole while hanging.
	SHELL 2 CORE: Listen to Olga, then go to the elevator.  Go downstairs.  Swim 
all the way down the hall you are in to grab the Nikita missiles and then go back.  
Once on the top floor, go to a small room with two gun cameras.  Kill them with a 
gun or Stinger.    Jump onto the boxes and then fire a Nikita into the vent.  Follow 
the path to the prez’s room.  Once you hit that big box in the corner, run over the 
electric floor.  Go in, get the Lv4 key and then go downstairs again.
	B1 SHELL 2 CORE: Swim to the first door on your right.  Go all the way down, 
then swim some more.  Go down the first door on you left and then down the center to 
reach a long hall.  Go up for air where you see a blue spot on the floor.  Go down 
again, then open the door.  Navigate the debris, then go to the room with Vamp.
	VAMP: HARD battle.  To win on any mode except Extreme, shoot him when he 
lands on the ground opposite of you then kneels.  On Extreme, if he gets into the 
water twice, you’re dead.  To kill him, run to the center of the area (not the water 
but in front of it), and let loose with a Stinger attack.  DON’T STOP!!  When he 
dives under, shoot two missiles at him and then wait.  When he comes up onto the 
high area, wait until he starts his spin attack, get under the bar he’s on, and when 
he stops, hit him 3 times.  Don’t fall in the water on any mode or it’s nighty-night 
Raiden.
	VAMP ROOM: Swim to the room Emma is in.  To get there, go down the stairs 
then turn.  Swim down the hall and turn into the first door on your left.  Emma’s in 
the middle locker.  Talk to her, then swim back.
	VAMP ROOM (again): Stop here and wait if you ran into any mines.  Emma’s 
health goes up when you wait.  Drag her along and go out the door.  Swim back 
through all the stuff and stop for air a lot.  Once you are back to the elevator 
area, you have two choices to get Emma on the elevator. One: Spray all the bugs with 
the Coolant, or Two: Shoot Emma with the M9.
	SHELL 1 CORE 1F: Take out every guard you see.  Drag Emma along some more 
and a guard might pop out of the elevator. Hide her and bodies in the room where the 
gun cameras were.  Get rid of all the rest of the guards, then go outside with Emma.
	KL BRIDGE: Get rid of the GUNCYPHERS and the sole guard.  Put out the fire 
with the Coolant spray and drag Emma to Strut L.  Before you get there, Emma gives 
you card five.
	STRUT L: Knock out all the guards and get out of there.  Open the hatch door 
and the door to the Oil Fence.
	STRUT L OIL FENCE: This is a pain.  If you stink at sniping, get better good 
now, ’cuz this is going to take all your skill (or, you could use the stinger 
missles).  After a few minutes, Snake will call and tell you he’s ready to help.  If 
you need it, call him.  If you are any mode except very easy, you will encounter 
claymores.  Take them out first, followed by the guards and then the GUNCYPHERS.  
Once she makes it past the second strut, another battle ensues.
	VAMP (sniper battle): Here, you can’t be damaged.  Emma can.  Hit Vamp in 
the head about 5 times on extreme, 4 on hard, 3 on normal, 2 on easy, and once on 
very easy and this battle is over.   After the battle, you will automatically be at 
Strut E.
	 STRUT E: From here, go to Shell 1 core.  Get the digital camera if you need 
it.
 	SHELL 1 CORE: Go to the elevator.  Then let the tears flow.  After this 
lengthy sequence, you will find yourself on Ocelot’s torture rack.  Don’t worry, 
only some easy torture.  Jam on the action button to keep your breath.
	ARSENAL GEAR: After the codec call with “Mr. X” (more appropriately, Ms. X), 
you will be punched and freed.  Run around naked, using all the stealth tactics you 
have.  All you can do is punch and roll.  Run through the Jejunum as fast as you can 
without being caught.
	ASCENDING COLON: Answer all the strange codec calls and get near the door at 
the far end of the hall to get an OPTIONAL call from Rose, so answer all calls.  
After this call, Snake shows up, all dressed up with somewhere to go.  He gives you 
your gear, along with full Stingers for the battle at the end.  You also get a 
sword, called the HF blade.  Listen to Snake’s explanation of the controls.  Get the 
hang of the sword, then move on.  
	SIGMOID COLON: Here, a CYPHER spots you and calls for reinforcements.  Equip 
you favorite weapons, and get ready for the ride.  Kill all the guards to move on.  
On extreme, You get your rations here, and you can only carry two.  
	ILLEUM: In this circular arena, more guards fall from the sky.  Kill them 
and move on, but watch out for the “FISSION MAILED” warning.  That has no truth and 
is only there to distract you.
	RECTUM: Introducing Metal Gear RAY!  There are 25 total RAYS here, and you 
have to fight a few.  I haven’t beat it on extreme, so I don’t know how many you 
have to fight.  After you get the cutscene, you will be tortured again, and this is 
harder.  Then a really long string of cutscenes and a codec call start before you 
can fight Solidus.
	FEDERAL HALL: Here it is, the Solidus battle!  This is tough if you bite 
with the sword.  If you do, unequip it.  Use your fists.  After you deplete his 
health halfway, he will get rid of his Doc Oc tentacles and run streaks around you.  
When he gets close, he’ll do an elbow.  Then he will fly into a special.  When it 
stops, then you can attack.  When you kill him, rejoice!  The game is won!  You will 
get the DG camera if you grabbed it, Extreme mode, and a Scenario select.
	THANKS AND NOTES: Thanks to me, my brother and me again.  I wrote this off 
the top of my head with my brother’s help.  If you want any help info or anything 
else, just email me at [email protected].  Hope my guide was a help.
	Hints! Yes Hints!! You get special items if you get enough dog tags 
throughout the game. 
THE TANKER HAS:
Bandana: Infinite bullets but reload
Stealth: Invisibility
THE PLANT HAS:
Sp. wig: Same as bandana.
Stealth: Same as above
Wig B: Infinite Grip
Wig A: Infinite O2 underwater
	OTHER STUFF: Use Thermal goggles (obtained underwater in the area you first 
enter, in the conference hall [with the hostages] on the stand with the flag, and in 
the farthest locker in the room where Emma is) to see collapsing floors.  They 
generate more heat than regular flooring, and so they show up as deep red.
	Bored with stiffs?  When you get the digital camera, you can have some 
serious fun.  To set up a good shot, you’ll need infinite ammo and the DG camera.  
Take out your M9 and knock out a guard from under something.  This works best in the 
tanker mission while under a sub.  Shoot the guard, line him up so you can see his 
face, and pump him full of M9 bullets.  Then whip out the ‘ol digital camera and 
snap away!
	To get some funny reactions out of  Otacon at the picture station, take pics 
of the following things:
Olga after the battle
Locker babes
Pics of Ocelot or a ghost outline of Hideo Kojima
Lots of pics of the Raven toy 
Lots of Pics of the Commandant
	To get a ghost outline of Hideo Kojima, go to the second hold and press the 
action button by the two projectors.  The picture will switch.  Take a picture of 
the commandant while he speaks on the screen on the right.  Otacon freaks when he 
gets this one!
	Can’t find the Digital Camera?  It is in the room with a LV5 card key in 
Strut E.  Like to open your Christmas presents early, do ya?  Want it now, you say?  
Ok, but you need Box 5.
	Tired of walking around like a dimwit?  Take the easy way, travel by box!  
To do this, select a box, 1-5, and get on the platform at the bottom of the room in 
Strut E.  
Get in a box and wait.  The belt slows down and then stops.  Get on and ride to 
where you want to go!
Box 1 takes you to Strut C, Box 2 takes you to Strut B, Box 3 takes you to Strut A, 
Box 4 takes you to Strut F, I believe, and Box 5 takes you to Strut E, the Digital 
Camera room.  Enjoy your trip!

If you can think of anything that should be added to my guide, email me.