The binoculars, or scope, are long-range, lightweight scouting devices.

Contents 1 Use by Big Boss 1.1 Operation Snake Eater 1.2 San Hieronymo Takeover 1.3 Peace Walker Incident 2 Use by Solid Snake and Raiden 2.1 Outer Heaven Uprising 2.2 Zanzibar Land Disturbance 2.3 Shadow Moses Incident 2.4 The Manhattan Incident 3 Behind the scenes 3.1 2D games 3.2 3D games

Use by Big Boss Edit

Operation Snake EaterEdit

See Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater

Naked Snake used binoculars during the Virtuous Mission as well as Operation Snake Eater, primarily to scout ahead for enemies and possible things to exploit on the enemy. These binoculars were designed by Sigint for use in the U.S. military, being strong, waterproof, and filled with nitrogen gas to prevent the lens from fogging. The eyepiece, objective lenses, and prism were coated to reduce glare and could work fairly well in dark places. The binoculars weighed 1.0kg (2.2 lbs).

San Hieronymo TakeoverEdit

Main Article

During the San Hieronymo Takeover in November 1970, Big Boss procured some binoculars from the prison. Several of the Soviet officers also used binoculars, presumably to scan for intruders or survey the area.

Peace Walker IncidentEdit

Main Article

During the Peace Walker Incident in 1974, the Militaires Sans Frontières utilized binoculars for presumably scouting ahead and surveying the area during missions.

Use by Solid Snake and Raiden Edit

During FOXHOUND's history as a U.S. Army infiltration unit, the FOXHOUND unit utilized specially developed binoculars that were derived from NASA technology that was originally intended for planetary exploration, although their heavy mass meant that they rarely ever used them during missions.

Outer Heaven UprisingEdit

Main Article

Solid Snake, during his mission into Outer Heaven during the Outer Heaven Uprising, made use of binoculars. The Outer Heaven personnel presumably used these for scouting purposes.

Zanzibar Land DisturbanceEdit

Main Article

Solid Snake managed to procure the NIKOS F500 brand of binoculars and use them during his mission into Zanzibar Land during the Zanzibar Land Disturbance. The Zanzibar Land soldiers presumably used them for similar purposes.

Shadow Moses IncidentEdit

Main Article

Solid Snake utilized binoculars during his mission on Shadow Moses Island. They were also the only equipment that Snake was allowed to carry onto Shadow Moses to quell the situation on the island, due to his official mission also being to investigate whether the Sons of Big Boss terrorist group has the capacity to launch a nuclear strike.

The Manhattan IncidentEdit

See the Tanker Incident and the Big Shell Incident

Raiden utilized binoculars during his mission on the Big Shell. These binoculars were a high-end military model with auto-focus and zoom features.

Behind the scenesEdit

Binoculars are often among the player's starting inventory throughout much of the Metal Gear series.

2D gamesEdit

In both Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, the Binoculars allow Solid Snake to see one screen ahead in any direction adjacent to his current location. They prove useful in avoiding enemy soldiers when progressing to the next screen, to which the player is initially blind. For obvious reasons, the Binoculars cannot be used in enclosed rooms that occupy one game screen.

"Allow you to see the one screen up, down, left, or right of your present location. Cannot be used indoors."

— Binoculars description in Metal Gear

"Allow you to see one screen up, down, left, or right of your present location."

— Binoculars description in Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake

3D gamesEdit

The Scope in Metal Gear Solid allows for first person viewing and control. Pressing the Punch button zooms in, and the Weapon button zooms out electronically. The Scope returns in the Plant Chapter of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, for use by Raiden. It could also be used by Solid Snake in MGS2's Trial Edition, but this was removed from the final version's Tanker Chapter, and its functions assigned to the Camera instead. The Codec conversation relating to it during the Tanker Chapter was nonetheless included in dummied data in the final version.

"High-magnification military binoculars. Useful for observing distant targets.
Cannot be used when a weapon is equipped."

— Binoculars description in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

Binoculars are used by Naked Snake in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. The same type is also available in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

"Military binoculars for long-distance surveillance and scouting. Equip to use. Zoom can be adjusted. Cannot be used with weapons."

— Binoculars description in Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Instead of using binoculars in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Solid Snake uses the Solid Eye.

The zoom function of the cameras and sniper rifles can be used as substitutes for binoculars.

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