Graniny Gorki (Russian: Гранины Горки, "Granin's Hills"), also known as the OKB-812 Design Bureau and the Granin Design Bureau, was a research facility located in Tselinoyarsk, USSR, headed by Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin.
During the 1960s, the research facility was protected by electrified fences, with attack dogs stationed near the entrance, with a wall further guarding the premises. Inside the research facility grounds are the facility itself, an armory, and a sealed off building. The research facility itself was approximately two stories tall, with the first floor and second floor containing a courtyard, libraries, store rooms (one of which to store provisions such as rations), and a restroom. The basement of the facility was also split into two: the western portion of the basement was primarily composed of Granin's main office, various offices for the scientists, a guard room, and a break room; the eastern section of the basement housed a prison facility, due to Graniny Gorki originally being designed as a prison instead of a lab. Trucks often stop at this location in order to deliver supplies. Presumably, it also was involved with the development of various medical supplies.[1]
The south area of the lab was littered with various traps, and also contained some highly viscous swamp puddles.
History[]
Soviet era[]
Graniny Gorki was originally developed to be a prison,[2] but at some point was converted into a lab for Granin's Design Bureau via Volgin's use of the Philosophers' Legacy as well as his support from Leonid Brezhnev and his allies in their coup against then-Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev.[3] The cells on the eastern section of the research facility's basement were what remained of the original plans.[2] The cells are put to use as isolation cells to imprison scientists who are caught trying to escape the premises.[4] However, the guard manning the isolation cells was incompetent in his job, resulting in several scientists leaving the prison.[5] Trucks also stopped by the lab, presumably to transport and deliver various supplies and trucks. An armory was also located to the northeast in the inner walls of the facility.
A dead scientist impaled on a spiked log, south of the lab.
The forested area to the south of the lab was used as a testing ground for tactical research. Traps were planted throughout the area to test out effective and economical tactics for those countries with limited funds and industrial technology, among which the Soviet Union was helping to lead Communist revolutions.[6] It was speculated that the traps were also planted within the forest to prevent scientists from escaping from the lab.[7]
The rabbits that inhabited Graniny Gorki were immune to the Brazilian wandering spider's venom, as they were often used by The Fear to test his poison bolts.[8]
Operation Snake Eater[]
- See also: Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater
Naked Snake infiltrates the Granin Design Bureau.
Naked Snake traveled to the design bureau in order to rescue Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, during Operation Snake Eater. While making his way in nightfall to the bureau, he briefly stumbled upon a deceased scientist on one of the traps, and reported it to Zero. Upon arrival at the main office of Granin, Snake instead learned from Granin that Sokolov had been relocated to Groznyj Grad. Because Granin was drunk at the time and bitter over being passed over in favor of Sokolov's work, he gave Snake a key which allowed him to open a door in the warehouse leading to the mountains. He also told Snake about his plans for Metal Gear, describing it as the "missing link" between infantry and artillery, and showed him some of his designs, and also alluded to the Philosopher's Legacy. Snake, upon leaving the facility, also ended up fighting another member of the Cobra Unit: The Fear, in the forests south of the research facility.
Both Graniny Gorki and Groznyj Grad were later destroyed by The Boss, using a Davy Crockett miniature nuclear shell.[9]
Behind the scenes[]
Graniny Gorki is a location in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that spans several maps. Because EVA is in Volgin's company during this time and thus has no access to her radio, EVA cannot be contacted for any information during the first trek through the region. Instead, the player has to backtrack to Graniny Gorki to gain any information on the region after using the punch card Granin supplied to Snake (when EVA resumes contact). When doing so, EVA will remind Snake to go towards the mountains.
Originally, Granin's office was supposed to have a window, with Granin looking outside it when he says "it is already dawn," in the cutscene where he met Snake. It was changed to him looking at a clock and deducing that it was already dawn from the time on the clock in the final version.
Graniny Gorki Lab Interior as it appeared in Metal Gear Online.
Graniny Gorki Lab made a reappearance as a playable map in the first version of Metal Gear Online, included in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
Graniny Gorki Lab makes an appearance in the fifth mission of the non-canon minigame Snake vs. Monkey, Gone with the Apes. If the player attempts to access the basement, there will be wooden signs planted near the stairwells leading to the basement. During some matches, the player can find two painting with a red-robed woman, one, near a window on one of the upper floors, lying prostrate with grieving followers, and another near stairs featuring the same woman standing amongst kneeling worshippers. Both paintings are a reference to God, one of the main antagonists for the series Silent Hill, which like the Metal Gear series is made by Konami. Specifically, the latter utilized the artwork from the Salvation myth painting and the former utilized the Promise myth painting. Similarly, there is also another painting next to the former God painting that featured a woman holding an infant, a reference to Alessa Gillespie from the same franchise.
Walkthrough[]
Graniny Gorki South.
Upon entering the area, drop to the ground and crawl to the left, following the electric fence and keeping an eye on the extremely variable camo index. After making it through the fence, go to the far right (be careful - there are guards and dogs). Upon reaching the other side, the player will see a door on the east of the wall - knock on the wall to the door's right and then hide behind the boxes to the door's left. A guard will come out of the door. Get past him and go through.
On the other side, follow the edge of the small building round, and the player will see a side door to the lab, just to the right of the main door. Get to the door while crawing. The player can also take a slight detour to the right of the door, where there is a storage hut.
Graniny Gorki exterior.
An alternate entrance way bypasses all the guards, but also all possibilities for item/weapon acquisition. Upon reaching the far left, wait for the guard to turn away and then crawl fast through the hole in the fence towards the grass by the wall, not stopping once. Once there, crawl into the grass and through the tiny hole in the wall. On the other side, dispatch the two guards nearest to the player any way to want. Crawl to the grass on the left of the building and go through the next hole in the wall, which will take the player to the lab.
An alternative entrance, which works only once within the inner walls, is to don the scientist outfit early. If a guard finds the player, an alert will not be triggered, but they will simply escort the player back to the lab, and deposit them in a cell. This is the quickest way in by far.
Graniny Gorki interior.
Once inside, don the Scientist outfit. The player should have no problem avoiding an Alert as long as they don't let the other scientists (who recognize their own) see them for too long. Obviously, acting out-of-character (e.g. crawling, punching, rolling) will also give the player away to the guards.
Leave the same way. As long as the player has good camouflage, one should have no problem at a crawl.
Boss: The Fear[]
The Fear uses Stealth Camouflage to hide while fighting. Thermal Goggles can be used to see him. It is also possible to watch from behind a tree to see where arrows are coming from. Once The Fear takes some damage his camouflage will malfunction making it easier to see him. The easiest way to defeat The Fear is to simply not leaving the starting position. Try and predict where The Fear will jump to next, and the player should be able to shoot him when he pauses to dart the player.
The Fear
Although the battle essentially stops when his stamina goes below 50%, he will quickly replenish it with food, and will refill it entirely if not interrupted. However, this strength is also a weakness, and one can exploit his hunger by throwing poison or rotten food out which he will go for. This will not only inflict a small amount of stamina damage but also make him weak, slow-moving and an easy target, an effect that lasts until he consumes ordinary food. The area is littered with poisonous wildlife, most notably the Poison Dart Frogs almost directly south of the starting location, and the mushrooms just to the north-east, and so if one can get into a rhythm the second half of the battle can be quite simple.
The reward for a stamina kill is the spider camouflage. It provides one of the best all-round camo indexes in the game, but stamina will drain at an alarming rate when wearing it.
Hints & tips[]
- Graniny Gorki Lab is the first area in which officers and scientists are encountered.
- The Fly camouflage can be found in the upstairs restroom.
- Miniatures of Jehuty from Zone of the Enders, Metal Gear RAY, and Metal Gear REX can be seen in Granin's office.
- On the second floor of the Graniny Gorki Lab, in the desk room on the west side of the wall, the same paintings from the church in Silent Hill 3 can be seen, also there is a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly with Metal Gear Solid 3 on the cover.
- There are five Kerotans: one outside the walls (in a tree at the far end of the area), one inside the walls (in the window of one of the sheds), one on the lab's first floor (on top of the lockers opposite the library door), one in the lab's East basement (the westernmost jail cell) and one in the lab's West basement (on the table in the break room between the alarm panel and the lockers).
Equipment[]
Graniny Gorki South[]
Note: Snake can only pick up these items during the first visit to the area
- Life Medicine
- Instant noodles
- Book
Key A
Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Outside Wall[]
- Mk22 suppressor
- M1911A1 suppressor
Graniny Gorki Lab Exterior: Inside Walls[]
- Mk22 ammo
- M1911A1 ammo
- SVD ammo
- M37 ammo
- AK-47 ammo
- Claymore
- Smoke grenades
- XM16E1
- TNT
Graniny Gorki Lab 1F[]
- Serum
- Suture
- Ointment
- Bandage
- Calorie Mate
- Instant noodles x2
- Book
- Spatsa (Mushroom F)
- SP/Mk22
- Fly camouflage
- Oyama facepaint
Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West[]
- Battery
- XM16E1 suppressor
- Cigarette gas spray
- Handkerchief
Graniny Gorki Lab B1 East[]
- Antidote
- Life medicine
Graniny Gorki South (The Fear battle)[]
- XM16E1 bullets x80
- Grenades
- Mk22 bullets x24
- AK-47 bullets x120
- M37 bullets
- Spider camouflage (non-lethal kill only)
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Gallery[]
Notes and references[]
- ^ Medicinal plants could be found within one of the storerooms on the first floor, near the eastern section.
- ^ a b Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
This is revealed if Snake interrogates a guard in a certain part of Graniny Gorki's outside walls ("This facility... It used to be a cell" [the correct translation is "It used to be a prison"]). - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Yevgeny Borisovitch Volgin: With this money [the Philosophers' Legacy] and the support of Brezhnev and his allies I built this fortress of Groznyj Grad and Granin's research facility. - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Implied if the player dons the Scientist disguise early and is caught by a GRU soldier, and confirmed when interrogating one of the soldiers. ("Trying to escape... You'll get put in an isolation cell.") - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Implied when interrogating one of the soldiers at Graniny Gorki's basement's eastern section ("The isolation cell guard... What an idiot") - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Sigint deduces the traps' purpose in a radio conversation with Naked Snake. - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Zero speculates on the traps' purpose in a radio conversation with Naked Snake, after the latter discovers a scientist impaled on a spiked pendulum. - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (2004).
Para-Medic informs Naked Snake of the rabbits' immunity in a radio conversation. - ^ Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Kojima Productions (2004).
Ocelot: Yes. Groznyj Grad and the Granin research facility have both been wiped out without a trace. I understand, sir. But they were necessary sacrifices.