Guard
From the Metal Gear Wiki
Guard: The Soldier that makes up the majority of enemies in a Metal Gear Game. Their job is typically to patrol an area to make sure no intruders try to infiltrate the facility. The typical guard is usually armed with an assault rifle or carbine (AK-47, AKS-74U, M4A1, FAMAS etc.) as a primary weapon and a pistol (Makarov PM, Makarov PMM, SOCOM, Beretta M92FS, etc.) as secondary weapon. In MGS3, guards are equipped with knives in addition to their primary and secondary weapons. Interestingly, all guards wear a balaclava to conceal their faces.
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[edit] Alerts
You can tell if a guard has seen Snake as their eyes will flash and an exclamation point will appear over their heads. They will typically fire a few rounds into Snake and hide around a corner and then radio in an alert. This disables the soliton radar and calls in an attack team.
[edit] Calling off an alert
Alerts will be called off if the Guard who called it disappears.
[edit] Attack team
This is a group of soldiers that can be equipped with riot shields, shotguns and assault rifles. when an alert is started an attack team is called into the area where Snake was last seen. They will methodically search the area looking for snake and even opening lockers, opening up cardboard boxes along the way and checking ducts. Attack teams also have body armour which makes them more tougher to stand against standard gunfire. Like the normal guards, they are still disposable by head shots or taking out both their arms or legs. Attack teams do not carry dog-tags. Along with that, they don't carry any items for the player to steal and holding them up is definitely not recommended as they tend to knock the player with their own weapon just after being told to put their hands up.
During Evasion Mode, attack teams also utilize stun grenades just before entering a room where the player was last seen. If the player is engaged in a long-term fight with the attack team, it is recommended to escape them as soon as possible as the attack teams will constantly appear to fight until the player is either dead or escaped. In Metal Gear Solid 2, the attack teams also utilize different radios compared to the regular guards as they can be seen communicating with a speaker in their helmets.
[edit] Communication
Guards communicate using two way radio equipment. There are certain guards that report back every so often so killing or knocking out these guards will eventually cause a caution when the guard does not report in. If a body gets discovered then the caution mode will be activated though this depends on how the guard was knocked out. If the guard was tranquilized, then he would have no memory of what happened and will assume patrolling though if the guard has come into contact with the player and knocked out during the process, they will often call in for back-up and a Caution Mode is set. Their radios can also be destroyed to prevent them from calling help though this is not always successful because if a guard spots the player and finds his radio broken, he'll make a run for it to get out of the area and then, Alert mode is triggered. Attack teams have their own radio as well though they cannot be destroyed as they are seemingly attached to their helmets.
[edit] Killing
With a handgun there are four ways to kill a guard quickly.
- shooting them in the head.
- shooting them in the heart. (removed from MGS3 and MGS:PO)
- shooting them in the groin (as well as the bottom). (removed from MGS:PO)
- shooting out both knees.
- shooting out both arms.
This is the best way to kill guards and conserve ammo. When killed (or knocked out), it is recommended that the player should hide the bodies if he wishes not to have security in a higher level during a time. Such places to hide guards are lockers and other places not checked by guards. This is especially effective if the guard is in regular contact with others as if his body is nowhere to be found, the attack team sent to investigate will then report that they can't find him and leave the scene.
[edit] Hold Up
If you can get close to a guard without them seeing you then by aiming your gun at them you can hold them up. Snake will say "Freeze!" and the guard will put his hands in the air. you can convince them to drop items by aiming at their head or groin. However, at certain times the guard will refuse to drop items and to make them do so, shooting them in the arm or leg is the key. Care is also recommended when holding up a guard as the guard would often take advantage of any opportunity to call reinforcements such such as turning away for a long time, unequipped your weapon, firing a empty gun at him etc.
[edit] Knocking Out
There are two ways to knock out a guard. They can be tranquillised which causes them to fall asleep or they can be stunned. They can be stunned by attacking them, through the use of stun grenade or by shooting the exclamation mark when they see Snake.
It is important to know that when a guard is stunned a stars will circle their head. These stars drop off one by one and when there are none left the guard will regain consciousness. Any guard that finds an unconscious guard will kick them until they wake up. The way how the guard reacts after woken depends on the situation before he was knocked out. If a guard is knocked out by physical means, they will often call in a attack team and proceed to Caution Mode though if tranquillized, will have no idea what happened before and continue on with their patrol as if nothing happened.
[edit] Distractions
Guards can be fooled into looking in the wrong places. Gun magazines can be thrown at a wall making a noise for the guard to investigate. Guards get engrossed in books so placing one in their path allows you to sneak past. shooting out fire extinguishers or using a smoke grenade can be used to create a smoke screen to escape in. The coolant spray can also be used like this however since it only works while aimed at the guard it has limited effectiveness.
