Metal Gear Solid 2 secrets

This article list the secrets in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Unlockables

Alternate Title Screen

Complete the game once to get a new blue screen with Raiden in the background. To change back to the red one with Solid Snake, go back to the title screen when the opening demo plays.

Camera

See Camera

Once the player completes the game, save it. When the player starts a new game they should have it in their inventory.

Grip Levels

To unlock grip level 2, do 100 pull ups. To unlock grip level 3, first obtain grip level 2, and then do 100 more pull ups. In order to get the grip higher faster without doing pull ups, drop from a railing and grab onto another railing ten times. Doing 100 pull ups after unlocking grip level 3 will prompt the player's contact to tell them to move on with the mission.

Abilities

	Unlockable	How to unlock
Tanker	Bandana (infinite ammo for Snake)	Complete the "Tanker" portion of the game with at least 46 dog tags total.
	Stealth Camo (Snake)	Complete the "Tanker" portion of the game with at least 76 dog tags total.
Plant	Brown Wig (infinite ammo for Raiden)	Complete the "Plant" portion of the game with at least 73 dog tags total.
	Stealth Camo #2 (Raiden)	Complete the "Plant" portion of the game with at least 121 dog tags total.
	Orange Wig (infinite grip gauge)	Complete the "Plant" portion of the game with at least 170 dog tags total.
	Blue Wig (infinite O2 gauge)	Complete the "Plant" portion of the game with at least 218 dog tags total.
	Shaver	Grip Raiden over behind the caged fence at the beginning of the "Plant" chapter on the Hard or Extreme difficulty. Raiden will then give it to Pliskin in Strut B. When regrouping with Snake in Arsenal Gear, he will appear clean shaven.

Easter Eggs

Title Screen

• If the player presses L2 at the title screen, the screen will flash and they will hear some thunder. For the PlayStation Vita version of Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection, the player has to touch the touchscreen instead.
• Tilting the right analog stick in any direction will cause the background to scroll and change colors.

Photos

Photos can be taken throughout the Tanker chapter. Certain photos will get a different response from Otacon when they're uploaded:

• A photo of one of the female posters will cause Otacon to blush and say he'll make a back up of it. If a photo of Olga Gurlukovich's crotch or breasts is taken, the same thing will happen.
• If the player keeps the photo of Sergei Gurlukovich, Otacon will mention that he is surprised that Sergei is involved.
• A photo of Scott Dolph will prompt Otacon to ask Snake if he's a fan. A second photo will have Otacon say that he'll make a panel to hang over Snake's bed since he seems to like him so much. A third photo will cause an annoyed Otacon to angrily ask Snake to stop sending him photos of him.
• A photo of either the poster of the male chest or the Vulcan Raven action figure will prompt Otacon to make vague comments about Snake's sexuality.
• A photo of Olga will have Otacon comment on how weird it is for Snake to take a picture of her considering that they had fought.
• A photo of the two posters on the lockers, next to the infrared sensors in the engine room, will cause Otacon to burst out into laughter and say he'll make a back up.
• A photo of either Hideo Kojima's ghost (taking a picture of the second projection screen in Hold 2) or Revolver Ocelot standing behind Metal Gear RAY will scare Otacon, playing into his fear of ghosts. Uploading both will have him chastize Snake for continuing to upload creepy photos after seeing the second one.
• A photo of a Marine in his underwear will cause Otacon to burst into laughter.

Pentazemin

The pentazemin found in the Tanker chapter is not needed due to the lack of sniper rifles on the ship. However, this does not mean it is without purpose. Calling Otacon after picking it up will prompt him to say that it relieves nausea from sea sickness. After this call, if the player takes the pentazemin and calls Otacon back, Snake will claim that his seasickness is gone, causing Otacon to mock Snake, saying that he is naive for falling for the Placebo Effect. Later on in the Plant chapter, if the player picks up pentazemin again and calls Snake, he will explicitly state that it "does not cure seasickness". When Raiden asks him about what he means Snake says that "sometimes faith can overcome medical science." He'll then tell Raiden to forget about it.

Directional Microphone

Once the player has acquired the directional microphone, several conversations and Easter eggs are unlocked. These are:

• If the player continuously asks different hostages if they are Ames without success, Raiden will become increasingly irritated with them.
• Pointing the directional microphone at the old female hostage will prompt her to urinate and shake in fear. Her heartbeat will also dramatically increase.
• During the cutscene between Solidus Snake, Ocelot, and Olga where Raiden must use the directional microphone to listen in, if the directional microphone is pointed the door to the far left side, the player can hear Johnny Sasaki complaining about his diarrhea.
• While at the Strut L Oil Fence, if the player points the microphone at Emma Emmerich at any point, they will hear what she thinks about the situation.
• When Emma gets to the first structure, the player can hear what she thinks about Raiden. If the player calls her after hearing this, there will be a humorous conversation between Raiden and Emma in which Raiden will retort about his hair.
• If the player uses the directional microphone when Emma gets to the second structure, they will hear her being held-up by a guard. This will lead to a conversation between Emma and the guard who turns out to be Johnny.
• If the player points the directional microphone at Snake, they will hear what he thinks about Emma.

Marine Commandant's Subtle References

During the Tanker chapter, when in the holds where the Marines are, after the 1:30 mark for time left to complete the task of getting the photos, the Marine Commandant subtly references the existence of the Patriots and talks about President George Sears' forced resignation as well as his accomplishments.

Marine Drops Magazine

In Hold 2, if the player decides to take the vents over to the exit, the soldier will sometimes drop a magazine in the vent shortly before the player exits the first crawlspace area, with the soldier then remarking "Ah... forget about it...." after initially reacting to it being dropped.

Note that if Snake crawls under the grate when the Marine drops the magazine, he will be spotted and a Game Over sequence will begin.

Rotten Ration

During the Tanker chapter, the soldier patrolling the stairs to the engine room on Deck-A (Crew's Lounge) will have flies all around him. If a body check is performed, he will drop a rotten ration which is the source of the flies. Picking up the ration will cause the flies to follow Snake around, which can give his position away to the enemy. This ration is not present on European Extreme due to the lack of rations on that difficulty. Therefore, on European Extreme, the flies will only disappear when the soldier is killed.

Happy Birthday!

When logging into the first node in the Plant chapter, the player is given the chance to input their name, birthday, blood type and nationality. If the player's birthday is the same date as their PlayStation 2's internal clock, they'll be greeted by a "Happy Birthday!" message with a matching birthday cake.

Similarly, if the player is holding a soldier's dog tag and they highlight it showing their name, underneath it will display "Happy Birthday!" if the internal clock matches up with that soldier's birthdate.

Staff Dog Tags

At the first node or Special Mission name entry, enter the name as one of the game staff. It will automatically put in their blood type, birthday, sex, and nationality.

• Known names:
  • Hideo Kojima
  • Yoji Shinkawa
  • So Toyota
  • Ken Ogasawara
  • Ikuya Nakamura
  • Mineshi Kimura
  • Kunio Takabe
  • Rick Naylor
  • Jason Enos
  • Chris Kramer

Camera Control

During a cutscene, the player can press R1 or the right shoulder trigger to zoom in, and use the right analog stick to move the camera around.

Moai Statue

As with all Konami games, a Moai statue can be seen somewhere in the game. They can be seen in the following locations:

• In the vents of Shell 2, using the Nikita.
• Among the scaffolding above the pool in Strut D.
• Strut E, in the room with the Digital Camera, behind the northernmost boxes.
• Underneath the south-western computer desk in B2 of Shell 1.
• In the far corner of the small room behind the windows of Strut L.
• In the locker next to where Emma is hiding in the Shell 2 basement (this locker can only be opened on Extreme). There is a Claymore mine set inside the locker that will kill the player instantly if they don't destroy it or pick it up, so don't walk into the locker).

Lift Stuck

Placing an enemy soldier's body within the elevator of either the Shell 1 or Shell 2 Core, as well as the freight elevator in Strut A, will cause it to become inoperable.

Kiss a Poster

When hiding in a locker with a poster on the inside, zoom in and Snake or Raiden will lean forward and make a kissing sound. Doing so in the Tanker section will prompt an interesting conversation with Otacon if the player calls him.

"!" Bikini

If the player leans against a poster of a Konami girl and taps the top piece of the bikini, it will make a comical bouncing sound. Knocking on the bottom of the 2 piece will cause an exclamation point to appear above Snake's hand, and will trigger the Alert Mode if any guards are present in the area.

Projector in Hold 2

During the Tanker chapter, the player can operate the overhead projector within Hold 2. This will cause the image of the Commandant to go from one screen to the next. Continuing to alter the projector images will eventually trigger a cutscene in which an image of a woman will appear on the first screen, followed by another woman on the second screen. This will result in a humorous moment where the Marines will look at both screens. However, doing this will lead to an automatic Game Over.

If the player waits until there is approximately 3 minutes left on the countdown, Gurlukovich soldiers can be seen on the screen entering Hold 3 behind Metal Gear.

Codec

Like camera control, the player can move the position of the camera during Codec calls. Pressing the right shoulder buttons will also disclose the inner thoughts of the person in control. Pressing R1 will trigger a positive response, while pressing R2 will trigger a negative response (the buttons are also pressure-sensitive). This can only be done when another character is talking.

Cardboard Box Sighting

If, after meeting Peter Stillman for the first time, the player goes directly out to the CD connecting bridge, Pliskin can be seen hiding under a cardboard box heading towards Strut D (an unconscious guard will be immediately obvious). If Raiden shoots the box to alert Pliskin, he will run away, and comment later if contacted by Codec.

Defusing Fatman

During Fatman's boss battle, the player can shoot his roller blades while he is stood still causing him to fall down. Doing so right before he starts skating away will cause him to slide across the ground for a short distance.

After the boss battle, while looking for Fatman's last bomb, several optional Codec conversations can be heard. However, they can only be unlocked when there is one minute, 30 seconds and 10 seconds remaining on the countdown, respectively. During these conversations, the Colonel will ask Raiden if he has found the bomb yet, growing increasingly frustrated until the third conversation where Rose suggests looking under Fatman's body. Once the bomb is defused, a humorous follow-up conversation can be heard with Rosemary, by saving the game, where she forces Raiden to admit that she was right.

If the player looks at Fatman's hands with the binoculars after he is defeated, his fingernails appear to be manicured just as described by Pliskin in an optional Codec conversation.

Jennifer's Measurements

When searching for Ames, if the player aims the directional microphone at Jennifer, one of the female hostages, and presses L3, Raiden will say her bust, waist and hip measurements. Raiden will do the same with the other female hostages, stating other sizes.

Emma's Parrot

The parrot in B2 of Shell 1 carries a few secrets:

• Its cage is equipped will deflect any bullets fired at it. If it is shot repeatedly, the parrot will attempt to call in an alert in the same fashion as a guard.
• If it is sprayed with coolant, it will say, "This sucks."
• Point the directional microphone at the parrot and press triangle to say, "You must be Ames." Do this a few times and it will eventually repeat the phrase.
• Two guards can be seen having a conversation before entering the computer room where one is making obscene gestures referring to a woman's breasts. Once the conversation ends and the player enters the computer room, the parrot will sometimes say "top of locker", referring to a stash of magazines on top of some lockers in the southwest corner of the area, which the guard supposedly mentioned. To obtain these magazines simply punch or kick at the locker and they will dislodge.

Stillman's Reunion

If the player calls Snake after discovering Stillman's body, Raiden will claim that Stillman was "waiting for him."

Emma

While in the underwater section after fighting Vamp, there is an air pocket that has a window which has a view of Emma in the locker room up ahead. If the player looks in first person view for approximately five seconds, Rose will call Raiden sounding annoyed of his distracted behavior.

Two optional conversations can be heard between Otacon and Emma (and one with Snake) while escorting her to the computer lab where they discuss the ethics of science's dependence on war to advance.

Anytime after meeting Emma, the player can do a few things to her which will provoke different responses from different characters:

• Killing Emma will result in a Game Over, and the characters will say different things about the situation.
• If the player hits Emma and calls Otacon, he will say, "What do you think you're doing to her?!" If the player calls her, she will chastize them.
• If the player knocks Emma out and lays on her body before she climbs back and call her with Codec, she will angrily say: "You perv!", "Unbelievable! I can't believe you're doing me like that!", "What do you think you're doing at a time like this!", "You are worthless", or "Keep your hands to yourself!"

Bird Killer

If the player keeps shooting at seagulls, they will receive a Codec call from the Colonel and Rose, which includes them both criticizing Raiden's pleasure of abusing defenseless animals. Rose will refuse to save his game until he apologizes. If Raiden has already had a similar situation, she will not make him apologize but show extreme hostility for a short period of time.

Olga

During Olga's boss fight, if the player hangs off of the railing there is a chance that Olga will laugh at Snake before shooting him and causing him to fall to his death.

If the player shoots Olga while she is unconscious with the tranquilizer after fighting her in the Tanker chapter, Otacon will call Snake and scold him for shooting someone who is unconscious, going so far as to accuse Snake of being a monster.

Attacking Pliskin/Snake

If the player aims their gun at a sleeping Pliskin, following his and Raiden's meeting in Strut B, he will immediately wake up and aim his gun at Raiden, accompanied by the "Alert" sound and an exclamation mark above his head. Pliskin makes various comments such as "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Shooting or punching Pliskin will cause him to shoot Raiden back, before relaxing and eventually falling asleep again. If the player attacks Pliskin numerous times, this will cause him to keep on shooting Raiden whenever he approaches. Contacting Pliskin by Codec immediately after attacking him will cause him to exclaim "AGH!"

In the battle at the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge, if the player manages to shoot Snake with a bullet-based weapon, he will return fire with his M4. Doing this for long enough will result in him firing grenades at the player. Similarly, shooting the Kasatka with the Stinger will result in Otacon saying things like, "We're on your side remember?" and attacking him long enough will make him say, "You bastard!" Shooting Snake with a tranquilizer will make him fall asleep briefly.

If the player shoots Snake when they need to provide cover for Emma on the oil fence (he is on Strut E; the player can see him if they zoom in), he will fire back, or fall asleep if the player shoots him with the PSG1T.

Calling Snake on the Codec multiple times while he's asleep will eventually result in him waking up, yelling "LIQUID!," before he falls asleep again.

Tranquilizing Jennifer

Crawling under the desk in front of Jennifer and shooting her with an M9 round allows the player to see up her skirt. After seeing it, the player can call the Colonel for a humorous conversation.

If the player calls the Colonel after taking a picture of Jennifer's upskirt, another funny conversation takes place. Afterwards, if the player then calls Rose, she will be upset with Raiden and will not let him save.

Hostages

Punching or kicking any hostages multiple times will prompt a conversation with the Colonel and Rose where they are very upset with Raiden for doing so.

When walking over the legs of hostages almost all of them will not cause issues, except for one. Somewhere in the hostage room (usually either the bottom right, top right or top middle of the room) is a hostage that will always extend his legs as the player walks over him causing Raiden to trip, fall and ultimately cause a Mission Failed.

First Person Surprises

Certain actions will affect the screen while in first person mode:

• Looking up at gulls while they fly over for a few seconds will result in bird droppings hitting the screen.
• Blowing up a group of sea lice, using either the grenades, stinger missiles, C4, or the RGB6 will cause their bodies to splatter all over the screen.
• If the player kills a guard up close in first person view, blood will splatter on the protagonist's face.
• Getting shot to death in first-person view can result in the screen getting cracked by the bullet.

Slipping on Bird Droppings

Running across any ground where there are seagull droppings will cause Raiden to slip and fall over in a cartoonish manner. The player is immune to this while wearing a cardboard box. Seagull droppings are found on the Strut A roof, as well as the pipe along the Shell 1-2 connecting bridge, following the Harrier attack.

Strut C Bathrooms

When the player first gets to Strut C, but before talking to Stillman, go into the men's room, stand in front of one of the urinals, and look at it in first-person view. Next, call the Colonel. Raiden will start urinating and the Colonel will tell Rose to give him some privacy. If the player calls the Colonel after going into one of the stalls in the women's room, the Colonel and Rose will become annoyed. If the player calls the Colonel while outside of the stalls in the women's room, Rose will chastise Raiden for looking for Stillman in the women's room, and the Colonel briefly tells Raiden that he should leave, although he hints that he might slightly feel the same way, causing Rose to express disgust as well.

If the player calls Pliskin after meeting Stillman, he actually encourages Raiden continue to do what he is doing because he is on a mission. Continue doing this, and Rose might refuse to save Raiden's data until he apologizes for the action. If the player calls the Colonel with book equipped inside one of the women's stall, both he and Rose will scold Raiden.

Completing some and/or all of these conversations will prompt the Colonel to remark in an optional conversation during the Tengu fights that it is unbelievable that "someone who has committed so many atrocities in the women's bathroom could make it this far" and then snidely remarks that "this is the end of the world."

Strut L Perimeter

If the player crosses the Strut L Perimeter without getting spotted, a special cutscene will play showing a Gurlukovich soldier having to urinate. If the player does not get out of the way, Raiden will inadvertently get urinated on. If the player does end up getting under the Gurlukovich soldier while he was urinating off the side of the strut, call the Colonel. The Colonel will feel a bit disgusted and express his sympathies, while joking that this is the reason why they are called "wetworks missions", while Rose comforts Raiden, although she also tells him that he'll have to take a shower the second he gets back after the mission.

James Johnson

If the player goes into the small lobby or the hallway adjoining the room where President Johnson is being held and knocks on the wall, Johnson will get curious about the sound and ask if someone's there. Continuing to knock will annoy Johnson. Placing a C4 along the wall and detonating it will cause him to turn away from the wall, cowering and shouting at the player to stop.

Guard Envies Raiden

If the player causes an alert mode onboard Arsenal Gear before rendezvousing with Snake, and presses against the torture device as the soldiers enter the area, the patrolling soldier, shortly after noting that the situation will clear, will briefly pause when noticing Raiden, and then will comment "Wish I had that..."

Konami Code

If the player presses Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, X, Circle on the Clear Code screen, they will hear Snake's voice.

Falling Guard

During the Tanker chapter, when first entering the Engine Room through the automatic door for the first time, immediately punching the yawning guard on the other side of the door with a three hit combo will trigger a cutscene in which he falls over the railing in front of him and lands on top of another guard walking below him. This will cause the falling guard to die and the other to be knocked unconscious.

Guard Looks at Terminal

In the Shell 1 core on floor B2, one guard will continuously walk back and forth between two terminals in the computer room and interact with them. Looking closely at either computer screen in first person view will reveal that pictures of women briefly appear on the screens.

Snake Shows Raiden Different Pictures

When playing through a full Tanker-Plant experience, if the player threw the bodies of any guards off of the side of the tanker, than the pictures that Snake and Otacon later show Raiden of the tanker incident will be the pictures that the Cypher UAV took of Snake to frame him for the incident instead of the pictures Snake took of Metal Gear RAY.

Secrets

Mei Ling

During the Tanker chapter, if the player saves the game 13 times, Mei Ling will have a voice cameo through the Codec to correct a proverb that Otacon that can't seem to interpret. She will also get angry at him for not using the cheat sheet that she provided him.

Snake's Dog Tag

After Snake gives the player the High Frequency Blade and equipment, knock him out and shake him to get his dog tag. Alternatively, wait until after passing the fight in Arsenal Gear - Jejunum but before the second fight begins. During the downtime, knock Snake out with a tranquilizer dart and shake him down then. The player will receive Meryl Silverburgh, Liquid Snake, or Iroquois Pliskin's dog tag by changing the difficulty level. However, when the player does this in Extreme difficulty, they will receive Hideo Kojima's dog tag.

Kaori Yae

One of the Plant soldiers has a dog tag that identifies himself as Kaori Yae. Kaori Yae is a girl from Tokimeki Memorial 2, Konami's high school dating sim series. Kojima also had a hand in directing the first three Drama series games before working on Metal Gear Solid.

Dog Tag Information

Use the Binoculars or Camera to identify the names of the person on the dog tag. The name will appear above the enemy. This only works if the player is holding that soldier's dog tag.

Daze a Guard

When an exclamation point or a question mark appears over a guard's head, shoot it to daze. If the player shoots this before it disappears, the guard will become dazed for a while and some white bubbles float around his head, making him totally oblivious for a moment.

Hostages

In the hostage room of Shell 1, the types of hostages - excluding Ames - will all be different according to the time on the internal clock.

VR Missions

The color of the VR environments changes accordingly with the time on the internal clock.

Sunglasses

When a third playthrough is started on any chapter, Snake and/or Raiden will be wearing stylish sunglasses.

Burn a Box

If the player attempts to walk onto the electrified panel in front of the room where the President is held with a cardboard box equipped, the box will burst into flames.

Vulcan Raven Action Figure

After seeing Raven's shadow during the Tanker chapter, the player can call Otacon. This will lead to a short conversation between Snake and Otacon about whether it's Raven or not. If the player shoots the action figure, it will make a sound similar to Raven's laugh while shooting tiny bullets from its cannon.

The Raven action figure is seen again in the Plant chapter during the underwater section. It can be found floating around in the Shell 2 Core's first underwater section.

Spawn Logo on Boxes

In Strut F Warehouse 1F, there are boxes piled up on each other that has the Spawn logo.

Destroying the Wet Box

After retrieving the wet box (which is located on the opposite side of where the player fights Olga outside) and alerting a guard, they can destroy the box by getting kicked or shot at while having the wet box equipped.

Coolant Wake up

Guards that have been knocked out either through tranquilizer darts, stun grenades, or melee attacks can be woken up quickly by spraying them with the coolant. Guards that are asleep and sprayed with the coolant will snore rapidly until they wake up or aren't being sprayed any more. As a guard is waking up, if the player stands close enough to him and point their gun, the player will automatically hold them up before they can do anything else. This makes it an effective technique for collecting dog tags in crowded areas such as the Shell 1 Core.

Secret Statistics

The Mission Failed screen during the Plant chapter contains a number of statistics concerning the player's current progress. These are:

Term	Meaning
ARMSTREN GTH	Number of pull ups done.
PRUD ENCE	Number of times the player has saved.
AMMOUS ED	Number of ammo used.
ALRTNUM	Number of times alert mode was triggered.
NUET	Number of enemies killed.
DMGA MMOUNT	Amount of damage suffered. Death by falling doesn't count (100 = one life bar in the Normal difficulty).
CAMPOSX, CAMPO SY, and CAM POSZ	Camera coordinates at the time of death.
AREAMO VE	Number of times the player has moved between areas.
VANISHED POINT	Area designation (for example, W12a is Strut A Roof).

Tormenting the Guards

If the player knocks a guard out and shoot parts of his body with a gun that isn't the M9, certain things will happen when he wakes up:

• If the player shoots a guard's gun hand, he won't be able to shoot them.
• If a player shoots one of the guard's legs, he will limp.
• If the player shoots the guard's radio on his waist, he can't call for backup.

If the player does all three, there will be a humorous moment where, if the player is spotted, the guard will try to call for backup. He will attempt to use his busted radio, then shake it in frustration. He will then make an unsuccessful attempt to hold his gun. He will then attempt to limp away from danger. At this point, the player can do whatever they want to the guard (although if he reaches the exit, he will speak to an invisible person in the other area and the alert will be sounded).

Vamp is Always Watching

In the ending cutscene after defeating Solidus, when Snake and Raiden are talking about Raiden's dog tags, Vamp can be seen standing in the background, watching them.

Choked by Solidus

Making Raiden turn his head left prior to getting choked will make his O2 gauge deplete slower as Solidus's grip is not as tight.