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| [intro] I N T R O D U C T I O N |
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Welcome to this walkthrough of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Subsistence). I am Malunis, the writer of
this walkthrough. As of the beginning of September 2007(I think, maybe August), I have been a fan of the
MGS series. It is a game series which has been going on since the days of the original Nintendo system. I
made this walkthrough in not only an attempt to write guides, but also to help those new to the game, even
if it IS from 2004/2005.
The game series is as follows:
Metal Gear - Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake - Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Metal Gear Solid (Integral/The Twin Snakes) - PlayStation (PS)
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Substance) - PlayStation 2 (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Subsistence) - PlayStation 2 (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops - PlayStation Portable (PSP)
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - PlayStation 3 (PS3) [NOTE: Yet to be released.]
This game the walkthrough about is basically about the Cold War, taking place in the 1960s. So you can
except a lot of real history being brought up, mainly focusing on the war and how these characters are
brought into the history.
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| [chara] C H A R A C T E R S |
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This is a list of all the main characters in the game you're gonna meet, as well as boss battles.
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HEROES
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Snake
- Jack Doe, the main character you play as in the game. He is kind of a quiet and rude guy, with not much
sense of humor. You will be playing as this fellow throughout the game;
Major
- Major is your leader, I guess. He often is just there to tell Snake his mission and where you need to go,
so I'd say he's the boss. He's mostly all about business, but has his times when he shows his interests.
Oddly, he's a fan of James Bond movies. And likes tea. The British man that he is.
Para-Medic
- Snake's medical and food expert. She's a nice gal who likes movies, and Japan; a LOT. She often gets into
talking about the things Snake finds, but their food conversations often end with Snake asking how it
tastes. She thinks he'll eat anything, which is probably true.
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BAD GUYS
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Volgin
- Somewhat-main Baddie in the game. He is a Russian, obviously. He has a strange electricity power, which
is quite... shocking (sorry.) He sometimes says "Kuwabara, kuwabara."
[FUN FACT!: Kuwabara is a Japaneses word, which means "Mulberry Field." Japanese legend says that Mulberry
trees cannot be hurt by lightning, and saying the word two times supposedly protects you from lightning.
Apparently, that's why Volgin says it.]
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NEUTRAL/OTHER
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Sokolov
- A cowardly scientist who is forced to work with the Russians on a new weapon of theirs. He honeslty isn't
a bad guy, he just wants to live a peaceful life.
Ocelot
- Works for Volgin, but it's clear that we don't know enough about him to say that he's really a bad guy.
Gets some sort of weird thrill from reloading his gun during battle.
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COBRA UNIT
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The Boss
- Originally known as The Joy long ago, she is the boss of the COBRA unit who, apparently, work for Volgin
now.
The Pain
- A man with a strange ability to control hornets. He uses them to get his entire body as a shield. This
seems to have left him with perminant sting wounds all over his face (and probably other places, too.)
The Fear
- A spider-like soilder with some sort of invisibility ability.
The End
- My favorite of the group, aside from The Sorrow. This guy is more than a hundred years old, apparently.
He is known as a legendary sniper, with some sort of plant-like ability to absorb sunlight for his own
health. It's apparent that he's close to death, but he's still got enough spunk in him to fight Snake.
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| [contr] C O N T R O L S |
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New to the overall style of MGS controls? Here's the basic idea of this.
First, the 'nickname' for the controls.
Analog Stick - I will call this the Control Stick, due to the common given name in Nintendo controllers.
Directional Pad - This, I will call the D-Pad.
Left Control Stick: Move around, of course. Lightly tilted will make you slowly sneak, and tilted all the
way makes you run.
Right Control Stick: Move the camera around.
D-Pad: Same as above, but no running. I would recommend this for sneaking, rather than lightly tiling the
Control Stick.
Start Button: Enter your menu, the Survival Viewer. This will be called the Menu Button in the walkthrough.
Select Button: Opens the Radio menu. This will be called the Radio Button throughout the walkthrough.
Square: Also known as the Weapon Button. This lets you use your equipped weapon.
Circle: Also known as the CQC Button. This is used for hand-to-hand combat moves. You can use this while
against something like a wall to knock on it.
Triangle: Also known as the Action Button. Used to do things like climb things and open doors.
X: Also known as the Crawl Button. This will be referred to as the C Button. You can press this while
running to do a roll attack.
L1: Also known as the Aim Button, which I will call it. It brings you to First Person View, when using a
weapon like a sniper rifle.
L2: Also known as the Item Menu Button. This opens up a small menu of your equipped items, for quick access
during gameplay.
L3: While using CQC, this can be used to Interrogate your captive.
R1: Switches to First Person View while held down. I will refer to this was FPV.
R2: Weapons Menu Button. Like the Item Menu Button, but for equipped weapons, obviously.
R3: Switch between Third Person View and Normal View. One will allow you to control the camera, the other
is automatic. Personally, I'd recommend the one that lets you use a camera, it's easier to use.
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| [gamfe] G A M E P L A Y F E A T U R E S |
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So, if you're new to the MGS series, you should read this. As you probably know, as a fan of the series,
the concept of gameplay is to use stealth like a ninja. (Because ninjas are awesome.) You sneak around,
often to avoid enemies, and use things like camouflage to blend in with your surroundings. I myself have
yet to play any of the other games, but in this case it's army-style stuff.
One other thing is communication with your allies, through a Radio. One thing I like is how interactive and
actually realistic the conversations can be. Often triggered when you've obtained some new food or animal
or equipped with certain camouflage and weapons, your allies will provide information on them. I find these
to be fun and informative, as they provide even more realistic history.
Lastly, is ammo. Yep, like everyone great game, there's limits. In this case, it's the ammo of the weapons
you use. If you choose to start the game on 'Very Easy', you will soon have a tranquillizer gun with
unlimited use. This may not apply for the other difficulty settings, though.
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| [virtu] V I R T U O U S M I S S I O N |
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LOCATION: Dremuchij South
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Cutscene:
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We open to a plane flying in the night, as credits appear on the screen. Not really important. On the plane
is our main character, sitting and waiting to take the jump. The guy with him tells him to put on his mask
and put out his cigar, but he's not really listening. Probably doesn't care. The Major tells him now to do
it, then... Well, he listens. Never underestimate the commanding voice of the Major. The plane opens up for
their jump, and the main guy takes his dive.
We cut to a flashback before this, where the Major is talking to our main guy, named Jack, and explaining
the mission he's on, known as the Virtuous Mission. It seems that two years ago, a Soviet scientist named
Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov (we'll call him Sokolov) requested asylum in the West through one of their
moles. He is head of the OKB-754 Design Bureau, one of the Soviet's top-secret weapon research facilities.
He is also the East's foremost expert on weapons. He's left his country and family behind because he was
afraid of his own creations. The reason he's in the area you're going to is because he is required for
testing a new weapon the Russians are working on, with his help.
[To save you the boredom of anymore history lessons, I'll sum it up for you: He needs to be rescued from
the Russians.]
Jack is ready to parachute and land in his required location, while he communicates with the Major. He
explains to Jack that his mission is to get into Tselinoyarsk in the Soviet mountains and bring Sokolov
back to the West. So basically, you're ready to land by now. Jack removes his mask in a dramatic-style
slow-motion scene, then ducks down by a tree and switches to the Radio.
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Radio:
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The Major warns you that since you're in enemy territory, someone might be listening in, and they'll be
using code names from now on. He has given Jack the code name 'Naked Snake' (How flattering), and will
be referred to at this point as Snake (That goes for the walkthrough as well.) Sort of randomly, Major will
be referred to as Major Tom. (I found it funny how he states it; "I'll be Tom. Call me Major Tom.") So,
Major will say how you must not leave any sign that you've been there, at this point you know you've got to
use stealth to get through the game. If you're new to the game, it's up to you how you play, but avoiding
being seen can be helpful since the enemies can call for backup. Anyway, during the drop, Snake lost his
backpack on a tree branch, so he's gotta to get it. Onto gameplay!
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Gameplay:
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Here we go, your first time playing the game on your own. First thing you wanna do is get used to the
controls I guess, check the 'Controls' section above this to understand the type of control commands I tell
you to use. Anyway, from where you're standing, go forward to where there's two logs laying ontop of each
other. Press the Crawl/Cancel(or C) Button to crotch down, then crawl under the logs through a small
opening. As you make it to the other side, you should see a tree right in front of you with visible vines
on it. Use the Action Button to climb it, then ease on over to your pack until you're standing right over
it. Are you over it? Then press the Action Button to make Snake hang onto the branch; He'll obtain the
backpack and drop off the tree, then sit by it and contact Major.
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Radio:
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Major will explain how to equip a weapon (which makes less sense if this were real life explaining.) In the
Virtuous Mission you will only have the Mk22 gun. Major explains that it will have a suppressor, and that
how the suppressor works. You also need to be sure to find your own weapons and equipment during this
mission, and also says once more that you can't let ANYONE know you're here, he makes it seem more extreme
now since you're in violation of international conventions of warfare. There apparently aren't supposed to
be American soldiers in Russia. And that if you happen to get captured during this mention, you will have
no rescue and the US Government will deny anything involving the situation. This would've been nice for you
to mention before, MAJOR! Anyway, he says that you've been given what is called a Fake Death Pill in case
you DO get captured, taped to your body. (This should be saved until later, of course. I'll explain when
the time comes to use it.) And to use the revival pill they put into his teeth before the mission. Snake
brings up how he won't count on any reinforcements for the mission since it's solo. But he will have a
support team ready over the Radio. This is when Major introduces Para-Medic, your medical and food expert.
She also records your Save data, which is useful I guess. Major also introduces Snake to his own mentor,
The Boss. Apparently Snake has issues with her, concerning a disappearance she made long ago. She seems to
be in contact via a submarine in the arctic ocean? Anyway, she will be here to teach you techniques you
learn from her. Now that you know your mission (again), it's time to keep going!
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Gameplay:
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From where you're facing, go toward the path ahead. Notice as you walk to it, the screen gets a wide screen
sort of look? This means you're close to a spot that enters another area. Remember that, because sometimes
there are secret passages which react like this. Anyway, keep going forward until you get to the next area.
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LOCATION: Dremuchij Swampland
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Follow the deep grass until you come to a swamp. You'll notice a few crocodiles around here, they can be
killed for food. Be careful, though, they can bite or swipe their tail at you. Best way to go is to slowly
walk to their side and slash at them with your Survival Knife. They leave behind three serving of food, so
you should be good to go from just killing one. From this point, I will refer to locations of the area from
what the Map on your menu says. So, if I say something is on the North part of your current location, it
means North according to the Map. Anyway, from when you enter this area, you need to go forward to continue
to the next area. Careful about the swamp mud, it's like quicksand. Your best move is to do a roll as you
enter, so you'll have more time to move. There's a small piece of land for you to walk to first, so you
should probably go there so that you can make it to the path you're heading towards. Once you get past the
mud, follow the deep grass to the next area.
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LOCATION: Dremuchij North
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Cutscene:
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As you enter this area, Snake ducks down by a tree and uses his binoculars to see two enemy solders in the
distance. He tells Major (outside of radio scene) that he spots them. Major states that they may be KGB
troops sent to guard Sokolov. Snake points out that they're carrying AK-47s and Grenades.
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Radio:
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Major reminds Snake that him being there is already a violation of international law, and that we can't let
anyone know that the CIA and American government are involved. You are prohibited from making contact with
your enemies, and to not fight them. This IS a stealth mission after all, but that's kind of taking away
from why I play. The Boss tells you how to equip camouflage, then you're off.
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Gameplay:
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Okay, so now is your first chance to battle enemy solders. One thing to keep in mind is that you have a
few different choices on how to deal with them. You can simply knock them out with a tranquillizer to avoid
trouble. You could also just kill them from afar, similar but with a lethal weapon. And lastly is my usual
choice; Run out and go on a killing spree, not caring about the alarm. In any case, you have to get rid of
the enemies up ahead to continue. Knock 'em out, or whatever, then follow the deep grass path in the North
part of the map.
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LOCATION: Dolinovodno
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Cutscene:
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Snake sits by a nearby tree and uses his binoculars to see a solder guarding the bridge. Then gets a small
smirk as he sees a hornets nest in the tree above...
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Gameplay:
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I never see a point in the hornets nest, I can't really see it outside of the cutscene. Anyway, just knock
out the guard and go to the bridge. Before you get on it, there's two more solders up ahead on the bridge,
so you might wanna take them out before getting on the bridge. Once they're out of the way, walk on the
bridge. Careful, the wind blows while you're on it, and will likely try to blow you off. If you end up
hanging on the edge of it, press the Action Button to climb back up. If that doesn't seem to work, move
around a little before climbing back up. Anyway, once you get past the bridge, go toward the long path to
the next area.
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LOCATION: Rassvet
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Cutscene:
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Snake hides by a tree again and looks at the nearby abandoned warehouse. He sees there's a few different
solders guarding it, so security would be pretty tight. (in a sense of strong, not cool.)
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Radio:
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Major reminds you of your mission once more. Geez, I think we have a better memory than he thinks. Anyway,
he tells you that Sokolov is in the Northeast section of the small warehouse; Which isn't saying much since
the building is small and roofless. Major tells you to give Sokolov a message, "Sorry for being so late."
So, on your way!
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Gameplay:
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Like the last area, kill off the solders and continue. Once in the warehouse, as I said it's small and
roofless, so you have no trouble whatsoever to find Sokolov. Just look for a door, it'll switch to a
cutscene when you get to it.
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Cutscene:
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As Snake enters the small roof, we see Sokolov tossing some papers into a fireplace. Snake tells him why he
is here, to rescue him. Sokolov explains about a group called GRU, led by a man known as Colonel Volgin.
More history lessons, basically he just explains his place here. The people outside of the warehouse are to
keep Volgin away from him, and he tells Snake that he needs to get out of there before Volgin comes.
Sokolov is more than happy to leave this place, so off you go.
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Radio:
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Snake informs Major that he has Sokolov with him now, and that he had to kill the guards(???) to get there.
Mysteriously, they lost contact with The Boss now, Major thinks it's due to a weak signal... So, just need
to get Sokolov out of there.
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Cutscene:
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As you leave out of the warehouse, Snake leads Sokolov with his knife and gun ready. I like how Sokolov
attempts to do karate-style poses to look like he's ready to protect himself. Anyway, as you get out of the
warehouse itself, a few solders come out of hiding and aim at you. You're surrounded, and basically
screwed. A western style gun twirler comes into the scene, someone working for GRU and Volgin. His name is
Major Ocelot, and is commander of his own unit of solders. The solders tell him to leave, but then he
refuses and shoots them all down one by one. Clever guy, that Ocelot. Sokolov hides for cover as Snake gets
ready to aim at Ocelot. He somehow thought Snake was The Boss. Anyway, he steps away a little and lets out
some kind of meow, which calls out a few of his unit solders. He taunts Snake's battle stance, then Snake
flips him over. The unit solders have trouble knowing what to do, but Snake fights them all off. Truly an
awesome scene here. Then Ocelot tries to attack, which leads him to be flipped to the ground once more. For
some reason, Snake explains the technique that Ocelot used for reloading his weapon, saying the way he did
it was kind of a stupid move, basically. He does tell him, though, that he's pretty good at shooting.
Before Ocelot can say much more, he passes out. Then Snake calls on the Radio.
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Radio:
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Snake explains what just happened. The solders protecting the warehouse were KGB troops sent by a man
named Khrushchev. There's some type of mini-war going on between the KGB and GRU, apparently. Snake finds
something suspicious about this whole ordeal, but needs to remember his mission. Sokolov ran off, being the
coward he is.
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Gameplay:
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When you switch back to gameplay, you'll see that all the Ocelot Units are knocked out on the ground, as
well as Ocelot himself; I thought it was kind of funny. One thing you need to remember though, DON'T try to
kill Ocelot. Just don't. If you do, you'll get a Game Over saying that you created a Time Paradox. Freaky..
This clearly points out that he has a bigger part in the story than we may think. Anyway, head back to that
bridge you came here on, Sokolov went that way.
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LOCATION: Dolinovodno
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Cutscene:
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Sokolov is seriously afraid now since GRU is after him. Before Snake can assure his safety, Sokolov points
at a large tank in the distance, ontop of a cliff. This is the Shagohod, the new weapon the Russians were
making with Sokolov's help. It has the ability to launch nuclear missiles, so it's basically a huge danger
to the entire world. If Volgin got to it, it would mean the beginning of a World War. Onto the bridge,
Sokolov slowly follows Snake until it gets really foggy. Through the fog, The Boss walks towards them,
carrying two metal boxes with her. She drops them both one by one, which shakes up the bridge and knocks
Sokolov off his feet. The Boss is here for Sokolov. Why? Well, before that is explained, hornets come out
nowhere and distract them, while someone drops down from the sky above and picks up Sokolov, bringing him
to a helicopter above. The three people you see on this copter are COBRA units who work for The Boss, five
altogether. (The Boss included.) The hornet man is The Pain, the guy who captured Sokolov is The Fear, and
the old guy with weird eyes is The End. It begins to rain, and The Boss says that it is raining blood, as
she wonders if 'he' is crying. Soon we see a ghostly figure in a hooded jacket walk over to her, giving a
little nod and smirk. He disappears before she takes notice, though. Then once the rain clears up, Volgin
walks onto the bridge to take the metal boxes The Boss had with her. As Snake tries to fight her, she ends
up countering every move; She DID train him after all. She also bridges his arm, ouch. Volgin tells her
that they can't let him live, so The Boss helps him up, then... PUNCH! Right in the stomach. She throws him
off of the bridge and into the water, leaving him to get washed away in the current. So, long story short,
The Boss is working for Volgin now, along with her group.
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LOCATION: ??????????
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Cutscene:
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Snake wakes up on land, REALLY beaten up from the fight with The Boss. He can barely even switch on his
Radio, but he manages.
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Radio:
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Basically, Para-Medic teaches you how to use the Cure menu. You should be able to figure it out, it's all
about using the tools that are most logical to heal your wounds.
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Gameplay:
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You'll switch back to gameplay after the Radio conversation ends, however you won't be able to do much of
anything until you heal your wounds. So, open the Survival Viewer and go to the Cure menu, and do your
things. There's a couple of things I want to point out, though. First of all, notice your health meter has
a LOT of red on it. This red appears when you have a wound. It's there because until you heal the wound,
your health will NOT go past the red. This is something you really need to look out for, especially during
a boss battle, or under heavy enemy fire. Anyway, the wounds you need to heal include some cuts, and broken
bones. Once you heal them all, switch to cutscene will begin.
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Cutscene:
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As Snake puts the finishing touches on his healing, he snaps his arm back into place. He uses The Boss'
headband he found as a sling for his arm. The Boss informs him over the Radio that they'll come to rescue
him by helicopter, but the Shagohod is seen soon after, carried by multiple copters. We see The Boss look
down where he's located, then reach out to him, but she's too far away to do anything to help. As the
Shagohod continues to be carried, Ocelot examines his gun while Volgin opens the metal boxes The Boss had
with her. They contain an American-made nuke. Ocelot notices a girl on the copter with them, apparently
Sokolov's woman. She reaches for something in her pocket, which Volgin grabs; It's a lipstick container
something inside called 'The Kiss of Death'. Ocelot thinks she's from the KGB, but Volgin believes they
should take her back to the base. So now, Volgin aims the nuke toward the land they left, which Ocelot
doesn't like; with him nuking his own Russian land and all. The explosion left behind is epic, and we all
remember that Snake is still in the area. He gets a glimpse of the explosion left behind, that mushroom
shaped smoke. As it fades out, we cut to a close in the Virtuous Mission.
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SAVE POINT
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