Basics

The tips and walk-through in this guide assume you are playing at the default settings: normal difficulty and type II radar. At higher difficulty settings, enemies have better detection ability, the radar is less useful, and the item drops may be different.

Remember, this is a stealth game, not a shoot 'em up. If you try to take on enemies with guns blazing, you're setting yourself up for failure because an unlimited number of enemies can spawn in after you're spotted. You want to stay out of sight as much as possible by observing the patrol pattern of the guards and cameras and moving only when you cannot be seen. If you must attack an enemy, try to do it quietly and catch them unawares.

Radar

The first thing you'll need to get accustomed to is the radar, which you can see in the top right hand corner of your screen. The white dot in the middle represents Solid Snake. You'll also see red dots with cones radiating out in front of them (these cones do not appear on the harder difficulty levels). The red dots represent enemies or cameras and the cones show their field of vision.

If you get caught in an enemy's field of vision, he'll become alarmed (represented by an exclamation mark over the guard's head), and the alert will sound off. When the alert-evasion mode is in effect, guards swarm into the room, and you lose the use of your radar. You'll need to hide for a period of time for the evasion mode to wear off and for the room to return to its normal state.

Tip: Usually the easiest way to get the guards off your tail is to just leave the room and go back to the previous area.

If you see a question mark pop up above a guard's head and his field of vision change to green on the radar, you've aroused suspicion.

Though it may not make much logical sense, an enemy can be facing in your direction and still not detect you as long as you aren't close to his field of vision, which only extends out a few steps away. This means you can be standing at one end of a long hallway, with an enemy at the other end, and he won't "see" you until he gets much closer. Be aware that guards can become curious if you lurk just at the edge of their field of vision (denoted by a question mark above their heads and their cone of vision turning green). Inquisitive guards are more aggressive about seeking you out, and will break off their normal patrol patterns to look for you.

Codec

The codec is your lifeline to other characters for advice and tips.

The codec is a radio device that you use to communicate with different characters in the game. If you're ever stuck and in need of a hint, you can use the codec to contact your friends. Most codec conversations just provide background information to flesh out the story, though. Here's a list of characters you can converse with over the codec:

• 140.85 - Colonel Campbell and Naomi Hunter: Campbell serves as your commanding officer for the mission and will provide useful information from time to time. Hunter is the medical officer and usually isn't as helpful as Campbell. Want to annoy her? Call her up on the codec while smoking.
• 140.96 - Mei Ling: Mei Ling is an engineering prodigy who helped create the radar and codec devices you rely on so heavily. Contact her when you want to save the game. She's also full of trite proverbs. Try ringing her up several times in a row without saving your game to see her pout and make faces at you.
• 141.80 - Master Miller: He was Snake's mentor and trainer, but considering how much useless advice he dispenses, it's a little hard to believe. The few times you come across animals in the game, Miller provides some interesting clues.
• 140.15 - Meryl Silverburgh: Meryl's a spunky, but inexperienced soldier who you will come across early on. She's also Campbell's niece, and plays a major role in the plot.
• 140.48 - Deep Throat: Practices the "don't call me, I'll call you," theory of communication. He'll ring you up with very useful tips from time to time, but you can never call him yourself, nor can you see his portrait.
• 141.52 - Nastasha Romanenko: Serves as the weapons expert for the mission. Contact her while holding the different weapons you come across, and she'll provide some interesting background information on each of them.
• 141.12 - Hal "Otacon" Emmerich: Otacon is the one of the lead engineers in charge of the Metal Gear project.

First Person View

You can press the Z button to go into first person mode. If you have a gun equipped, you can bring it up by holding down the A button, and releasing A to fire (this works for the M9 and SOCOM; the FAMAS will fire the moment you press A). First person mode is important because it allows you to carefully aim your shots and specific body parts. Shooting a regular soldier in the head will kill in one shot, or in the case of the M9, put him to sleep instantly. If you want to put down your weapon without firing a shot, press Y before releasing the A button.

Tip: You can use first person mode to look all the way across large rooms and observe guard patrol patterns. You don't need to move in close enough to see them on radar.