The much-anticipated remake of Naked Snake’s debut adventure is finally out and in players’ hands. Konami’s decision to bring back Metal Gear Solid 3 in a brand new avatar has largely paid off, with the remake gaining a lot of traction since its release.
If you’re new to the franchise or just didn’t get a chance to experience the original title back in the day, Metal Gear Solid Delta is a great way to enjoy the experience with a healthy dose of current-gen goodness thrown in. While you may already be discovering very inventive ways to achieve your goals as Naked Snake, this is a title that has a lot of hidden tricks that even the most diligent among you might miss the first time around.
To that end, here are a few things you might not know are possible in the game. Use them wisely!
1. A Different Kind of Siege
If you find that there are a few too many guards in your way, and happen upon any food stores nearby, you can sabotage their next meals and make your foes go hungry. Not only does their hunger get in the way of their duties, it also makes them quite vulnerable to further trickery on your end.
For instance, you can then toss out food from a hiding spot, and they’re going to lap it up irrespective of whether it’s rotten or poisoned. It’s a great way to remain unseen and is among the many devious things you can do to get the drop on anybody standing in the way of you and your next objective!
2. Hit Them First! (Sort Of)
Since Naked Snake prefers a stealthy approach, it makes sense to ensure that the threats your enemies pose to you in the field are kept to a minimum. One of the best ways to go about this is to sabotage their munitions in storage. This makes it much safer when you’re out in the open, as they soon run out of ammo in the event you are spotted and are forced to engage them in a firefight.
You can get quite creative in choosing targets to sabotage. For instance, destroying the Hind in Bolshaya at the Bolshevik Past Base lets you replace it with enemies on floating platforms when you get to the Krasnogorje Mountainside area. While those may seem difficult to avoid, it’s a simple matter of slapping on the right camouflage and just traipsing past them. The Hind would have seen right through it had it been present.
Exploit as many of these opportunities as you can for an easier time with the game, as well as to stay true to the spirit of stealth and espionage that makes it so special.
3. The Right Food For The Occasion
If you rely on the Active Sonar to map out the world around you and to identify potential threats or opportunities, managing its limited battery capacity might be a thorn in your side. The same goes for other useful devices, the Thermal Goggles being a great example.
But stocking up on Russian Glowcap Mushrooms can be a good idea if you find yourself running out of juice for your devices frequently. They can recharge batteries in addition to restoring a small portion of health. Two birds with one mushroom, we could say.
You might want to save a couple of them to throw at Volgin later down the line, though. Trust us.
4. Hit Them Where It Hurts
If you’ve met Cobra Unit during your playthrough, you probably know that they are among the toughest foes you are likely to face in the game. However, if you’ve seen our exploration of their origins, you already know that despite their varied and unique strengths, they also come with weaknesses.
The Fear’s ability to remain virtually unseen via his special camouflage suit also exposes a critical weakness you can exploit. The suit feeds off his stamina, leaving him constantly hungry when he’s using it. This makes him quite susceptible to the tactic we discussed earlier, letting you tempt him with poisoned or rotten food when you take him on.
All’s fair in love and war, after all.
5. Get Out of Jail Free
You will find yourself imprisoned at one point in the story. While we won’t get into the why and how in the interest of remaining spoiler-free for those of you who are playing for the first time, know that there are a ton of ways you can break out of your cell.
For starters, you could dive into your Codec menu and just spin Naked Snake around to make him dizzy with the guard nearby. This causes Snake to vomit, leading the guard to unlock your door for a cleanup, giving you a window to take him out and make a break for it. You could also use the Fake Death Pill and Revival Pill in a similar fashion.
Our favorite method is to tune your radio to 144.50Hz to unlock the door to your cell and sneak out with your enemies none the wiser!
6. A Premature End
Just like The Fear, The End also comes with a weakness you can exploit. This time around, it is the Boss’s advanced age that could be his ultimate undoing. If you’re quick enough, you can kill him while he’s in his resting state at the Ponizovje Warehouse, during a cutscene at the docks. Just watch out for the microbomb explosion and a bit of debris, and you’ll be good to go, even as Cobra reels from the loss of one of its most dangerous soldiers.
Just know that Naked Snake doesn’t approve of this method, a sentiment he clearly expresses after the fight. If you want to do things the right way and fight fairly, try using the Konami Code on your map screen during the fight. It’s a nifty little trick that we don’t want to spoil for you.
7. Gotta Catch ‘Em All
In typical Kojima fashion, Delta includes the Kerotan Frogs from the original game. There are sixty-four of them in total, spread throughout the game, and getting them all nets you a suit quite similar to the one that The Fear uses against you. Even better, it doesn’t drain your Stamina like the Spider Camo suit you obtain from him!
You will need to keep your eyes and ears peeled to find them, though, either with Thermal Goggles or the GA-KO camouflage suit. Their distinctive croaking sound should alert you to their presence. Alternatively, beating the game without triggering Alert Mode at all can also grant you the Stealth Camo suit. We recommend hunting the frogs, though.
8. Leather Isn’t Just For Style
If you’ve managed to get to Chyornyj Pond, make sure you pick up the Crocodile Cap, as it lets you avoid detection when you’re wading or swimming, as enemy soldiers and guard dogs will mistake you for a crocodile.
That’s not the only use for it, however. Peeking around corners while wearing it can give enemy soldiers quite the fright, causing them to flee in the presence of what they think is a real crocodile. It also evokes various reactions from different members of Naked Snake’s team as well as from other NPCs.
It’s even capable of fooling The End, although that’s a trick that doesn’t succeed again if you try it.
9. Smoke Them With Style
The Cigarette Gas Spray Gun is quite a versatile tool even out in the field. Managing to sneak up on an enemy and using the spray on them is a great way to silently take out a pesky guard, making your infiltrations go a whole lot easier.
You can find the weapon itself if you’re thorough in exploring the Graniny Gorki Lab B1 West area, something to keep in mind when you get there.
10. Put On Some Soothing Music
This is among the more quirky tricks that Delta keeps well-hidden. Your radio can help you heal in a pinch if you manage to find specific frequencies that are tied to the difficulty settings you select for your playthrough.
For instance, tuning your radio to 140.01, 140.52, 141.24, and 144.06 when you’re playing on Easy mode should let you heal a bit of health and stamina the first time you tune in, with subsequent visits only recovering stamina.
11. A Suit For Every Occasion
If you’re thinking about a no-kill run and are on the fence about it, this should tip you in that direction, as taking down bosses with non-lethal methods can grant you Camo suits with some truly incredible effects.
For example, taking this approach with The Fury lets you get the Fire Camo, which reduces the damage you take from fire and explosives by half. That’s quite an advantage for players who find themselves in the thick of battle far more than they’d like to admit.
12. Sneak Up On The Sniper
In the same vein as the last tip, a non-lethal takedown of The End nets you the Mosin-Nagant Sniper Rifle. But if you manage to get the drop on him and use the Hold Up mechanic with a weapon equipped, the sniper eventually drops his Moss Camo, which lets you hide in the grass and even regenerate stamina if you manage to soak up some sunlight!
13. Death From Natural Causes
For a truly pacifist way to take out The End, let nature take its course during the fight by just quitting the game and either waiting eight days before you return to it, or setting your system’s clock eight days ahead for the same result. The End will have died of old age, making you the de facto winner of the battle.
14. Isolate and Incapacitate
In the rare event that you get spotted, you can quickly shoot a guard’s radio to keep him from calling for backup. This gives you a few moments to deal with him using Naked Snake’s CQC proficiency, and allows you to keep the rest of your foes blissfully unaware of your presence.
15. THE GHILLIE SUIT!
This is a brilliant Camo item that’s exclusive to Delta and is well worth the effort it takes to obtain. You get it by finding and shooting every GA-KO duck in the game, of which there are 64. The Ghillie Suit is used in tandem with the AT-Camo, where you press L3 to improve on the camo effect based on the terrain you’re operating on.
It’s a very useful item and a great addition to the game!
And that’s a wrap on some of the things you can do in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. Are there secrets you believe should have made it to this list? Let us know in the comments below!
