Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Weapons

• Quick reload

Double-click R2 to refill your clip quickly. You can also use this to skip the end of a long firing animation (e.g. the M9, which needs a round loaded for every shot), which enables you to shoot at a faster rate. For example, if done fast enough, you can run at a guard and send them to sleep in three shots (Ex/EuEx) before they can turn around.

You receive a magazine when you run out of bullets in a clip - using quick reload stops this from happening.

• Lock-on headshots

Pressing L1 while aiming with a basic gun (M9, USP/SOCOM, M4/AK) while near an enemy (not bosses in Ex/EuEx) switches your aim to their chest. You can use this to run and shoot by holding L1, but it also simplifies aiming for headshots.

Hold Sq and R1 to aim in first person, then tap L1 to aim at the chest. Then move the aim up to the head and fire. With practice this becomes easy and quick.

• Quick equip modes

There are two quick equip modes in the Options menu - they affect what happens when you tap L2 or R2 instead of holding it. Unequip mode unequips the current item if it is equipped, and equips the last-equipped item if there is nothing equipped. This is the same behaviour as L1 and R1 in MGS1. Previous mode acts like Unequip mode if you have only equipped one item since you last had nothing equipped. Otherwise, it will switch to the last item you had equipped, meaning it will switch back-and-forth between two items repeatedly.

Unequip is the default mode. It is most useful when you expect to use a variety of items or to grab enemies without a weapon. It's also the easiest mode to use, and in general it won't do anything you don't expect it to.

Previous mode is significantly quicker, and more intuitive, than Unequip when you expect to use two items only, or when you will repeatedly switch between two. In the Tanker, where the only weapons you're likely to use are the M9 and USP, Previous is king - once you've equipped the USP, you probably won't need to enter the weapon menu again. However, in the Plant, if your second weapon is first-person - Stinger, PSG-1(T) or Coolant - techniques like quick reload will make you stop running for a short time. You can deal with this by quick-reloading during a cartwheel.

Enemies

• Knock-down tranquilize

If you shoot an enemy with a tranq dart (M9, PSG1-T) anywhere, they will fall asleep as soon as they are knocked down. Any technique will do; combo, roll, throw or grab/strangle.

• Tranq an enemy looking in your direction without stopping

When running at an enemy that is looking in your direction, wait for them to see you, then shoot them once with a USP/SOCOM/M4/AK round shortly before they fire. This normally gives you enough time to approach them, shoot them with the M9, and knock them over. If not, you can shoot them again before they finish recovering.

This only works if you selected Not Game Over If Discovered, and depending on the situation it may alert other guards.

• Daze

Shoot an enemy's blue "!"-sign and they will stand in a daze for 10 seconds (or until you attack them). The easiest way to do this is to stand a certain distance away in front of them and wait for them to walk towards you and notice you.

It is possible (though difficult) to shoot them once in a nonlethal location (lethal: head, crotch, heart), then shoot the "!" that appears quickly.

• Hold up with any weapon

Any weapon can be used to hold up an enemy. Hold Sq lightly with the M4, AK, Nikita and RGB6. Simply equip the Stinger, PSG1 and PSG1-T while looking at the enemy to hold them up.

• Scare without firing

Normally you would scare a held-up enemy by shooting them with a lethal weapon in a nonlethal area (or by shooting near them, which is faster). You can also scare them by equipping the Stinger and looking at them, or by aiming the RGB6 or Nikita at them. This can be useful if you don't have a suppressed pistol or rifle but do have one of the above weapons.

• Coolant attack

The coolant, while it has a short range, also affects a large area in front of you. It stuns an enemy for about three seconds, and can be used in stealth (the enemy acts as though they have been shot by an unseen enemy) or in battle (it affects all enemies in front of you so it is an effective close-range crowd control weapon).

Movement

• Coolant rise

While crawling, with the coolant equipped, press X to rise and immediately press R2 to unequip the coolant. You will immediately be in a standing position. The timing is quite lenient; you can press both buttons at the same time.

The trick can be used in general play (e.g. Strut A during the bomb run) when you have no weapon equipped and the coolant is your last-equipped weapon (Unequip mode), or when it is your previous weapon (Previous mode). Crawl as normal, then, when you are able to rise, tap R2 and immediately tap R2 and X together. Depending on your speed, this can be up to a second quicker than rising normally.

• Travelling with a box

Walking with a box equipped has three uses that I know of:

1. You have a smaller turning circle, so you can turn 180 degrees in place while running. This makes Fortune significantly easier on Ex/EuEx.
2. Your height is halved, making it useful in areas with low cover such as Strut E. It also travels underneath the projectors in Hold 1 and Hold 2.
3. It slightly increases the size of your hitbox for setting off claymore mines, but your hitbox for being hurt by them remains the same. This means that it's possible to set off a mine but not actually be hit by them (e.g. Strut A roof after Fortune - dodging the claymore is possible without the box, but is easier with it).

• Roll/cartwheel tricks

1. You can roll up or down about 4 steps of stairs with Snake.
2. You can cartwheel down stairs with Raiden significantly faster than running.
3. Raiden can cross gaps (e.g. Shell 1-2 Connecting Bridge after Harrier) with his cartwheel.
4. Roll/cartwheel is about the same speed as running, but it is faster at first and slower at the end. In some situations you can cartwheel into an enemy's line of sight so they see you earlier, and (e.g. Raiden Sneaking 2) notice you rather than alert. In others you can use it to reach the side of an enemy as they turn towards you (e.g. Raiden Sneaking 5).
5. Use roll/cartwheel to travel forward in situations where the game would normally force you to stop (e.g. Strut D-E Connecting Bridge when called by Deepthroat). You can also use it as a buffer to equip a new item/weapon without stopping.

Misc

• Quick bomb freeze

If you are at an angle (e.g. facing near the side of the bomb), the coolant will sometimes affect more than one point on it, and freeze it in half the time.

• Quick elevator summon

The elevator trick from MGS1 is also in MGS2, but isn't quite as quick. Press the button to summon the elevator twice, and the doors will open about two seconds later.

If you're unlucky, this can be slower than normal play - occasionally the doors will open immediately the first time you press the button.

• Answer codec calls manually

Some mandatory (the icon appears red rather than blue) codec calls force you to stop. You can answer the call immediately with Select and save about a second.

This can also give you a head start in some areas (e.g. in Arsenal Gear as X-Raiden, if you answer Campbell at the start immediately, you can run along the south wall and change the first Tengu from what would normally be an Alert, to a notice).

• Skip some codec calls and cutscenes

You can avoid Rose's codec calls that usually appear on the first time through Strut F-E Connecting Bridge and Shell 1 Core 1F by being in Caution status when you enter these areas. This also works in the Engine Room to stop the door repair guard appearing.