Metal Gear Solid 2 secrets

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

Alternate Title Screen
Beat 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 Digital Camera

Once the player beats 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 player's grip higher faster without doing pull-ups, drop from a railing and grab on to another railing as the player is falling ten times. Doing 100 pull ups after unlocking grip level 3 will prompt the player's CO to tell them to move on. The best locations to do this is Strut A Deep Sea Dock and Strut B after meeting Pliskin.

Title Screen

 * If the player press L2 at the title screen, the screen will flash and the player will hear a gunshot.
 * Using the R3 button 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's crotch or breasts is taken, the same thing will happen.
 * If the player keeps the photo of Sergei Gurlukovich, Otacon will be surprised that he 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 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 fought.
 * A picture of the two posters on the lockers next to the infrared censors before the door going into Deck 2 will cause Otacon to burst out into laughter and say he'll make a back up.
 * A photo of either Hideo Kojima's ghost or Ocelot standing behind 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.

Directional Microphone
Once the player has acquired the Directional Microphone, they can use it to listen to several conversions. These are:
 * During the cutscene between Solidus Snake, Revolver Ocelot, and Olga Gurlukovich 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 complaining about his diarrhea.
 * While at the Strut L Oil Fence, if the player points the Directional Microphone at Emma at anypoint, 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 conversion between Raiden and Emma in which Raiden will retort.
 * If the player uses the Directional Microphone when Emma gets the second structure, they will hear her being held-up by a guard. This will lead to a conversion 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.

Happy Birthday
When logging into the first node in the Plant chapter, the player is given the chance to input their name, birthday, bloodtype 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 dogtag 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 Head
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 Shell 2 basement (this locker can only 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).

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.

"!" Bikini
If the player leans against a poster of a Konami girl and knock on the bottom of the 2 piece, an exclamation point will appear above Snake's hand, and if there are guards in the area, the game will immediately go into Alert Mode.

In addition, if the player taps the top piece of the bikini, it will make a sound that's similar to a bouncing sound in a cartoon.

Projector in Hold 2
During the Tanker chapter, while in Hold 2, the player can mess with the projector. This will cause the image of the Commandant to go from one screen to the next. After messing with the projector for a while, a cutscene will play in which a image of a woman will be appear on the first screen. Eventually, another woman will appear 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.

The Ghost of Hideo Kojima
Taking a picture of the second projection screen in Hold 2 during the Tanker chapter will cause Hideo Kojima's ghost to appear on the picture. Uploading this picture to Otacon will cause him to get nervous.

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 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. Raiden can also just run close enough to Pliskin to make him panic and run off.

Jennifer's Measurements
When searching for Ames, if Raiden aims the Directional Mic at Jennifer, one of the female hostages, Raiden will say her bra size.

Emma's Parrot
The parrot in B2 of Shell 1 carries a few secrets:
 * It appears to carry the same device as Fortune. This is obvious when Raiden shoots at it. If the cage is looked at closely, the device can be seen in the cage. If it is shot repeatedly, it will try to call in an alert in the same fashion as a guard.
 * If it is sprayed with coolant, it will specifically begin to say, "This sucks," rather than other random things.
 * Point the directional mic at the parrot and press triangle to say, "You must be Ames" at it. Do this a few times and it will eventually repeat it.

Emma
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 call Otacon, he will say, "What do you think you're doing to her?!" If the player call her, she will chastize them.

Bird Killer
When outside (as Raiden), if the player keeps shooting at seagulls, they will recieve a Codec call from the Colonel and Rose, which includes them both criticizing Raiden's pleasure of abusing poor defenseless animals. Rose will also break up with Raiden, and will refuse to save his game until he apologizes. if Raiden has already had a similar situation she will not make him apolgize but show extreme hostility for a short period of time.

Shooting Olga
If the player shoots Olga while she is unconcious 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 as being a monster.

Shooting Snake

 * When the player first meets Pliskin, if the player shoots him, he will retaliate. If the player keeps shooting Pliskin, he will shoot them on sight.
 * In the battle of the Shell 1-2 Connecting Bridge, if the player manages to shoot Snake with a bullet-based weapon, he will fire his M4 at them. Doing this for long enough will result in him shooting 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 shooting at him long enough will make him say, "You bastard!" Shooting him with a tranquilizer will make him fall asleep briefly.
 * When the player first meets Pliskin, if they punch him and immediatly calls him on Codec, they will hear him saying "AGH!"

M9 Jennifer
Crawling under the desk in front of Jennifer, and shooting her with an M9 round will unleash a very funny (and perverted) easter egg. After seeing it, the player can call the Colonel for a humorous conversation.

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 with the use of explosives (like grenades or C4) will cause their bodies to splatter all over the screen.
 * Getting killed during this mode will cause the camera to break.
 * Shooting a guard in the head will cause blood to splatter on the screen if you are close enough.

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.

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 chastize 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 Rosemary to express disgust as well. If calling Pliskin, he actually encourages Raiden to continue looking in the women's room. Continue doing this, and Rosemary might refuse to save Raiden's data until he apologizes for the action.

Annoying Stillman
After Peter Stillman hides in the pantry in Strut C during the Plant chapter, the player can lean against the closed door and knock on it to annoy Stillman.

Upset Rosemary
Doing certain actions during the Plant chapter will cause Rosemary to refuse saving the player's game, until Raiden apologizes her. Rosemary will only make Raiden apologize once during a playthrough, so committing any of the above after having already done one of them will not get the player into the same situation again.
 * Spending time in the women's bathroom in Strut C will easily get Rose annoyed.
 * Killing enough seagulls will get Rose and Colonel to chastise Raiden for his actions.
 * Abusing the hostages in Shell 1 will make Rose and Colonel to chastise Raiden for his actions.

Rosemary's Comments
Depending on certain points during the Plant chapter, having either the cigarettes or a cardboard box equipped while saving the game will result in otherwise unusual conversations. Rose will either complain about Raiden taking up smoking again or comment on his poor choice of disguise, depending on the equipment.

The Urinating Guard
While on Strut L Perimeter during the Plant chapter, a guard will start urinating from the upper level. If Raiden stands right below where the urine lands and calls the Colonel, a humorous conversation will ensue.

Looking for Emma
During the Plant Chapter, while in the Filtration Chamber 2 of Shell 2, Raiden can rise up to the first opening to see Emma through a window by switching to first person view. Staring at her long enough will cause Rosemary to get annoyed and contact Raiden.

The Torture Bed
When inside Arsenal Gear during the Plant chapter, after being released from the torture bed, the player can lean against it to make Raiden strap himself back into it as long as he stays pushed towards it. If Raiden alerts the guards and runs back to the torture chamber and straps himself to the bed, a guard will follow and report that everything is fine, followed by a humorous remark from the guard after seeing Raiden naked.

Snake's Dogtag
After Snake gives the player the High Frequency Blade and Equipment, knock him out and shake him to get his dogtag. 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's, Liquid's, or Pliskin's tag by changing the difficulty level. However, when the player does this in Extreme difficulty, they will recieve Hideo Kojima's dogtag.

Kaori Yae
One of the Plant soldiers has a dogtag 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.

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

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.

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 coolant. Guards that are asleep and sprayed with coolant willl 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 game. These are:
 * 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 on 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).

Messing with 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 does all three, there will be a funny moment where, if the player is spotted, the guard will try to call for backup. He will hold his busted radio with a look of dissapointment. He will than make an unsuccessful attempt to hold his gun. He will than attempt to limp away from danger. At this point, the player can do whatever they want to the guard.
 * 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.