Metal Gear Solid 2 secrets

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

Alternate title screen
Complete 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 completes 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 are Strut A Deep Sea Dock and Strut B after meeting Pliskin.

Title screen

 * If the player presses L2 at the title screen, the screen will flash and they 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 mention that he is surprised that Sergei 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 third photo will cause an annoyed Otacon to angrily ask Snake to stop sending him photos of him.
 * 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 sensors in the engine room, will cause Otacon to burst out into laughter and say he'll make a back up.
 * A photo of either Hideo Kojima's ghost (taking a picture of the second projection screen in Hold 2) 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 Sasaki complaining about his diarrhea.
 * While at the Strut L Oil Fence, if the player points the microphone at Emma Emmerich at any point, 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 about his hair.
 * 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.

Marine drops
In Hold 2, if the player decides to take the vents over to the exit, the soldier will sometimes drop a magazine in the vent shortly before the player exits the first crawlspace area, with the soldier then remarking "Ah... forget about it...." after initially reacting to it being dropped.

Happy Birthday!
When logging into the first node in the Plant chapter, the player is given the chance to input their name, birthday, blood type 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 dogtags
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 statue
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 Emmerich is hiding in the Shell 2 basement (this locker can only be 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).

Lift stuck
Placing an enemy soldier's body within the elevator of either the Shell 1 or Shell 2 Core will cause it to become inoperable.

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 taps the top piece of the bikini, it will make a comical bouncing sound. Knocking on the bottom of the 2 piece will cause an exclamation point to appear above Snake's hand, and will trigger the Alert Mode if any guards are present in the area.

Projector in Hold 2
During the Tanker chapter, the player can operate the overhead projector within Hold 2. This will cause the image of the Commandant to go from one screen to the next. Continuing to alter the projector images will eventually trigger a cutscene in which an image of a woman will appear on the first screen, followed by another woman 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.

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 Peter 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.

Jennifer's measurements
When searching for Richard 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:
 * Its cage is equipped with the same device carried by Fortune, which will deflect any bullets fired at it, and can be seen on the inside. If it is shot repeatedly, the parrot will attempt to call in an alert in the same fashion as a guard.
 * If it is sprayed with coolant, it will say, "This sucks."
 * Point the Directional Mic. at the parrot and press triangle to say, "You must be Ames." Do this a few times and it will eventually repeat the phrase.

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 calls Otacon, he will say, "What do you think you're doing to her?!" If the player calls her, she will chastize them.
 * If the player knocks Emma out and lays on her body before she climbs back and call her with Codec she will angrily say: "You perv!", "Unbelievable! I can't believe you're doing me like that!" or "Keep your hands to yourself!"

Bird killer
If the player keeps shooting at seagulls, they will receive a Codec call from the Colonel and Rose, which includes them both criticizing Raiden's pleasure of abusing 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 apologize but show extreme hostility for a short period of time.

Shooting Olga
If the player shoots Olga while she is unconscious 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 immediately 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 allows the player to see up her skirt. 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, using either the grenades, stinger missiles, C4, or the RGB6 will cause their bodies to splatter all over the screen.

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.

Strut L Perimeter
If the player cross the Strut L Perimeter without getting spotted, a special cutscene will play showing a Gurlukovich soldier having to urinate. If the player does not get out of the way, Raiden will inadvertently get urinated on. If the player does end up getting under the Gurlukovich soldier while he was urinating off the side of the strut, call the Colonel. The Colonel will feel a bit disgusted and express his sympathies, while joking that this is the reason why they are called "wetworks missions", while Rosemary comforts Raiden, although she also tells him that he'll have to take a shower the second he gets back after the mission.

James Johnson
If the player goes into a relaxing room adjoining the room where President Johnson is being held and knocks on the wall. Johnson will get curious about the sound and ask if someone's there.

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 Silverburgh's, Liquid Snake's, or Iroquois Pliskin's tag by changing the difficulty level. However, when the player does this in Extreme difficulty, they will receive 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 the coolant. Guards that are asleep and sprayed with the coolant will 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 dogtags 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 progress. 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).

Tormenting 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 humorous 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 disappointment. He will then make an unsuccessful attempt to hold his gun. He will then 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.