Metal Gear Script FAQ by Rob Browning (pluvius3 @ gmail.com) v1.02 (Written July 24, 2009) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ----------------- I. DISCLAIMER II. VERSION HISTORY III. INTRODUCTION IV. SCRIPT A. Transciever Messages 1. Solid Snake (any frequency) 2. Big Boss (120.85) 3. Schneider (120.79) 4. Diane (120.33) 5. Big Boss (120.13) 6. Schneider (120.16) 7. Diane (120.91) 8. Jennifer (120.48) 9. Steve (120.33) 10. Steve (120.91) 11. Ending B. Dialogue 1. Solid Snake 2. Prisoners 3. Enemies V. ODDITIES AND OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS ************** I. DISCLAIMER ************** This FAQ is copyright 2009 Rob Browning, all rights reserved. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Redistribution for profit is prohibited. Free distribution is allowed provided that this FAQ is left intact and unchanged, with credit given to the author, and that any sites distributing this FAQ update it regularly. Personal, private use of this FAQ is allowed with no restrictions. ******************** II. VERSION HISTORY ******************** v1.02 (07-24-09): Changed contact email address. v1.01 (02-25-07): Changed contact email address. v1.00 (07-24-05): First release. ****************** III. INTRODUCTION ****************** Q. What is this FAQ for? A. This FAQ contains the script to the English version of Metal Gear for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Metal Gear is a classic third-person stealth shooter created by Konami, and the first in a highly-acclaimed franchise that continues to the present day. This FAQ is not meant to help a person through the game, but to help one discover things in the game's script that one may have missed. It would also be possible to use this FAQ as sort of a plot guide so that one does not have to play through Metal Gear, but it is a good game despite its age, and is still worthwhile to play. Q. Why did you write this FAQ? A. The whole affair started just two days before the first writing of this FAQ, when I wanted to prove to myself that nothing in the game tells you how to get through the jungle mazes to Buildings #4 and #5. (For those unfamiliar with this part of the game: The player has to go through a maze to get to these two buildings. The maze is similar to that of the Lost Woods in The Legend of Zelda, where the player must scroll the screen in different directions in a certain sequence in order to pass onto the next screen. Unfortunately, the only way to pass this maze is through time-consuming brute force, unless one uses a walkthrough.) To do so, I dumped the game's script and looked through the results. When I also discovered a script dump of the MSX version of the game on GameFAQs, I decided to convert my script dump into an easily usable form for other gamers. Q. How exactly did you dump the script? A. First of all, I used a nice little hex-editor called Thingy to do a relative search in the ROM. A relative search allows one to find a line of text anywhere in the ROM, even if the line of text isn't encoded in ASCII (the standard method of digitizing text); for example, I searched for the word "check" which led me to the area of the ROM where the phrase "check the way" could be found. When I thusly figured out how the text was encoded in the ROM, I used another program called TaBuLar to make the file necessary to translate the ROM code into readable text. Then I dumped the script to a standard text file and edited it manually. It was actually pretty easy; Konami did not use multiple methods of encoding the text, nor did it use any tricks to make the ROM size smaller (which would've made dumping the script consequently more difficult for reasons which go beyond the scope of this document). Q. How complete is the script? A. It depends on what you mean by "complete." I am certain that the script is at least 99% complete and accurate in terms of content and the way that the text is shown within the game itself. The only mistakes I've made on that score are where certain lines are indented in the game; Konami used a trick to indent some lines without using spaces (they also managed to separate lines of text without line breaks in a very few places). However, this only happens in a few parts of the game (like the credits). As for figuring out how and when exactly this text is triggered... well, I played through the game in an attempt to find every line of text through normal gameplay, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results. However, I have not been 100% successful in this task. There are a few lines which I could not figure out how to trigger, as you will see. There are also numerous cases where lines of text are triggered in more than one place and time, and trying to find all of these triggers would be a pointless exercise, especially since there are some cases where text is triggered for no apparent reason. (A good example: You can trigger Diane's warning to watch out for pit traps in the very first section of the game, before reaching the truck that leads to Building #1.) Q. Wow, is the text really that bad? A. Yes. Though Metal Gear is a classic by the standard definition, it's also a classic example of Engrish in the 8- and 16-bit era of gaming. "Engrish," for those of you who don't know, is what you get when you take normal English and mangle it due to a lack of knowledge of the language (and in the case of Metal Gear and many other games of the time, space constraints also kept the text from being verbose and flowing). So all of the grammatical and typographical errors in the script are truly in the game, not mistakes that I have made. Q. Who the heck is Steve? A. Diane's boyfriend, I guess. He replies to you on her frequency on occasion, he's intimate enough with her to know when she's taking a shower, and he doesn't seem to like a buff, bad-ass guy like Solid "David" Snake talking to her. I guess all of those would be sufficient criteria for a brother or a stalker as well, though, so I could be wrong. *********** IV. SCRIPT *********** Below is the full script for the English NES Metal Gear. It is presented in two sections; the first section lists all of the messages that the player can get through the transciever (which is like the codec in the Metal Gear Solid series, for those of you who are only familiar with the later games), while the second section lists all of the dialogue which is found "in-game." Each section has a number of subsections devoted to different characters or groups of characters. I've tried to keep the text within these subsections in chronological order, but the game is somewhat nonlinear so YMMV. The script is presented in much the same way that you'd view it in the game; a single space between two bits of text shows that they are separated by a line break, while a double space denotes a page break. Bracketed notes are used to show when and where a particular chunk of text is triggered. If I do not know how to trigger a certain chunk of text, I note this with four question marks (????). I also use parentheses to make editorial notes on the script. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A. Transceiver Messages !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The frequency over which a message is sent is given after the name of the person sending it. ------------------------------- 1. Solid Snake (any frequency) ------------------------------- [whenever you use the transceiver's SEND mode] THIS IS SOLID SNAKE. RESPOND,PLEASE. --------------------- 2. Big Boss (120.85) --------------------- [beginning of game] BIG BOSS SPEAKING OPERATION INTRUDE N313. YOU ARE TO INFILTRATE THE ENEMY FORTRESS "OUTER HEAVEN" THEN DESTROY THEIR FINAL WEAPON METAL GEAR. FIRST,ATTEMPT TO CONTACT MISSING OUR "GREY FOX." THEN TRY TO FIND THE METAL GEAR. USE FREQUENCY 12085 FOR ALL COMMUNICATION WITH ME. OVER. [in the binocular truck] BIG BOSS HERE. BINOCULARS? USE THEM TO LOOK AROUND YOU. YOU CAN CHECK DISTANT TOPOGRAPHY AND ENEMY POSITIONS. REMEMBER TO USE YOUR BIONOCULARS AT ALL TIMES. OVER. [in the areas that contain Cards #1 and #2] BIG BOSS HERE. A CARD? THAT CARD WILL OPEN A DOOR. BE CAREFUL. YOU NEED THE RIGHT NUMBER CARD FOR THE DOOR YOU WANT. OVER. [in some areas containing rations] BIG BOSS HERE. RATIONS? CAREFUL.THOSE ARE EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES. DON'T EAT THEM NOW. SAVE THEM. OVER. [various rooms at the beginning of Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. STEAL WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT FROM ENEMY MUNITIONS CARRIERS. STEAL AMMUNITION FROM ENEMY GUARDS. YOU NEED THE RIGHT CARDS TO OPEN ENEMY DOORS. SEARCH FOR THE CARDS. OVER. [various rooms at the beginning of Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. YOUR MISSION IS TO INFILTRATE! BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET ENEMY DETECT YOU. [in the gas mask room] BIG BOSS HERE. GAS MASK? USE IT IN GAS-FILLED AREAS. OVER. [various rooms in Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. YOU CAN CHANGE FLOORS USING THE ELEVATOR. REMEMBER THE LOCATION OF ELEVATORS. OVER. [in the hand gun truck] BIG BOSS HERE. A HAND GUN? THAT IS A BERRETA M92F. YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT! LOOK FOR AMMUNITION. DON'T WASTE BULLETS! OVER. [in the mine truck east of the Building #1 first-floor elevator] BIG BOSS HERE. LAND MINE? YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE THEM! OVER [in the Building #1 third-floor camera rooms] BIG BOSS HERE. WATCH OUT FOR SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS! OVER. [various rooms on the third floor of Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. THE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS ARE WAITING TO HEAR FROM YOU. CONTACT THEM BY RADIO. OVER. [various rooms on the third floor of Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. THE AMOUNT OF AMMUNITION YOU CAN CARRY IS LIMITED. BE CAREFUL! OVER. [in the first gas room] BIG BOSS HERE. I FORGET TO TELL YOU SOMETHING! YOU WILL NEED YOUR GAS MASK IN GAS-COVERED AREAS! SCHNEIDER KNOWS THE LOCATION OF THE GAS MASK. OVER. [in the first "rolling pin" room] BIG BOSS HERE. PLASTIC EXPLOSIVE? YOU CAN USE IT ANYWHERE YOU LIKE. OVER. [in the first electric-floor room] BIG BOSS HERE. I FORGOT TO TELL YOU...... DESTROY THE ELECTRIC CONTROL PANEL TO AVOID HIGH VOLTAGE SHOCKS. SCHNEIDER CAN TELL YOU THE LOCATION OF THE REMOTE CONTROL MISSILE. [in the remote-control missile room] BIG BOSS HERE. MISSILE? IT CAN BE FIRED BY REMOTE CONTROL. USE THEM TO CLEAR OBSTRUCTIONS. OVER. [in the cardboard box room] BIG BOSS HERE. CARDBOARD? WHAT'S GOING ON? ARE YOU PLANNING TO MOVE OR SOMETHING? OVER. [in the silencer room] BIG BOSS HERE. A SILENCER? USE IT TO MUFFLE YOUR GUNSHOTS. OVER. [in the grenade-launcher room] BIG BOSS HERE. IS THAT AN M79 GRENADE LAUNCHER? YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT. OVER. [at the beginning of the Building #1 roof] BIG BOSS HERE. I FORGOT TO TELL YOU...... THERE ARE WINDOW BARRIERS INSTALLED ON THE ROOFTOP. SEARCH FOR A BOMB-BLAST SUIT. OVER. [in the SMG room] BIG BOSS HERE. A SUBMACHINE GUN! DO YOU MEAN AN INGRAM MAC11! YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT. OVER. [in the room east of Grey Fox] BIG BOSS HERE. INFILTRATION ACCOMPLI- SHED. NOW, LOCATE THE GREY FOX'S HIDDEN CELLS. CHECK THE WAY! OVER. [in some of the rooms near Grey Fox's prison] BIG BOSS HERE. RECAPTURE THE WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT STOLEN FROM YOU BY THE ENEMY, THEN ESCAPE! THEY ARE HIDDEN IN ONE OF THE ROOMS. OVER. [???? I have no clue how to trigger this, but it obviously comes sometime after you retrieve your equipment before fighting The Shotgunner.] BIG BOSS HERE. CHECK YOUR EQUIPMENT! ARE YOU SURE THE ENEMY HAS NOT ATTACHED A TRANSMITTER OR SOMETHING TO YOU? OVER. [in the armor room] BIG BOSS HERE. BODY ARMOR? A MAN DOESN'T NEED BODY ARMOR! OVER. [in the bomb-blast suit room] BIG BOSS HERE. BOMB-BLAST SUIT? GOOD PROTECTION AGAINST EXPLOSIONS AND AIR BLASTS. OVER. [in the enemy uniform room] BIG BOSS HERE. ENEMY UNIFORMS? ARE THEY CUTE LITTLE SAILOR SUITS? OVER. [in the mine detector room] BIG BOSS HERE. A MINE DETECTOR? USE IT TO FIND YOUR WAY THROUGH ENEMY MINE FIELDS. OVER. [various rooms in Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. YOU WILL NEED SOME SORT OF CAMOUFLAGE WHERE THE VISIBILITY IS GOOD. YOU KNOW -- COVER YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING, OR WHATEVER. [in the goggles room] BIG BOSS HERE. INFRARED GOGGLES? USE THEM TO SPOT INFRARED SENSORS. OVER. [in the iron glove room] BIG BOSS HERE. IRON GLOVE? USE IT TO TAP ON THE WALLS. OVER. [in the infrared-sensor rooms in Building #1] BIG BOSS HERE. I FORGOT TO TELL YOU...... WATCH OUT FOR INFRARED SENSORS. YOU WILL NEED INFRARED GOGGLES. OVER. [in front of Building #2] BIG BOSS HERE. IT'S A ROADBLOCK. TRY TO SLIP THROUGH WEARING ENEMY UNIFORMS. SWITCH BIG BOSS COMMUNICATION FREQUENCY TO 12013. OVER. ---------------------- 3. Schneider (120.79) ---------------------- [various rooms on the Building #1 third floor] THIS IS SCHNEIDER, RESISTANCE LEADER. I WILL BRIEF YOU ON THE INTERIOR OF THE ENEMY FORTRESS. CONTACT ME ON FREQUENCY 12079. OVER. [in the first gas room] THIS IS SCHNEIDER. YOU CAN FIND YOUR GAS MASK ON THE FIRST FLOOR, SOUTH SIDE. OVER. [in the first electric-floor room] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE REMOTE CONTROL MISSILE IS IN THE SOUTHWEST. OVER. [at the beginning of the Building #1 roof] SCHNEIDER HERE THE BOMB-BLAST SUIT IS ON THE 2ND FLOOR. OVER. [in some rooms near the prisoner who tells you that Grey Fox is in a hidden room] SCHNEIDER HERE SORRY, BUT I DON'T KNOW THE LOCATION OF THE HIDDEN CELL ROOM. OVER. [outside of the Building #1 back entrance] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE MINE DETECTOR IS ON THE ROOF. OVER. [in front of Building #2] THIS IS RESISTANCE LEADER SCHNEIDER. ENEMY UNIFORMS CAN BE FOUND IN BUILDING #4. SWITCH COMMUNICATION WITH ME TO FREQUENCY 12016. OVER. ------------------ 4. Diane (120.33) ------------------ [in Twin Shot's area] HI THERE! THIS IS DIANE. DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN DESTROY "TWIN SHOT" WITH A GRENADE LAUNCHER? BYE BYE! [in The Machine-Gun Kid's room] HELLLOOO! THIS IS DIANE, YOUR RESISTANCE FIGHTER. THE MACHINE-GUN KID IS VULNERABLE TO REMOTE CONTROL MISSILES. BYE, NOW! [in the area with the tank] HI THERE, EVERYBODY. THIS IS DIANE AGAIN! TRY BLOWING UP THE TANKS WITH YOUR MINES. BYE BYE! [in front of Building #2] HI FOLKS! THIS IS DIANE. SWITCH YOUR COMMUNI- CATION CHANNEL TO ME OVER TO 12091. BYE! --------------------- 5. Big Boss (120.13) --------------------- [in the antenna room, after getting the antenna] BIG BOSS HERE. THAT WAS JAMMING OUR COMMUNICATIONS. BUT NOW EVERYTHING'S OK. OVER. [in the flashlight room] BIG BOSS HERE. A FLASHLIGHT? YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW TO USE IT. OVER. [in front of Building #3] BIG BOSS HERE. GET IN THE TRUCK OVER ON THE RIGHT. OVER. [beginning of Building #3] BIG BOSS HERE. GO THROUGH THE DOOR ON THE LEFT. OVER. (Note: Both this chunk of text and the one above are attempts to keep Snake from completing his mission. The "truck on the right" takes Snake back to an earlier part of the game, while the "door on the left" leads Snake directly into a pit trap.) [south of gas rooms in Building #3] BIG BOSS HERE. SOLID SNAKE! OPERATION "INTRUDE N313" CANCELED. REPEAT, CANCELED! RETURN TO BASE IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS AN ORDER! OVER. (Note: Now he's just desperate. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!") ---------------------- 6. Schneider (120.16) ---------------------- [???? Presumably this message is found somewhere in Building #2.] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE NORTH ELEVATOR IS UP AHEAD THERE. OVER. [in front of the Building #2 north elevator] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE NORTH ELEVATOR ONLY GOES UP. OVER. [in front of the Building #2 south elevator] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE SOUTH ELEVATOR ONLY GOES DOWN. OVER. [south of the Arnolds (including the prisoner's cell) and on both ends of the desert] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE COMPASS IS ON THE 2ND FLOOR. OVER. [beginning of Building #5] SCHNEIDER HERE. THERE IS A GAS-FILLED ROOM UP AHEAD. OVER. [various rooms in Building #5] THIS IS RESISTANCE LEADER SCHNEIDER. TAP ON THE WALLS. LOOK FOR A DOOR. IF YOU HAVE AN IRON GLOVE,YOU SHOUD BE ABLE TO FIND IT. OVER. [in Dr. Pettrovich's cell] SCHNEIDER HERE. TO GET TO BUILDING #4, TAKE THE HIDDEN UNDER- GROUND PASSAGEWAY FROM THE SOUTHWEST. OVER. [north end of the passage between Buildings #4 and #5] SCHNEIDER HERE. THE FLASHLIGHT IS IN BUILDING #5. OVER. [in the ammunition room near Coward Duck] SCHNEIDER HERE. WE HAVE UNMASKED THE LEADER OF ENEMY FORTRESS! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE, BUT THE ENEMY LEADER IS......... ARRRGGHHH!! ------------------ 7. Diane (120.91) ------------------ [in the Arnolds' room] HI THERE! THIS IS DIANE! THAT GUY ARNOLD GURDING THE DOOR THERE......HE'S INVINCIBLE! BETTER GET OUTTA HERE! [on both ends of the desert] (Note: For some reason, you have to use Jennifer's frequency to get this message.) HI THERE! THIS IS DIANE! YOU'LL NEED YOUR ANTIDOTE IF YOU GET STUCK BY A SCORPION, YOU KNOW! BYE BYE! [in the pit-trap rooms between Buildings #4 and #5] HI! THIS IS DIANE! HOW ARE YOU DOING? DON'T FALL INTO ANY ENEMY PIT TRAPS! OVER. [in Coward Duck's room] HI THERE! THIS IS DIANE! THE ONLY WAY TO DEFECT THE ENEMY WITHOUT KILLING EACH OTHER IS TO USE THE HAND GUN! BYE! [in Big Boss' room] THIS IS DIANE! I DON'T KNOW ANY WAY TO DESTROY BIG BOSS! SOLID SNAKE, IT'S ALL UP TO YOU! OH! SOLID SNAKE! IF ONLY YOU AND I.........! NO, CANCEL THAT.........! GOOD LUCK. --------------------- 8. Jennifer (120.48) --------------------- (Note: Jennifer will only talk if Snake has a four-star rank.) [east of the Arnolds] JENNIFER HERE. I'LL SET UP THE ROCKET LAUNCHERS. COME AND GET THEM! OVER. [outside of the compass room] JENNIFER HERE. I'VE GOT A COMPAS FOR YOU. OVER. [north of the oxygen tank room] JENNIFER HERE. LOOK FOR THE OXYGEN TANK OVER BEYOND THE DOOR. OVER. [south of gas rooms in Building #3] (Note: For some reason, you have to use Schneider's old frequency to get this message.) JENNIFER HERE. THE CARD TO OPEN THE DOOR UP AHEAD IS IN THE EAST PART OF BUILDING #3. YOU CAN GET THERE THROUGH THE LOCK CONNECTING BUILDING #2. OVER. [in Coward Duck's room] JENNIFER HERE. COWARD DUCK HAS CARD #8. MY BROTHER IS IN THE PRISON. BE CAREFUL NOT TO KILL HIM! IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO MY BROTHER, I CANNOT HELP YOU ANY MORE! [room south of the Super Computer] JENNIFER HERE. THE ONLY CHANCE IS TO RUN FOR IT.........NOW! OVER. [in Big Boss' room] JENNIFER HERE. IF YOU USE A CIGARETTE, IT WILL ADD MORE TIME TO THE TIMER! OH! SOLID SNAKE, COME BACK ALIVE. ------------------ 9. Steve (120.33) ------------------ [in the cell of the prisoner who tells you about Diane] THIS IS STEVE. DIANE? NO, DIANE IS OUT SHOPPING. SHE HASN'T COME BACK YET......... [outside of the Building #1 back entrance] THIS IS STEVE. DIANE? OH! DIANE IS IN THE SHOWER RIGHT NOW......... ------------------- 10. Steve (120.91) ------------------- [various areas on the Building #2 roof, as well as in Fire Trooper's room] THIS IS STEVE. DIANE? OH, IT'S YOU AGAIN! WOULD YOU PLEASE GO AWAY AND STOP PESTERING HER! ----------- 11. Ending ----------- [Solid Snake (120.13)] THIS IS SOLID SNAKE. THE METAL GEAR HAS BEEN DESTROYED. OPERATION "INTRUDE N313" IS A SUCCESS. IT'S ALL OVER......... EVERYTHING, AT LAST! SOLID SNAKE RETURNING TO BASE. OVER. [Radio Station KNK (120.77)] THIS IS STATION KNK BRINGING YOU A SPOT NEWS REPORT. TODAY AT DAWN THERE WAS APPARENTLY A LARGE SCALE EARTH TREMOR IN THE REGION OF GALZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA......... ["Your Computer" (120.77)] THIS IS YOUR COMPUTER SPEAKING. HERE ARE THE CREATORS OF YOUR METAL GEAR GAME. MAIN PROGRAM YOSHIHIRO SUGIMOTO SUB PROGRAM MASAHIRO UENO GRAPHIC DESIGN CONPAGNO OGIKUBO SOUND EFFECT KAZUKI MURAOKA PRESENTED BY KONAMI 1988 TOKYO !!!!!!!!!!!! B. Dialogue !!!!!!!!!!!! Some of the bits of dialogue (mainly those bits spoken by enemy bosses) have unusual spacing. This is because the message box is partially covered by an enemy sprite, so the text must be written around it. --------------- 1. Solid Snake --------------- [upon entering a transport truck] UH - OH! THE TRUCK HAVE STARTED TO MOVE! [upon getting your stuff back before fighting The Shotgunner] I HAVE RECAPTURED OUR WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT. [in Dr. Pettrovich's old cell in Building #1] IS IT TOO LATE FOR DR.PETTROVICH? [The list below contains messages that appear when you get an item, and are self-explanatory.] I HAVE LOCATED SOME RATIONS. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #1. I HAVE LOCATED BINOCULARS. I HAVE LOCATED A HAND GUN. I HAVE LOCATED LAND MINES. I HAVE LOCATED THE AMMUNITION. I HAVE LOCATED A MISSILE. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #2. I HAVE LOCATED CARDBOARD. I HAVE LOCATED A SILENCER. I HAVE LOCATED A GRENADE LAUNCHER. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #4. I HAVE LOCATED A SUBMACHINE GUN. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #3. I HAVE LOCATED SOME BODY ARMOR. I HAVE LOCATED A BOMB-BLAST SUIT. I HAVE LOCATED SOME PLASTIC EXPLOSIVE. I HAVE LOCATED SOME ENEMY UNIFORMS. I HAVE LOCATED SOME INFRARED GOGGLES. I HAVE LOCATED AN IRON GLOVE. I HAVE LOCATED A MINE DETECTOR. I HAVE LOCATED A FLASHLIGHT. I HAVE LOCATED AN ANTENNA. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #5. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #6. I HAVE LOCATED THE ROCKET LAUNCHERS. I HAVE LOCATED THE COMPASS I HAVE LOCATED THE ANTIDOTE. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #8. I HAVE LOCATED THE GAS MASK. I HAVE LOCATED THE OXYGEN TANK. I HAVE LOCATED CARD #7. ------------- 2. Prisoners ------------- [generic prisoners] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! [prisoner southwest of the first gas room] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! FOX HOUNDER INFILT- RATED THE ENEMY SEVERAL DAYS AGO. THEY HAVE CAPTURED HIM,BUT HE IS ALIVE. [prisoner south of the main third-floor elevator room in Building #1] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! RESISTANCE FIGHTER DIANE WILL NOW SUPPORT US OVER FREQUENCY 12033. DIANE IS FAMILIAR WITH ENEMY ACTIVITY. [prisoner southwest of the main first-floor elevator room in Building #1] THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE! FOX HOUNDER AGENT "GREY FOX" IS LOCKED UP IN A HIDDEN SOLITARY CELL ROOM. [prisoner to the south of the last one] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! THE BEST WAY TO GET TO THE HIDDEN CELL ROOM IS TO LET THE ENEMY CAPTURE YOU ON PURPOSE! [Grey Fox] YOU MUST BE A NEWCOMER TO THE MOVEMENT. AM I EVER GLAD TO SEE YOU! I'M AGENT "GREY FOX!" THE ENEMY IS CONSTRUCTING THE FINAL WEAPON,THE "METAL GEAR." IT IS A WALKING TANK. IT HAS FULL NUCLEAR CAPABILITY AND CAN TRAVERSE ANY TYPE OF GROUND. IF THE ENEMY CAN COMPLETE THIS, THEY CAN LAUNCH A NUCLEAR ATTACK FROM ANY SPOT ON THE EARTH. THE METAL GEAR MUST BE DEST- ROYED BY ANY MEANS AVAILABLE BEFORE IT IS COMPLETED! THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO DESTROY IT. THE INVENTOR OF THE METAL GEAR, DR.PETTROVICH, IS THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS. DR.PETTROVICH IS BEING HELD PRI- SONER SOMEWHERE IN BUILDING #1. YOU MUST TRY TO FIND HIM! [prisoner next to Dr. Pettrovich's old cell in Building #1] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! DR.PETTROVICH HAS JUST BEEN MOVED TO BUILDING #2. BUILDING #2 IS LOCATED ABOUT 10 KM NORTH OF HERE. [prisoner east of The Machine-Gun Kid] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! DR.PETTROVICH IS BEING HELD PRISONER IN A CELL ON THE ROOFTOP. [prisoner on the roof of Building #2] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! DR.PETTROVICH IS ON THE 2ND FLOOR. [prisoner to the east of the start of the long underwater passage connecting Buildings #2 and #3] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! THE FAR END OF THE LOCK CONNECTS TO BUILDING #3. GO OUT OF BUILDING #2. ARNOLD HAS THE CARD TO THE DOOR. YOU CAN DEFEAT ARNOLD WITH A ROCKET LAUNCHER. [prisoner south of the Arnolds] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! CAN'T CROSS THE DESERT WITHOUT A COMPASS! [prisoner east of the Arnolds] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! TRY CONTACTING RESISTANCE FIGHTER "JENNIFER" ON WAVEBAND 12048. JENNIFER CAN GIVE YOU DIRECT SUPPORT. BUT BE CAREFUL. SHE'S A SNOB. SHE PROBABLY WON'T ANSWER YOU UNLESS YOU ARE PRETTY CLASSY! [Dr. Pettrovich, before saving Ellen] I AM DR.PETTROVICH. MY DAUGHTER ELLEN IS A HOSTAGE. IF WE DON'T RESCUE HER......... I CAN'T TALK TO YOU ABOUT THE METAL GEAR. ELLEN IS BEING HELD CAPTIVE SOMEWHERE IN BUILDING #4. PLEASE HELP ME! [???? I believe that you hear Ellen saying this eventually in the room next to her cell, but I'm not sure.] HELP! [Ellen] OH, THANK YOU! I AM DR.PETTROVICH'S DAUGHTER, ELLEN. MY FATHER WAS BLACKMAILED INTO CREATING THE AWFUL METAL GEAR. PLEASE HELP MY FATHER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE! [Dr. Pettrovich, after saving Ellen] I AM DR.PETTROVICH. THE METAL GEAR IS LOCATED ABOUT 20KM NORTH OF THIS BUILDING. IT IS IN SUB- BASEMENT 100 OF BUILDING #3. WE HAVE TO SET PLASTIC EXPLO- SIVES ON THE SUPERCOMPUTER THAT CONTROLS ALL THE METAL GEAR FUNCTIONS. NO MATTER WHAT, YOU HAVE TO SET 16 PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES. GOOD LUCK! [Jennifer's brother] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! I AM JENNIFER'S BROTHER. WHEN YOU MAKE YOUR GETAWAY, TAKE THE ELEVATOR TO THE LEFT [prisoner south of B100 elevator in Building #3] THAT WAS A CLOSE CALL! THE LEADER OF THE ENEMY FORTRESS IS THE SUPREME COMMANDER OF "FOX HOUNDER," THE BIG BOSS! HE HAS BEEN BEHIND EVERYTHING ALL ALONG! ----------- 3. Enemies ----------- [first guard, before falling asleep] I'M GETTING SLEEPY!! [first guard, after waking up] I FEEL ASLEEP!! [guard in front of Building #1, before leaving] OK, YOUR TURN!! [guard that takes you to prison, upon entering the truck] DON'T MOVE. [guard that takes you to prison, after approaching you] YOU'RE UNDER ARREST! [The Shotgunner] I AM THE SHOTGUNNER! NOBODY HAS EVER ESCAPED FROM HERE. [The Machine-Gun Kid] I AM THE MACHINE GUN KID! DON'T TRY TO GO ANY FARTHER! [guards in front of Building #2 (if Snake is wearing the enemy uniform)] OK!! IN WE GO!! [Fake Dr. Pettrovich] OUT-FOXED! THE REAL DR.PRTTROVICH IS IN BUILDING #5. DIE!FOX HOUNDER! [Fire Trooper] I AM A FIRE TROOPER! WANT TO SEE ME ROAST YOU ALIVE? [Coward Duck] I AM COWARD DUCK. YOU WANNA TRY AND SHOOT ME ...... GO RIGHT AHEAD! [after destroying the Super Computer] EMERGENCY ALERT! EMERGENCY ALERT! THE ENEMY FOTRESS DESTRUCT MECHANISM HAS BEEN ACTIVATED! BEGIN PREPARATIONS FOR EVACUATION! [Big Boss] WELL, SOLID SNAKE,IT'S AMAZING THAT YOU'VE LASTED THIS LONG! YES, IT'S TRUE. NOT ONLY AM I THE FOX HOUNDER SUPREME COMMAN- DER,BIG BOSS,BUT I'VE BEEN THE LEADER OF THE ENEMY FORTRESS, TOO! AS A NEW AND INEXPERIENCED MEMBER OF OUR TEAM, YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TRICKED INTO CARRYING FALSE INFORMATION. BUT... YOU ACCOMPLISHED TOO MUCH, SOLID SNAKE, YOU WERE TOO GOOD! DON'T THINK YOU CAN KILL ME SO EASILY! COME AND TRY. IF I AM GOING TO DIE, YOU'RE COMING WITH ME! ***************************************** V. ODDITIES AND OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST ***************************************** -Despite the backstory given in the manual, the names "Vermon CaTaffy" and "Commander South" appear nowhere in the script. This is because Konami changed the backstories for several of their games (Contra being a notable example) in order to make them (theoretically) more accessible to an American audience, but these changes generally were not included in the game itself. "Vermon CaTaffy" is a mangling of "Muammar Qadaffi," the current dictator of Libya infamous for his abetting of international terrorism in the late 80s. "Commander South" is an obvious reference to Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, the US Marines officer who was indicted for selling arms to Iran (which was very hostile towards America at the time) and giving the revenues to Nicaraguan rebel groups. -There are a lot of differences between the NES version of this game and the original version for the MSX computer. The biggest difference is the fact that you don't get to fight Metal Gear at all in this version, but instead have to destroy a lame, nearly defenseless computer. This doesn't really fit into the rest of the script at all, since everybody else is talking about destroying Metal Gear. The porting process is also what caused the occasional strange behavior of the transciever that I mentioned earlier, where you get inappropriate messages at times. -If you're wondering why Hideo Kojima wasn't in the credits, it's because he only worked on the MSX version. The NES version was made without his input, and it has been reported that Kojima doesn't really like what was done with it. -Another thing that may have been caused by the porting process mentioned above is the occasional transceiver message given under the wrong frequency. I'm willing to bet that the two transceiver messages which I don't know how to trigger involve incorrect frequencies. -Though the MSX version is slightly better translated than the NES version, it also contains a lot less text. Presumably the NES version contains translations of at least some of the original Japanese text that didn't make it to the MSX version. -Solid Snake is very much the silent protagonist in this first Metal Gear game. He doesn't speak over the transciever at all except to ask for a response, and he doesn't have much dialogue beyond his helpful comments whenever you pick something up. As for the other characters, Big Boss does by far the most transciever talking before the frequency switch, after which he mostly shuts up and lets Schneider handle things. Grey Fox, Dr. Pettrovich, and Big Boss also get a nice chunk of normal dialogue, though it's disappointing that the legendary soldier who earned the codename "Fox" doesn't do anything to help you after you rescue him from prison. -Speaking of other characters: Each of the characters that use the transciever performs a specific task, much like in Metal Gear Solid. Big Boss tells you how to use items (or more accurately, he sometimes does, but usually tells you "You need to know how to use it" then leaves you to figure it out on your own), Schneider tells you where things are, Diane tells you how to defeat bosses, and Jennifer procures items for you. Oh, and I guess Steve provides comic relief. -Big Boss' plot doesn't really make that much sense. Apparently he was planning to use Snake as an unwitting accomplice, feeding him false information to take to the outside so that the world's leaders would stop scrutinizing Outer Heaven so closely. What made him think he could accomplish this by using a man with an IQ of 160 is anyone's guess. (Oh, and while we're on the subject of the final battle with Big Boss: How is smoking a cigarette going to cause a self-destruct sequence to slow down?) -Like many old games with actual plots, Metal Gear has a problem with continuity. This is most apparent when you can talk to Schneider even after he's presumably killed. You can also dial up people on their old frequencies after the frequency switch. -The infamous line "I FEEL ASLEEP!!" should be "I FELL ASLEEP!!" Since it had been so long since I last played the game until recently, I thought that it was supposed to be "I FEEL SLEEPY!!" However, the guard says it after he falls asleep, and he also already says "I'M GETTING SLEEPY!!" before he falls asleep. Either way, it's kind of funny imagining a guy yelling his brains out mere moments before collapsing into a coma. (The other infamous quote, "THE TRUCK HAVE STARTED TO MOVE!" is a lot easier to interpret.) -"CHECK THE WAY!" should be "CHECK THE WALL!" This mistranslation is pretty frustrating for players, since "check the way" is grammatically correct, but makes no sense in context. -As I mentioned before, no one actually tells you how to get to Buildings #4 and #5 through the maze. How were you expected to get there, you ask? Who knows? ************************************** VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CLOSING WORDS ************************************** Thanks to: Konami, for publishing and developing this game. Hideo Kojima, for creating the MSX version of the game as well as the rest of the franchise. CJayC and everyone else at GameFAQs, for their excellent resource (as well as giving me a place to host this FAQ). This FAQ can also be found at Neoseeker. Necrosaro, for creating a great hex-editor specifically for ROMs. Court Jester Z, for making table creation a whole lot quicker. The folks behind FCEUltra, for creating the best NES emulator out there. Nintendo, for creating the NES and giving me so many hours of enjoyment both yesterday and today. And, of course, you for reading. Questions, comments, and criticisms can be sent to pluvius3 @ gmail.com (without the spaces obviously). Please put "Metal Gear FAQ" or something similar in the subject line so I will know what the email is about. If you mention something that I feel should be in this FAQ, I will insert it in a future update and give you credit. Copyright 2009 Rob Browning, all rights reserved.