Big Boss PS2/HDC Route
Big Boss can be played on the PS2 port of Metal Gear (1987) which was included on disc 2 of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. Additionally, it is playable on PSTV/PS Vita, and modern consoles that can play the HD collection version of Metal Gear Solid 3. The game is also available on PC via a release on GOG.
The goal is to beat the game as fast as possible while having the “Big Boss” rank on the final score screen.
Requirements for Big Boss are:
BEFORE YOU RUN
There is an aspect of RNG manipulation in this speedrun. To make your life easier when running Big Boss, you should always launch Metal Gear from the Metal Gear Solid 3 menu (the main selection menu) into Metal Gear, then start with a new game run on original difficulty. This way, your RNG seed will be set to zero. If you continue and reset, make sure to quit out fully back into the Metal Gear Solid 3 menu, then back into the Metal Gear menu to reset that RNG seed back to 0. Throughout the run there will be multiple pointers where you can tell that you are on the ideal seed. The goal is to make the four hoursemen encounter in Building 1 more predictible and hence make it easier to preserver your health.
Building 1
Building 1 - Ground Floor
click for full resolution image
Grab Level 1 Card
follow red line on map
Walk up, then hold right and go up next to the tank. Before leaving the screen walk right
Hold up and walk right to meet the truck screen
walk to the center truck first and grab the level 1 card, make sure to go up enough so the guard doesn't see you
exit the truck, open the menu and close it again to have the level 1 card equipped
walk left one screen
Grab gas mask
follow blue line on map
walk south below the boxes and go left until you can punch the guard
now you can leave south, since the guard is unable to alert on you
walk south and leave the tank screen to the right
walk right without pause until you meet the door
inside the room grab the gas mask, with the correct RNG (see “BEFORE YOU RUN”) the guard will always fall asleep
leaving ground floor
follow green line on map
leave the room, walk south and exit to the left
keep walking left until you hit the eastern most room
walk to the northern most room, wait until the guard shift changes, then enter the elevator
take the elevator up (only one option)
Building 1 - Floor 2
The biggest floor in the entire speedrun. Let's break it down!
click for full resolution
pass the gas chamber
as you leave the elevator, turn right and wait for the left camera to turn down again
as soon as you can, walk south and exit the screen to the right
return left again, now with the camera positions reset
walk all the way to the left side of the room and leave south
hold down, then left to the box
enter the door with level 1 card key, which you already have equipped
hold left, turn down close to the wall
hold down and touch the hostage
hold right to open the right door, then menu to the gas mask
L2 - Down - L2
enter the gas room, walk close to the boxes
in this room, we want to increment the RNG seed by 3
each gas cloud disappearing is one increment to the RNG seed
when at the door, you have to wait for the third gas cloud to disappear
switch back to the level 1 card
L2 - UP - L2
continue south
Death Barrel Room
It is not worth resetting the pin
click for full resolution
after the gas room, hold down
punch the guard to not get alerted, be fast or the camera catches you going south
exit to the right
in the death barrel room hold up and go to the left gap
grab the explosives
walk down to the center again
wait for the barrel to roll left
once the barrel has rolled left, walk up and exit to the right
click for full resolution
Grab Level 2 Card
exiting the death barrel room, prepare to hold up and then right
punch the guard that walks up to your height and go past him
stay at the top wall when walking right
in this next room with 2 guards, stick high to the wall
punch the first guard, the 2nd guard will turn left, but won't spot you due to height differences
keep walking right and ignore the 2nd guard
on the next screen with 2 doors and 1 guard, walk south up to the bottom wall and turn right
you can wait for the guard to turn around, but for bypassing the guard, you have to punch him
ideally, wait for the camera to go past the right door, punch the guard and then enter the room with the level 2 door card
grab the level 2 card
click for full resolution
Return back to the start of F2 pt.1
exit the room, walk close to the south wall again, turn left, wait at the corner of the right side housing
punch the guard as he stops, move left, wait at the boxes until the top camera moves right again to not get spotted
leave the room without going up, just walk left
in the double guard room, hold up until you hit the north wall
punch the right guard twice to buffer the 2nd guard turning left
leave the room to the left
take a north-left line back into the death barrel room, punching the guard to bypass him
hold left, then down, in the death barrel room
turn south and left to the 1 guard, 1 camera room
keep holding left and save the bottom door hostage
exit the room, equip level 2 card and go up
punch once to buffer the camera, do not get caught going up
enter the top door room and grab the RC missile, exit again
leave toward the right, punch the guard to bypass him
equip level 1 card, open the door
then equip the gas mask before entering the room
head north back into the gas chamber
click for full resolution
Return back to the start of F2 pt.2
walk through the gas room to exit to the left
NOTE: the RNG will increase 3 more increments as there will always be 3 gas clouds appearing and disappearin again, this is intended for the 4 horsemen manipulation.
return back again to the screen with the two guards and 1 door right
leave to the north, then turn right, and then south to return to the previous room
walk south, equip level 2 card and save the next hostage
click for full resolution
Meeting 4 Horsemen
exit the hostage room, turn north, then turn west
open the four horsemen room door with your level 2 door card
before entering the room, switch to the level 1 door card
L2 - Up x2 - L2
once in the 4 horsemen room, walk up to the center, turn right
stay at the top end of the bottom row of boxes
thanks to the RNG manipulation you will always get shot
walk right into the room to grab the grenade launcher, go down then left
open the door, then BEFORE leaving this grenade launcher room, equip the level 2 door card
L2 - Down x2 - L2
leave the room by walking west
in the four horsemen room immediately go down, then walk left close to the bottom wall
thanks to the RNG manipulation you will have the guard right on top of you, giving you less lethal touch damage
walk to the center bottom door and leave the four horsemen room
exit to the right screen
click for full resolution
End of F2
hold down and exit to right, stick to the top wall so the guard won't see you
hold right and exit the screen south at the right side of the room
enter the right side door and save the hostage
in the hostage room ideally you go up, right, then down to touch the POW, then leave the same way again in reverse
go up, walk south of the right guard, wait 2s and punch the right guard, once the left guard turns left, leave to the elevator
take the elevator down 2 floors (middle exit of the 2nd screen)
Building 1 - Ground Floor Capture
Key points: save 2 hostages, get submachine gun, get captured
click for full resolution
walk south, curve the tanks to the left
stick to the tanks and punch the left guard to have him not alert on you
exit south by the left wall side
enter the hostage room and hold left
turn up when reaching the hostage to actually save them
leave to the right, get behind the box (right side) and wait for the left camera to move high enough
switch to level 1 door card
L2 - Up x2 - L2
once the camera is high enough, walk south, exit to the left side at the bottom
walk to the left side door
save the hostage, again hold left and up once reaching hostage
leave the room, walk up and right, switch to level 2 door card
L2 - Down x2 - L2
enter the right side door
grab the submachine gun, exit the room
walk south and right before leaving the room
stick to the tank going left, turn down as soon as the right guard looks south
leave the room to the left to get captured
Building 1 - Underground
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Escape the cell and rescue Gray Fox
walk left into the wall
punch 5 times to open the wall
hold left and go down to touch Gray Fox at his left body half
after the convo walk down and punch the wall 5 times again
go right into the Shotmaker fight
Shotmaker
Ignore Shotmaker! (for now)
Escape Underground
walk to the bottom right door and punch it
walk down and right to grab your items
menu as follows to remove the tracker and equip the door 2 key card
L2 - Up 2x - Circle - Up - L2
walk out of the right room and enter the left room
grab the door key level 3 card
grab the ammunition
leave the room and return to grab more ammunition
in total: grab 5 ammo boxes, the result should be 5 explosives and 30 grenade launcher ammo
before leaving the final time, menu to the door level 3 card and the submachine gun as follows:
L2 - Down - R2 - Up - Right - R2
Shotmaker
FIght Shotmaker!
Walk immediately left and up the wall
turn right and shoot shotmaker with the submachine gun
he should die within 2 seconds
equip the plastic explosives before leaving to the maze
R2 - Left - R2
leave to the right into the maze
Maze
the maze is very simple, key points are to grab the blast suit and the enemy uniform.
Save time by placing bombs early:
If you follow the line closely the dogs won't damage you as they are locked on their axis and won't be able to adjust to your movement.
walk up, just above the door frame, and right to the marked wall, place 1 explosive
YOU CAN STAND ON EXPLOSIVES, THEY WON'T DAMAGE YOU
follow the line on the map to the top right corner, placing a bomb just after entering the room
continue around, hugging the inner wall, and set another explosive on the small wall segment
walk down, then right, then down, and into the blast suit room
follow the path back again to the beginning and walk up
just above the center of the screen, set an explosive on the left wall
grab the enemy uniform and then leave the room
the elevator is in the top right corner of the map
equip the submachine gun before leaving
R2 - Right - R2
Building 1 - Floor 1
click image for full resolution
Meet Machine Gun Kid
walk right and wait in the corner until the camera starts moving down
begin heading south to leave the room once the camera is on the same level as the boxes to not get caught
walk south and follow the line on the map to not trigger the laser traps
walk to the door to save a POW
then leave to the left to meet machine gun kid
Machine Gun Kid & Parachute
walk up and start shooting the submachine gun as soon as you're close to MGK
after MGK is taken care of, menu to level 1 card
L2 - Down x2 - L2
exit the room to the north to get the parachute
click image for full resolution
Hostage & Heading to the Roof
retrace your steps after collecting the parachute to exit the MGK room
walk up and then right in the next room
stick to the bottom side to not alert the guard
save the hostage and leave following the line to not trip the traps
line note: south to the bottom boxes, then right until between 3 boxes and 1 box, go up one box, turn right and then turn north close to the boxes
leave to the north and don't trip the traps
line note: go up, then left past the first box, turn north center of the room, leave to the top
ignore the one guard in the room, leave at the right hand side of the room
go up until you're hidden behind the boxes, the camera will be faster than you, so you have to wait at the boxes
during the wait time, you can equip the blast suit and grenade launcher as follows:
L2 - Up - R2 - Up - Right - R2
once the camera turns south you can leave north into the elevator and go up 2 floors to the roof
Building 1 - Roof
Roof
Walk south and left
in the room with the three guards, wait south of the right block to not get spotted
while you wait, menu to the parachute
L2 - Down x2 - L2
follow the path left and then south to go past the bridge section
walk right and before entering the hind fight, walk south to be on the top right corner level of the box
note: the roof alert is forced and unavoidable, with luck you can leave the screen without taking damage
Hind-D Fight
Walk right and shoot 20 times with the grenade launcher
once the last grenade has left the launcher you can keep holding right, no damage
walk up and left to fall off the roof - MAKE SURE TO HAVE THE PARACHUTE EQUIPPED!!!
Building 1 - Ground Floor
Click the image for a full resolution view
Level 4 Key and Rank Up 2
once landed walk south
hold right to enter the truck - don't walk too far south or else you take mine explosion damage
grab the level 4 card key
leaving the truck hold left
you WILL take damage from the mine explosion, make sure to have enough health before
walk up, equip the newly acquired level 4 door key card
L2 - Down - L2
enter the hostage room, get the 2nd rank up and leave the first building as the map guides
you can reset the dogs back to the initial position by leaving to the right screen first, walk up further, then return to the left screen and go through the door
Building 1 to 2
click image for full resolution
grab explosives
Immediately head left and enter the leftmost truck for explosives
grab 3 explosives, so repeat entering the truck 3 times
then leave the screen to the left and start walking up, you'll be wrapped around the level
go up to the tank
Tank
Entering Building 2
after passing the tank, go up and right until you're between the grenade launcher and ammo count
switch to the uniform as follows
L2 - Up x2 - L2
pass the guards
switch back to the level 4 card
L2 - Down x2 - L2
Building 2
Building 2 - Ground Floor - First Visit
click image for full resolution
Bulldozer
Walk up to the bulldozer fight
hold up to be close enough and send off 4 shots
then walk to the south of the room before opening the door
turn up and send off 4 more shots
be aware if you go up while the bulldozer is exploding, the hitbox lasts a bit longer and you die on touch
leave the boss room going up
Antenna
Leave the bulldozer room immediately to the right, then up
follow the path on the map to go to the Antenna room
IMPORTANT in this room with three guards, the top right guard will immediately notice you, wait for him to look up on entering the room
follow the line and reset the guards once going right and returning left
punch the bottom guard, enter the room to the left when the left guard looks north
before entering switch to the door level 2 key card
L2 - Left - L2
grab the antenna by going up
leave the room by walking south of the boxes to not alert the guard
back to the 3 guards room, walk to the right until you're at the ledge
punch the guard that's coming from the right (south one) and leave the room to the south
return immediately up to reset the guards, follow the path north in the bright water
when going up, turn left once you hit the corner wall
in the room with the laser traps, walk north and then left, it'll time Snake so you won't trip the alert
take the elevator up 2 levels
Building 2 - Roof
Welcome to Hell Roof, the alert is forced
Click the image for a full resolution view
Walk south and rescue the hostage
leaving the room walk right and equip the level 4 door card
L2 - Right - L2
follow the path south to get to the room holding the level 5 door card
if comfortable, go south then left on the middle screen for a faster but riskier route
menu to the level 5 door card
L2 - Down x2 - Right - L2
or right, then down twice
leave the floor and take the elevator ALL THE WAY DOWN
Building 2 - Underground - First visit
Walk left and rescue the hostage
walk south and open the door
either continue to the next room or menu before entering
equip gas mask and explosives
L2 - Left 2x - Down 2x - R2 - Left - Down - R2
walk north and go to the spot at the wall
place plastic explosive next to the wall and open it
switch to level 1 door card
L2 - Up - L2
go up and save the hostage
walk east and equip the level 5 door card
L2 - Up x2 - Right - L2
Ignore the fake Dr. Madnar
walk left and in the next room grab the door level 6 card
equip the door level 6 card
L2 - Down - Right - L2
exit and enter the left door to meet Fire Trooper
Fire Trooper
if you have enough health, you can ignore the fire trooper and walk past him going north, then east, enter the elevator
or
have the submachine gun equipped and walk up to FT, wait until the flames are off, then kill FT with the submachine gun
Take the elevator UP 2 Levels
Building 2 - Floor 1 - First Visit
Another more complex floor, lets break it down
Rank 4
Click the image for a full resolution view
walk right and down in the first room, punch the bottom right guard to not trigger an alert
walk down and go right to the brads
walk south and go right, keep hugging the boxes from the bottom
switch from door key level 6 to 5
L2 - Up - Left - L2
walk south east to save the hostage
you can avoid getting spotted by doing clean lines close to the wall
go back again to the brad rooms
exit to the right
before going up, menu to door key level 3
L2 - Left 2x - Up - L2
punch the guard that is coming towards you to not trigger an alert
enter the top left room, save the hostage and rank up the third time for rank 4
leave to the south, in the next room don't walk straight away but punch the guard first to not trigger an alert
walk right and punch the next guard, stick to the boxes and go up, punch the third guard and then enter the rocket launcher room
press select, go to frequency 120.48, this will save Jennifer in your codec menu, then L2 to equip door key level 6
L2 - Down 2x - Right 2x - L2
once outside menu to the rocket launcher and the door key level 5
L2 - Up - Left - R2 - Left - R2
walk out and wait a moment to punch the right guard
walk down and go left, try to stick as much as possible to the upper wall line to not get spotted
punch the guard that's walking right
wait for the left guard to walk up again, then leave the room
trace the line on the map to exit the bottom right corner elevator
punch guards in your path to not alert them
enter the death barrel room and go into the elevator
leave to the bottom again, 2 floors down
Building 2 - Underground - Second Visit
click image for full resolution
once leaving the elvator zone, exit to the right
equip level 3 card
L2 - Left x2 - Up - L2
once the door opens, menu again to the gas mask
L2 - Up - L2
go north into the room without a door
walk up and left first to get the explosives,
then return to the entry again and wait for the barrel to pass
walk up and grab the ration and ammunition
wait for the barrel to pass and exit the room
enter the barrel room again 3 more times to grab 3 more boxes of ammunition
you should have now 8 rockets in your rocket launcher
managing your rocket launcher ammunition is critical to the success of the run
leave the maze to the left into the firetrooper room
menu to level 6 card before entering the fire trooper room
L2 - Right 2x - Up - L2
in the elevator, equip the level 2 card
L2 - Left 2x - Down 2x - L2
take the elevator up 2 floors again
Building 2 - Floor 1 - Second Visit
click image for full resolution
Brads and Compass
walk right and down in the first room, punch the bottom right guard to not trigger an alert
walk down and go right to the brads
each brad takes 4 rockets to die
on entering the brad room, walk to the bottom wall (it has to be the furthest south) tap right and shoot 4 times
once the first brad is down, go top left to the top wall and shoot right 4 times
once the 2nd brad dies, the level 7 card key drops, grab it
enter the top right door, follow to the top right room, stick to the northside wall
in the three guard room, punch the left guard, then
call Jennifer via the saved codec frequency, she will open the door
follow to the top right door, punch the top guard and grab the compass
on exiting the room, punch first before moving to take care of the top guard
turn left and punch the left guard as well
retrace back to the brad room, switch to level 5 card
L2 - Down 2x - Right 2x - L2
then return to the bottom right elevator again
take the elevator down a SINGLE floor
during the elevator move, switch from the rocket launcher to the submachine gun
R2 - Left - Up - R2
Building 2 - Ground Floor - Second Visit
click image for full resolution
We're going to be leaving to the reach building 3, to grab some scuba gear
follow the line on the map
wait at the map marked position for the top left guard to turn away
equip card 7 to leave building 2
L2 - Up 2x - L2
once you left the building, equip the compass
L2 - Down - L2
Desert to Building 3
click on image for full resolution
you have to survive 4 screens of scorpions that can poison you
you can use the SMG to shoot scorpions, start shooting as soon as you enter the desert to not get instantly poisoned
to save ammunition, you can wrap around the screen to the left or the right to avoid scorpions
once you reached the empty screen, you survived the first round of scorpions
move snake to the horizontal line in the image, the goal is to enter the door on its right side
then equip level 7 card and plastic explosives
L2 - Up - R2 - Left - R2
move up and walk straight up into the door
Building 3 - Ground Floor
Good luck that the guard closest to the wall does not die to the explosion or your big boss attempt fails right here.
enter the room and go top, walk right to blow up the wall
Blue line: you can keep walking north and sticking close to the north side boxes going to the elevator
Red line: you have to leave the room on the left hand side and walk up, left at the top of the boxes and then go into the elevator
once the elevator starts moving down heal up and go to door card level 8
L2 - Up - Circle - Up x2 - L2
follow the elevator all the way down
Different line comparison video
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Underground - First Visit
let's grab the scuba gear
walk south underneath the walk block and place a plastic explosive
go into the room and grab the scuba gear
leave back into the elevator again going up
click image for full resolution
Ground Floor - Second Visit
both PAL and NTSC/HDC
after leaving the elevator, walk shortly left, then south to avoid the 1st pit
reaching the box hold right and leave south to not fall into the 2nd pit
leave the building 3 where you entered from
Desert to Building 2
See Desert to Building 3 for returning back. You do not need the compass equipped to return to building 2.
Building 2 - Second Visit
click images for full resolution
move to Coward Duck
Once Building 2 has been entered, switch to scuba gear and RC Missile Launcher
L2 - Right - Down 2x - R2 - Up - R2
swim up north until the end of the path
leaving the water, stay close to the top railing and move up where the railing begins (see map)
use a RC Missile to take out the electric floor
equip level 1 card and enter the top left room
L2 - Right 2x - Down - L2
grab 2 ammunition boxes, leave the room and grab 1 more ammunition box
do not waste this rocket launcher ammo as it is critical
leaving the room with the ammo, punch the button at the wall and walk over to the top right room
equip the level 7 card and Rocket launcher
L2 - Right 2x - Down 2x - R2 - Right - R2
Coward Duck
enter the room, skip the dialog and time your shots
the best method is to hold skip and fire at the same time
2 shots from the rocket launcher and CD is dead
grab the level 8 card while the 2nd rocket is still flying
do not fall into the pit in the middle of the room
before leaving the room, equip the RC missile
R2 - Left - R2
then leave down again
Ending Building 2
shoot the panel again in the top left corner
equip the scuba gear before leaving south
L2 - Right - Down 2x - L2
leave the now not electric floor south from where you entered first, the left flooring tile
punch the top left guard directly after switching screens if necessary
then hug the railing and swim south again to leave building 2
Desert to Building 3 - Second Trip
See above notes for Desert first trip
Building 3 - Second Visit
Building 3 - Ground Floor
click for full resolution image
leave the room going up, left, then up
PS2 PAL ONLY (Blue line): you can keep walking north and sticking close to the north side boxes going to the elevator
PS2 NTSC and HDC (Red line): you have to leave the room on the left hand side and walk up, left at the top of the boxes and then go into the elevator
once in the elevator go down
once the elevator starts moving go to door card level 8
L2 - Right - Up x2 - L2
follow the elevator all the way down
Building 3 - Underground
click image for full resolution
follow the path until you reach the level 8 door, open it and then switch to the gas mask
L2 - Right 2x - Down - L2
place the explosive, continue to the next room
walk up and hug the right side wall to not fall into the pit
then equip card 1
L2 - Up - L2
open the door, before leaving, equip the gas mask again
L2 - Down - L2
pass through the next room, follow the line to not hit mines
at the end, equip the level 1 card to open the door
L2 - Up - L2
hold right to hug the wall, then switch to the ration before walking on the electric floor
L2 - Down - Right x2 - L2
enter the Metal Gear TX-55 boss room, have the ration automatically used on the electric floor
Building 3 - TX-55
The order of legs to place the explosives in front of:
RRL, RLL, RLL, RRL, RLR, R
| | | |
1 | Right | Right | Left |
2 | Right | Left | Left |
3 | Right | Left | Left |
4 | Right | Right | Left |
5 | Right | Left | Right |
6 | Right | | |
Do NOT menu to the rocket launcher before the last explosive has gone off or the explosive will despawn.
Menu for rocket launcher is L2 - Left - L2
In order to not get hit from the lasers, walk from left to right and right to left and place an explosive down when you reach the leg you want to hit. See the current runs for reference.
Building 3 - Big Boss & Escape
Big Boss Speech D-Pad spin vs Holding X
A semi-reliable way to skip Big Boss's speech even faster
click image for full resolution
walk up and turn left
shoot the first rocket on your way to the 2nd box, bottom left corner
shoot a 2nd rocket at that bottom right corner of the box
then move to the top right corner of that center box
shoot 2 more rockets to the left
Big Boss is dead
move out of the room
walk up the most left ladder
Video Tutorials
Big Boss Speedrun Tutorial by Jaguar_King