v1.18 by MarlonH8

• It is preferable to play on a PAL release as noted here, but this guide also includes additional info and strategies for NTSC whenever necessary (Silo Complex)
• If you wish to change any options such as your aiming sensitivity or controls, do so before creating your New Game save file
• One line of Non-Codec text/dialogue needs to be skipped before you can hold Triangle to fast forward through the rest of it
• If you don't receive a Spy Report that is necessary to advance the game after using your Waits, deploy to any location and abort the mission to progress time further
• If you desperately need to heal up or refill your Stamina, you can use Waits to recover all characters' Health & Stamina Gauges by around 33.33…%
• Holding the Movement Stick in any direction while loading into a stage will make your character face that direction - Keep it in a neutral position to avoid this from occuring
  • In rare cases, pointing towards a specific direction can help save some frames (e.g., Silo Entrance I., II. & III.)

• Advance Point (AP): The “exit” of a level, which either takes you to the next area or back to the Briefing Menu
• CQC Hold Up: Perform a CQC slam and (auto-)aim your weapon at the enemy to immobilize them
• 180°-Bump-Grab (180-BG): Run & bump into a soldier from the front, then once you’re behind him, perform a 180° turn and grab him - This also works while having the C Box equipped
• Push-Drop: With a person in your chokehold, aim the stick in a direction and press Square to push them to the ground - This gives you an opening to escape out of their sight
• Roll-Knockdown (RKD): Bump into or run just next to a guard and perform a roll in the direction you want to continue in - This pushes them just out of range to spot you once they've recovered

While the main route presented in this guide is based on the NORMAL Difficulty, most of these strategies and routes work identically on their EASY counterparts.
If there are exclusive alternatives available to either Difficulty, they will be marked by the following tags: [EASY], [EASY-only] & [NORMAL-only].
All of these occurences are also listed below:

All bosses deal less damage, but otherwise behave in the exact same manner on EASY. The other important difference lies in the amount of health & stamina that you can drain per hit.
This is usually¹⁾ increased by 50% on EASY. All in all, this enables EASY speedruns to finish just over a minute earlier than a NORMAL run would.
The fastest boss strategies for EASY are listed below:

• Skip (Start) Cutscene
• Attempt to open the cell door - ideally with the Double Handle Grab
• Fast forward (Triangle) Text
• Skip Text
• Enter the crawl space below the bed and follow it to the right
• Get up as you exit the space beneath the bed (don't hold X, tap it) and pick up the Mk22
• Skip Text
• Skip Cutscene
• Fast forward Text
• Head to the door on your left
• Fast forward Text
• Go inside the main building and roll into prone position to get past the gate
• Pass the patrol in front of you from the right and continue northeast
• Roll up the slope, follow the left path and roll into the Advance Point (AP)

You can skip one of the cell door handle grab animations here. In order to do that, you need to run towards the door's handle in a way that places yourself just out of range to normally initiate the door opening animation when pressing the action button.
If properly executed, this precise trick makes one handle grab count as two or more and therefore advances Snake straight to the text box. The skip was discovered by Pythonicus during his first full speedrun!

• Fast forward Text
• Head right and roll past the gap behind the iron fence
• Enter the main building through the eastern red door in front of you
• Open the next door and step into the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

• Skip Cutscene
• Take a few steps towards the west
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Roll right through the Text Trigger north of you
• Skip Text
• Head northwest and roll down to the lower area
• Ascend the northern staircase and continue towards the next lower area
• Roll diagonally over the gap onto the path next to the building
• Head inside and perform a Roll-Knockdown (RKD) past the officer and into the Secret Document
• Fast forward Codec Call

Cutscene or Text Triggers like the one here temporarily block you from moving. If you enter the trigger area with a roll, your animation will carry you a bit further.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• In front of you, climb up one box and roll onto the concrete
• Walk alongside the building, towards the soldier guarding the entrance (Jonathan)
• Perform a quick CQC slam and pick up the TNT inside, next to the ramp
• Pick up and drag Jonathan to the stacked boxes and enter First Person View mode (FPV)
• Turn towards the southwest and drop him
• Drop down yourself and continue dragging Jonathan to the back of the truck
• Skip Cutscene

If you find yourself accidentally picking up unnecessary items such as the 9mm T Ammo dropped by Jonathan here, make sure to drop (Inventory, Drop [L]) or replace it at the next opportunity.
Inventory bloat can lead to additional timeloss later on so it's best to proactively prevent it from happening.

Make sure to not drag soldiers too close to the truck's rear. Snake will always go towards a fixed spot, which is a certain distance behind the truck.
If you entered the trigger zone from an unfavorable position, you could lose valuable seconds due to longer animations.

While the game recommends you to go to the Soviet Patrol Base, you can actually visit any of the available stages to complete this recruitment mission.
We're simply recruiting this soldier on this stage, because he is closer to our truck and therefore faster to drag there than anyone else. The TNT pickup is an added bonus.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Run straight into the central building via the western red door
• Go through the next two doors to your front, left and into the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Approach the gap of the wall in front of you with a roll into prone position
• Pass the gap and follow along the right, around the central building
• Perform a 180°-Bump Grab (180-BG) and choke the approaching guard unconscious
• Pause close to the left wall and change your active member to Snake
• Get to this spot as Snake, then drag & drop the future Recruit within Jonathan's box' range
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Keep going and enter the northwestern building
• Roll up the staircase and finish off by entering the AP inside the second, rightmost room
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

If you find yourself accidentally picking up an item dropped by the Recruit here, make sure to drop (Inventory, Drop [L]) or replace it at the next opportunity.
Inventory bloat can lead to additional timeloss later on so it's best to proactively prevent it from happening.

While performing a slam to knock out guards like this once can theoretically be faster, it comes with other drawbacks and risks. There's a very high chance that the soldier will have enough stamina to take one CQC slam without falling unconscious.
This chance is drastically lower, but still present on EASY difficulty. Additionally, you will be out of range to instantly pause and perform a Member Change without repositioning here, thus losing further time.

While it is technically possible to finish the run without any additional recruitments, the impact it would have on Spy Report RNG is huge. The chance of saving time by skipping this Recruit and relying on amazing Spy Report luck lingers in the one digit range (x%).

The soldier obtained after Jonathan (Recruit) will always have the Deliveryman skill.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change from Jonathan to Snake
• Follow along the path until you reach the upward slope with the guard next to it
• Start ascending it and roll up twice to reach the top
• From here, head north and then continue eastward onto the next slope
• Perform another two rolls to the top, turn around and roll into the AP
• Skip Cutscene
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Roll straight down to the door to enter the building
• Take a right and roll into the final AP
• Skip Cutscene

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Climb a box and roll onto the concrete, then go through the small building
• Run past the guard while heading inside of the main building and continue towards the hall's back
• Once you've reached the corner, roll onto the crates to obtain the Secret Document
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Go east and roll into the AP in front of the Rail Bridge
• Skip Cutscene
• Fast forward Codec Call

If you find yourself in the uncommon situation that you already have two of the three necessary Spy Reports before launching into your first Diversionary Mission, you can expand on your luck even further.
In order to do that, assign both Jonathan and the Recruit to the leftover Spy Report location to boost its Report acquisition rate.

For the TNT-blowup missions (9-A, 9-B, 9-C [& 9-D]) the order in which you read and complete the Spy Reports can help you save around a second by skipping some pre-deployment dialogue.
If you receive more than one TNT Report during a Briefing session, make sure to read the canonically later one first. Then, read the other one(s) and complete the last Report, which you've read.
The canon timeline looks like this: [Town >] SPB > RL > SD
Examples: If you get both RL & SD Reports, read RL first, then read and complete SD. If you receive Reports for SPB & RL, read SPB before reading and completing RL.
After finishing three of these missions, you can move on to [10] Rail Bridge II.!

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Equip your TNT and run south towards the target truck's back
• Plant the TNT behind it and immediately blow it up
• Fast forward Codec Call

If you find yourself in the uncommon situation that you already have two of the three necessary Spy Reports before launching into your second Diversionary Mission, you can expand on your luck even further.
In order to do that, assign both Jonathan and the Recruit to the leftover Spy Report location to boost its Report acquisition rate.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Follow along the route and ascend the slopes with three rolls
• Enter the main building through the southern entrance
• Inside, pass the guard blocking the path and enter the room to your right
• Equip and plant the TNT closely in front of the generator, then trigger the detonation
• Fast forward Codec Call

If you find yourself in the uncommon situation that you already have two of the three necessary Spy Reports before launching into your second Diversionary Mission, you can expand on your luck even further.
In order to do that, assign both Jonathan and the Recruit to the leftover Spy Report location to boost its Report acquisition rate.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head east and roll diagonally across the lower level to reach the path next to the building
• Enter the building and run between the tables to reach the southeastern exit
• Run past or bump into the guards on your way to the armoury in front of you
• Equip, plant and detonate the TNT

If you find yourself in the uncommon situation that you already have two of the three necessary Spy Reports before launching into your second Diversionary Mission, you can expand on your luck even further.
In order to do that, assign both Jonathan and the Recruit to the leftover Spy Report location to boost its Report acquisition rate.

There is one more location in which you could perform a diversionary operation; Town! However, since it has by far the slowest route it is in no way viable for the run.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head east to step onto the bridge's center and make your way straight across to the other side
• After getting spotted by the patrol, stick close to the truck so you can dodge any melee attacks
• Roll into the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head west, then south to pass the crates and continue towards the bridge
• Roll onto the bridge, then cross it and go left to roll into the ship
• Jump over the railing with a roll to drop onto the cutscene trigger below
• Skip Cutscene
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Climb and roll past the crates towards the east into the text trigger
• Fast forward Text
• Roll further eastwards onto the floor and into the call trigger in front of the tarped crate
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Fast forward Codec Call

Unlike on PAL, the cutscene trigger won’t save you from taking fall damage in the NTSC releases.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head east, roll past the gap and enter the main building through the door behind the patrol
• Reach the staircase around the left corner and use two rolls to pass the guard and ascend it
• Enter the sliding door on your left and roll into the Secret Document inside of the room
• Skip Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Follow the corridor downward while sticking close to the left and continue into the big hall
• Fast forward Text
• Once inside, head left and run through the sensors past the officer
• Grab the Mosin Nagant at the passage’s end and enter the nearby door
• Run through the corridor until you reach the last slope before it turns right
• Here, plant a TNT onto the slope, right around where the center-left yellow line ends
• Take a right and lie in wait close to the corner right of the door
• When one of the guards approaches, comes to a stop and starts aiming at you, detonate the TNT
• Once the knockback has pushed the guard towards the now unlocked door, step into the AP zone
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Try to plant the TNT
• Skip Cutscene

The infrared sensors present throughout the whole facility always run north/southwards and will alert everyone simultaneously once triggered!
For the Standard Route it does not matter if you prematurely get spotted by the female officer before arriving at the tunnel, however it is important to only trigger this one set of sensors.
If you trigger any other sensors beforehand or get kicked down by the officer, you can easily lose the Alert Phase and therefore your trail while continuing through the level.

• Equip your Mosin Nagant and quickly land a no-scoped shot at Python as he charges at you
• After landing a shot, look straight down at the ground with your Mosin equipped/in FPV to dodge Python’s retaliatory burst-fire
• Once his invincibility-frames from your last hit have worn off, land another shot
• Repeat the last two steps until his Stamina Gauge is fully drained (Easy: 1 headshot + 2 body shots, Normal: 2 headshots + 2 body shots)
• Skip Cutscene

Looking down while in FPV mode prevents most enemies' incoming fire from hitting you, This works, because looking down in FPV seems to turn your plane of a hurtbox parallel to the ground. Since this strategy was discovered in 2017 by MarlonH8 it fundamentally made the game much easier than it was before - from both a speedrun and casual perspective.

Python will react differently to incoming damage. Ideally, you'd want to see his long recovery animation that barely leaves any room for him to retaliate, but this is rarely the case.

If you get on top of one of the metal cages you'll have a much safer, but also much slower time taking out Python.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Enter the terminal area through the door in front of you
• Roll behind the desk and pause the game to perform two Member Changes
• OPTIONAL: If you're low on Life and want to heal up before Null, pick up and use Medical Kit S x 3
• Assign Snake to “Point 1” (behind the wall) and swap to Jonathan
• Pause the game once more to swap right back to Snake
• Equip your Mk22, approach the ramp in front of you and roll upwards twice
• While running, shoot slightly left into the western wall at the ramp's summit to spook the guard above
• Head across the room and once again perform two rolls to ascend into the control room
• Approach the politician in the northwest corner while starting to sneak 3 floor patterns behind him
• Grab him and start the interrogation
• Fast forward Codec Call

Depending on when and where you shoot to spook the upper soldier he may switch his position to either next to the terminals or the northern, eastern or southern side of the pillar to call for backup. A quick hold up while passing by helps elminate the possibility of him spotting you.

You can lure the topmost guard outside - opening the ID-locked door for you. It's a minimum of 18s slower than the “swap-strat”.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Equip your Mk22 and follow the alternating path to the top with two rolls
• Shoot the containers while heading to the west, past the now distracted guard
• Roll over the rails to reach the bottom, then roll up the building’s ramp onto the cracked concrete
• From here, roll diagonally (northeast) onto the crates
• Perform another roll to get onto the northern concrete ramp
• Ascend to the building's top with another roll and head across the guarded bridge
• Bump into the alerted FOX soldier, pick up your items and jump off of the bridge towards the north
• Roll close to the AP to progress further
• Skip Cutscene

• Equip your AK-47 and go into the prone position to face Null
• Zoom in, aim at Null's feet and start firing
• After landing a hit, wait for the i-frames to wear off and fire once again
  • When you have to reload, never do so by manually reloading as this can cause Null to land a lethal charge on you
• Repeat the last step until his Life Gauge is fully drained (Easy: 5 shots, Normal: 10 shots)
• Skip Cutscene

27+s are saved by using weapons like the M63, AK-47 or M16A1 over the RPG-7 for both Null fights.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Ascend the alternating ramps with two rolls and reach the railing's end to the right
• Swing yourself over the railing and drop to the pipe below
• Move left and drop onto the crates leading into the tunnel
• Follow the path and perform a 180-BG on the officer to interrogate him (don't let go!)
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

• RECOMMENDED: While loading into the level, point the Movement Stick up-left to start running in the correct direction
• Run straight into the western building and pass through the room to your right
• RKD past the officer and into the Secret Doc
• Skip Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

Here, we are performing a sequence break - accidentally discovered by miniomegaking. While watching one of mini's Rail Bridge route videos, MarlonH8 noticed that the guard patterns were different. Originally assumed to be either regional differences, the oddity was shortly thereafter explained by the fact that mini forgot to place spies in the area to notify him of the report and therefore skipped one step ahead.
Immediately afterwards, we tried to find similar spy report skips, but didn't have much luck. MarlonH8 did find another one for the Town Diversionary Op., which unfortunately is the slowest of the “TNT-missions” and therefore not part of the run.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Go down and follow along the alleyway to your northwest
• Turn left and stick to the building's wall until you reach the metal door
• Enter the door and follow the path downwards
• Roll into the AP around the right corner
• Skip Cutscene

Snake will be fully healed after being rescued.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head southwest between the two buildings and continue past the guard
• Take a left and follow along the hangar wall until you can roll into the AP
• Skip Cutscene

• Equip your RPG-7, and launch some well-aimed missiles on the shadow between RAXAs four legs for maximum splash damage
  • Make sure to use quick reloads in between firing missiles
• Repeat until RAXA's legs are completely broken (Easy: 2 hits, Normal: 4 hits)
• After the transformation cutscene, RAXA will be in Phase 2
• Here, aim your shots precisely at the outside corners of the central, diamond-shaped missile bay on each arm
• Repeat until each arm is destroyed to end the fight (Easy: 1 hit each, Normal: 2 hits each)
• Skip Cutscene

There is an RPG-7 with 10 loaded rockets found towards the northeast and an additional box of Ammo (HEAT) x20 found in the southern end of the hall.

Originally, we also used to damage RAXA's legs with TNT. At that time, we were still using the RPG-7 vs. Null and therefore entered this fight with little to no ammo.

Jonathan’s items do NOT get lost after his sacrifice. You will be able to reequip them if so desired.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head south and roll over the rail before it bends to the right
• Once recovered, pass through the tunnel in the south
• To safely get past the boulder here, make sure to roll against it as opposed to alongside of it, over the crevice
• If executed correctly, you can pull yourself back up and head further south to roll into the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call

At the cost of a few seconds, the fall damage of the Standard Route can be mitigated by rolling over the railing earlier.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Head east and ascend the ramp with three rolls
• Go north and roll off of this level towards the ladder
• Climb the ladder to the very top and head further north
• RECOMMENDED: Drop your RPG-7 and pick up the Medical Kit S
• Roll onto the main building and head to the northwestern opening
• Roll off the edge and enter the building through the sliding door
• Run eastwards past another door and onto the yellow-striped hallway
• Take two lefts and pass the door to get into the AP inside, on your left
• Fast forward Codec Call

Unlike on other routes, we don't have the need to make it through the Silo Entrance and Complex silently. With no use for Mk22 shots to distract guards, better routes are now available.
By putting Python into Team Alpha's Slot #2, we skip any further Unit Management later on and save a good second this way.
Python is chosen over the Recruit, because only he has a fixed CQC Rank of B, which is necessary to perform grabs on enemies. Additionally, him having a faster stalk shaves off bonus frames.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Once again, run eastwards and ascend the ramp with three rolls
• Head north and roll off of this level towards the ladder
• Climb the ladder to the very top and head further north, then roll across the gap
• Continue north and enter the building with the sliding door around the corner
• Descend the nearby staircase and exit through the door
• Take another left and head inside the room with the AP once again
• Equip and plant the Time Bomb next to the panel
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

• Same as before, equip your AK-47 and go into the prone position to face Null
• Zoom in, aim at Null's feet and start firing
• After landing a hit, wait for the i-frames to wear off and fire once again
  • When you have to reload, never do so by manually reloading as this can cause Null to land a lethal charge on you
• Repeat the last step until his Life Gauge is fully drained (Easy: 6 shots, Normal: 10 shots)
• Skip Cutscene

• Fast forward Codec Call
• As usual with Snake, ascend the alternating path with two rolls and head west
• Roll over the rails to reach the bottom, then roll up the building’s ramp onto the cracked concrete
• Roll diagonally onto the crates northeast of you, then perform another roll to get onto the northern concrete ramp
• Ascend to the building's top with another roll and head across the bridge to pick up your Stun G set
• Return and roll over the bridge's railing to the north, then head east to roll into the AP area at the end of the tunnel

While a strategy similar to SE1's alternative “Ladder Rush” is doable, you'd be putting yourself at a big disadvantage by going on such a route.
Some guards in the area are also equipped with shotguns, which can easily cost you seconds when getting hit and knocked down.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Call Ghost from your Codec, fast forward, then tune to and call 145.75 to unlock the first door en route through the stage
• Fast forward, call 147.42, fast forward again and finally tune to and call 148.51 to unlock two more doors
• Exit the Codec, pause the game and perform a Member Change

• Continue through the formerly frequency-locked door and ascend the staircase behind the left door with two rolls
• Enter the room behind the right door and continue southeast to pass through the second, now unlocked door
• Rush past the bridge into the next building and head left to follow along the corridor
• Ignore the door guarded by gun cameras above and continue further westwards
• Bump into the soldier around the corner and rush past the third ID-locked door to avoid any retaliatory fire
• Run up the first and roll up the following ramp, then cross the bridge into the control room
• Pick up Key E below the gun camera, then exit the room and roll over the northern railing
• OPTIONAL: Roll southwards instead, follow along the path and pick up 2 + 1 Medical Kit S x 3 upon your return
• Enter the next room and roll onto the AP located in the southwestern corner of the lowest level
• Fast forward Codec Call

Arguably the biggest version difference of the run is right here. On NTSC versions you can not drag any soldier in front of the 1F door to open it.

Opening your contact list and calling Ghost saves time compared to manually tuning to 145.75 from 140.85. Ghost's frequency (144.78) lets you skip closer to 145.75.

145.75 is used on all routes to get you through the locked 1F door in the room behind the “wall guard”.
147.42 is used on most routes to get past the 2F door leading onto the bridge without having to drag a guard all the way over there.
148.51 is used on routes triggering an Alert Phase, as it lets you rush past the final soldier instead of having to deal with him.

Disclaimer: While most of the videos below show Snake being used for the majority of the route, all strategies work identically when swapping in Python for Snake instead!

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene
• Equip a Stun G, wait for Cunningham to move left or right and throw it close to him on your platform's edge
• Repeat these throws a few times to make short work of this fight (Easy: 5 hits, Normal: 6 hits)
• Skip Cutscene

A box of ammo drops at the very beginning of the fight. The type of ammo is based on whichever weapon you have equipped before it falls to the ground.
This can come in handy if you are running low on AK-47 ammo (7.62x39mm) for the upcoming fight against Gene.

There is an extremely slim chance of Cunningham reverting to his original position after his first move to the left or right.
If you're playing on EASY and this causes you to run out of Stun Grenades, the best recovery is to quickly restart the fight from the Pause Menu.

You can cancel most reload animations and still have your ammo refilled. You do this by moving close enough to any kind of barrier for it to block you from aiming your weapon.
This works especially well in FPV-mode, but even here in TPV the railings make this strategy work like a charm with the MK22 and auto-aim!

As with most weapons, firing while crouched significantly increases the player's accuracy. This is especially useful for the classic M63 strategies here.
On August 5 2018, three hours before a #MGSR MPO race stream between Pythonicus and MarlonH8, the latter “rediscovered” this detail, which lead to both runners defeating Cunningham a whopping minute earlier than what was expected at the time.

5 x Stun G + M63 + 7 x MK22 (24+s timeloss throughout the run) - Part of the 1 Stun G pack Route.
M63 + 40 x MK22 (53+s timeloss throughout the run) - Variation of the original, outdated go-to strategy.
9 x RPG-7 + 40 x MK22 (44s+ timeloss throughout the run) - The original, outdated go-to strategy.

• Skip Cutscene
• Skip Cutscene
• Head up the northern ramp and back around the railing to the left to position yourself in front of the drop
  • Make sure to not leave this area if you want to stop Gene from approaching you
• Equip your AK-47 and try to land a hit at the very top of his head to immediately stop his Psychic Phase
• Continue landing hits on his beret whenever Gene is not recovering from i-frames
  • To avoid his full auto knives, either crouch and turn left/right or run away for a moment
• Gene will continually increase the pace at which he will be doing most actions over the course of the battle
• Keep sending hatshots his way until he is defeated (Easy: 7 headshots, Normal: 10 headshots)
• Skip Cutscene
• Watch Credits
• Check Result

Should you find yourself running low on ammo, an additional ammo pickup will spawn in the northwestern corner of the room.

On PPSSPP versions prior to 1.4 Gene dashing towards the northern & southern terminals would cause the emulator to crash!

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