Metal Gear Solid 2 is available in 4 different regions:

• USA / NTSC
• JPN / NTSC
• KOR / NTSC
• EUR / PAL

Note: The Korean region is not available on the HD Edition of the game.
Note: The European region has English voice-acting and the option for multiple languages (English, French, or German) for subtitles.

• Solidus' two speeches (before MG-RAY fight and after) are 3 seconds shorter each on NTSC-U.

The following table is the total amount of mandatory codec scripts between various languagues.

Note: Bomb Disposal Codecs need to be added!
Note: “Shell 2 Core, B1, Filtration Chamber No.2 #1” can be skipped using Swim Skip/Glitch

Conclusions:

• Japanese has less codec scripts than English.

Since PAL on Sons of Liberty and Substance (also HD if the resolution of the console is turned down to 576p) runs on 50Hz, some things behave a bit differently than on NTSC. Playing on 60Hz on PAL is possible on the HD Edition versions of the game.

• Guards and Cyphers turn slower.
• Guards fall asleep faster from body shots with tranqulizer rounds from the M9 or PSG1-T.
• Fatman can be looped easily on Extreme and European Extreme.
• Solidus’ Torture on European Extreme is 65s long and your HP value is set to European Extreme values.
• At the near end for Guard Rush in the Tanker Chapter, in order to finish the fight with USP headshots and retain a 0 kills play through, you must tranq the first guard that spawns then follow up with two successive headshots. This is due to the lower framerate. For a more detailed example check the Bosses page.

There are three versions of Metal Gear Solid 2:

• Sons of Liberty
• Substance
• HD Edition

• Only available on the PlayStation 2 (can be played on a backwards-compatible PlayStation 3)
• Aspect Ratio is 4:3 therefore 2-spot photos are not possible.
• Elevator Clip (and Swim Skip) is possible.
• Coolant Skips for Tengu 1 and 2 is consistent.
• Grenades are timed from when their pins are removed.
• Radar's outlines are straight on NTSC-U and NTSC-J (left photo shown below), as opposed to angled in PAL and the Korean regions (right photo shown below).

• Cannot hang down from the rail in Crew's Lounge, so you must run around the railing. You cannot hang down from the rail in Deck-D.
• Cannot roll into the Holds No. 2 door.
• If the camera is used during Ladder Glitch, it will be unequipped from your previous menu afterwards.
• Cannot skip the Commander's “We the Marines” scene after uploading the photos.
• Cannot skip the elevator returning scene at the beginning of the Plant chapter, unless a guard is alerted (music changes).
• You don't get teleported back when receiving the codec before the Fortune fight.
• If you have the box equipped at the end of the Fortune fight, you will ascend up the elevator with the box on.
• The Bomb location on the Helipad before Fatman is closer to the stairs, rather than at the far north end.
• To skip the retinal pattern cutscene, you must press x once during the fade in, or else it will be unskippable (do not mash).
• You must wait the full ten seconds as Ocelot walks to you in the hostage room.
• You cannot fire a Stinger missile downstairs in between the railing gap during Harrier. You must use a similar strat upstairs.
• FMVs do not count towards IGT, thus over seven minutes are subtracted from the final result.
• Boss Survival mode is not available.

• (Very Easy) IR Sensor placements is the regular 3 rather than 1.
• (Very Easy) Gun Cyphers take 3 shots from the top rather than 1.
• (Very Easy) M9 does not spawn on roof if you don't pick up the one from the docks. May need to swim in air to get the M9 in the docks.
• (Very Easy) Fatman has more health in comparison to Substance/HDC.
• (Very Easy) Camera is present at the entrance when you first get in Shell 1 Core.
• (Very Easy) After Harrier heading towards the Strut L Perimeter, the cutscene with the 2 guards play while they do not on Substance/HDC.
• (Very Easy) There are 2 guards behind the windows in Strut L Perimeter.
• Nikita position is straight ahead in Shell 2 Core B1, it is in this position on all difficulties. For Very Easy on HDC and Substance it is in a much closer spot.
• (Very Easy) Pentaz is required to avoid shaking on the PSG1/PSG1-T.
• (Very Easy) Extra guard leading to the door to Ascending Colon (similar layout to Normal and above).
• (Very Easy) HP bars of RAYs are similar to Normal. Have to destroy 5 instead of 3.
• (Very Easy) Solidus' Torture is 5 seconds.
• (Easy) Alerts do not carry between rooms (similar to Very Easy).
• (Normal) You must kill the A Series to end RAYs. It's total RAYs killed, not health bars.
• (Normal) Solidus has less HP.
• (Normal) Extreme Camera is present in the Shell 1 Core 1F Hallway. This necessitates a chaff grenade.
• (Extreme) Conveyor Belts route is not possible.
• (Extreme) If you enter Strut E on Caution mode, a backup team guard will immediately notice you.

• Fewer codec screens.
• Olga will always spawn and go left immediately allowing for setup of the loop. If you die and continue it will then become randomised.
• Otacon will accept either 3 or 4 of the required photos of RAY in Hold No.3.
• On Easy and Normal, there's no Surveillance Camera on the C-D Bridge.
• On Easy, hitting mines on the E-F Bridge won't trigger an alert.
• On Easy, guards are one hit kills.
• On Easy, guard vision is weaker than other all other versions.
• On Normal to Extreme, Evasion mode carries from Shell 1 B2 to B1.
• On Hard, there are no mines to the North of the Oil Fence, only to the West.
• Very Easy, Easy, Normal and Hard are named Easy, Normal, Hard and Very Hard respectively.
• Olga will always spawn on the right side in Boss Survival mode.
• There is a glitch where choosing the Radar Type when you load a save to start a new game doesn't actually start the game with the selected type. You need to select the Radar Type from the OPTIONS menu. (It only really matters if you are going for Big Boss Rank where NO RADAR is required.)
• Alerts come in the moment guards end their HQ Call, similar to the Twin Snakes alerts.
• Boss Survival is available.

• Adds European Extreme difficulty.
• Olga will always spawn and go left immediately allowing for setup of the loop. If you die and continue it will then become randomised.
• On European Extreme the Cypher in front of the entrance to Strut E will not turn fast enough to see you if you move fast. This is due to the lower framerate.
• Fatman is loopable on Extreme and European Extreme.
• At the near end for Guard Rush in the Tanker Chapter, in order to finish the fight with USP headshots and retain a 0 kills play through, you must tranq the first guard that spawns then follow up with two successive headshots. This is due to the lower framerate. For a more detailed example check the Bosses page.
• Boss Survival is available.

• Available on the PlayStation 2 (can be played on a backwards-compatible PlayStation 3), Xbox, and PC.
• Aspect Ratio is 4:3 therefore 2-spot photos are not possible. (PC can be 16:9 with the V's fix or the Widescreen Patch).
• Elevator Clip (and Swim Skip) is NOT possible.
• Coolant Skips for Tengu 1 and 2 is NOT consistent.
• Grenades are timed from when their pins are removed.
• Solidus’ Torture on European Extreme is 65s long and your HP value is set to European Extreme values.
• Boss Survival is available with Guards and Tengus added.
  • Exception: Xbox NTSC-U does not include this addition

• Based on Xbox version.
• IGT does not track loads.
• No lag on modern PCs.
• The 2020 rerelease by GoG is the same as the 2002 original.
• V's fix is recommended for both releases.
  1. Most runners prefer the tighter movement of v1.7.2 but use a newer version if you favour one.
  2. If Effect Quantity is set to Low, the bleed bug can occur slowing the game down when the player character is bleeding.
  3. Setting Model Quality to Low changes the Thermal goggles' view to the classic red look.
  4. Setting Internal Resolution too high (8k) can cause graphical glitches, particularly at Tengu 2

• Olga will always spawn and go left immediately allowing for setup of the loop. If you die and continue it will then become randomised.
• This is the only platform that includes Skateboarding mode.
• In the Japanese version, Olga will always spawn on the right side in Boss Survival mode. (other versions unsure)

• Available on the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PS Now, Nvidia Shield, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series
• Elevator Clip (and Swim Skip) is NOT possible.
• Coolant Skips for Tengu 1 and 2 is NOT consistent.
• Grenades are timed after they are thrown.
• Solidus torture is around fifteen seconds on all difficulties. Your HP and O2 bar are set to Easy for torture and the Solidus fight.
• Bumping Emma into the KL Connecting Bridge from the Shell 2 Core, 1F exit can cause a softlock where Emma falls beneath the map.
• Boss Survival mode is available with Guards and Tengus added.

• Loads are extremely fast (almost PC like)
• Little to no in-game frame drops (such as at Harrier, Vamp 1, MG-RAYs)

• Version 1.02 (1.03 for JP ONLY) patch adds save file transfers between Vita and PS3. Fixes a bug on Analog video formats where the boxes don't appear in Strut E conveyor belt (?). Makes loads slightly longer, some guard vision differences change strategies. Patching the game is not recommended unless you are playing the digital download
• Has in-game frame drops as certain boss fights (such as Harrier, Vamp 1, MG-RAYs).
• Game can freeze during the final credits sequence.

Table: Load times for PlayStation 3.

• MGS2 HD, JPN
• Timing is from start of run to first moment of control of Snake.

• Load times are very slow.
• Exclusive stairs-skipping glitch.

• Coolant spray must be used with the right analog stick, pressing up.
• Defusing bombs take .5 sec longer on Xbox versions due.
• Load times are very slow, no matter Disc or Digital.

• Coolant spray must be used with the right analog stick, pressing up.
• Defusing bombs take .5 sec longer on Xbox versions due.

• Coolant spray must be used with the right analog stick, pressing up.
• Defusing bombs take .5 sec longer on Xbox versions due.
• Significantly faster loads, practically equivalent to Nvidia Shield.

The Master Collection version of Metal Gear Solid is based on the rerelease of HD Edition.

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