v1.1 by MarlonH8¹⁾

Kills are allowed, but generally slower with lethal strategies being rare exceptions on all routes below.

• 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)
• 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
• 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
• Box-Bump (BB): Run & bump into a soldier, then quick-equip your C Box to give yourself just enough time to run out of the now confused guard's cone of vision
• 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

Unlike New Game runs, NG+ runs allow you to optimize your setup over as many playthroughs as necessary before starting your timed run. Things including, but not limited to having the best Soldier Types, Careers, Stats & Skills, their individual Equipment or even their positioning within the Teams to minimize time spent menuing during the run.
This guide and its routes often require the runner to have the best possible combination for any scenario at hand. Legitimately setting up a fully optimized save will take 100+ hours and take you through hundreds of recruitments due to the extremely rare nature of getting ideal Career combinations such as Athlete (increased run speed) + Gambler (~10% chance to double your damage per shot), along with a decent amount of Life and the right Stats.
The New Game + Master Save [PAL] prepared by MarlonH8 has all this taken care of already. It's optimized to the theoretical maximum for all difficulties.

This “ideal” setup can be cross-referenced below:

While the main route presented in this guide is based on EXTREME Difficulty, the majority of these strategies and routes work identically on their EASY & NORMAL counterparts.
If there are alternatives available to any Difficulty, they will be marked by their respective tags (e.g., [EASY-only], [EASY/NORMAL-only], [EXTREME] etc.).
All of the occurences relating to the main route are also listed below:

All bosses deal less damage, but otherwise behave in the exact same manner on EASY & NORMAL, as opposed to EXTREME. The other important difference lies in the amount of health & stamina that you can drain per hit.
This is generally³⁾ increased by at least 100% on NORMAL and 200% on EASY. All in all, these changes alone already enable EASY speedruns to finish over 100 seconds earlier than a run on EXTREME Difficulty would.

• 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 through the door on your left and continue into the main building
• Perform a roll into prone position, finishing in front of the gate
• Crawl past the gate, get up and knock out the guard in front of you with a Roll-Knockdown (RKD) towards the right
• Roll up the slope in front of you, 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 into the lower area
• Ascend the northern staircase and continue towards the next lower area
• Roll diagonally over the gap onto the path into the building
• Inside, perform a 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
• Continue forward, equip your Mk22 and tranquilize the soldier guarding the entrance (Jonathan)
• Pick up and drag Jonathan to the stacked boxes and enter First Person View mode (FPV)
• Turn towards the southwest and drop him to the ground
• Drop down yourself and continue dragging Jonathan to the back of the truck
• Skip Cutscene

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
• 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 left, past the nearby building
• Keep going and enter the northern building through the door below the bridge
• Equip your C Box, box-walk up the staircase and take two rights
• Enter the rightmost room and get into the AP behind the desk
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-2 (/)
• Pass below the camera and follow along the path until you reach the upward slope with the guard next to it
• Start ascending it, then equip your Box to box-walk the few meters between the two gaps in the wall
  • Ascend the ramp from the very bottom - stepping onto it from the side will alert the guard
• Unequip your Box to avoid detection while reaching the top and heading north
• Reequip it before continuing eastward, onto the slope next to the scientist
• Box-walk to the top, turn around and head 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
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Head northeast onto the concrete, then run 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
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Go east and roll into the nearby AP
• Skip Cutscene
• Fast forward Codec Call

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
• Roll southwest, then pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Equip your TNT and run southwest towards the target truck's back
• Plant the TNT behind it and immediately blow it up
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Follow along the route to your right and box-walk up the slopes
• Enter the main building through the southern entrance and unequip your Box once inside
• Pass the guard blocking the path and enter the room to your right
• Equip your TNT and plant and trigger it closely in front of the generator
• Fast forward Codec Call

• 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 the guards on your way into the armoury in front of you
• Equip, plant and detonate the TNT

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
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Head east to step onto the bridge's center and make your way across
• Stick to the right line after passing the truck to avoid the hut's guard from spotting you
• Run into the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR B-4 (↓ ↓)
• Head straight, then roll up and cross the bridge to your right
• Turn left to roll into the ship and perform another roll over the railing to drop onto the cutscene trigger
• 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
• Perform a CQC Hold Up on the FOX soldier, then equip your Box and continue left onto the staircase
• Box-walk up, but make sure to unequip it halfway up the second ramp
• Enter the sliding door on your left, reequip your C Box and box-walk into the Secret Document
• Skip Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Text
• Once inside, head left and crawl through the sensor gate next to the officer
• Stand up, enter the nearby door and stick to the western wall around the first slope
• Knock until someone reacts three times, then run down the next slope and wait until the first officer arrives
• Take some steps towards them until you've been noticed (!) for the second time to make the officer start approaching you

• Quickly rush through the door and head left of the AP
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Try to plant the TNT
• Skip Cutscene

• 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
  • If Python decides to approach you further, take a step back to avoid his melee attack and land a quick dart on him
• 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, Extreme: 5 headshots + 1 body shot)
• 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.

• 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
• Zip FOX D-1 past the locked door and wall by performing a Member Change to FOX D-2 (/) and straight back to FOX D-1 (↓ ↓)
• Equip your Box and box-walk up the ramp in front of you and the next one across the room above
• Once you're in the control room, pass the central pillar to its right and unequip your Box
• Approach the government official in the corner while starting to stalk 3 floor patterns behind him
• Grab him from his right shoulder to stay out of the guard's range while doing the interrogation
• Fast forward Codec Call

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Equip your C Box and ascend the ramps leading to the top
• Unequip it, head past the guard on your right and roll over the railings to reach the bottom
• Box-walk up the next building’s ramp and perform a roll over the wall to land behind the nearby guard
• Continue north until you can roll close to the AP to progress further
• Skip Cutscene

• Take a step east before initiating a stance change to prone, facing Null
• Equip your SVD during this animation, then target his feet and start firing
• After landing a hit, wait for the i-frames to wear off and fire once again
  • If Null is getting too close, build up some distance and repeat the prone-procedure
  • 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: 3 shots, Normal: 5 shots, Extreme: 15 shots)
• Skip Cutscene

If you feel like betting on the low odds of the Gambler skill proccing on your first shot, a second can be saved on EASY by killing Null in one shot.

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Again, box-walk up the alternating ramps and unequip your Box at the top
• Head past the guard's front and swing yourself over the railing next to him
  • Make sure to press Triangle while standing still, as any accidental stalking will alert the soldier
• Drop and grab the pipe below, then move left so you can safely drop onto the crates in front of the tunnel
• Box-walk down the path and perform a Box-Bump (BB) into 180°-Bump-Grab (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
• Head downward 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

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Pause the game and perform a Member Change to USSR C-3 (↓)
• Run forward, then continue right between the two buildings and past the guard
• Once you're one floor plate behind the guard on your level, equip your C Box
• Quickly box-walk around the left corner to head into the distant 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: 3-4 hits, Extreme: 10 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, Extreme: 5 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.

• 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

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Equip your M63 and fire a warning shot while heading east
• Unequip your M63 and equip the C Box to box-walk up the ramp
• Continue north with your Box stored away to roll off of this level towards the ladder
• Climb the ladder to the very top and head further north
• Roll onto the main building and head to the northwestern opening
• Roll off of the edge and enter the building through the electronic 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

• Fast forward Codec Call
• This time, ascend the ramp with three rolls before heading to the ladder north of you as usual
• Climb it to the top, head further north and roll straight onto the main building's roof area
• Continue north and bump into the officer around the corner before quickly vanishing through the door
• Descend the nearby staircase and exit through the door
• Head inside the left room once again and equip the Time Bomb
• Plant the Time Bomb next to the highlighted panel
• Fast forward Codec Call
• Skip Cutscene

• Same as before, lie down and equip your SVD during the animation
• Take aim at his feet and start landing some hits in them
• After a successful hit, wait for the i-frames to wear off and fire once again
  • If Null is getting too close, build up some distance and repeat the prone-procedure
  • 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: 3 shots, Normal: 5 shots, Extreme: 15 shots)
• Skip Cutscene

• Fast forward Codec Call
• As always, ascend the alternating path with your C Box equipped, then unequip it and head west
• Past the soldier, 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 continue with another roll in that direction
• Reequip your box, then pass below the camera and perform a BB into RKD combo on the officer to safely enter the tunnel
• Descend the corridor and roll into the AP area at the end of it

• Fast forward Codec Call
• Call Paramedic via your Codec's contact list, fast forward, then tune to and call 145.75 to unlock the first door en route through the stage
• Fast forward, call Sigint, fast forward again, then tweak your frequency to 148.51 and initiate a call to unlock the third door on your path
• Fast forward, tune to and finally call 147.42 to unlock door #2 on your trail to allow you to get onto the bridge in a fast manner
• Exit the Codec, pause the game and perform a Member Change to FOX D-2 (/)

• Equip your C Box and run inside, past the “wall guard”
• Go through the door next to him and continue along through the formerly frequency-locked door
• Ascend the staircase that's located behind the left door, then enter the room past the right door

• Ascend the following ramps and cross the bridge into the control room
• In one swift move, hurry and pick up Key E below the gun camera
• Unequip your Box before exiting the room and rolling over the northern railing
• 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 Paramedic and Sigint saves time compared to manually tuning to 145.75 and 148.51, even if you get caught up in one or two conversations.

145.75 is dialed to get you through the locked 1F door in the room behind the “wall guard”. 147.42 is called to unlock the 2F door leading onto the bridge and 148.51 is used so you can quickly rush through the door past the final FOX soldier.

• 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, Extreme: 7 hits)
• Skip Cutscene

There is an extremely slim chance of Cunningham reverting to his original position after his first move to the left or right.

• 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 SAA and fire a shot at the walls behind Gene to immediately stop his Psychic Phase, then equip your SVD
• Try to land a hit at the very top of his head whenever he's not recovering from i-frames to avoid a fair fight
  • Only move away if you're planning to avoid his full auto knives
• 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: 4 headshots, Normal: 5 headshots, Extreme: 9 headshots)
• Skip Cutscene
• Skip Credits
• Skip Post-Credits Scene
• Check Result

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

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