Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots
Big Boss Rank Guide
Copyright 2008 Stephen Hellicar
Written by: Hellcar
e-mail: wormix[at]gmail[dot]com
This guide may contain spoilers for Metal Gear Solid 4: Sons of the Patriots
Note that this guide was written using the Australian PAL release.
Table of Contents
[1]  Introduction / The Purpose of the Guide
[2]  Big Boss Emblem Requirements
[3]  Helpful Items
[4]  Tips and Tricks
[5]  Main Walkthrough
[5a] Opening
[5b] Act 1
[5c] Act 2
[5d] Act 3
[5e] Act 4
[5f] Act 5
[6]  Specific Areas/Fights
[7]  Best Times
Quick Find: just search for "[6a]" (without quotes) if you want to skip to the
opening section quickly. If you want to skip to a certain area search for
"--Red Zone" for example.
Version History
Version 1.0 (23 Jun 2008) - Initial Version
Version 1.1 (25 Jun 2008) - Updated Advent Palace strategy significantly.
Updated some Boss strategies.
Version 1.2 (27 Jun 2008) - Updated Acts 1 through 3 so that it also applies to
a naked run. Slightly updated Resistance section. Expanded and updated Bike
Chase strategies.
Version 1.3 (3 July 2008) - Updated Act 4 walkthrough and Acts 4 and 5 Boss
strategies. Some minor updates.
Version 1.4 (27 July 2008) - Various Updates
Been busy recently and haven't had time to spend on updating the guide. I read
every e-mail sent to me but I can't reply to them all.
This file is only permitted to be hosted on the following sites
gamefaqs.com
neoseeker.com
gamesradar.com
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[1] Introduction / The Purpose of the Guide
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big Boss Emblem (BBE) is the hardest emblem in the game to get; however
unlike MGS2 and MGS3 there is no restriction on the number of times you
can save. This makes it very possible for people to get who would have no
chance in the previous MGS games. In my opinion it is much easier to get than
the Fox Hound rank in MGS3.
This guide is meant to aid a player who has completed MGS4 at least once in
attaining the Big Boss rank with a good time on completion of a game. This is
not a normal walkthrough and skips over many details that you should already
know such as locations of some enemies and which path to take through
non-combat areas. You should be somewhat familiar with the areas so you can
move through them quickly.
As the aim of this guide is to get a good time you can take it slower and
crouch in areas it says to run and crawl in areas it says to crouch if you keep
getting spotted.
This guide should also be able to aid a player in attaining the BBE during a
naked run. i.e. a run that is started from a New Game instead of loading a
complete save file. More information on naked runs can be found in the Tips and
Tricks section.
One important thing is that the enemies are still as stupid as they are on the
lower difficulties. If you shoot them with the Mk22 in the chest they still
don't go into caution phase, and if their friend drops asleep next to them they
don't instigate an alert. Unless you're worried about getting the best time
possible (i.e. 3 hours or less) you don't need to be a good shot as you can
just shoot four enemies in the chest and wait for them to all fall asleep
without worrying about having to get four headshots in a row.
Here's what you get for the Big Boss rank.
-Big Boss FaceCamo
While it's called "Big Boss" it's actually Solidus' face with no skin on it. If
you run up to enemies with it equipped they will drop their weapons in fear and
run around screaming.
-Patriot
The Boss' weapon from MGS3. It has an infinite clip with infinite ammo, meaning
that you don't even have to reload. It also plays a couple of sound clips of
the "Snake Eater" song when you ready it with L1.
-Big Boss iPod Song
You also get an iPod song. It increases your accuracy while aiming a weapon and
also your stun damage. Normally in extreme the Solar Gun only knocks enemies
out with a single star. With this playing you can knock an enemy out with five
stars.
I started playing on The Boss Extreme for my third play through. I wasn't
aiming for the BBE when I started and only decided I would try to get it when I
got up to the Act 3 chase sequence as I found it to be the most frustrating so
far. For anyone worried about their game time: don't be. As long as you're not
crawling through every single area you should be fine for time.
I got the BBE with a game time of 4:51. My times for the acts were as follows.
1st BBE               2nd BBE             Naked BBE
Total     Act         Total     Act         Total     Act
Act 1 - 1:29:08 - 1:29:08     0:35:03 - 0:35:03     0:31:37 - 0:31:37
Act 2 - 2:44:56 - 1:15:48     1:04:56 - 0:29:53     1:04:28 - 0:32:51
Act 3 - 3:33:04 - 0:48:08     1:34:25 - 0:29:29     1:34:58 - 0:30:30
Act 4 - 4:08:09 - 0:35:05     2:00:31 - 0:26:06     2:03:29 - 0:28:31
Act 5 - 4:34:39 - 0:26:30     2:21:12 - 0:20:41     2:25:21 - 0:21:52
End G - 4:51:04 - 0:16:25     2:37:17 - 0:16:05     2:41:26 - 0:16:05
The reason I'm putting these times here is to illustrate the fact that even if
you take an inordinate time during the first two acts you can make up for it
later. Of course if you do finish the first act in almost 90 minutes I'd still
recommend you to restart.
In my opinion the first two acts are the hardest of them all in terms of
sneaking although the bosses later on are harder. Also note the 16 minutes of
unskippable cutscenes at the end of the game.
I would recommend to try to aim to beat the following times.
Total     Act
Act 1 - 1:00:00 - 1:00:00
Act 2 - 2:00:00 - 1:00:00
Act 3 - 2:45:00 - 0:45:00
Act 4 - 3:30:00 - 0:45:00
Act 5 - 4:10:00 - 0:40:00
End G - 4:30:00 - 0:20:00
This leaves you with 30 minutes to waste just in case. If you take more time
than this then you are in danger of not finishing in time unless you're sure
you can complete Acts 3, 4 and 5 quickly.
If you have any questions, notice any mistakes or would like to help, send me
an email at: wormix[at]gmail[dot]com
with [GameFAQS] in the subject.
Thanks to:
L_i_o_n - Smoke Grenade strategy during Bike Chase
terje   - Syringe trick on Meryl during Screaming Mantis
Vulpy   - REX Escape strategy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2] Big Boss Emblem Requirements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Anything done during the MGS1 sequence including time, kills, alerts,
healing items, etc does not count.
--Under 5 hours of play time
Almost everything counts. Cutscenes, codec calls, menu time, ps3 home screen
time and even time saving the game.
-Counts
Saving the game
Codecs
Cutscenes
Sequences
Time paused during cutscenes
Time on the Start menu
Time with the PS3 home screen displayed
When "Press Start" is displayed after loading an area
-Doesn't Count
When "Now Loading" is displayed while loading an area
Any installation time including the "Press Start" screen
Act results screen
After certain areas I've listed the times you should aim to be between. The
format is ## x:xx to y:yy where x:xx is a fast time and y:yy is a slow time. I
would recommend you try to complete acts 1 and 2 in an hour each. The time
taken to complete Act 3 doesn't change much if you don't scare the Resistance
member and you should aim to complete Acts 4 and 5 in about 90 minutes total.
If you hit these markers you should get an end game time of about 4 hours.
--No alerts
If the alert box displays or would have displayed on your screen it counts.
Basically if you hear the alert sound and the music changes it's probably an
alert even if you never see the box appear (because it disappears instantly).
--No humans killed
The kill stat increases when you kill someone with a lethal weapon or you
tranquilize someone and they fall to their death. The exception to this is
frogs clinging to walls. Gekkos and scarabs don't count and neither do tanks.
NOTE: Reducing the bosses first phase life to zero does not count as a kill. It
only counts as a kill if you kill them after they come out of their suit and
start chasing you. Also you can safely reduce Vamps life gauge without clocking
a kill.
Any frogs I tranquilized during the Act 1 sequence and also the Act 3 bike
chase that fell to their deaths did not count as a kill. Tranquilising a PMC on
a ladder who falls asleep and falls to their death doesn't count as a kill.
The Tanegashima tornado is lethal.
Helicopters fall into the same category as tanks and don't count, but you
really shouldn't be destroying them anyway.
If you think you may have killed a person then save in a new slot when you
reach the next checkpoint and use the mission briefing trick to check your
stats.
--No Continues used
This is almost irrelevant. 90% of the time when you continue it's because you
triggered an alert and died. Because there's no save limit you can just save
whenever you reach a checkpoint and load as many times as needed to get through
the area undetected. To exit quickly select Save and then Exit from the main
menu. The main time you might continue without dying is during the Advent
Palace escape in Act 1 if a Rat Patrol member is killed.
--No Healing items used
This includes anything that instantly replenishes your health bar. As far as I
know the only items that fall under this category are rations, noodles and
regain.
iPod Healing music doesn't count.
--The Boss Extreme Difficulty
You must play on The Boss Extreme. Anything lower and you will not be awarded
the emblem. Certain areas have more enemies than on lower difficulties.
This means that you CANNOT buy non-lethal ammunition. Don't worry though as
there's more than enough in the actual game to use. You can stockpile
non-lethal ammo during your previous game to make it a bit easier, but if you
go around shooting everyone you're just wasting time.
Also note that it is "The Boss" not "Big Boss" difficulty.
--No Special Items Used
Just don't set the Bandana or Stealth Camo as one of your items and you can't
accidentally equip them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[3] Helpful items
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only item that you can't get during your current play through that you need
is the Solar Gun. The costumes are not required even for a good time and there
are chaff grenades in certain areas of the game.
--OctoCamo
The most important factor in getting through an area is obviously whether or
not you get seen. The difference between two types of grassland OctoCamo may
only be 10%, but that may be the difference between an alert and no alert. If
you keep getting spotted try laying down in a different spot to get a different
shade.
--Chaff Grenades
At first, like many others, I thought these were crucial in completing a BBE
run with a good time however after playing a naked BBE run I have found that
they aren't really needed at all.
The main areas that I would use them in are:
-Blast Furnace
This area can be annoying to sneak through, and it will save you about a
minute.
-Tank Hangar
Not needed, but may save you maybe 10-20 seconds.
-Casting Facility North
I find that a chaff grenade doesn't help at all here. You may want to use one
near the end of the area to deactivate the scarabs patrolling near the door,
but I find the gekko that falls off the ceiling to be more trouble than it's
worth.
-Missile Hangar
While it won't save much time here, it will save frustration as rolling through
the scarabs is and surviving is based on luck.
Don't worry if you don't have any carried over as you can get all the ones you
need in a single play through. There are two at the end of the Marketplace just
to the left of the exit and the other two you need are the ones you find on the
helipad in Act 4. You should also save one for the last area in Act 5. The
point in Act 5 is more important than the ones in Act 4.
--Solar Gun
This will help you gather items quickly in a couple of areas during the game
and will be invaluable during the bike chase sequence near the end of Act 3. If
you don't have it I highly recommend not risking your sanity in this challenge
until you do. The chase is hard enough with it and although it is possible to
complete without the Solar Gun I can't recommend it enough.
You may want to use this weapon even when I don't say to in the guide as it may
make some areas easier. I prefer not to rely on it however and my guide
reflects that.
Note that you cannot get this weapon until the end of the game even if you're
just missing a single figurine.
How to get: Collect the five figurines from each act.
Act 1: Don't kill a single frog during the sequence with Meryl when you help
their squad escape the Advent Palace. It is found to the right of the doorway
after the Rat Patrol leave.
Act 2: Beat Laughing Octopus' first form non-lethally and you will find the
figurine on one of the beds.
Act 3: Beat Raging Raven's first form non-lethally and you will find it on the
top floor.
Act 4: Beat Crying Wolf's first form non-lethally and you will find it close by
behind you against the wall.
Act 5: Kill Screaming Mantis's first form with the (red) mantis doll and you'll
find it at the end of the passage you entered from.
--Middle Eastern Costume
This may save you about half a minute in the first act. It's not needed at all
until you can actually pick it up in the game so don't worry if you didn't get
it on a previous play through.
--Rebel Costume
The rebel costume may help you during the start of Act 2 if you can't manage
to make the rebels you rescue friendly or neutral.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[4] Tips and Tricks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--PS3 Date Trick
In MGS4 if you come back to a save game a few days later you may notice that
your health is more than when you saved. Your health gets replenished by about
25% per day and you can take advantage of this. After saving, quit to the XMB
and change the date ahead four days and when you load your game your health
will be on full.
This is probably most useful during the Act 3 bike chase and for Raging Raven.
--The Solid Eye
The circle that grows around you on the eye shows you which enemies will spot
you with your current camouflage percentage. Using this information you can
tell if it's safe to crouch run through an area or whether you'll have to
crawl. Also while crouching it is more sensitive and shows smaller creatures or
signals that are weaker which is useful if it's not showing enemies normally.
Also during fire fights when the enemy is distracted your camo index (the
percentage) will turn blue increasing your camouflage. Not only that but since
you know which way the enemy will be looking you can take advantage of this to
sneak through certain areas when normally you couldn't
--Emotion Ammo
Emotion ammo can be used as additional ammo for your Mk22. However they are not
needed for the emblem. They may be for a speed run however. I've never used
these in a section that I saved afterwards.
--Solar Gun
Although the Solar Gun can be used to knock enemies out it has two major draw
backs. One is that if you fire it at someone who is looking at you, you will
trigger an alert. The other is that when the enemy wakes up they will likely
trigger a caution phase. Avoid using the Solar Gun when on a map where a
caution phase can be triggered unless you need anaesthetic ammo which you
shouldn't except at a couple of points in the game.
--Mission Briefing
To monitor your stats at any point simple go to the main menu and select the
mission briefing option. I choose the one for the second act as you can skip
the first two cutscenes and the stats ticker comes up straight away. Note that
collecting items or FaceCamo and saving your game doesn't increase the save
game time.
The Act 1 Mission Briefing will tell you the controls on the ticker instead of
your stats so don't choose it.
--Bodyshots vs. Headshots
At first headshots may seem better, and with lethal weaponry they obviously
are. However with the Mk22 bodyshots have multiple advantages over headshots.
The first is obvious: they're easier and quicker to pull off in succession.
The second is that they don't work instantaneously. And the third is that it's
more likely you're going to miss a headshot than a bodyshot. If you miss they
will hear the round hit the wall behind them and go into caution phase. Why
they don't go into caution phase when a tranquilizer needle gets shot into them
I don't know.
These may seem like drawbacks at first, but picture this scenario. There are
three enemies 20 metres away. If you shoot the first in the head, the others
will react and try to wake him up. This means you need to shoot the other two
in the head without missing quickly before they wake him up. However if you
just shoot them in the body, they won't even move and it gives you more time to
shoot the other two before the first falls over.
--Terminology
Just so I don't need to add a new section I'm putting this here. Hopefully the
meaning of most of the stuff I say is known, but just in case I'm adding this
part to clarify.
-Cutscene
Any sequence that you have no control over that you can skip by pressing Start.
-Sequence
Any sequence that you have no control over that you can't skip by pressing
Start. This is usually because what happens during the sequence affects things
in the game world.
-Lethal
Any weapon or ammo or damage that if used on a normal enemy would drain their
health bar and add to your kill count. Weapons with lethal ammo selected will
appear red.
-Non-Lethal
Any weapon or ammo or damage that if used on a normal enemy would drain their
psyche bar. Note that different weapons have different effects. The Mk22 and
Mosin are an instant knockout after they take effect while most other
non-lethal weaponry drains the psyche bar as damage is caused. When the psyche
bar is depleted the enemy is stunned.
-50 Calibre
By this I'm talking about the M82A2 .50 calibre rifle.
-Tranq
Tranquilize or tranquilizer.
When I say tranq I'm referring to the Mk22 not the Mosin Nagant.
-Naked
A naked run means that the game is started from the New Game option from the
main menu instead of loading a Game Clear save file.
The difference between a naked and continued run is minimal, coming down to the
FaceCamo in Acts 1 and 2 and the Rail Gun during some boss fights. Carrying
over ammunition can help, but you can still buy the M82A2 in Act 3 when you
need it and it's almost as good as the Rail Gun.
-Frog
The enemies you first see during the Advent Palace escape. They can jump around
and cling to walls. If you try to CQC them when they're aware of you they will
start garrotting you which is a quick way to see the continue screen. If you
tranq them while they're clinging to a wall and they fall off and die it will
not count as a kill.
They are a good source of stun grenades if you use them.
--Taking out the Enemy
When I say to take out an enemy I mean to use whatever method you want to
neutralize them non-lethally. You can stun them with the stun knife, Metal Gear
Mk.II, CQC, non-lethal shotgun rounds, thrown or shot (from the MGL-140) stun
grenades, Solar Gun. Put them to sleep with the Mk22 or Mosin Nagant or hold
them up.
There are various differences between these which I'll go over. Most
of the time when I say to take someone out I shoot them once with the Mk22, so
as long as you don't go gung ho with it shooting everyone three times you
shouldn't have any problems with ammo.
In extreme, each star or 'z' above an enemies head corresponds to 1 minute of
time. If you CQC throw an enemy they will have two stars and wake up in two
minutes. Some enemies will never wake up when stunned or slept such as
respawning enemies or during sequences such as the Advent Palace escape.
Shooting an enemy with the Mk22 or Mosin Nagant will put an enemy to sleep. It
only takes a single round to knock them out but it will take a few seconds to
come into effect. Sleeping enemies is the best method but requires ammunition
to do. The reason it's the best is because if an enemy wakes up or is woken up
by another enemy they will not go into caution phase.
Stunning an enemy is quick with CQC throw or stun knife. You can do this while
crouch walking also to decrease the chance of being spotted. Non-lethal rounds
for the shotgun work as well but are loud and will get you spotted. Same with
stun grenades. The problem with stunning enemies is that if they wake up they
will go into caution phase. If another enemy wakes them up they will go into
caution phase too, making your sneaking a problem in certain areas.
A third method of neutralizing an enemy threat is to hold them up. To do this
you need to be holding a pistol. You do this by grabbing an enemy by holding
R1. Pressing X to crouch and then during the crouch animation, let go of R1,
press a direction with the left analogue stick and then press R1 again. Release
R1 and then hold L1. After the animation is done you should pull out your gun
and say "Freeze" (or the like) and the enemy will put his hands over his head
and stay in this position. They will get up if you go into alert, but it's game
over then anyway. If an enemy comes across someone in this state, they will go
into caution phase.
You can also hold someone up while they are standing and with any weapon, but
they will only keep their hands up for about five seconds if you don't keep
your gun pointed at their back. Useful for sneaking up behind two enemies as
you can hold them both up and then take them out however you like.
===============================================================================
[5] Main Walkthrough
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5a] Opening - Middle East
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: try to start the game with at least 20 tranq bullets. You won't need them
for the first act but there isn't much time to collect them during the second.
--Ground Zero
Notes: Even though the sound plays no alert box pops up so you are free to run
as fast as you can through this section.
[1 cutscene]
*Checkpoint*
Climb under the truck like normal.
[1 cutscene]
*Checkpoint*
Run back to the truck you just crawled under.
[1 cutscene]
*Checkpoint*
This section is easy if you know which way to go. If you don't you may find
yourself getting killed by Gekkos a lot. Just go through the buildings and you
have no chance of dying.
[1 cutscene]
*Save Point*
[2 cutscenes]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5b] Act 1 - Middle East
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[codec]
[1 cutscene]
--Red Zone NW Sector
Stand up and run forwards until the sequence starts.
[1 sequence]
*Checkpoint*
Note: You may as well just crawl through the entire area here. The difference
between moving through quickly and crawling the entire way is maybe a minute.
Crouch and move forwards and go through the doorway on the right and then crawl
through the passage. Keep crawling forwards and around the corner and through
the doorway letting your camo adjust. Just watch your percentage and stop
moving until it goes up again. Keep going forwards and crawl through the
rubble.
Wait for the PMC to turn away and move out of the hole. Crawl on the ground to
the doorway on the right. Keep going but watch for the PMC if he starts to back
up. Just CQC him to the ground and keep going. Wait for the PMCs to pass by and
then crouch or crawl to the next area.
--Red Zone
## 0:08 to 0:33
(What's this?: Any point marked with a ## lists the times from my two
play throughs. The quick time and the very slow time. As long as you're
somewhere between these two you should be fine. If you're close to the slow
time you may not be able to make the time up later.)
Crawl up the stairs to your left and roll across the gap. The PMC should have
just turned around. You'll want to crawl along the ground in the next room or
the PMC on the ground level will spot you. Once you get past the box stand up
and press against the wall to the right of the doorway. After he walks past
move slowly to the small wall ahead of you to jump over.
Run to the doorway ahead then start crawling. A PMC at ground level will likely
be coming out of a doorway. Crawl into the middle of the room and wait for the
PMC to move. He'll start to walk towards you so move into the next room and
drop down. Stay prone and the PMC will walk past. Crawl forwards and look to
your left. There should be a PMC there. Wait until he turns around and crouch
run around the corner and hide in the area with the dumpster.
Wait for the two man patrol to move past and make a break for the objective.
[1 cutscene]
*Checkpoint*
Go back the way you came in and crouch as you exit. There's some militia
outside who will see you if you're standing although they die quickly anyway.
What you want to do is follow the building ahead of you around to the right and
shoot the two PMCs at the end of the building. This will get you to neutral
with the militia. Then just make a B-line to the barricades and go into the
safe house.
--Militia Safe House
## 0:11 to 0:36
If you have the ME outfit you can just run through this entire area without a
second thought. If not then you'll have to stop every time they tell you not to
move. Note that on my first run I went through this area stealthily and it took
forever. My time in the next area was 42 minutes.
(Without ME Costume)
You should have three rations at this point. Equip them and run forwards. Give
the guy in the first room one and keep going. There's a ration to the right of
the boxes ahead. Keep moving until you hear the group of militia coming and
hide to the right in the blocked tunnel. There's some anaesthetic ammo here
too. After they pass keep moving. A militia should stop you just outside the
room with all the wounded. What you want to do is run just a bit past him so
you're inside the room and give him a ration. This way the other militia in
here sees it and won't stop you too.
Keep moving and there'll be a lone militiaman. Give him your second last ration
and keep going into the room with two guys and a wing on the table. Run around
the left of the table and give the guy a ration. Move into the next bit and
hide to the left while two militia run past. Then move forwards and take a
right to get the Middle Eastern costume (it's in the middle locker on the
left). Take the RPG if you're playing a NBE game. Put it on and run through the
rest of the level. There's some anaesthetic rounds in the last room although
you should be on full ammo at this point.
[1 cutscene][codec][1 cutscene][codec]
--Urban Ruins
Run through this area like normal.
[1 cutscene]
--Downtown
##Time 0:14 to 0:44
With the ME costume equipped run along the building until you get to the car
and turn right twice. Keep moving until you meet up with a militia group and
run in the direction they go until you see another group taking cover from
snipers. Move left towards where they take cover and turn right at the second
gap and jump over the box. Move right a bit but don't expose yourself past the
wall and wait for the vehicle to move past. As soon as it does run past. Keep
running past the first building and move into the alley way.
Peek left at the end of the building on your left and wait for the 2 PMC
soldiers to move away. Run past to the end and to your left should be a single
PMC soldier. Take him out at range as he won't turn around while he's fighting.
You can try to CQC him but either him or you may get shot by the militia. Run
past the car and the van and you should see a crawl hole going into the
building on your left. Dive for it and crawl into and through it. Then just
make your way to the back entrance into Advent Palace.
--Advent Palace
## 0:16 to 0:51
Just go straight to the room with Meryl and co. In case you forgot it's up
twice then move across and up again. Collect the Sleeping Gas Mines if you want
as they're useful for the upcoming escape sequence. They are five to collect.
[3 cutscenes]
*Checkpoint*
=============
Advent Palace
=============
Check Section 6 for details.
[1 cutscene]
*Checkpoint*
Jump down the lift.
[1 cutscene][codec]
--Advent Palace Garage
## 0:28 to 1:13
Move to the next area as usual.
--Crescent Meridian
Keep moving.
[sequence]
Equip your OctoSuit if you're still wearing the ME Costume. I go prone on the
black edge of the crater to get a dark shade of camo. When you're ready get up
and run to the gap in the wall on the right if you're looking towards the tank.
Follow the wall around and either go prone to crawl through the hole or climb
the ladder and roll off it. There's some anaesthetic ammo up the ladder if you
need it.
Go into a crouching position and run out the doorway when the closest PMC isn't
looking. Hug the right wall as you keep moving along. When you get to the part
where there's two PMCs behind a group of sandbags keep hugging the wall and go
around behind the car. Then run towards the ladder and climb up. Run around to
the next area.
--Millennium Park
If you're running low on tranq ammo you might want to either use the Solar Gun
to shoot the corpses or manually search them although that would take a while.
The way I do this area I only need 5 tranq bullets though.
There are many ways to do this area. Here's how I do it. Move forwards and
shoot the two PMC in the head. Run forwards and dive into a crawl. After your
camo is set, get up and crawl. If you move right the patrolling PMC won't spot
you. The PMC to the right will see you but not set off an alert and you came
move to the building before he arrives to investigate. Note that this is
without FaceCamo so with FaceCamo you shouldn't have a problem.
After you get to the building go through the hole and walk up the steps
quietly. Press against the wall and wait for the PMC to go past. Walk to the
hole and drop down. Crouch walk through the door in the same direction you were
heading before dropping down. The second locker from the left has anaesthetic
ammo.
Crawl out the hole and shoot the closest PMC. Hug the wall and move to the left
while watching the other two PMCs. When they look away crouch and make a dash
for the hole in the wall up ahead. You can either enter here or keep moving
along the wall and go in the larger entrance. The larger entrance is much
riskier as some people will most likely become suspicious and come to
investigate assuming there's not a PMC inside who spots you instantly. If you
go through the larger entrance just hug the right wall and you should only come
across one PMC on the way who you can headshot, or just wait for him to walk
away.
Otherwise just crawl and crouch walk through the area moving from vehicle to
vehicle. I basically follow the left wall around here. Take careful note of
your visibility radius on the Solid Eye when you're moving while crouched. I
made my way to the opposite corner of where I entered and shot the guard there,
then crouch ran to the exit while the guard in the tower wasn't looking. If
your OctoCamo is set to the ground then you shouldn't have a problem.
--Act 1 Complete
## 0:35 to 1:29
Congratulations. If you completed this act in an hour you are on track to
getting the BBE. If you're over an hour you will have to make up for some time
later on.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5c] Act 2 - South America
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Cove Valley Village
This is one of the hardest bits of the BBE challenge. If only for the reason
that you can't crawl through the entire area like you can with 90% of the areas
in the game. However you can still get through it relatively easy as long as
you have 10 tranq rounds at the start of the Act.
Because of Laughing Octopus' antics, the rebels in the first area are all
hostile. However any rebels in the second area and onwards will be neutral.
There are two ways to approach the first area. You can either try and rescue
the rebels, so that the rebels in the second section of this area are neutral
to you. Or you can just sneak through the first part of the area. If you sneak
past the first area you'll need the S.A. Disguise, or the rebels will attack
you.
Sneaking past is very easy. Just stand up and run to the left down the ramp and
keep running all the way around the perimeter hugging the rock wall. When you
get to the next section equip the S.A. Disguise and follow the next section.
If you don't have the disguise or want to rescue the rebels it will be much
harder.
Equip your face camo and Solid Eye with Night Vision. Move forwards until the
enemies spot you and stop moving. Shoot the three enemies near the rebels in
the body once each. When they start dropping stand up and execute a forward
roll off the edge to land at the bottom. Stay crouched and shoot all the
enemies that come over to help the sleeping enemies. There's one just to the
right obscured by the building and two at the south west end of the area. They
might come over now or they might once the rebels get up. You'll want to save
all the rebels if you can. They die very easily so you'll want as many of them
in the next bit as you can.
If you're close enough to the rebels when you do this they should turn yellow
by the time you're done. The only other enemy to watch out for is the one
reading the porno magazine who will come out of the door to your left. When all
the enemies are sleeping pull out your Solar Gun and shoot each corpse until
you're satisfied with your anaesthetic ammo count. Now just take out the last
enemy in the west section to help the rebels progress.
There's some anaesthetic rounds in the stables which you may want to grab if
you have time before the PMCs wake up.
Now for the hard part. I just move with the rebels here and tranq any enemies I
encounter. Because of the fire fight your camo index is raised and the enemies
also won't wake up any that fall asleep. Unfortunately the rebels are
completely useless for killing the enemies. Stay crouched and you should make
it to the end of the area without an alert. Don't worry if you get a caution as
only a few more enemies will appear. You can use the Solar Gun near the end to
get some more anaesthetic ammo although you won't need much after this. There's
also an ammo pickup in a bit so don't collect any more than 30.
[codec]
*Checkpoint*
Go prone to set your camo to grassland. Try to set it to a darker shade if
possible.
Run forwards until you see the anaesthetic ammo to your right in a crawl hole.
Crawl through and when you get out crouch run hugging the right wall. Some of
the PMCs may get suspicious but if you keep going they shouldn't follow you all
the way. You may not be able to do this if you don't have FaceCamo.
You should be able to run through the rest of the area while crouched. Just
make sure to wait for the two PMCs who run into the next area to move away or
they may hear your footsteps.
--Power Station
## 0:41 to 1:49
[codec]
This section is easy. Stand up and run through the main gauntlet along the left
wall. When you get to the bit with all the rebels dying cut across the area and
follow the dirt track. You'll see a log in the way after a short run. Dive into
the grass to the right and crawl out into the dirt. Set your camo then crouch
and run to the right of the boulders. From here just run to the wall and stick
to it while you keep making your way forwards.
There's an alternate route if you can't pull off the first but it's slower.
Take the first right path you can before the snipers. Climb up onto the crate
and raised section and roll over the gap and then roll again to the left. Walk
through here crouched. There's a PMC to your right and a sniper and spotter to
your left. They shouldn't see you but may hear you if you run. You'll need to
take out the enemy in front of you that circles around. There's another enemy
watching your path from the left past where the PMC was patrolling that you can
take out when he turns and isn't looking.
[3 cutscenes]
*Checkpoint*
Make sure to crawl immediately or you'll cause the PMCs to become curious. I
use the Mosin here to take out the two guards and two snipers. Then just run
for the next area. If you're too slow then two more enemies will be walking
towards you from the exit so either take them out or just wait for them to walk
past you.
--Confinement Facility
# 0:44 to 1:57
Stand up and run following the left wall. Watch for the nearby guard on the
right as he'll turn around forcing you to crouch for a couple of seconds until
he's out of your line of sight. Stand up and run following the left wall back
to the Power Plant area.
--Power Plant
Just stand up and run following the right wall until you reach the Confinement
Facility again.
--Confinement Facility
Stand up and run forwards. Don't worry about the vehicle. Keep running until
you get to the bit with the PMC and tranq him in the head when he stops moving.
Move out onto the road and keep going until you see another PMC. Tranq him then
keep moving forwards. Tranq the PMC that's patrolling (he's still behind the
vehicle if you're fast enough) and then run to the sign to the left of the
cliff, crouching when you get into range of the tower lookout. Jump over the
sign then run to the tunnel to your right.
Note: There are some chaff grenades in the other part of the Confinement
Facility but you won't need them if you get the ones in the Marketplace.
--Vista Mansion
Crouch run along the path until you hear a guard say "Huh!?" and then crawl.
Keep crawling until the rebels start fighting then get up and run along until
the sequence triggers.
[sequence]
Just run to the left of the gate and wait for the vehicle to destroy it.
[sequence]
While crouched run in and go up the steps to your left. Keep going forwards
until you get to the hedges. You'll want to turn right before them and head
straight for the door. Even though there's probably a PMC not even 2 metres
from the door he shouldn't spot you as he'll be locked in combat with the
rebels. Run through the room and press against the wall under the stairs. Two
PMCs will come down the stairs. Wait for them to leave and crouch run to the
stairs then stand up and run when you reach them. Now just keep running through
the area like normal to the roof and then through the tunnel. There's some
anaesthetic rounds on the roof just to your left if you need them for the frogs
in the Laughing Octopus fight.
[3 cutscenes][save][1 cutscene]
--Research Lab
# 0:48 to 2:12
================
Laughing Octopus
================
Check section 6 for details.
--Mountain Trail
Get up and start running. If you're fast in this area you can get past the
guard patrolling just after the bridge. Otherwise just tranq him. Take the
right path and run under the sniper just ahead. There's a guard in the next
area who is sometimes on the lookout towards where you're coming from. Wait
until he starts to move away and either tranq him or chokehold him and take him
to the ground and hold him up. Run towards the river.
--Mountain Trail Riverside
## 0:56 to 2:30
Take the left path here and keep going. To your left in the next clearing there
should be a frog. Run around the tree and as she runs off start running to the
path beyond where she was. Dive a few seconds later and turn around and tranq
her. It's too dangerous to crawl here. If you weren't fast enough to do this
just use the MGk2 to shock her.
After that stand up and run through the middle path and dive just before the
end. There's a frog well hidden to your left. Just crawl forwards a bit and
tranq her. Run to the next area but crawl near the end as there's the guard
setting a claymore. Tranq him and continue to the path on the right. There's
just one more guard in a clearing now and if you keep going and then turn left
it's the end of the area.
NOTE: If you have the Solar Gun (and you should) make sure it's fully charged
as you don't get a chance to charge it in the next act.
[1 cutscene]
[sequence]
============
Drebin Chase
============
Check section 6 for details.
Time for the chase. It's pretty easy just a couple of things to remember. Do
not kill the men in powered suits as they will increase your kill counter.
They're the guys who come in through the gate in the first area.
==========
--Act 2 Complete
## 1:05 to 2:45
Congratulations. If you completed this act in a good time you are on track to
getting the BBE.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5d] Act 3 - Eastern Europe
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Midtown S Sector
## 1:07 to 2:46
Move forwards a bit to start the resistance sequence.
==========
Resistance
==========
Check section 6 for details.
At first this seems like one of the more annoying areas but with a bit of
practise and good execution you can get through it pretty quickly by taking
advantage of the FaceCamo behaviour. If you equip a FaceCamo that's not snake
or the OctoCamo the guards will pretty much ignore you making the entire
sequence much, much easier. There's also plenty of anaesthetic ammo along the
way. If you follow my path you'll pickup 60 rounds which is more than enough as
you only need some for the boss in Act 4 and hardly any for Act 5.
[5 cutscenes][save][3 cutscenes]
--Church Courtyard
## 1:23 to 3:20
==========
Bike Chase
==========
Check section 6 for details.
This is one of the most frustrating sections in the game and the reason that I
decided to go for the BBE because I didn't want to do it again. Well I am doing
it again while writing this guide but with the strategies here it's not as hard
as it seems at first, unless you don't have the Solar Gun and then it is next
to impossible and will probably take you hours to complete assuming you don't
break your controller first.
[1 cutscene]
--Echo's Beacon
## 1:32 to 3:32
============
Raging Raven
============
Check section 6 for details.
You don't get healed but it shouldn't matter unless you're on a fresh game.
Raging Raven is pretty easy to kill.
============
--Act 3 Complete
## 1:34 to 3:33
Congratulations. As you can see from this section the time taken for this act
pretty much entirely depends on your luck/resourcefulness during the resistance
tailing section.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5e] Act 4 - Shadow Moses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--Snowfield
Equip your FaceCamo here and equip any weapons you're going to use up to and
including the Crying Wolf fight. I equip the Mk22, Rail Gun and or M82A2 and
then activate Night Vision.
You can run straight past the gekko in the next area. As you run into the next
area you can either go right up to the elevated area or turn left. Turn left
and then right. The gekko will be in front of you and to your left is a path
behind a raised rock. Run to the left of it and follow it around and head into
the next area.
Alternately you can either destroy the gekko with a charged shot with your Rail
Gun or two shots from the M82A2 in the head.
--Heliport
Get the Chaff Grenades on the helipad and run into the tank hangar.
--Tank Hangar
Turn right as you go into this area and run through. If there's some scarabs
in front of you follow them and hug the wall to avoid their infrared detectors.
When you run to the door leave some distance between you and the room to the
right or the scarabs will see you.
Just run through the next room avoiding the beams. If you have the Solid Eye
with NV enabled you can easily avoid them.
--Canyon
Kill the two gekkos with the M82A2 with two headshots each and then head into
the next area.
--Nuclear Warhead Storage Bldg 1F
Run forwards and crawl under the door.
[codec]
Run to the door.
[codec]
Run to and use the elevator to go down.
--Nuclear Warhead Storage Bldg B2
Run through to activate the cutscenes
[1 cutscene][enter code][2 cutscenes]
*Checkpoint*
Run back to the lift and go prone when you hear the gekko land. Shoot it in the
head twice with the M82A2 quickly and it should blow up without triggering and
alert. You can also start charging the Rail Gun a bit before you trigger it
coming and shoot it straight away.
If for some reason you don't want to kill it this way you can sneak past it
like usual or activate the electrified floor with the MGk3. Just move the MGk2
to the damaged panel in the room adjacent to where the lift is and hit triangle
while facing it.
--Nuclear Warhead Storage Bldg 1F
Head to the door.
[codec][sequence]
Destroy the gekko with your Rail Gun or M82A2 and the door will open. You can
also just tranq its legs with the Mk22 but you'll need to wait for the time to
run out and it's a waste of ammo.
--Snowfield & Communication Towers
There's some anaesthetic rounds to the right of the door as you enter the
storage room and stun grenades to the right of the ramp if you need them. Set
your camo by lying down and equip only the weapons you want to use in the fight
(so the M4 won't replace any). I use the Rail Gun (or preferred sniper rifle),
Mk22 and Mosin.
[1 cutscene]
===========
Crying Wolf
===========
## 1:42 to 3:45
Check Section 6 for details.
Go to the next area.
--Blast Furnace
## 1:47 to 3:53
It seems that you don't need to head to the door to get the codec message and
you can head straight for the lift. This makes it a lot easier for sneaking
without a chaff grenades.
If you have four or more chaff grenades at this point you should use one here.
Just throw it as you enter the level then jump down and make your way straight
to the lift.
If you don't want to use a chaff grenade here's what you do. After entering the
area turn to your left and move along the catwalk on the left to the walk.
Press against the wall and shimmy to the right to the other catwalk. Once there
you can run along it. Keep moving until you get to the bit just before the
stairs. Either roll or climb over the railing on either side. Then move to the
gap underneath the stairs. Press against the wall and move as far in as
possible so you don't get spotted.
Two of the scarabs should come up and look around. Start crouch walking slowly
down the stairs and hug the wall on your right as you make your way to the lift
button. As long as you don't make any noise and don't bump into any scarabs you
should be able to call and enter the lift without any alerts.
--Casting Facility South
Hug the right wall and turn left at the end. Avoid the scarab on the wall and
make sure the nearest gekko won't see you if you run past. Wait for it to look
to the left then run into the next area.
--Casting Facility North
After trying to find a strategy with an without using a chaff grenade in this
area I've found that it's just easier to not use one. Because if you use one
here, a gekko will fall down from the ceiling and start causing havoc. It's
much easier to just sneak past.
As you enter the area you'll want to turn left and head towards the conveyor
belt. There's a gekko behind the two rollers so if you see its infrared beam go
to the right of the rollers and climb up onto the conveyor belt, otherwise
climb up on the left. If you go around the right make sure to walk so the
scarabs don't detect you.
Walk along the conveyor belt to the crawl hole into the next bit. The gekko
will move back and forth and turn around so make sure to go prone and stay
still until your camo adjusts if it's about to turn towards you.
You should now be in the crawl hole on the right with a gekko in front of you
in the next area. Just crawl out and head to the left a bit. When you get to
the middle let your camo adjust and then keep moving towards the wall at the