Part 22: Metal Gear 2 Part Three: In the Jungle

Metal Gear 2 Part Three: In the Jungle


Last time on Metal Gear 2, Snake murdered a space ninja and stole his ID. Today, he has a scientist to find.



Going north out of the room where Snake fought Black Color is useless, because it's blocked off by these lasers (which never change position). I suppose you could use this as a shortcut to the next destination, alarms be damned, but if you do, then you don't really understand Metal Gear.



There's one last thing to do on the third floor, which is to grab the mine detector.

It detects mines and shows their locations on your radar. Pretty standard. In Metal Gear 2, though, mines are a much smaller threat because you can pick them up by crawling over them.



Now, back to the elevator and down to the second floor.


Since we've gone through a load screen since the last time, this ration has been replaced. If I were really dedicated I could go back and forth between the floors until I had just a ton of rations.


What we're really after, though, is the silencer.

Now my trigger-happiness won't alert guards. Hooray!


Back to the first floor!


There was a guard just outside the elevator room when I got down here.


Here, Snake is hiding under that strange little cubby. Why would that even be there?

While I'm under it, though, I decide to call Campbell.


Snake is terrified of that radio.



: He is our former survival master. He has a lot of useful ideas. His frequency is 140.38. ...Over.

Thanks for the advice, boss. Let's call Miller, shall we? First, though, his bio:






I have no fuckin' clue what this is supposed to be.


Going through this door, we find...


The guard in the green beret! This is who Black Color told us to follow.


So, let's follow him.

This section has what seems to be its own theme music:



Outside the door, we find a jungle!



Now we get to follow the greet beret guy through a jungle maze. He walks slowly and turns around to look behind him a lot. This is exactly as fun to play as it is to look at.

Still better than Snake's Revenge, though.




Look at this! This motherfucker led Snake in a goddamned circle!






Keep following him, and at the end of the second trip through the maze, he leads Snake to this little bungalow.


As soon as I'm here, I kill the guard. That'll teach him to try to watch his back.

This must be where they're holding Marv, anyway. Unless Black Color, our enemy, lied to us and there's an ambush waiting for Snake.


Either of those would be too easy, though, and instead Snake finds jack shit. There's a weird tapping in the room, which you can use to suss out a radio frequency through "tap codes" (a poor man's Morse code), or just use GameFAQs.


Turns out that frequency gets us Einstein on the line. Character portraits in Metal Gear 2 were originally based strongly on actual celebrities at the time (the same way that Solid Snake on the Metal Gear packaging was based on Michael Biehn). The portraits were redesigned for the Subsistence releases, so Snake goes from looking like this:


to looking like this:




Carrying on, it turns out this isn't Einstein, and our mission may already be over.



: Dr Petrovich? ...What are you doing here?

So Black Color did lie to us. This is the same Petrovich who we rescued from Outer Heaven.


Professional in Robotology!



: Where is Dr Marv?
: He was transferred to Tower Building a few days ago, a tall building some miles to the north.
: Damn, I'm late once again!
: Snake, can you guess why they keep me alive?
: Because they need you. ...So?

Solid Snake doesn't give a fuck about Petrovich's problems. He already rescued him in 1995, he's done with that shit.

: It's Metal Gear, Snake. They have one...here. 3 years ago you destroyed only an experimental one...they have a new Metal Gear, even more powerful.
: Then it was Metal Gear that raided the nuclear bases!
: Correct. Metal Gear is a nuclear-mounted walking tank

You know what Metal Gear isn't, though? Subtle. If Zanzibar Land had a working Metal Gear and was using it to make raids, and whatever power knew they were making raids, then they sure as shit should have known they had Metal Gear.

Fuck it, carrying on:

: Zanzibar Land gained a unique nuclear force in the world. Moreover, it now wants to own the alternative energy OILIX. Now can you see who is behind all this?
: Big...Boss??

How would you figure that? Because they had Metal Gear? You're fucking famous for destroying Metal Gear, the fact that it exists is not a secret anymore! And maybe, maybe Schneider got out, Snake never saw Schneider. But he did see Big Boss. He shot Big Boss with a rocket launcher and watched him explode and die. Big Boss is dead! Why would Snake ever think that Big Boss was attached to this?

Fuck's sake.

: Him! His scheme is to hold the world with Metal Gear and OILIX.

And Snake is right, too!

: Never pass them OILIX! Science is not for murderers.

What about immortal god-men who can put themselves back together after being blown up four times? Is science for them, Petrovich?

: Marv has strong will but weak heart. How long can he endure their interrogations...?
: If they use drugs on him, we're in big trouble.
: Marv, like me, has a small transceiver in his body. It was given to us by the female STB agent who escorted us. You can contact him if you know the frequency.

Alright, great, what's the frequency? Or this STB lady's frequency? She should know Marv's number, right?

: Petrovich, what will you do?

Who gives a fuck, Snake? Just get the info you need to rescue Marv. Metal Gear is already finished, so they're probably about to execute this guy, anyway.

: A chobham plate wall divides us. Blowing it off is impossible.

Snake, you can't ignore this wall!

: Leave me alone and rescue Dr Marv.
: I see. I'll come back later.

Well, there we go. Let's blow this popsicle stand, Snake. The world ain't gonna save itself.


Oh, Jesus Christ, are you fucking kidding me?  No. 

: My daughter Ellen still likes you very much. She can't forget you. She won't marry any other man.

Snake met your daughter for five minutes four years ago! Get that girl a therapist, don't try to play matchmaker during a covert operation!

: Anyway, I know the zoologist Yozef Norden who lives nearby. He will help you in animal matters. 140.40 is his freq..

I know you're lonely or whatever, Petrovich, but this isn't useful to me at all. I have more important shit to do than your daughter's lovelife and your zoologist buddy.

: No problem. I'll save you before your daughter's wedding day.
: Thanks, Snake...

That's it! We're finally done talking to Petrovich! And he actually did give us some information while he was babbling! Now that we know Zanzibar Land has Metal Gear, we'd be remiss not to tell command. Let's call Campbell.



: Assume you're an enemy general, or a Konami game designer. Then you'll get what you failed to see. ...Over.

Good to know that Campbell is just as on the ball as Big Boss ever was. I don't even think I could think like a Konami game designer, because I haven't eaten five pounds of mescaline today.

To close out, let's call Petrovich's buddy Yozef because, hey, why the fuck not?



: Animals don't suit battlefields. I cannot understand. ...Over.

That's really great, man. Top shelf work, there. Glad to have you on the team.

Here's Yozef Norden's bio. I'm out: