Part 43: Metal Gear 2 Part Twenty-Four: Senicide

Metal Gear 2 Part Twenty-Four: Senicide


It's time for the main event, the final showdown between Snake and Big Boss!


Thing is, Big Boss has a gun and Snake doesn't, so I start the fight off by running away.


To get out of this place alive, Snake needs to come up with a way to put Big Boss back in the ground, and quick.



Up here, I find a B1 ration. Not only can I heal now, but I could also deal with the acid puddle you can see on the last screen.


Over here, there are two doors leading south and one leading north. I can't use any of them right now.



Another ration here, and you can see another door at the bottom.

Not pictured: Big Boss, who, for whatever reason, wouldn't chase Snake when he was more than one screen away.



A third ration, two puddles of acid, and the last door to be seen. There are eight doors around the central area of the arena. We need to get into them.


There he is! Snake can run faster than Big Boss, and like I said, Big Boss only chases him for one screen. When Big Boss catches up, his machine gun can chew through your health pretty quick, so it's not a good idea to ever stop moving.


The first door I can get through is the left door on the bottom-middle screen.



Inside is card 1! This fight has a neat idea behind it, but it gets dragged down by a "find the cards, open the doors, and do it all while being shot at" execution.


Over to the left door on the top-middle screen. I pop it open with card 1.


And find card 6 .


This is the door on the top-right screen. Card 2.


And a hidey-hole. Big Boss doesn't follow Snake into these rooms (at least, as far as I've seen) so this isn't really useful.


Top-left door.


Nothing! Great.


Oh, wait, card 3 is hidden in the hidey-hole. I guess this is supposed to mix things up or something? Was the extra 2 seconds of game time really important to the design team?


Other door on the bottom-middle screen. If you look at the radar here, you can see Big Boss just chillin' on the top-middle screen. I don't think he moves again in this part of the fight.


Oh, yeah, card 4. Whatever.


Bottom-right. We've almost been into every door at this point.


Now I've got a lighter! Who left this lying around here?


That's a pretty fancy lighter if it's made of the finest silver.


It's classified as a weapon, and the game just has to rub salt into the lost-cigarette wound. How was Snake lighting those all game long, anyway? Was his lighter just tucked into the pack?


Right top-middle. And I lied about Big Boss not moving, I've run him around to the bottom-middle at this point, where he's perfectly content to twiddle his thumbs while Snake assembles the tools of his demise.


Card 5. Woohoo.


Gotta deal with the acid on the floor before I can pop into this last door, here. If the acid is to deal with rats, why is it over here and in the prison complex instead of being by the freezer and mess hall, where the food would be? Is it because a bunch of guards died after they set up these acid traps?



The last item I find here is spray.



Well, now we can lacquer stuff, I guess.

This is the end of the first part of the fight, the running around and grabbing items part. Since it's time to start the boss fight in earnest, I make the standard support calls.

: Snake! Big Boss is not your supervisor anymore. He's a madman. Understand? No personal emotions. The whole world depends on you. Don't fail us. ...Over.

First up is Campbell, who reminds Snake that Big Boss is crazy and dangerous, then mentions that the "whole world depends" on Snake, which is kind of overstating it at this point. Metal Gear is destroyed and Petrovich and Grey Fox are both dead. I think the whole "nukes" thing kind of relied on Metal Gear not being wrecked, Roy.


Next I call Holly, but she just blows me off. Hey, Holly, you know what else wasn't a good time? When I had to rescue your ass in the middle of my important sneaking mission because you decided to play spy.

Next on my list of people to call is Kessler. What can he tell me about Big Boss?

: Big Boss...

Yes, Kessler, Big Boss. What do you know about him?

: A military genius along with William Morgan. His existence has turned legendary among mercenaries.
: Stop! I only want to learn his latest information.

Before Kessler rambles too long, Snake sets him on the right track. I don't feel like I've seen anything in any Metal Gear game to substantiate the whole "military genius" thing. He's tough for sure, and charismatic, but those two don't exactly make a genius.

Oh, and he stood around waiting for Solid Snake to come kill him in Outer Heaven, so that's a point against, too.

: I see...but what I'm about to tell you is only a rumor...the Outer Heaven showdown, three years ago...

Yes, what about it? Snake would know about that, because he was there.

: His arms, legs, right eye and right ear, they were all gone.

So Big Boss was a torso and a head with one eye and one ear? Pretty good for being shot with an RPG a dozen times, but his recovery was goddamned miraculous.

: ...He was barely alive at all.

Yeah, having all your limbs and part of your head blown off will do that to you.

: Then a tyrant of the East became interested in him...

What?

: Petrovich Madnar was ordered to accelerate his Snatcher plan.

What?

: It was tested on the body of Big Boss... ...with success. Now part of him is human and part is not.

What?

How come Petrovich didn't mention this shit to the US when he was seeking asylum? If you can just bring a torso-corpse back to life as a full-bodied cyborg, I think that would earn you a couple of research grants. Keep that weird Metal Gear obsession on the DL and you're golden.

: Unbelievable, but...if it's true, Snake, you have no odds! None of your feats will work against him. Snake...you might as well give up. ...Over.

Then, to top it all off, Kessler tells Snake he's fucked. Whatever, Kessler, fuck you.


One last call goes to Miller, who gives us some actual useful advice.

A lighter and spray, you say? Why, that's exactly two of the items in my inventory!

Let's roast Big Boss.

The fight against Big Boss is pretty simple. Equip the lighter as your weapon and the spray as your item, and now you have an infinite-ammo flame thrower. Get Big Boss to follow you, hang around the crates on the bottom-left screen, and blast him through them. Then you can hit Big Boss and he can't do shit to Snake.

After a quick burning:


Big Boss is not in good shape.



He runs around and is on fire.



I don't think he's quite ready to die yet.



He succumbs to his injuries, then says Snake's name one last time as he dies.


After he does, his body explodes and disappears.

See you in Hell, Big Boss.


Now that the fight is over, the door to the north opens. All that's left now is leaving Zanzibar Land and the ending.