Part 52: Special Missions - The Unseen Time Bomb!

Special Missions - Session 4: The Unseen Time Bomb!


Our journey on the post-game mission short bus continues to Stage 4. Here we backtracked through most of the previous stage with Chris, mucked around with dogs far superior to guards in every way, and fought the Avatar of Australia. Let's see what fun Number 4 has in-store for us today...




Armory Battle (MGS: The Twin Snakes)

Stage 4 - Mission 1!


"Clear this stage in under 470 seconds."


So we have just shy of eight minutes to make it through this entire stage. It took me 12:22 to do it in the main playthrough. So that's quite a bit of time to burn off. As you'll recall there were laser grids to navigate (now better just be ran through, Alert be damned.)


Don't forget there is also a randomized gate to be dealt with in the second half of the stage. That can be problematic on a frickin' time trial.


Oh and do not forget an entire boss fight. That has to be slotted into the seven minutes and fifty seconds allotted. Choo-choo, motherfucker!



Stage 4 - Mission 2!


"...the basic rules of infiltration."
"Other notable rules include always remember anniversaries, birthdays, and prep for in-law visits."
"...How is that going to help with a sneaking mission...?"
"Tsk. You still have much to learn..."
"Clear this stage without being spotted once by the enemy."


After the mad dash across the area, just sneaking through without tripping any alarms is no biggie. I can already attest to this fact.




"It is a fact that Gardner gave that 'wet works' order to FOXHOUND against Black Chamber, but he also made arrangements for the safe passage of the leader Viper and other core members of Black Chamber at the same time. No doubt he wanted them on hand when he made a bid to recover Metal Gear and Project Babel from Parker... and we know his calculations paid off."
"The half dead leader, McBride, a guy obsessed with flames, a puppet fetish serial killer, and that shirtless bird enthusiast you just battled were the ones he selected to be spared. You do not even want to know the ones he left to termination were like. They were some WEIRD stuff. Like the mercenary who claimed to be able to summon the spirit of a 1800s sea captain lost on a doomed voyage to change fates on the battlefield. Or the one who wore a straight jacket all the time but used robot arms that came out of his back to shoot pistols in battle. He also wore a jockstrap... on his face... Nobody knew why. But really, would anyone want to hear that backstory...?"



Stage 4 - Mission 3!


"Nothing personal, but I've taken the liberty of implanting a special type of bomb in your body."
"WHAT?!"
"As I stated, nothing personal."
"It explodes if you remain still in a single spot for more than 1 second."

"Disarming is not an option, so just clear the stage."
"I figured it would not be sporting to start the timer without your prior knowledge. You know have 2.81 seconds before the bomb parameters arm. Run, run, run or you'll be well done!"


So yeah. This SUCKS. Snake must be pretty much always moving here. Like No.4 said, idle for more than a second and...


Kablam! The landscape is suddenly inside-out Solid Snake colored. Not being able to stay still for more than one second adds a bit of other factors. Like being hit by anything other than a bullet will almost assuredly waste more than a second recovering...


Plus there's that whole randomized door with the punching animations that last half a second. Better hold in a direction on the D-pad while doing that or that punch Snake throws could be his last.


And remember this stage is covered with dogs that knock Snake on his ass when they attack. And the only way to sneak by them is moving slowly since they have hyper sensitive hearing. And of course there is no moving slowly due to the whole bomb inside Snake thing...


Of course don't forget we still need to face Captain Aussie and his boomerangs and hawk which both will insta-gib Snake if he's hit. So that's fun too!




"Marvelous. You're getting closer and closer to him... Only a few more steps to your, and our, objective."
"Only 27 more Stars until Yoshi will appear on top of the castle."