The Hardest Item To Get In Every Metal Gear Solid Game

The Hardest Item To Get In Every Metal Gear Solid Game

Welcome to MojoPlays, today we’re looking at the rarest items from every single “Metal Gear Solid” game. We’re specifically looking at the “Solid” games, and be warned, there may be spoilers ahead.

Snake / Meryl / Gray Fox Alternate Outfits

“Metal Gear Solid” (1998)

The first ever Solid game was revolutionary. It was one of the earliest cinematic games, with phenomenal voice acting and cutscenes. It also laid the foundations for the stealth genre, instead of prioritizing brute force. Its most useful unlockable is probably the bandana, which grants Snake infinite ammo. It only takes one playthrough to acquire though, as opposed to a few alternate outfits, which take multiple playthroughs. To see these cosmetics, you need to complete the game twice, getting both endings. This will unlock you the irresistibly suave Tuxedo Snake outfit for your third playthrough. It also switches Gray Fox’s outfit, making him look a bit like Spider-Man. If you’re playing the “Integral” version, Meryl will also be wearing Snake’s sneaking suit. It’s a lot of effort for simple cosmetics. At least it’s not locked behind a paywall, like most cosmetics in modern gaming. These outfits are a perfect example of why this game has stood the test of time - it’s loaded with easter eggs and hidden details.

Blue Wig

“Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty” (2001)

This game was semi-controversial on release. Mainly because it focuses on Raiden, rather than Solid Snake, who is in it for roughly an hour or two. Despite being the series’ most famous character, he’s only the protagonist of two games. As time passed, fans have grown fond of Raiden, particularly on account of his kickass blade. While bandanas can be acquired for Snake’s Tanker chapter, they decided to add colorful wigs for Raiden to wear. There’s a brown, an orange, and a blue wig available. Their bonuses are respectively infinite ammo, infinite grip, and infinite air. To acquire each, you need 73 dog tags for brown, 170 for orange, and 218 for blue. This makes blue the hardest item to obtain by a significant margin. There are different dog tags available for each difficulty. So you’re probably gonna need to play it more than once to give Raiden a stylish blue trim. It’s not particularly useful, except underwater, so maybe get the infinite ammo one and stop there, unless you really like blue.

Stealth Camo

“Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” (2004)

Many consider this the greatest game in the series, and few people will argue otherwise. Big Boss is one of the most interesting characters, and it features some of the most memorable bosses, cutscenes, characters, and stories in a game. It also has some damn tough unlocks. For example, the Mosin-Nagant is a non-lethal sniper rifle, you can only get from knocking out The End. There’s also the infinite ammo bandana, only unlocked by carrying a hidden snake with you the entire game, but it’s the stealth camo that takes the top spot for difficulty. It can be obtained using two methods. First, complete the game without triggering Alert Mode, an especially painful feat. Alternatively, you can shoot every single Kerotan in the game. There’s a total of 64 to find. If you’re playing the 3DS version, they’re hilariously replaced by Yoshi. So, it’s not as painful as the blue wig, but still a chore. It gives Big Boss 95% camo, making him nearly invisible, only detectable by his footsteps.

The Patriot

“Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” (2008)

Personally, I found the hardest part of this game staying awake during the hours of cutscenes. Just kidding, as funny as it is to make fun of its cutscenes, it provided an amazing end to Solid Snake’s story. The final conversation between Snake and Big Boss is one of the series’ finest moments. Here, Big Boss is carrying The Patriot, the weapon originally used by The Boss in the game prior. It’s not restricted to one cutscene, Old Snake can acquire it himself, but it’s an absolute pain to do. Players must unlock the “Big Boss” emblem. To do so, you have to beat the game on the Boss Extreme difficulty. Not only that, but with 0 deaths, 0 alerts, 0 kills, 0 recovery items used, 0 special items used, and all under 5 hours. This might be the hardest item in the series to obtain. If that’s too much effort, cheat codes also unlock the item. If you listen carefully, you can hear “Snake Eater” quietly playing while using the rifle.

Stealth Camouflage

“Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker”

Despite initially being a PSP exclusive, “Peace Walker” became quickly adored by fans. It did everything we love to see in a Metal Gear game, and added a plethora of new features. Many of these would be fleshed out further in five. It’s an amazing bridge between “Snake Eater” and Five, making it a must-play for any fan. If you’re looking for a challenge, stealth camouflage is its hardest item to acquire. All you need to do is complete Extra Op 50 in under 3 minutes, granting you an S rank. Unlocking this requires completing 8 specific Extra Ops first. Also, the Extra Op only drops a blueprint - you have to make it yourself. This takes a pretty hefty amount of resources. You also need level 88 R&D and Intel teams, and a staff member with the Metamaterials Technology skill. It’s pretty useful, but runs on batteries, meaning it needs recharging every 3 minutes. Also, using it unfortunately prevents you from getting an S rank.

MGS1 Gray Fox Cyborg Ninja Skin

“Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes” (2014)

Now, for the game which sparked the most outrage among fans. It was highly anticipated, but upon release, it took everyone only a couple of hours to finish. This caused it to become considered a tech demo, rather than a full game. The price disappointingly didn’t reflect this sentiment. Completing everything takes around 20 hours, so nothing is that difficult to acquire. Its coolest unlocks include the original Solid Snake skin, a golden bionic arm, and finally the original Gray Fox skin. Fans of the original will be filled with nostalgia when unlocking this. It lets you run at superhuman speeds, making it the most useful skin in the game. To acquire it, complete the Extra Op “Deja Vu”. This mission was originally PlayStation exclusive, but was later added to other versions. To unlock it, you have to acquire all 9 XOF patches in the game. Thankfully this won’t take you too long, since the game is tiny. You can also upload your save to “The Phantom Pain”, and get the skin there too!

Raiden Uniform

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” (2015)

Or as I like to call it, The Phantom Story. The final entry had the deepest gameplay mechanics in the series. It featured a vast open world, and a sizable base to upgrade and explore. Unfortunately, it was costing Konami too much money. So, they fired Kojima, without letting him finish. This means the game just straight up has no real ending. Players can still pour hundreds of hours into it regardless. If you want to do the same, then make unlocking the Raiden Uniform your goal. You need to get an S-rank on every story mission to unlock its blueprint. Now, all you need is a pile of materials, and voilá - you have the best suit in the game. It gives you a hefty boost to not just your movement speed, but also your jumping. It’s strong, but doesn’t make you as strong as Raiden in Revengeance. While this would be hilarious, it would also be game-breaking. This experience is exclusive to PC gamers, who can mod it to their heart's content.


Which item in this franchise did you pour the most hours into obtaining? Let us know in the comments!