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THE CODEC
who to call, and when

[ BASICS & BOSSES ]   [ SPOILERS ]

The codec is Snake's radio. Press Select and you're in it. You tune to a frequency and call whoever's on the other end. Once someone has talked to you, their frequency gets saved in the codec's memory, so you can call them back later without remembering the number.

Most people only use the codec when it rings. That's a mistake. Almost everybody has something to say about almost every room, every weapon, and every boss, and a lot of the best stuff in the game is in calls you don't have to make. On my third time through I called everybody everywhere, and it was like playing a different game.


 CALL  WHO'S ON THE LINE
140.85
COLONEL CAMPBELL, Snake's old commander, running the mission. Call him when you don't know where to go next. Dr. Naomi Hunter, the medical officer, is in the same room on the same frequency, and she'll talk about your health, the cold, and what's going on inside Snake. She also has opinions about his smoking.

140.96
MEI LING. She saves your game. You'll be calling her a lot. Every time you save she tells you an old saying or a proverb, and Snake usually has something to say back. Save often, especially before bosses, and especially on Hard and Extreme.

???.??
MERYL. The rookie soldier on the base. Early on, after the Ocelot fight, you're supposed to contact her, and you have to find her frequency yourself. This is the question I've gotten more e-mail about than anything else on this site. Here's the answer: turn your CD case over and look at the back. It's on there, in one of the screen shots. Really. The game is talking about the actual box in your hands. That's all I'm going to say. Go look.

MEMORY
These people call you first, and after that their numbers are in your memory:

NASTASHA ROMANENKO, the weapons and nuclear expert. Call her every time you pick up something new. She'll tell you about the real gun or the real grenade it's based on, more than you ever wanted to know, and it's great.

MASTER MILLER, Snake's old survival instructor. Practical advice: the cold, the terrain, staying alive.

OTACON. You'll know him when you meet him. Call him about anything technical. Call him about anything at all, really. He's the best character in the game.

DEEPTHROAT. Somebody keeps calling you with warnings and won't say who. You can't call back. That's the point.

 SEND  CODEC TRICKS

1. Stuck on a boss? Call. Somebody on the codec has a hint for every single boss. For Psycho Mantis, keep calling the colonel. He'll get you to the controller trick.

2. Call more than once. A lot of people have a second or third thing to say if you call them again about the same situation. Some of the funniest lines in the game only come up on the second call.

3. Call right after a big story moment. Everybody has a reaction, and some of them tell you things nobody says out loud anywhere else.

4. Call with something weird equipped. I'm not going to list them all. Try the cardboard box. Try the cigarettes. Try calling the women on the team at moments when Snake probably shouldn't.

5. Save with Mei Ling before every boss. On Extreme this isn't a tip, it's survival.

6. Listen. Every call has the faces on each side of the screen, and the faces move when people talk. There's more voice acting in this game than in any game I've ever played. Turn up the TV.


Found a codec call I missed? [email protected]
LAST UPDATED 09.12.99

[ BASICS & BOSSES ]   [ SPOILERS ]