The Metal Gear Solid series has always had some of the weirdest moments in all of gaming, from switching your controller port so a psychic can’t read your moves to pretty much the entire ending of Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots.
Hideo Kojima’s swan song for the series, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, is filled with all the weird and wacky moments fans hold dear to the series, and given the size of the game, players will likely be uncovering them for a long time. Here’s some of the stuff people have already been doing in the first 24 hours of the game’s launch.
1. You can Fulton just about anything
Soldiers, gun emplacements, vehicles and even wildlife can be acquired for the war effort and sent to Mother Base via the Fulton recovery system. Tranquilizing or subduing an enemy lets you slap a Fulton on them, launching them into the stratosphere where they’re recovered and brought back to your base. Some players have already taken to recovering anything and everything they can find, even bears. Who needs soldiers and drones when you can have a couple grizzlies holding down the fort?
2. You can also call for Supply Drops anywhere in the field
Sometimes you need an extra magazine or another rocket to finish the mission. Others might have to make do, but you’re Big Boss, damn it! Call in those supplies wherever you want! Just be careful where they land. Oof. D-horse might need to sit out the season after that one.
3. You can recruit Hideo Kojima to the cause
If you really need an extra hand, who better to ask than the man who designed the game himself? Reddit user “puresolid” posted this picture of a brand new recruit who looked awfully familiar. Those looking to recruit him for their own Mother Base should revisit Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and complete the side mission “Intel Operative Rescue,” and then upload your Ground Zeroes save data into The Phantom Pain.
4. You really can have too many Bosses
Using the fake Big Boss decoy, you can create a number of hilarious situations. Confuse soldiers, make enemies see too many Bosses, or put a fake Boss in a precarious position. Enemy patrol walking by? Put down a decoy and some C4 behind it!
5.You can soundtrack your best moments to Kojima’s mix tape
There’s plenty of amazing moments that happen organically in Metal Gear Solid V, but they’re even better when you have a soundtrack blaring in your ears, synching the craziness to tunes like a-ha’s “Take On Me” or David Bowie’s “The Man Who Sold the World.” “Blinded Me with Science” seems like it will have some fun applications in my playthrough.
6. You can raise an adorable puppy into a well-bred killing machine
D.D., the Diamond Dog of the Diamond Dogs PMC, is the adorable little mascot of Mother Base. While he starts out small, over time he’ll grow into a large dog, trained to maul and incapacitate enemies alongside Big Boss on any and all missions. It’s like a darker-yet-still-adorable version of Nintendogs.
7. You can repeatedly tranq Ocelot for some… interesting results
Early on, Ocelot guides you in training you back into shape after Big Boss’ long coma. Part of that includes learning to use your signature tranquilizer gun, which you can turn on Ocelot to have him say some interesting things, though he insists it doesn’t work on him. La-li-lu-le-lo…
Have you found any weird things to do in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain yet? Got any favorites here? Easter eggs we haven’t found? Let us know in the comments below how you’re enjoying launch week and what unusual experiences you’ve had! Meanwhile, I’m going to set about Fultoning a few more bears into my base. I feel sorry for whoever invades my FOB.
Eric Van Allen is a writer currently residing in Decatur, GA. You can follow him on Twitter @seamoosi.