Metal Gear Online is finally available on consoles, just over a month after Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain proved why Kojima Productions was one of the most-respected studios on the planet, and we've already spent more time than we'd care to admit hunting our fellow Metal Gear Online players.
Naturally, we thought we'd justify some of that game time with a rundown of the tips and tricks that have been helping us in Metal Gear Online so far. Obviously, some of these things could change over time, as Konami responds to feedback from the MGO community. It's also important to remember these tips come from our experiences during launch day. So don't go expecting any breakdowns of how to use the game's most-expensive weapon unlocks. But here are some of the strategies that have/haven't worked for us during our first few hours with Metal Gear Online.
Dive Up Staircases
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Rather than running up staircases, dive at the base of them and let a hilarious physics bug shred the normal travel time. This is the perfect example of a "feature" that might disappear in an upcoming patch. But it's good for some laughs, and quick getaways, in the interim.
Stealth Camo Isn't Exclusive To Attackers
Metal Gear Online launched with three unique game modes, one of which (Cloak and Dagger) has teams of six facing off against one another in asymmetrical warfare. The "attacking" team is only given access to Big Boss' Stealth Camo, which renders the user invisible, a handful of non-lethal weapons and the Fulton system. Their job is to locate and retrieve two data discs from the current map. The defending forces, as you might suspect, are tasked with stopping them. As for loadouts, Defenders have access to live ammunition....and the option to use Stealth Camo, too.
Stealth Camo won't last as long for defenders, since it only drops from the attackers if/when one takes damage, but it still seems to be an effective strategy. At least in the games we've been dropped into. Just stealth up, follow one or two of your teammates, and pounce on the first attacker who breaks stealth to takedown your allies.
Stealth Camo Is Pretty OP
For whatever reason, the folks at Konami decided it wouldn't be a gigantic mistake to let players fire weapons and use CQC while Stealth Camo is active. Meaning Metal Gear Online players can kill (or be killed) without ever having to disable their Predator-like invisibility. It's a terrible idea, one that makes MGO incredibly frustrating to play at times and I'm hoping a change to this dynamic will be one of the first big tweaks in an upcoming Metal Gear Online patch. In the interim, you might as well abuse the shit out of your ability to fire shotguns at point-blank range. Because the rest of the community sure is. And if you're stuck trying to hunt down a bunch of stealthed opponents, try to draw them into a well-lit area and then look for their shadow.
Use Your Grenades
For whatever reason, few people seem to be using the grenades they carry onto the battlefield. I’m not sure if Metal Gear Online players are forgetting they can switch weapons, in the heat of battle, or if the MGO community just isn’t comfortable with the thrown explosives. Either way, incorporating grenades into your attack/defense strategy will undoubtedly yield positive results.
When used properly, the explosives practically guarantee an enemy kill, even if that opponent isn't caught in the blast. Just mark the target, and notify your team of the spotted enemy, then toss a grenade into whatever corner they ducked into. Typically, players will either fall to the blast or get cut down by gunfire after abandoning their hiding spot. Occasionally, they'll find a way to escape. But I've earned a surprising number of kills with the game's least-accurate weapons.
It Takes Two...Headshots, That Is
So here's a weird one. For some reason, Konami decided everyone's noggins should be a tad bit more bullet-spongey than we're used to. Unlike most shooters, which acknowledge the lethality of firearms by making headshots a one-hit kill, Metal Gear Online asks players to dump at least two hot rocks into the skulls of their enemies. It's a strange adjustment, considering you only seem to need four or five shots to the body to kill an opposing soldier, but one that you'll want to get used to pretty quickly.
Don't Run Unless Absolutely Necessary
Are you currently being hit by gunfire from one or more enemies? Find yourself in the sights of a sniper or an enemy walker? Is there an active sandstorm to hide your movements from the opposing squad?
If your answer to all of these questions is "No", then there's no reason why you should be sprinting in Metal Gear Online. Running doesn't just create a fair amount of sound, which practically guarantees you'll show up on an enemy's radar. They also make it significantly easier to tell a camouflaged fighter apart from his/her surroundings. So keep your pace slow and steady unless absolutely necessary.
Spawn Camping Is For Winners/Losers
Spawn camping is a major problem in Metal Gear Online. To their credit, Konami integrated a spawn system that gives the player some control over where they hit the battlefield. You can pop back in at captured objectives, on teammates or at your team's headquarters. But all of these become fairly predictable once a match gets going. Particularly the objective/HQ spawns, given that they don't move much (if at all). As a result, a fair amount of the action in Metal Gear Online seems to be players racking up kills at the expense of those who've just spawned. Admittedly, that's a pretty lame strategy. But acknowledging that fact doesn't make it any less effective.
Sure, it's easy to say "people just shouldn't spawn camp" and hope for the best. But does anyone actually think that would be an effective strategy? Of course not. Until Konami comes up with a better respawn system, if winning is even remotely important to you, you're probably going to have to engage in some level of spawn camping. Even if it makes you feel gross and dirty.
Passwords Replace Custom Rooms
Many fans are disappointed by the fact Metal Gear Online won't let you create/join private lobbies. It's a feature that's proven incredibly useful to the community in the past, when players want to organize their own tournaments and/or other events. But the feature hasn't been completely removed in MGO. Rather than have players create their own lobbies, which might be a chore to track down, Konami has introduced a Password system similar to what we saw in Bloodborne earlier this year.
Players interested in playing Metal Gear Online together will need to choose "Select Match", instead of "Automatch", and scroll down to the Password filter. Enter a word/phrase that everyone in you group knows and voila! From what we've seen so far, using the Password feature seems to be the only way to trigger 16-person matches. We could be wrong about that. But seven or eight hours of matchmaking on launch day never yielded a server with more than 12 players connected.
Kills Can Be Stolen
If I've learned anything from my time with Dota 2, Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends, you're not really playing a competitive multiplayer game until some 12-year-old is screaming at you for "kill-stealing." I'm not sure when/why the gaming community decided personal stats were more important than team performance, nor am I particularly shocked by its occurrence, but you'll be happy to know that kill-stealing is alive and well in Metal Gear Online.
Obviously, it's important to remember that kill-stealing will occasionally have a negative impact on your team. In addition to potentially sowing resentment among allies, killing a high bounty player, before one of your teammates can Fulton him/her, could ultimately cost your team a round of Bounty Hunter. So, by all means, troll your team. But make sure you don't lose sight of the greater goal.
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Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes.com and follow Scott on Twitter for more Metal Gear Online coverage throughout the rest of 2015 and for however long Konami continues to support Metal Gear Online in the months ahead.
