METAL GEAR SOLID 3 (Master Version): A Perfect NG+ Save File Checklist

This guide is intended to point out how you can acquire everything that can be carried into new game plus in a single playthrough. It assumes that you already have an idea of how to play and where to go and won’t be providing any advice on how to deal with enemies, areas or bosses unless there is some condition to them, such as beating a boss by fully draining their stamina which is usually necessary to obtain their camouflage uniform in which case I will mention it and leave how to do so up to you.

The full list of items as well as how we’ll be obtaining them is as follows:

• EZ Gun
  Requirement: Obtain all 48 plants and animals. You do not need to eat, use or dispose of them; they will count as long as they are picked up at least once.
  – On Very Easy difficulty, it is already available and does not need to be unlocked.
• Infinity face paint
  Requirement: Capture a live Tsuchinoko and keep it until the end of the game
  – You can also obtain this item by getting the FOXHOUND ranking at the end of the game, but if you’re skilled enough at the game to pull it off this way then you definitely don’t need this guide.
• Stealth camouflage
  Requirement: Complete the game without entering the Alert phase
  – While it is possible to obtain stealth camouflage by shooting all 64 Kerotan frogs scattered throughout the game, in my experience it is much less tedious to reload a save file after seeing the Alert box than when trying to shoot some of the more tricky frogs that can be easily missed, such as a few of the last ones during the bike chase. As a result, this guide will not be covering the Kerotan frogs at all.
• Single Action Army
  Requirement: Choose the gun on the right at the duel at the end of the game
• Camera
  Obtained in the Groznyj Grad Torture Room. Only available on Normal difficulty or higher.
• All 6 face paints
• All 16 camouflage uniforms

– When asked if you’re playing the series for the first time or like MGS1, 2, or 3, picking “I like MGS3!” will give you a boatload of equipment right off the bat, most of which are purely cosmetic, some of which provide beneficial effects and all of which are otherwise unlocked by simply completing the game. You can pick any option you want if you don’t wish to use the beneficial effects of the items that picking “I like MGS3!” gives you but they can come in handy in a pinch. They don’t even count as special items and are fair game to obtain the FOXHOUND rank as far as the game is concerned.

– If an animal is killed, the name of it that displays will have “R.” added as a prefix to mean “raw”. All plants and fruits will have this prefix but an animal may display “R. SNAKE A” if killed or “SNAKE A” if captured alive and it counts towards the EZ Gun either way. The exceptions are the Indian Gavial and Markhor which are too large to be captured alive and the Tsuchinoko which must be caught with a mousetrap first, then recaptured alive a second time later in the game to count for the Infinity face paint.

– If you are playing on European Extreme difficulty and intend to complete the game without getting an alert to unlock stealth camo, always choose to Exit the game and reload your save file if you do get a game over by an alert. The reason behind this is because if you choose Continue in this instance, it will count as both a continue and an alert in the game’s final stat tally. Exiting and reloading your save file circumvents this, so saving often is a good idea.

– If a guard sees you and you knock him out at the same moment, this can result in an alert that blazes through the normal 99.99 timer for all three phases (Alert, Evasion and Caution) in about one second. It’s unlikely to happen, but if it does then it still counts as an alert because you were still in the alert phase, even if it can be hard to see the word “ALERT” in the brief second the box shows up for.

– A dog can trigger an alert, but they do so a bit differently than guards. If a dog detects you, it will immediately cue the iconic sound effect synonymous with an alert, but one will not actually begin until a few more seconds later. This pause is usually just enough time for you to deal with the dog any way you see fit, most commonly with a shot from the Mk. 22.

– You will automatically obtain the Scientist and Officer uniforms as the game progresses, with the third Maintenance uniform being completely optional. None of these three uniforms carry over between cycles so I’m not counting them.

– The Ration, Calorie Mate and Instant Noodles do not count towards the EZ Gun, but the three snakes that can only be found during the final boss fight do.

If you prefer, you can skip obtaining any of the twelve possible foods during the Virtuous Mission completely and instead begin during Operation Snake Eater. Since they can all be found so early in the Virtuous Mission and without the brief period of time where you lose the Mk. 22 in Operation Snake Eater, I’m tallying them up here but you can go back with Thermal Goggles and M1911A1 to pick up anything that wasn’t picked up during the Virtuous Mission.

Dremuchij South
– MUSHROOM C (Siberian Ink Cap)
– SNAKE G (Giant Anaconda)
– MUSHROOM A (Russian Oyster Mushroom)
– FRUIT B (Russian False Mango)
– SNAKE H (Reticulated Python)
– FROG B (Tree Frog)
– BIRD D (Magpie)

Dremuchjij Swampland
– GAVIAL (Indian Gavial)
– NEST (Hornet’s Nest)

Dremuchij North
– FRUIT C (Golova)
– FRUIT A (Yabloko Moloko)
– BIRD E (Sunda Whistling Thrush)

Rassvet

After the cutscene with Ocelot, make sure you pick up his body and drop it again to shake a mousetrap out of him, then equip it and place it anywhere before you leave the area. There are a very limited amount of mousetraps available in the game, this is the only way to retain this mousetrap for use in Operation Snake Eater and having as many as possible will make catching the Tsuchinoko easier.

That’s all for the Virtuous Mission. If you have caught all twelve of the above items, you’re on track.

Dremuchjij East
– STYPTIC
– DISINFECT
– SQUIRREL (Flying Squirrel)

Dremuchij North
– FROG A (Otton Frog)
– SNAKE F (Green Tree Python)
– BIRD E (Sunda Whistling Thrush)

Dolinovodno
– UNIFORM/RAINDROP
At the far end of the bridge, drop down off the left side and press the Action button to catch the branch as you fall to it, then again to climb up onto it and into the little nook to find this uniform.

Rassvet

When you enter this area, you will hear a jingle from your mousetrap catching something. Make sure to crawl over it to pick it up again as you will likely only have three when you need them later. The animal caught by it is likely to be a Sunda Whistling Thrush.

While not strictly necessary, the Thermal Goggles will make spotting animals through grass and enemies through trees far easier and they will be incredibly useful for catching the Tsuchinoko, even moreso should you not have the Sonar from playing on Hard and above. They are inside the locker in the south-west corner of the room that Sokolov was being held in.

– FACE/ZOMBIE
Around the right side of the area behind the warehouse that Sokolov was held in, you can find this tucked in the corner.

Chyornyj Prud
– SNAKE D (Coral Snake)
– SNAKE E (Milk Snake)
– FROG C (Poison Dart Frog)
– UNIFORM/GA-KO
In the shallow water on the northeastern part of the area.
– FISH C (Arowana)

Bolshaya Past South
– UNIFORM/SPLITTER
Stick to the right side of the area, climb up two small ledges and shimmy across on the eastern part of the map after passing two electric fences to the small platform.
– UNIFORM/CHOCO CHIP
Inside a hollow tree trunk just before the western exit of this area.

Bolshaya Past Base
– FACE/SNOW
Under a small wooden bridge inside the knee-high trench on the western side of the area.
– RAT (Rat)
– UNIFORM/WATER
On the roof of the central building.

Bolshaya Past Crevice
– SNAKE A (King Cobra)

Make sure that you pick up at least one Hornet’s Nest before the Ocelot fight ends. You will need at least one so you can get a Hive of Pain Hornets in a moment and the Ocelot fight is the point of no return.

Chyornaya Peschera Cave Branch
– UNIFORM/ANIMALS
On the small rock next to you after defeating Ocelot by fully depleting his stamina.
– MUSHROOM E (Russian Glowcap)
– CRAB (Kenyan Mangrove Crab)
– BAT (Vampire Bat)

Chyornaya Peschera Cave
– UNIFORM/SNOW

During the fight against The Pain, make sure that you go into your Backpack to equip and throw a Hornet’s Nest at the ground somewhere near yourself at some point. This will cause some of the hornets that attack you when he throws the yellow pheromone vials to fly towards the thrown nest instead of you, turning it into a Hive of Pain Hornets which is necessary to pick up for the EZ Gun. If it falls into the water, you’ll have to pick it up, re-equip it and try again.

– R. P. H. NEST (Hive of Pain Hornets)
– UNIFORM/HORNET STRIPE
On the central rock platform The Pain was fighting you from after defeating him by fully depleting his stamina. To get it, you will have to go towards the north exit and take the narrow ramp upwards to the right, then roll from a protruding ledge onto the platform.
– FISH B (Maroon Shark)

Chyornaya Peschera Entrance
– SNAKE C (Thai Cobra)

Ponizovje River
– FISH A (Bigeye Trevally)

If you would like to go to Ponizovje West to pick up the SVD and a Mk. 22 Suppressor, you can also find a Cobalt Blue Tarantula. Ponizovje West contains nothing essential and the spider can be found in Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior.

Ponizovje Warehouse: Exterior
– SPIDER (Cobalt Blue Tarantula)

Ponizovje Warehouse
– FACE/DESERT
It will be hiding behind a crate in front of the large double doors on the ground floor.

Don’t miss the mousetrap in the food storage room partway up the stairs.

Graniny Gorki South
– MUSHROOM D (Fly Agaric)

This is your first chance to capture the Tsuchinoko. To do so, you need to kill or capture every other animal in the current area and then place mousetraps down until they go off with that familiar chime that indicates a food pickup until one of them is the Tsuchinoko. However, there are a lot of animals in this area and to catch the Tsuchinoko specifically, all of them will need to be taken out otherwise you’re more likely to just catch duplicates of whichever animals that are still roaming in the area. The next area this can be done in is Svyatogornyj South and is generally considered better due to the much lower animal density making it easier, which is why I’m adding it to the total there rather than here.

Graniny Gorki Lab 1F
– UNIFORM/FLY
Inside the farthest stall in the left bathroom, behind a locked door. You’ll have to break the door down which is best done by punching it.
– MUSHROOM F (Spatsa)
– MUSHROOM G (Baikal Scaly Tooth)
– FACE/OYAMA

Graniny Gorki South
– UNIFORM/SPIDER
In the middle of the area after defeating The Fear by fully depleting his stamina.

After fighting The Fear, do not take the route through the newly unlocked door in the warehouse just yet. Instead, go past it and backtrack to the beginning of Ponizovje South. There’s a new goodie there waiting for you.

Ponizovje South
– FACE/WATER
Backtrack past the two guards on their hover platforms and it will be under the water in the middle of the part where the river widens.

Svyatogornyj South

This is the best area to get the Tsuchinoko from. Wipe out all of the animals in the area, place down all of the mousetraps you have, then leave the area and come back and at least one of them should have gone off. If you catch something other than the Tsuchinoko, it’s because there’s at least one of that same animal still in the area so break out the Thermal Goggles or Sonar to find it.

– TCHNKO (Tsuchinoko)
– VEGETABLE (Vine Melon)
– SPLINT
– BIRD C (Red Avadavat)
– C MED

Svyatogornyj West
– MUSHROOM B (Ural Luminescent)

Sokrovenno South
– BIRD A (Parrot)

The parrot will be at a specific location that is wholly dependant on your chosen difficulty setting. Refer to the Visual Markhor Guide[web.archive.org] to find its exact location as it has a different set of spawn locations based on your chosen difficulty.

– UNIFORM/MOSS
The End will drop this uniform for you if you manage to sneak up behind him and hold him up, then point your weapon at his head three times. He will shake his head and say “I don’t think so!” the first two times, but on the third he will reluctantly give up the camo then attempt to make an escape a few seconds after that if he is left alone.

Sokrovenno North
– R. MARKHOR

Krasnogorje Mountain Base
– SCORPION (Emperor Scorpion)
– BIRD B (White Rumped Vulture)

Groznyj Grad Underground Tunnel
– UNIFORM/FIRE
Right behind you after defeating The Fury by fully depleting his stamina.

Groznyj Grad Torture Room

On Normal difficulty or higher, you can get the Camera from the northern room after escaping your cell but you have to be fast. Johnny (the guard) will wake up very quickly after escaping the cell so if you want to shake him down for the noodles and smoke grenades he drops to make your escape easier, that will take a bit of time and taking the detour to grab the camera will take up even more. If you pick up all three of these items without Johnny triggering the automatic Alert that he does when he wakes up, you will likely only have a few seconds to spare upon leaving the area.

? (Yes, that’s the area name for The Sorrow’s river in the load/save menu.)
– UNIFORM/SPIRIT
Automatically added to your inventory if you complete The Sorrow’s river walk by making it to his corpse and using the revival pill after you are seemingly killed by touching it.

Tikhogornyj

When nearing the waterfall, you may spot a snake shaped like a beer bottle wiggling around near the part where the lake meets the river. This is the Tsuchinoko and you want to make absolutely sure you recapture it alive. The Cig Gas Spray will work if you have it, or you can return after getting your equipment back from EVA which we have to do for the last face paint anyway.

– FACE/KABUKI
After Snake gets his gear back, backtrack to this area and dive into water to find this face paint near the bottom.

Groznyj Grad Weapons Lab: East Wing
– UNIFORM/SNEAKING
Inside the locker Snake stashed Raikov in. It’s the one in the southeast corner with the red stripe across it.

Groznyj Grad Weapons Lab: East Wing
– UNIFORM/COLD WAR
Dropped by Volgin after defeating him by fully depleting his stamina.

Rokovoj Bereg
– SNAKE I (Snake Liquid)
– SNAKE J (Snake Solid)
– SNAKE K (Snake Solidus)
These three snakes can be found near each of the three fallen logs in the area.
– UNIFORM/SNAKE
Dropped by The Boss after defeating her by fully depleting her stamina.

WIG: Interior
Choose the Single Action Army on the right.

If you’ve done everything right and reached the end of the game, you should unlock a boatload of items. Not counting what’s unlocked by simply clearing the game or what you would start with by choosing “I like MGS3!” at the beginning, there are:

Single Action Army
Chose the gun on the right during the final duel.

EZ Gun
Obtained all 48 plants and animals.
On Very Easy difficulty, this is available by default and does not need to be unlocked.

Camera
Picked up in Groznyj Grad Torture Room in the northern room.
Only available on Normal difficulty and above.

Stealth
Completed the game without getting an alert.
You can also get this by shooting all 64 Kerotan frogs throughout the game.

Infinity face paint
Completed the game with a live Tsuchinoko.
You can also get this by clearing the game with a FOXHOUND rank.

Several internet guides, including Lionhart627’s GameFAQs guide[gamefaqs.gamespot.com], the Visual Markhor Guide[web.archive.org] and other fine folks across multiple sites who many years ago, clarified several details for this that I was unsure about such as rations, noodles and Calorie Mate not counting for the EZ Gun.