Top 16 Metal Gear Solid 5 easter eggs

From birthday surprises to Hideo Kojima himself, MSG V is full of great easter eggs to find.
From birthday surprises to Hideo Kojima himself, MSG V is full of great easter eggs to find.

If you’ve been playing previous Metal Gear Solid games you might have noticed some interesting references to them in The Phantom Pain, the latest installment in the acclaimed series from Hideo Kojima. But, we are pretty sure you haven’t spotted all of them. Here’s your chance to see top 10+ Metal Gear Solid 5 easter eggs, but beware of the spoilers. Now, let’s begin!

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Falling boxes

This easter egg can be spotted right in the beginning of the game, as soon as you get access to the Motherbase. There’s an under construction sign warning you of the falling boxes. If you stand for a short time at that sign a giant box falls and hits you. Try grabbing some of the NPCs walking around and pulling them up to the sign, as a result, they’ll be hit by a box, too.


Silent Hills

When you get to the Angola Zair border there is a location you need to scout - Ngumba Industrial Zone. In one of the tents you can obtain precious materials and you will be able to spot an old tape recorder. Turn on the playback and you will hear a news report, the same which could also be heard in the playable teaser for the now cancelled Hideo Kojima’s Silent Hills game.


Six Million Dollar Man

In the '70s there was a TV show titled “The Six Million Dollar Man,” where the main character had a bionic arm, just like Snake. When you try to punch somebody on the run with your hand in the game it makes exactly the same sound used in the TV show. If you want to hear the sound in the actual series, then watch this clip, the sound can be heard at the very end of the video.


Happy Birthday, Snake!

There’s a special, lengthy cutscene if you do the following: after you’ve set your birth date in the beginning of the game, try playing the game on that same date. After heading back to the Motherbase, Snake will be greeted by a bunch of buddies singing a happy birthday song. There’s another short section afterwards, but we won’t spoil it for you now, better see it for yourselves in the next slide.


Quiet birthday present

This second part of the birthday easter egg is possible if you manage to achieve 100% bond rating with Quiet. So, if this is the case, after the birthday greetings Snake will encounter Quiet in another cutscene. This may seem a strange birthday present, but Quiet is a strange character, so no surprises here.

 


Tranquilized Ocelot

Ocelot is your instructor at the Motherbase. Once you begin the CQC training with the tranquilizer you can try shooting Ocelot with it. At first he says it doesn’t work on him, but if you try again he’ll be mumbling something like: “La-li-lu-le-lo.” If you’ve played the previous MGS games you will know that La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo was a secret name for the Patriots, a secret society controlling the USA.


Magic words

During the very first mission in the game you need to save you old friend, Miller. As you get him away from the imprisonment he will ask you to say the magic words, for the sake of old times. At this point you need to either press Y or triangle and Snake will reply: “Kept you waiting, huh?” This is a clear nod to all the fans of the Metal Gear series who usually wait for years before every next installment of the game.


Sniper Wolf

This must be the hardest Metal Gear Solid 5 easter egg to detect, as it requires you to play the game on an extreme difficulty. During an episode titled “Cloaked in Silence” you will have to fight Quiet. After you take her down, the cut scene will follow showing her in a Sniper Wolf costume. For those who don’t know, Sniper Wolf was a part of the FoX unit in the first Metal Gear Solid game.


Hideo Kojima

During a side mission titled “Intel Agent Extraction” you will get the chance to search for and extract an unusual NPC, in this case the creator of Metal Gear Solid games himself – Hideo Kojima. And, here’s a tip for you, if you’ve played MGS: Ground Zeroes, and saved Kojima in that game, then he will be available as a recruit in The Phantom Pain. Here’s the clip from Ground Zeroes.


Bullet magazine

This is a fun little easter egg. When you approach an enemy wearing a helmet, try throwing a bullet magazine at them. If the magazine hits the helmet it will make a “ding” sound and knock out an enemy. But it seems this is not that easy to do, oh well, as they say - practice makes perfect.


Stinky Snake

Try staying away from showering and rainfalls for quite some time. When you return to the Motherbase a cutscene is waiting for you. The flies are flying and buzzing around you indicating that something is wrong and your comrades aren’t that happy to see you either. Looks like it’s time to take that shower.


Snake Eater

At the Motherbase you can use your iDroid to detect the location of Quiet. You will find her chilling out in her cell and then showing you some nice moves. There’s a music playing in the background – a theme song from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, released in 2004 on PlayStation 2.


Sexy Quiet

Here’s another one with Quiet. After you recruit her in your team, you can let her accompany you on your missions. On such occasions when in the helicopter if you stare long enough at her she begins to respond. This is quite a tease and makes you appreciate the ultra settings of your graphics card even more.


Ocelot speaking Japanese

Apparently you can keep stalking and tranquilizing Ocelot just for fun all over the Motherbase. At one such occasion find him at the cells and keep shooting at him. He will repeat the same things he usually does, but after some time he gets really annoyed and switches to Japanese. Unfortunately, no translation has yet been provided as to what he was saying.


Kojima Productions

This one can be found right at the beginning of the game. When you crawl in the hospital hallway and you look at the bulletin board you will see a poster of Kojima Productions that shows Snake in Ground Zeroes with the subtitle: “Join the FoX Team.” This is actually the same poster, which was showcased at the GDC 2013.


Paz is alive!

For this hidden cutscene the Medical Strut section on the Motherbase is required. Head upstairs and look for the door glowing with blue light above it. Enter the door and look for the sign: “Work in Progress.” Now turn to the right and enter the door where you can find Paz Ortega, a character from MGS: Peace Walker.


At this stage Metal Gear series has a huge following and developers want to keep it engaged as much as they can with all sorts of fun things in their games. Fans value this attention and keep spotting more hidden cut scenes and references. How about you? If you’ve found some new easter eggs in The Phantom Pain - be sure to let us know.


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Serhii Patskan
Serhii is the Writer at GameSkinny. He's been writing for GameSkinny since 2015. Before that, he's been writing for various outlets and playing video games, which eventually turned into a passion. The video games that have contributed the most to his enthusiasm for writing about this industry are Magic: The Gathering, Dark Souls, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.