Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater/Bosses

The following is a list of helpful strategies to defeat the bosses in Metal Gear Solid 3. It is by no means complete, and some of the tactics shown may not work in some skill levels.

Ocelot - The Canyon Here is the first time you actually get to face off against Ocelot. He's packing a pair of Colt revolvers and he's got the skills to use them.


 * Recommended equipment: Mk.22, M1911A1, AK-47.
 * Try shooting down the hornet's nests on Ocelot's side of the ravine. He'll have to stop to swat the hornets down, which gets you a free shot - but don't use it unless you're near the end of the battle, because Ocelot will do the same to you (and unlike him, you have no way of defending yourself against the hornets).
 * Pull out a pistol (either one works) and wait for a while without shooting. Ocelot will challenge you to a quick-draw duel, but you don't need to actually participate - you can seize the moment to grab a free shot.
 * There are a couple snakes crawling around on your side of the ravine. Tranqulize them and throw them at Ocelot to distract him.

The Pain The first Cobra member you get to fight. Hope you brought the insect repellent.


 * Recommended equipment: M37, AK-47, M1911A1, Grenades, WP Grenades.
 * When The Pain dons his bee armor, there are two different ways of breaking it off of him. First is to throw grenades at him, but this is quite difficult to do.
 * The other method is simply firing two or three M37 rounds at him. Don't waste your shotgun ammo shooting him afterwards though, if you want to make things easier on yourself - once you shatter the bee armor, switch to your AK-47 or M1911A1 and peg him in the head a few times.
 * When he sends bees to harass you, dive into the water (walk off the edge of your platform while pressing X) and go deep down. Bees can't swim.
 * When The Pain calls for a grenade, you can shoot it down before it arrives at your platform. If you're fast enough, you can shoot it down while it's on his platform and blow him up.

The Fear The second Cobra. He's got a crossbow, stealth camouflage (hey, I thought that wasn't supposed to be invented yet), and quite the snarky attitude.


 * Recommended equipment: M37, AK-47.
 * Don't waste your time in first-person view looking for him. Keep moving unless you want to get pegged by his crossbow.
 * If you don't have it, you might consider getting a Dolby Pro Logic home theater system - it helps give you an edge being able to hear where he's going.
 * The M37 shotgun is the only weapon you will need for this fight. Unless you're playing the game in "I Like MGS1!" mode, remove everything else from your backpack to conserve stamina.
 * Run around the forest, watching out for the tripwires and pitfalls, and when The Fear lands on a nearby tree branch, face in his direction, aim, and fire your shotgun right at him. This does far more damage than sustained AK-47 or XM16E1 fire (though those two are good for hitting him over a long distance - forget about using the SVD, the aiming sensitivity is too slow).
 * Note: Camouflage does not work against The Fear. Even if your camo index is at 90%, he will still be able to pick you out clear as daylight and get a shot in at your back.
 * Listen to what he's saying to get a clue of what his next attack is.
 * When The Fear's stamina goes down to 2 bars, he'll start looking for food. Keep some dead food on hand for a while and let it rot for just this purpose. When The Fear says he's hungry, throw the rotten food to him, and he'll head straight for it, eat it, and promptly puke his guts out. This gets you a (relatively) free shot at him with the shotgun.
 * You can trigger the rope traps remotely by shooting them - any projectile weapon will do. Even the Mk.22 works.

The End A hundred-year-old sniper that would very much like to kill you. Big surprise.


 * Recommended equipment: Scope, SVD rifle, Mk.22, M1911A1.
 * This is the only boss that camouflage works against. Woodland camo and facepaint typically works best, but some situations may require treebark instead. Keep your camo index above 80% and The End will not see you.
 * If The End manages to spot you and fire off a shot, his position will be indicated on the map until he either exits the area or drops a flash bomb.
 * It is possible to sneak up behind him. In fact, it's necessary to do this if you want to get his Moss camo.
 * His bullets do not hurt you (much), but for every tranq dart stuck in your body, your stamina will go down twice as fast. Pull out the darts as soon as possible or else you'll end up wasting a lot of food.
 * Like The Fear, The End will occasionally have need of food - but this is not for a long while. I have not been able to confirm if rotten food works on him or not.
 * If you want to get The End's Mosin-Nagant tranq rifle, you have to knock him out. Sneak up on him and jab a couple of Mk.22 rounds into his skull. He might start running and drop a flash bomb, but turn away from the blast and you won't be blinded. Turn back around and you can get a few more shots while he's running away (if you're good enough).

The Fury Avoiding the obvious Apollo 13 jokes, this guy is an ex-astronaut with a flamethrower.


 * Recommended equipment: XM16E1, AK-47, M63, M37.
 * There's a lot of pillars to hide behind. When The Fury is about to flame you, move sideways. His flamethrower reaches a lot farther than should be physically possible.
 * Keep a good distance away from him and pump some M63 rounds at him - but make sure to crouch. Don't go prone - that'll make it harder to escape his flamethrower.
 * If you're behind him, walk closer to him and unload your shotgun into his head. Unequip the shotgun before you start to reload it and RUN.