There is no tutorial or anything and it doesn't explain what to do in certain situations. How am i supposed to get by the guards? it seems impossible to sneak by them because when i sneak into a little corner, they will come check it out even though it isn't even in their path. when i sneak up behind them and beat them up, they just wake up and alert the other guards. what am i supposed to do?
and the guy told me i need to find a gun. there aren't any guns in the crew quarters and they aren't in the lockers. what the hell? if the guns aren't in the obvious places, why doesn't the game give a hint as to where they are?

The Tanker Episode (with Snake) is basically the "tutorial" part of the game. You do all your practising there.

You start the game equipped with a Tranquilizer gun, and that's all you need for this part of the game.
Only shoot guards when they are far away from you and facing the other direction. They can hear your footsteps (which is why they find you when you hide) and they can see you if they are facing you (as indicated by the radar).

Try reading the instruction booklet too. It'll give you tips on how to sneak, shoot, knock out people, etc.

ahh. ok. i just started the other thing with raiden, THAT is what i meant when i wanted a tutorial. the dude gave step by step instructions of how to do stuff at the beginning which was missing from tanker. it was too late though, because by that point i already knew that stuff.

anway, if tanker is the tutorial, does that mean the one with raiden is the real game? what is the tanker-plant thing? is that just a seamless transition from tanker to the raiden level?

I found this to be honest...Substance was my first MGS game...And the instruction manual was as confusing as hell...It took me weeks to figure out to press "O" on the main menu for *bleep*'s sake...It was only when I got I think the official guide to the game that I finally figured things out after quite some months as it had really put me off...I don't know if SOL is more in depth in its descriptions in the manual but Substance was a right pain in the arse to be honest...Once you understand it though,it's one of the best games ever invented...Perhaps if Otacon had been a bit more like Majr Zero in MGS3 too it might have been useful...The repetitions of "Snake,press the Action Button" and "Let's go over the controls for CQC one more time" etc make MGS3 much easier to pick up and play for new players I found...MGS2 you needed some idea of what you were doing before you started...

^ ya, i definitely got the feeling that the game expected you to already have a good grasp of the controls and how to play without actually telling you.
anyway, if the tanker was the tutorial, which is the main game? cuz my screen shows 3 missions. tanker-plant, tanker, and plant

quote DrunkPanda

anyway, if the tanker was the tutorial, which is the main game? cuz my screen shows 3 missions. tanker-plant, tanker, and plant

how come i don't get to play as snake?

ok, i think i'm playing the actual game now (i hope ). and it's really getting awesome now that i am used to it. i like the fact that it's not so hardcore stealth like splinter cell. i think the aps radar is a really good feature for players that are newbs to the stealth genre since you can tell what the enemy's path is going to be without accidentally running into them from behind a corner

grrr. am i the only one who tinks vamp is the gayest boss ever? he's just not fun at all to fight. he's too damn quick for a game where it is REALLY hard to aim your gun. and when you have him almost dead he uses his stupid paralyze tihng which as far as i can tell is based on luck whether you dodge it or not... so angry

quote DrunkPanda

grrr. am i the only one who tinks vamp is the gayest boss ever? he's just not fun at all to fight. he's too damn quick for a game where it is REALLY hard to aim your gun. and when you have him almost dead he uses his stupid paralyze tihng which as far as i can tell is based on luck whether you dodge it or not... so angry