The MGS series is at its best when it forces you to think out of the box, and the prison escape sequence in Snake Eater is one of the best examples of this. In this article, I’ll go over every possible method of escaping the prison cell in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.
All Prison Escape Methods in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
There are a handful of different methods you can use to get out of the prison in Snake Eater. They’re all equally viable, so just pick the one that sounds the most fun to you:
- Use the radio frequency 144.75 to unlock the cell door.
- Have Snake puke so that the guard opens the door to check on him.
- Use the Fake Death and Revival Pills to look dead, and the guard will open the door.
- Befriend the guard to put him to sleep with the dream cigarettes and use the frequency.
Radio Frequency
Before Snake gets tossed into the cell, during the torture scene with Volgin and The Boss, there’s an opportunity to press and hold R1 to spot The Sorrow holding up a sign behind The Boss. The sign will show you the frequency 144.75. When you’re in the jail cell, use the radio to dial that frequency and the door will automatically open.
Do be warned, though, that if the guard is nearby, you’ll be sent into an Alert state immediately so you’ll still need to deal with him. You can wait till the guard walks off before opening the gate.
Get Snake to Puke
Open up the Survival Viewer and choose the Cure option. From here, spin Snake around for about 10 seconds and he’ll start to puke. If you do this while the guard is in your vicinity, he’ll open the door to check on you. From here, you can take him out with the Fork in your cell and make your escape.
Using the Revival Pill
I don’t recommend this method as you’ll probably want to save the Revival Pill for your boss fight against The Sorrow later, but it can still come in handy here. First, pick up the Fork in the cell, then use the Survival Viewer to access the Cure menu and tend to your wounds. You’ll receive the Revival Pill.
In your items, use the Fake Death Pill while the guard is nearby to make Snake look like he’s dead. The guard will come in to investigate and you can use the Revival Pill on the Game Over screen to bring yourself back to life, take care of the guard, and leave.
Befriend the Guard
The guard is, of course, none other than Johnny! He’s appeared in previous Metal Gear games, so it stands to reason that he’d be in this one too. This is my preferred way of escaping the prison in Snake Eater, though it is a bit more time-consuming.
Every so often, Johnny will throw some food into your cell. Pick up the food but don’t eat it, and instead throw it straight back at him through the cell door. Johnny will say “Thanks!” and start eating the food. Do this a few times and eventually you’ll trigger a cutscene where Johnny talks to you about his family and even shows you a photo of them. While he’s showing you the photo, there’s also an opportunity to press R1 to look at it and see the frequency 144.75 in the corner.
After that, Johnny will eventually offer you the cigarettes that he took from your equipment, though he’s clearly unaware that these are dream cigs that put you to sleep. After smoking them, Johnny will fall asleep, allowing you to use the radio frequency to open the door and make your escape cleanly and quietly.
And that’s everything you need to know about escaping the prison in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.
