General exploring tips | Exploring the game's world MGS V: TPP Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Metal Gear Solid V divides significantly from the previous games of the series since it allows you to explore huge areas without any great limitations. Obviously it results in some pros and cons. You will have a lot of freedom and you will be able to choose the best path towards a target or an evacuation area. From the other hand sometimes you will have to pass a huge distance (even a mile) to just get to an area you want. In this case you may decide either to walk or to use one of the facilitations listed below.
The best way to speed up your game will be riding a D-Horse. This horse may gallop fast and works great in more inaccessible areas such as hills and mountains. If you will see an enemy patrol while riding a horse you may also slant in a saddle to hide yourself behind a horse's torso. A horse will be a little less useful once you will start using a D-Dog as your buddy. If you are on foot you may more often use some vehicles to travel. Jeeps are definitely the best of them since they are much faster than trucks or armored vehicles, however vehicles also have their disadvantages. First of all you may find them mostly in big bases you have to sneak into and they are quite bad once they leave the main roads. However you may hide yourself inside them quite easily and this way avoid being detected by enemy patrols.
You may also use the fast travel option which requires you to personally unlock the fast travel locations however you are going to reach them in later parts of the game. Still you may use the helicopter transportation and land in some areas (especially at the beginning of a mission) as well as set up the evacuation area although if you will set up any of this places nearby enemy bases you may become spotted and in result your enemies may hallow or even try to shoot your helicopter down. The game will always tell you a chance of this to happen when you will try to choose a landing or an evacuation area.
While travelling you shall always keep your distance from villages, posts and other places filled with enemy forces. Often you may ignore this places and find on map some less crowded path. In further part of this chapter you will find some tips about exploring the world.
The world of Metal Gear Solid V is not just a flat area. It has a lot of places on which Big Boss may climb. Climbing will sometimes allow you to avoid walls or to get on a top of a roof. You may also sometimes try to use a long mountain path to avoid an enemy post or to get to a high observatory point. You need to remember about two things. First of all Big Boss may climb only in the specific areas such as ledges or constructions where you will see the climb icon. The second thing is that you may die or be dangerously damaged if you will fall from a high area. Try to avoid walking near the edges and jump on the other ledges only when you will see a proper icon when you are near them.