Items
Espionage and survival equipment: thermal goggles, field rations, cardboard boxes, security keycards (LV 1-7), PAL key, body armor, and special clear rewards.
Consumables
Ration
Balanced military combat ration. Maximum carry capacity increases as you defeat FOXHOUND commanders. Keeping a ration equipped acts as automatic life insurance against sudden death.
- Restores Snake’s vitality health meter when consumed
- Auto-Revive: automatically activates upon taking lethal damage if kept equipped in the item slot
- Freezes in sub-zero sectors; requires equipping to thaw out
Diazepam
Sedative that calms Snake's nervous system and steadies his pulse. Indispensable for landing precision headshots during sniper duels against Sniper Wolf.
- Completely eliminates heartbeat tremor and sight sway on the PSG-1 sniper rifle
- Temporary calming effect lasting for a limited duration
Cold Medicine
Decongestant medication. If Snake catches a cold while detained without his sneaking suit top, he will periodically sneeze and compromise his stealth until taking this remedy.
- Instantly cures Snake’s respiratory cold
- Stops involuntary sneezing fits that alert patrolling Genome Soldiers
Equipment
Body Armour
Heavy tactical ballistic vest reinforced with kevlar plates. When kept equipped in your active item slot, it cuts all enemy damage in half.
- Reduces all incoming bullet, explosive, and physical damage by 50%
- Crucial defense for final boss fights against Vulcan Raven, REX, and Liquid
Cardboard Boxes (A, B, C)
Solid Snake's quintessential stealth disguise. Fools patrolling sentries and acts as an instantaneous cargo transport shortcut. Punching Meryl at the cave's exit and immediately equipping a box prompts a wolf pup to mark it, granting permanent immunity to wolf attacks.
- Conceals Snake in plain sight when remaining perfectly stationary
- Fast-travel: teleports Snake when climbing into the back of parked cargo trucks
- Box A: To Heliport | Box B: To Nuclear Warhead Storage | Box C: To Snowfield
- If a wolf puppy urinates on the box, all wolf-dogs become permanently peaceful
Thermal Goggles
Essential infrared optical visor. Highlights living thermal signatures and electronic tripwires, serving as the ultimate counter against cloaked adversaries.
- Reveals heat signatures of enemies using active stealth camouflage
- Exposes buried Claymore mines, pitfall traps, and infrared laser tripwires
- Enables spotting the dropped PAL key in drainage pools
Night-Vision Goggles (NVG)
Optoelectronic night-vision headset. Provides high-clarity green-phosphor imaging inside dark caverns and unlit ventilation corridors.
- Amplifies ambient light to illuminate pitch-black environments
- Mandatory for traversing the underground Wolf Cave without disorientation
Gas Mask
Respirator mask equipped with an activated charcoal filter. Dramatically mitigates asphyxiation damage inside contaminated corridors.
- Reduces oxygen depletion speed by 50% in rooms filled with toxic gas
- Essential for surviving the gas lockout in the Metal Gear REX control room
Mine Detector
Electromagnetic sensor that marks buried landmines with yellow proximity blips on the Soliton Radar. Also useful for tracking rats in the drainage sump.
- Displays the position and blast arcs of Claymore mines on the Soliton Radar
- Helps track the movements of the rat that swallows the dropped PAL key
- Ineffective in radar-jammed sectors
Magnifying Scope
Field binoculars with variable magnification. Allows Snake to observe sentry rotations and camera sweeps from safe distances before moving in.
- Enables first-person adjustable zoom for long-range reconnaissance
- Assists in planning infiltration routes and scouting guard patrols
Cigarettes
Snake's personal pack of smokes. Lighting up produces thick smoke clouds that reveal infrared alarm beams when Thermal Goggles are unavailable.
- Exhaled tobacco smoke exposes invisible infrared laser tripwires
- Gradually drains Snake’s health pool while lit
Camera
CollectibleHigh-precision SLR camera. Allows taking in-game photos of Shadow Moses architecture and capturing spectral apparitions of the development crew hidden in secret locations.
- Enables first-person photography saved directly to the Memory Card
- Exposes hidden ghost portraits of Hideo Kojima and the Konami development staff
- Permanently transfers to all future playthroughs on the same save file
SOCOM Suppressor
Weapon AttachmentThreaded tactical sound suppressor. Eliminates muzzle blast noise on the SOCOM pistol for silent takedowns.
- Attaches to the SOCOM (.45 ACP) pistol
- Eliminates gunfire audio, preventing acoustic alerts when taking down sentries
Key Items
ID Cards (Levels 1 to 7)
RFID-encoded electronic keycards. Higher-level cards automatically grant clearance to all lower security doors without needing to swap cards.
- Level 1: Donald Anderson (Holding Cells B1)
- Level 2: Kenneth Baker (after defeating Revolver Ocelot)
- Level 3: M1 Abrams Tank crew (after defeating Vulcan Raven)
- Level 4: Dr. Hal Emmerich / Otacon (Computer Lab B2)
- Level 5: Meryl Silverburgh (Restroom B1)
- Level 6: Otacon (in the holding cell after torture)
- Level 7: Vulcan Raven (after defeating him in the frozen warehouse)
PAL Card Key
Shape-MemoryThe launch code override card for Metal Gear REX. Engineered from a temperature-sensitive alloy, its circuitry physically reconfigures under extreme heat or freezing cold.
- Crafted from smart shape-memory alloy that alters form based on temperature
- Room Temperature (Yellow): Input into Center Terminal 1 in the Control Room
- Sub-Zero Cold (Blue): Frozen in Raven’s warehouse to input into Left Terminal 2
- Extreme Heat (Red): Heated in the Blast Furnace to input into Right Terminal 3
Optical Disc
Military-grade optical disc storing the railgun ballistics and launch specifications for Metal Gear REX.
- Contains classified telemetry data from Metal Gear REX’s test firing
- Advances the storyline narrative
Rope
High-tensile climbing rope. Must be picked up on the 9th-floor stairwell of Tower A to rappel down the building exterior and dodge Liquid's Hind-D gunship.
- Mandatory item required for the exterior wall rappel sequence on Tower A
- Automatically consumed upon landing at the base of Tower B
Timer Bomb
HazardA deadly booby trap slipped into your gear by Revolver Ocelot. You must open your inventory immediately upon retrieving your belongings and discard the bomb before it blows.
- Detonates when the timer reaches zero, causing an instant Game Over
- Must be discarded by highlighting it in the items menu and pressing the action button
Boosters
Infinite-Ammo Bandana
Clear RewardMeryl Silverburgh's iconic hair bandana. When equipped in New Game+, ammo counts never deplete for any firearm, rocket launcher, grenade, or C-4 charge.
- Grants infinite ammunition for every weapon and explosive in the game
- Completely eliminates weapon reload times
- Enables continuous tracer-fire bursts with the FA-MAS rifle
Stealth Camouflage
Clear RewardWearable active optical camouflage unit engineered by Dr. Hal Emmerich. Equipping it in New Game+ makes Snake totally invisible to standard facility defenses.
- Grants complete optical invisibility against Genome Soldiers and security cameras
- Cameras and turrets ignore Snake while active
- Ineffective against storyline bosses and wild wolf-dogs