Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, known as Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions in the PAL region, is an expansion to Metal Gear Solid, released for the PlayStation in 1999.
The VR Missions were released in Japan as the third disc of Metal Gear Solid: Integral, an expanded version of the original game that includes most of the changes and additions made for the original Western release.
Regional differences[]
Because most of the changes made to the main game in Integral were either minimal or features that were already integrated in the NTSC-U/C and PAL versions of the original Metal Gear Solid (particularly the use of English voice acting instead of the Japanese original and the addition of adjustable difficulty settings), Konami chose not to release the entire Integral set outside Japan, but rather they sold the additional third disc by itself in other regions.
VR Missions, the North American version, was repurposed as a stand-alone game, and as a result the unlocking requirements for the photoshoot mode and the Ninja missions were simplified in that they no longer required save data from the main Metal Gear Solid game, nor the use of a PocketStation (since the peripheral was never released outside Japan). In contrast, Special Missions, the PAL version, was sold as a "data disc" that required players own a copy of the original Metal Gear Solid in order to be played. This was done since the original Metal Gear Solid was released in multiple languages in Europe. Thus, Special Missions extracts the voice data from the original Metal Gear Solid and sets the language accordingly based on the version the player loads. Because of this additional requirement, several bundles were sold in Europe containing the original Metal Gear Solid and the Special Missions expansion. This disc-swapping requirement renders Special Missions incompatible with PlayStation 2 models prior to the SCPH-70000 series, as well as all PlayStation 3 models.
These changes were carried over when Konami re-released all three versions for digital download in their respective regions on the PlayStation Network.
Modes[]
- VR Training
- Extra Mode
- Movies - Contains two trailers from Tokyo Game Show 1998 and an E3 1997 trailer that features scenes from Metal Gear Solid during pre-development.
- Replay Theater (Japanese version only) - Saved replays of missions from either of the first three modes (Sneaking, Weapon, Advanced) can be be viewed here. The manual for the PAL version (Special Missions) mentions the Replay Theatre mode, but it is not present in this version.
- Photoshoot - For five minutes, Snake can take pictures of either Mei Ling or Naomi. Snake's distance from the models is determined by the player's rank in the main game, with the Big Boss rank allowing Snake to move the closest.
List of VR Missions[]
- Sneaking Mode (60)
- No Weapon
- SOCOM
- Weapon Mode (80)
- SOCOM
- C4
- FAMAS
- Grenade
- Claymore
- Nikita
- PSG1
- Stinger
- Advanced (80)
- SOCOM
- C4
- FAMAS
- Grenade
- Claymore
- Nikita
- PSG1
- Stinger
- Special (80)
- 1 Min. Battle - Vs. Enemy
- 1 Min. Battle - Vs. Target
- Vs. 12 Battle
- Mystery
- Puzzle
- Variety
- VR Mission
- NG Selection
- Ninja
Behind the scenes[]
In the same way that the VR Missions in the original Metal Gear Solid featured arranged renditions of music from the original Metal Gear (namely "Operation Intruder N313", "Theme of Tara" and "Just Another Dead Soldier"), the additional missions in Integral feature new arrangements of tunes from Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (such as "Frequency 140.85" and "Lv. 3 Warning").
The VR Missions in this game are referenced in a flashback in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty in which Raiden explains his prior military training to Snake. This is to further the allegory of Raiden representing the player who has played through the original Metal Gear Solid and VR Missions.
The packaging illustration for Metal Gear Solid: Integral was the same one used for the PAL version of the original Metal Gear Solid. It was changed to an image of the Cyborg Ninja for VR Missions and Special Missions.