Metal Gear Survive’s First Few Hours Tests Players’ Endurance

Metal Gear Survive is quite a departure for Metal Gear. This is a series that, Revengeance aside, tends to be known for stealthy gameplay and heavy emphasis on story. Here, it is about staying alive. You explore a world, searching for essential memory boards, Kuban energy, survivors and major fights, while also trying to establish a solid home base. While there are microtransactions in here to do things like speed up food production and this is game that will get better as patches fix things, add new elements and perhaps even rebalance things, it is also one where people can still enjoy as is. Especially once you take your time and find your footing.

The first thing you want to do in Metal Gear Survive, after you have acquired your first Memory Board and have pretty much free range to get additional ones and explore Dite, is find the things that will help you survive. You want to know exactly where your initial sources of food and water are. For example, to the west of your base is a pond with dirty water, a gerbil and usually three sheep. (Animals eventually respawn over time, though you can save, exit and reload to force them to appear again.) These can provide a rather stable, initial food source. Especially if you take care to save any clean water you can find before you can start producing it. A lot of the recipes, which are much better for boosting health and staying alive, will not allow you to use dirty water with them. Early on, it is wise to drink dirty water to keep your thirst up.

You also want to focus on gathering materials. You will have the option to start creating various items for your base, clothing and other items. For the first two hours, you should be focused on gathering items for future building. Explore the area. Find out where your food sources are and stamp them on your map. I would say have six fences ready in your inventory, since I have noticed some of the Metal Gear Survive enemy AI is a bit finicky at the moment and you can rather easily get yourself in a safe space, plop down a fence and poke at whatever Wanderer or creature wants you dead through the fence until it dies. For the first two hours, it is best to only craft the essentials and save up.

Another important factor is repairing and upgrading. As you use your weapons and equipment, they will degrade. They will also become obsolete. I would say after every mission, upon returning to base, it is a good idea to double check your primary weapon and additional supplies. You want to always be ready, in the event the next mission or side-quest ends up being more difficult than you might expect. Plus, it is good form to have a routine in Metal Gear Survive. Immediately getting more food and water in you upon returning, then checking your current equipment at the crafting stations, before striking out again or planning your next move is just smart.

Then, there is the Dust. This is a contaminant that reduces your field of vision, is hazardous to your health and keeps you from knowing exactly where you are. Knowing that you need some sort of max and source of oxygen are rather obvious. But, what isn’t exactly made clear is that the lights you can see in the distance tell you what is in that direction when you would otherwise be lost. If you see a green light, that is some sort of major building. Maybe it is one you need to go to for story purposes. Perhaps it is your base. It could even be a teleporter. White lights are chests that have things you need and should get. As long as you remember white is treasure and you go to green, you should be fine.

Your first hour or two in Metal Gear Survive is about getting settled and finding a rhythm. This initial segment should be dedicated to finding a routine and reliable resources. Once you have a nice pool of materials, enough food and water to go on treks without worrying about hunger plummeting and have practiced against some of the common enemies lurking about, you will be in a great place to start gathering survivors, finding out about the Charon Corp and finding a way home from Dite.

Metal Gear Survive is available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.