If it’s a Metal Gear game, you can bet your buttons that Kojima is going to make an appearance! If you played Ground Zeroes, unlocked Kojima, and uploaded your save file to MGSV, you have the chance to unlock Side Ops #112, Intel Agent Extraction. This mission looks very familiar, doesn’t it? Once again, Venom Snake finds himself in the same area of Afghanistan where he recused Miller in the Phantom Limbs mission. In the exact same room, you find someone in the same position as Miller. After removing his blinder and placing his glasses ever so gently on his face, Kojima will look at Snake and boldly ask, “What took you so long?” Cool. Now put him to work on the R&D platform! 

Once again, this Easter egg requires the completion of the “Déjà Vu” extra op in Ground Zeroes. By accomplishing this mission on Normal, you can unlock the “Solid Snake” skin from the first Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation. If you’ve loaded up your Ground Zeroes save file, once your R&D level is 11 or higher, the item requires 110,000 GMP to develop. While equipped, the suit will not only give Snake that old polygon look, but also reduces footstep noise and increases damage resistance. 

This isn’t the only polygonal MGS call-back in MGSV. Once you’ve completed all of the main story missions, this will unlock the “Cyborg Ninja” skin. Switching to this skin will give you a polygonal exoskeletal appearance that closely resembles Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid. Interestingly, the body model is Gray Fox, the head texture is that of Solid Snake. The skin can be developed after completion of Mission 46:, Truth: The Man Who Sold the World. While equipped, the skin will increase sprinting speed and jumping distance by 30%.  

Construction on Mother Base is serious business! During expansion, there are falling object warning signs plastered on scaffolding coverings around the base. If you stand close to a sign for a short period of time, you’ll hear a very comical falling sound followed by a box to the dome. The “boing” sound really puts a bow on the shame of ignoring the warnings. 

Since MGSV is a prequel to its predecessors, there are certain people from the previous games who you must keep alive. The first is Miller. If you take more than 3 in-game days to complete Mission 1: Phantom Limbs, when you finally find Miller he will be unresponsive. This will begin a very sad cutscene before sending you to the Game Over screen. 

Similarly, if you kill Ocelot or Eli, two very important characters in later games, the game will automatically send you to the Game Over screen with the message, “Time Paradox.” So, as much as we want to take Eli out, the game just won’t give us the satisfaction. Dang…

Gather around, children! I have a story to tell… In the 1970s there was an incredibly popular television series called “The Six Million Dollar Man.” The main character, Steve Austin, was a NASA astronaut who is seriously injured in a crash. You may have heard the iconic catch-phrase, “We can rebuild him… we have the technology.” Austin’s damaged limbs were replaced with bionic parts, including his right arm. This glorious sound effect was used during portions of the show when Austin was using his superhuman abilities. Kojima’s team took this sound and gave it to their own bionic man! If Snake is in full sprint and throws a punch, or if the sonar bio-detector is used, the sound is that of the Six Million Dollar Man. 

Mission 12, Hellbound, sends Venom Snake to the Afghanistan Central Base Camp in Northern Kabul to search for Huey Emmerich. Once you enter the facility where he’s located, a cutscene will trigger and you will hear Boss’s voice coming from the AI Pod. After you sling Emmerich over your shoulder, if you walk over to the AI Pod, you can see hanging pictures, one of which, is of Dr. Strangelove and an adorable little boy. This is the cameo appearance of a young Hal “Otacon” Emmerich. 

At the beginning of the game, there will be a prompt to enter your birth date. Weird, right? There’s actually a reason for this! If the player boots the game around said-entered day, making a trip back to Mother Base triggers a very special cutscene. The gang has gathered together to give Big Boss a very lovely cake and song. 

Cassette tapes play a huge role in MGSV. Whether you’re gathering informational background on the convoluted story, or wrecking some PF faces while listening to Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” collecting tapes becomes an entertaining side-quest. However, there is one cassette that is so insanely important, it could save your life: the sounds of Johnny Sasaki!

Johnny, “the greatest worst soldier that ever lived,” is a recurring Easter egg in MGS games.  The running gags of Johnny’s unfortunate… intestinal distress shows up at the far south end of the Mountain Relay Base. You’ll find a cassette tape on the ground next to a toilet shack. What could possibly be on the tape called, “Recorded in the Toilet” but 18-seconds of poor Johnny’s discomfort? Though it sounds gross (and totally is!), while hidden in a toilet, you can actually use the tape to deter suspicious soldiers from approaching your locations. If you make sure the speakers are on, an approaching solider will look noticeably uncomfortable at the gnarly grunts emitting from the toilet and just walk away.