|  \  /  | |_____| |__   __|   /_\     | |
|   \/   |  _____     | |     _____    | |
| |\  /| | |  ___|    | |    / ___ \   | |
| | \/ | | | |___     | |   / /   \ \  | |____
| |    |_| |_____|    |_|  /_/     \_\ |______|
| |
|_|    ______   _____       _       _____
     /  ____| |_____|     /_\     |___  \
    /  / ___   _____     _____     ___| |
    \  \|_  | |  ___|   / ___ \   |  _  /
     \  \_| | | |___   / /   \ \  | | \ \
      \_____| |_____| /_/     \_\ |_|  \ \
**************************************** \ \
*********   S   O   L   I   D   ********* \ \
****************************************** \_\

Metal Gear Solid (Playstation) Rankings FAQ
by Richard Harris (Rico) - [email protected]
            Uploaded 5/9/99 (UK)

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WAY AFFIALATED OR PART OF SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT OR IT'S
DEVELOPERS/SUBSIDARIES IN *ANY* WAY WHATSOEVER.

Metal Gear Solid (c) Sony Computer Entertainment and (c) Konami of Japan.

Okay, now that's over with, here's my Game Rankings FAQ. Ever wondered what
the animal name means when it appears on the endgame screen? For example, you
might get 'RANKING: CAT' the first time you play, then 'CENTIPEDE' then
'WHALE'...what does it all mean? I hope that this little FAQ show you what
everything DOES mean.

==============================================================================
Your ranking is relied on two things - first, the difficulty (easy to extreme)
and secondly, a 'rank' which shows how good you are (1 to 12). Here's the
table so you can see your rank and selected difficulty:

RANK    EASY              NORMAL        HARD            EXTREME
1       Hound             Doberman      Fox             Big Boss (best)
2       Pigeon            Falcon        Hawk            Eagle
3       Piranha   Shark Jaws            Orca
4       Pig               Elephant      Mammoth Whale
5       Cat               Deer          Zebra           Hippopotamus
6       Koala             Capibara      Sloth           Giant Panda
7       Chicken   Mouse Rabbit          Ostrich
8       Puma              Leopard       Panther Jaguar
9       Komodo            Dragon        Iguana          Crocodile
10      Mongoose          Hyena Jackal          Tasmanian Devil
11      Spider            Tarantula     Centipede       Scorpion
12      Flying Squirrel Bat             Flying Fox      Night Fox

Now for the big question - how did I get this rank? Here's how - as soon as
you do the following things, you are demoted to the following rank:
(best read from bottom up)

RANK 1 - I did it perfectly - I was found less than five times, killed 25
enemies or less, used one or no rations, had no continues and completed the
game in 3 hours or less.

RANK 2 - I did RANK 3 only I completed the game in less than three hours.

RANK 3 - I did RANK 4 only I killed 250 or more enemies.

RANK 4 - I did RANK 5 only I used 18 or more rations.

RANK 5 - I did RANK 6 only I saved 80 or more times.

RANK 6 - I completed the game and took 18 hours or more.

RANK 7 - Base level. You completed the game but you either used >18 rations,
saved >80 times or >18 hours.

If you did two or more of the above things you are put into a rank between 8
and 12. This equation decides which:

x = number of times found
y = 10 x (number of enemies killed - 25)
Unfairly, if you killed 25 or less then the computer makes y = 25.

            y is
            0-4        5-7     8-15    16-19   20+
x is  0 - 29 8  8       10      11      11
    30 - 54 9  10      10      10      12
        55+ 9  9       10      12      12

Work out x and y, line them up here and find out your rank!

If you keep a record of enemies killed, rations used, etc you can find out
your ranking anywhere in the game (you'll have to guess your time ranking e.g.
at the end of disc one, your time should read 2:15). Hope this helps!
==============================================================================
Want more secrets, hints, a walkthrough, camera help, cool stuff, the location
of EVERY item and weapon, weird stuff (like Helipad Boxing (tm)) and hidden
controls? A complete boss guide? EVERY ghost picture on camera (bar one, ahem)
and even more on the PSX game of the century? This rankings guide was taken
from the complete MGS guide also by Rico, get it from this very GameFAQs page!