Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: Cunningham laments Naked Snake's decision to disobey the Department of Defense's mission when defeated. In addition, Cunningham is later pitied by Gene upon learning of his attempted betrayal and death.
    • Python, if the player chooses to let him die.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: As soon as fans saw that they could play as Para-Medic, EVA, Sigint, and Ocelot (amongst others), the fandom exulted in glee.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Cunningham, a FOX operative condemned to a desk by the CIA, has just told Snake that he's been manipulated the whole time, and that through his machinations, Snake will go home a hero when Cunningham launches a Davy Crockett and destroys the entire base, thus killing all the soldiers and friends Snake has made during the game. Considering the ideas of loyalty and responsibility that have been brewing since he killed The Boss, Snake turns down Cunningham's treacherous offer, pulls a gun on him, and tells the man he's going to stop him.

Snake: "I'm doing this out of loyalty to myself - I'm NOT going to live my life the way The Boss did."

  • Crowning Moment of Heartwarming: What the Russian soldiers are willing to do for Big Boss in the ending.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: See here.
  • Fridge Logic: One of the better ideas in this game is also one of the most flawed. Specifically, the player can capture enemy soldiers and bring them over to their side, and they even retain their old uniforms, letting them pass by soldiers dressed in the same uniform (there's more than one military faction in San Hieronymo). Seems fair, right? Except that this also means there's no allowance for variation at all. A female officer can't fool a male officer, but can fool other females. For that matter, an officer will stick out like a sore thumb to regular balaclava-wearing grunts, and vice-versa. This unpolished idea was removed entirely in the game's sequel, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.
  • Fridge Brilliance: Sokolov's survival was explained in the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database by claiming that he took a False Death Pill during his interrogation by Colonel Volgin, which was given to him by The Boss.
    • The cell where Naked Snake is locked in at the beginning of the game seems ridiculously easy to escape from, especially considering the room next to it just happens to have a CQC Enhancer suit that conveniently fits Snake. However, the one who was in charge of keeping Snake locked-up was none other than Cunningham, who was secretly trying to undermine the FOX unit's competence. What better way to undermine the organization he's working for than by secretly aiding an enemy?
      • Actually, Cunningham wasn't responsible for the easy escape. The game explains that the cell in question formerly contained Roy Campbell, who unscrewed the vent in question, but was unable to actually use the escape method in question due to being relocated to a different cell before he could even get the chance to use it. Cunningham was probably responsible for unscrewing the other vent and leaving the MK 22 and CQC Enhancer suit with Snake's size, however.
    • In the manual for Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Campbell's bio mentioned that he was, during this time, the only officer to remember the FOXHOUND of the Big Boss days, which made absolutely no sense when the FOXHOUND biography explained that it was formed in the early nineties, which meant that FOXHOUND was around for, at the absolute earliest, nine years. This game explains what exactly the bio meant by that.
  • Paranoia Fuel: Gene's powers create this out of nothing!
  • Recycled Premise: A retired war hero is called back into action in order to stop his former unit, who are now rogue. This is exactly the same plot as the original Metal Gear Solid, only with Solid Snake and FOXHOUND replaced by Naked Snake and the original FOX unit.
  • So Okay It's Average: At worst, the game is regarded as enjoyable or at least accepted as part of the series, except it delivered far less than was promised.
  • Tear Jerker: The Heroic Sacrifice in the ending.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Cunningham is pretty much a big jerk and somewhat two-faced towards FOX and the CIA, but considering what he had to put up with (being forced into a desk job after his leg was amputated, not to mention learning that the CIA basically left The Boss to die, which in his views was an insult to the memory of the Mother of Special Forces), it's kinda hard to blame him for what he did.
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