November 29, 2006 - The latest installment in a legendary game series is making its way from the TV screen to the portable screen. Next week, Metal Gear Solid fans will have a chance to add a little stealth to their holidays with the release of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops for the PSP. An action title with a healthy dose of strategy thrown in, Portable Ops continues the adventures of Naked Snake from MGS3: Snake Eater in a new theater of war. Fortunately, IGN's been enlisted to bring you the details of Snake's newest fight. All this week, we'll be highlighting the key facets of this title, from the storyline to the new gameplay modes.

Today, we're bringing you the first part of the recruitment system for Portable Ops. Easily the deepest facet of the game, players will conscript a large number of troops to support Snake on the battlefield. How exactly do you go about enlisting these soldiers? What are the skills that you'll be able to use with these new characters? Will these new squads affect the stealth action gameplay the series is known for? We're going to break down your new infiltration tactics for this mission.


Metal Gear Solid fans have become quite accustomed to overwhelming odds. Typically, Snake was alone against an opposing force and their commanding officers. Unfortunately, the events of Portable Ops are even too much for Snake to take on by himself without any backup; not only does Snake have to worry about Russian soldiers at the South American military base he's held at, but he also has to worry about his former FOX teammates that are out for his head and a U.S. government that has no knowledge or support of his actions. In short, this is the most isolated circumstance Snake has ever faced in his military career. Fortunately, he doesn't have to take on these odds alone. Snake has the opportunity to recruit new allies to his side, comprised of his former enemies.

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There are a variety of ways available to you for recruiting new allies to your side during the events of Portable Ops. The first way is literally by force, rendering your target unconscious. Whether you use tranquilizer darts, stun grenades or Close Quarter Combat moves to incapacitate enemies, you have the option to capture personnel and drag them to Roy Campbell's truck to hold them prisoner. Depending on their rank or position at the camp (such as a grunt, scientist, or officer), it may take multiple days in captivity before they convert to your side. Now, it's possible to travel a significant distance from the truck while you're carrying out a mission, and dragging a body across a large distance will definitely attract attention. Fortunately, as your army increases, you'll be able to tow these soldiers to your allies hiding in the field, who will transport them to Campbell's truck for you.

The next way that players can augment their forces is via the AP (Access Point) Scan. By using the PSP's wireless functionality to scan and access wi-fi hotspots scattered around the real world, you can track down new soldiers that you can recruit to your side. Of course, you won't just pick up troops by turning on the WLAN switch; part of your success will depend on the strength of the signal that you receive, which needs to be at a certain level. Luckily, you have the opportunity to boost the signal by repeatedly pounding the circle button, which may be enough to capture that soldier that's floating out there. But don't expect to find the exact same soldier as your friend would if both of you go out scanning hotspots: Portable Ops generates characters based on the information of the access point and the unique system information for each PSP.

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Another way that you can track down soldiers is via the GPS Scan functionality. While it hasn't been released yet in either Japan or North America, players will be able to connect the GPS Receiver peripheral for the PSP and recruit soldiers via your current location in the real world. Satellites will continually update the game with your co-ordinates, giving you a sense as to whether or not you're physically close to "stumbling" onto a soldier that you can recruit. In effect, you're digitally geo-caching, except instead of finding real treasure, you're gaining virtual soldiers. Although there's no current info as to when the GPS accessory will be released, Konami is including the feature for the game, so players that purchase the accessory will be able to use it when it hits shelves. In the meantime, players will also be able to track down new or unique troops with special passwords that will be released over time. We'll detail more of the multiplayer ways that you can recruit soldiers tomorrow, but needless to say, this is only the tip of the recruitment iceberg.