It's been reported that a glitch in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance on PC has been inexplicably patched out, but not because of an update to the game. Instead, it seems that it could be the result of a Windows 11 update, and I'm just as confused as you are.
As shared by speedrunner @ApacheSmash on Twitter, the glitch in question revolves around pushing poor Emma Emmerich out of bounds in the air purification room on the first floor of Shell 2 Core, as well as the KL connecting bridge. After sending her through the walls, reloading the rooms takes Emma on a very handy journey through time and space, warping her further into the level without you having to drag her there yourself. While each of these skips only shaves off a few seconds, in a speedrun, every second helps, so you can imagine that some speedrunners feeling a little ticked off to find that it apparently no longer works on Windows 11.
There's a glitch in Metal Gear Solid 2 Substance PC where you can push Emma out of bounds and reload the room to teleport her across the levelSpeedrunners today are reporting that it no longer works on Windows 11 MICROSOFT PATCHED A MGS2 GLITCH🤣 pic.twitter.com/8T3FCqGNXkAugust 31, 2024
"There's a glitch in Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance PC where you can push Emma out of bounds and reload the room to teleport her across the level. Speedrunners today are reporting that it no longer works on Windows 11," @ApacheSmash writes. "MICROSOFT PATCHED A MGS2 GLITCH."
At the time of writing, it doesn't appear that this change has been widely verified by the speedrunning community, although perhaps that's no wonder since the glitch is limited to the PC version of MGS2: Substance, which was delisted from digital platforms back in 2021. Last year's Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection included MGS2: Sons of Liberty, instead.
The whole thing is incredibly bizarre if it's true, though – while there was an update to Windows 11's Enterprise and Education version 22H2, as well as all editions of version 23H2 back on August 27, there's certainly nothing in the improvements list that could indicate any changes to the Metal Gear Solid games, and why would there be? For the time being, though, it sounds like enthusiastic Metal Gear Solid speedrunners might want to hold back from updating their PC if they're on Windows 11, just in case.
For more games like Metal Gear, be sure to check out our roundup of the best stealth games.
