Myth: Solid Snake had a good shot at saving Emma
Fact: Only Raiden could have taken Vamp down without a huge risk to Emma’s life.
By Ravi Singh, Posted on May 12, 2015
Long time followers of The Snake Soup may find this one a bit interesting since I myself propagated this myth way back in 2004. To be fair to my teenage self, it is somewhat of an understandable myth, though oddly enough easily debunked using the same source material that it concerns.
In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Raiden and Solid Snake provide firearm cover to Emma Emmerich as she crosses the oil fences of The Big Shell. The two successfully clear out any CYPHERs and claymore mines sprinkled everywhere. Unfortunately right as Emma approaches her destination, Vamp appears out of nowhere and takes her hostage. Raiden succeeds in getting a headshot which sent Vamp flying back—though not to his death—and left Emma with a lethal knife wound from Vamp.
It seems strange, though, that the legendary Solid Snake was not able to help out at all at this part. Oh sure, he immediately runs down to carry Emma’s dying body to the computer room. What a fucking hero. If you call Snake on the Codec during the “boss fight,” he picks up but gives a resounding silence, scripted as an ellipsis. If you look for Snake you will see him certainly looking through his PSG-1… but at absolutely nothing, while Emma is pleading for her life below. It seems like he had the perfect shot but decided to let luck dictate the next course of events.
Or so it seemed.
What people, including myself, missed is the fact that the game actually explains why Snake could not have done anything with his rifle at that moment. It was easily missed since it is composed of a few seconds in a cutscene.
Indeed, Snake does not actually have a good shot! He would have ended up hurting Emma due to the angle at which he is at. In fact, Snake yells “No!” when Vamp pulls out his knife, indicating that he is at least troubled by his inability to take any action in a responsible manner at that moment. Why Snake is silent on the Codec if the player calls him? We do not know and at this point it does not matter. The fact remains that Sons of Liberty already explained why Raiden was the only one who could have taken Vamp out.