A streamer has discovered a previously unseen Metal Gear Solid glitch that could shave around two minutes off a speedrun. The game may have originally released in 1998, but it seems the speedrunning community may not yet have uncovered all of the game's exploits, with the newly-discovered glitch opening the doors for a new world record.
Speedruns have existed since the early days of gaming, with players competing to beat a game in the shortest time possible. The practice has evolved over the years, with speedrunning now involving exploits and glitches to enable competitive players to defeat a game usually in minutes as opposed to the hours of play the developer typically intended. Speedruns aren't confined to any particular genre of game, leaving lots of potential for world record-breaking, though challenging games such as Dark Souls or Returnal are often used for speedruns.
Twitch streamer Boba is believed to be the first person in the world to discover the new Metal Gear Sold glitch (via TheGamer). The content creator accidentally triggered the bug live on stream, which forced Snake to appear on the other side of doors that are normally locked. In the scene, players are tasked with descending the outside of a building while under attack from a helicopter. Players have to climb back up once complete, making for a fairly lengthy sequence for speedrunners. However, Boba's glitch makes the majority of the encounter skippable, which some speedrunners commenting on the clip believe could save up to two minutes of playtime, if not more.
See Boba's clip on Twitter here.
The Metal Gear Solid glitch, which Boba wishes to be named the "Kevin," has already been successfully replicated by players, confirming its legitimacy and proving it wasn't just a one-off fluke. The discovery will mean new speedrunning world records for Metal Gear Solid should be announced soon, though it's likely these early records could be bested even further if it's found that the Kevin can be successfully replicated and used in other areas of the game.
Speedrunners work endlessly to cut mere seconds from a run, which makes the Kevin a noteworthy discovery. As well as decreasing playtime, the glitch also raises the question of whether or not there are even more exploits still waiting to be discovered within the Konami title, which could mean deeper investigations from the speedrunning community. Fans of Metal Gear Solid can expect to see speedrunners start to figure out the best ways to implement the new bug for the ultimate world record in the coming weeks and months.
Source: Boba_Witch/Twitter (via TheGamer)