Technologies

11 Tips for Getting Started in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

From cutscene tips to early item grabs, here’s my advice for getting started with the remake of one of my personal favorite Metal Gear games.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the best way to play one of the greatest Metal Gear games of all time. However, like most Hideo Kojima games, the Metal Gear Solid series features unique gameplay and mechanics. Whether you’re a veteran fan of the series or experiencing Snake Eater for the very first time, the new modes and gameplay tweaks will be sure to satisfy you.

Here are 11 tips to keep in mind when jumping into Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Pause cutscenes if you need to

Hideo Kojima’s games are known for their long cutscenes, and Snake Eater is no different. The majority of your first few hours will feature very minimal gameplay. And while the cutscenes are exciting and bizarre, you can pause them to take a break without risking skipping them entirely. Pause any cutscene by hitting the menu button and if you want to skip, you’ll see the option for that, too. It’s also worth mentioning that you can hit the same button to pause lengthy radio conversations as well.

Swap camo often

Snake Eater can be played like a run-and-gun shooter, but a stealthy approach is generally better, and utilizing your various outfits and facepaint will maximize your evasiveness. Make sure to change your appearance often to match your surroundings. And to make swapping even quicker, hold up on the D-pad to access a quick change menu.

Keep an eye on camo percentage

The game will give you a higher stealth rating the better you blend in, so make sure to watch your camo percentage. As you move around the environment, a percentage at the bottom will show you how hidden you are. The higher the number, the less likely an enemy will spot you. Bonus tip: There’s a trophy you can unlock if you bring your camouflage over 90%.

Call your team often

Throughout the game you’ll unlock more and more allies to call and chat with on the radio. These conversations can range from hints on how to proceed to how you save your game. Calling teammates often will give you bonus dialogue about events that you just witnessed or played through. They’ll even offer fun anecdotes or just chat with Snake.

Be aware of time paradoxes

Snake Eater is a prequel entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. This means that you can’t deviate too far from the main story because it would mess with events that take place in MGS 1 and 2. If you do, you can create literal Time Paradoxes resulting in game over screens and humorous lectures from your team.

One such example is killing Ocelot after meeting him for the first time. To proceed, you need to leave him unconscious on the ground — stabbing him with your knife will disrupt the canon. However, you can stab him anyway if you want a trophy.

Keep an eye out for R1 prompts in cutscenes

Snake Eater has unique cutscenes where at specific moments, you can swap camera angles to see what Snake is looking at. You’ll miss out on important visuals while the game just shows your character looking into binoculars, for example. When you see the R1 icon show up in the screen’s corner, make sure to hit it. However, do keep in mind that this game is a product of an older era and sometimes you’ll realize Snake is just staring at a woman’s chest.

You can change settings to drag bodies easier

Hiding bodies is important to keep alert levels down. You can lift and drag someone by holding down the Square button, but doing so can be kind of annoying. In the settings menu you can select to change carrying from a button hold to a simple button press. This gives you back your right thumb in order to regain camera control while dragging someone out of sight.

Use silencers, but recognize when you don’t need them

Trust me on this, stealth is your friend in this game. It’s harder to pull off, but worth it. This means silencers are quite important for avoiding gun fights and staying hidden. However, silencers can wear down and won’t last forever. To avoid overusing them, remove the silencers anytime you engage in a big gun fight or boss battle. If the enemy already knows you’re there, there’s no point wasting the silencer.

Grab the thermal goggles early

One of the most useful pieces of equipment is the thermal goggles. It allows you to see enemies through walls and will help spot bosses during big fights. They can be collected pretty early in the game too. The second time you reach the destroyed base that housed Sokolov, check in the locker in his room.

Don’t miss the early machine gun

If you’re wanting to take the loud route through the game, there’s a machine gun stashed away quite early in Snake Eater. At the first bridge you encounter, where the game has you use a beehive to scare off an enemy, the gun is located in a small cave underneath. You can reach it by crossing the bridge and then circling around the ledge to the left. You need to grab the gun the first time you get to the bridge, though. The next time the gun will be gone and you’ll only find ammo.

Become the snake eater

You can hunt and eat various animals in the game for stat and health rewards. Find a snake, eat the snake, get the Snake Eater Trophy.

With those 11 tips you’ll now start off on a much stronger footing when playing through Metal Gear Solid Delta.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater comes out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC on Aug. 28.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Jan. 14

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Jan. 14.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? It’s not too tough, but 8-Across stumped me, so I had to pass on that and fill in the Down answers to solve it. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Abruptly stop texting
Answer: GHOST

6A clue: Shaving kit item
Answer: RAZOR

7A clue: 2024 film role for which Mikey Madison won Best Actress
Answer: ANORA

8A clue: The ancient Chinese used compressed blocks of tea leaves as this
Answer: MONEY

9A clue: Shape of a round chart
Answer: PIE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Dad’s dad, informally
Answer: GRAMP

2D clue: Capital of Vietnam
Answer: HANOI

3D clue: ___ layer, part of Earth’s atmosphere
Answer: OZONE

4D clue: How you might wake up after sleeping funny
Answer: SORE

5D clue: Cafeteria food carrier
Answer: TRAY

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

Google Could Revive Last Year’s Bright Pink Color for the Pixel 10a

Google’s upcoming Pixel 10a is expected to launch in February with some new colors, including one popular ask.

The Google Pixel 9a is one of Google’s most affordable Pixel phones, and it includes one of the most frequently requested colors — bright pink. With the Google Pixel 10a rumored to launch in February, we’re already getting a hint at the colors the new model will come in.

According to Roland Quandt, a regular mobile leaker on Bluesky, the Google Pixel is expected to be offered in obsidian (black), berry (pink), fog (light gray), and lavender colors. However, it’s the berry hue that is intriguing customers.

A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

«I always love to see phones come in vibrant colors, and it’s especially welcome in more budget-friendly options,» said Abrar Al-Heeti, senior technology reporter at CNET. «Yes, we tend to slap a case on our phones anyway, but just knowing your phone touts a bold color can make it feel like more of a statement piece, rather than a bland piece of tech.»

Pink is one of the most requested color options for the Pixel phones. CNET sister site Mashable loved the color when it debuted on the Pixel 9. Phone rivals like Apple and Samsung are usually expected to offer a pink color option in their flagship and midrange phone lineups, so it’s not surprising to see the berry color on the Pixel 10a.

«I’ll say that Google loves having Pixel phones in pink,» said Patrick Holland, CNET managing editor. «The Pixel 9 and 9a come in peony (a bright, bold pink) and the 9 Pro in rose quartz (a more muted pink). The Pixel 10 series lacks any pinkish hues.»

Quandt also says that the Pixel 10a will have 128GB and 256GB storage models, and will launch in mid-February. That’s earlier than expected compared with the Pixel 9a, which was revealed in mid-March 2025 for a launch on April 10. In terms of specifications, we expect the Pixel 10a to be a modest upgrade compared with previous generations. According to leaks, the Pixel 10 is unlikely to feature a newer Tensor G5 chip, and it’s likely to retain the same overall design as the Pixel 9a.

One leaker, Mystic Leaks on Telegram, expressed disappointment and revealed additional specs, including the absence of a telephoto lens, UFS 3.1 storage, a Tensor G4 chip, a 2,000-nit display and no Magic Cue, which is Google’s AI feature for the Pixel 10.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Jan. 14, #948

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Jan. 14 #948.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough. The blue category, not the purple one today, expects you to find hidden words in four of the words given in the grid. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: That’s not going anywhere.

Green group hint: End user or customer.

Blue group hint: Ask a meteorologist.

Purple group hint: Not noisy.