Metal Gear Solid 5 - Hellbound: Make contact at the Central Base Camp

Welcome to Metal Gear Solid 5 - Hellbound, the 12th main story mission of the game, following on from Make Contact with Emmerich.

Hellbound Mission checklist:

• Made contact with Dr. Emmerich
• Extracted Dr Emmerich
• Extracted 3 Walker Gears from Central Base Camp
• Extracted Dr Emmerich without him taking damage
• Secured the Glamor Model (vertical) poster at Central Base Camp
• Secured the blueprint at Central Base Camp

There's no desert-crossing preamble to Episode 12. Instead, the action begins immediately upon unlocking the door at the end of Episode 11.

Hellbound: Make contact at the Central Base Camp

Once the cut-scene is over, you'll find yourself in a huge hanger - with a towering Metal Gear sealed behind two huge blast doors nearby. Don't worry about the Metal Gear just yet though: your immediate objective is to find and extract Dr Emmerich, who's been escorted to a camp elsewhere on the map. To locate his exact position, however, you'll need to find some intel in the area.

Immediately lie prone and hide in the tall grass at the side of the road. There are several guards patrolling nearby (who, thankfully, leave the area after a few moments), so you'll want to avoid detection. Your first task is to reach the walkway to the right of the huge blast doors.

Head on up the right-hand staircase (watching out for the lone patrol in the area) and grab the documents on the crate at the end of the walkway. This will add Dr Emmerich's new location to your map. Next, return to ground level and swipe the Biological Material, Common Metal, Minor Metal and Fuel Resources from beneath the steps on either side of the room.

Now it's time to go after your main target - who, it turns out, has been moved to the enemy base in the north-west of the map, a considerable distance away from your current location. To reach Emmerich, face away from the doors and begin moving along the tunnel ahead. There's another patrol just around the corner, so go prone and carefully push forward, hugging the right-hand wall.

As you near the large gate blocking your path, you'll be alerted to the presence of a deadly gunship in the area - as denoted by the red target on your HUD. Use the left-hand door to reach the other side of the gate and quickly slip between the two squat buildings ahead. Lie prone again and carefully move forward.

Make your way to the enemy base

Once you pass the chainlink fence, take a left and hug the left-hand rock wall. Continue on and eliminate any guards roaming around near the railings ahead. Next, locate the nearby staircase and head on down to ground level. At the bottom, lie prone and take cover in the tall grass.

There's a large grey building immediately to the east with a walkway situated to its left. Several more guards are likely patrolling here so proceed with caution. Stay low and carefully work your way along the left-hand side of the building, sticking close to the sheer rock face on your left. The grass and shadows should provide ample cover if required.

Continue moving east past the buildings and make your way up the the steep incline ahead. At the top, you'll find a high metal pipe running along the side of the road. Stay prone and crawl across it, bypassing the guards below.

At the end of the pipe, look down and ensure that the nearby guard is facing the other way before proceeding (just check the direction of his torch beam). When the coast is clear, drop to the ground and begin moving east along the road. Once you reach the junction ahead, summon your trusty steed and hop into the saddle.

Next, follow the road north as it winds through the hills. Before long, you'll spot a Soviet guard post ahead - leave the road and carefully work your way around the guard post, using the dirt track to the left. Rejoin the main road and continue onward until you see the small cluster of stone buildings to the right. Proceed cautiously, moving into the undergrowth on the left if necessary.

There's yet another guard post a little further along the main road, close to the junction. Hang left again, keeping to the shadows, and cross over the road. On the other side, resume your journey to the north-west. There's a small dirt track running directly along the left-hand side of the road (hidden behind some handy rocks), so use it to reduce your chances of being seen.

Eventually, you'll spy a watchtower ahead, situated on the left-hand side of the main road. Get off your horse and approach it slowly, sticking close to the rocks. As you near the tower, wait until the searchlight sweeps away from you then quickly nip around the fence at its base. Finally, scramble up the ladder and deal with the guard on lookout.

Infiltrate the base and reach Emmerich

With that taken care of, continue moving north-west and stop once you spot the large concrete walls lining the main road. This marks the entrance to the enemy base, so tread carefully.

Rather than plough straight into enemy territory, locate the steep incline on the right-hand side of the road and make your way up. As you do, keep watch for the gunship patrolling the skies above. You'll be ripped to shreds if it spots you - so lie low whenever it passes directly overhead.

Continue north-east up the slope, using the tufts of grass as cover. When you spy the little flag in the clearing ahead, crawl left and come to a halt on top of the rocky outcrop. You'll have an excellent view of the base entrance (and beyond) from here, so break out your Binoculars and scan the entire area for hostiles.

Alongside standard soldiers, you'll spot a handful of enemies wearing exoskeleton-like Bipedal Weapons Systems. These terrors are much faster and more powerful than normal guards, so you'll want to avoid them at all costs.

When your recon is complete, locate the large broken comms dish to the north-east and carefully crawl down the hill toward it. Once you reach the base of the dish, slip around the side and follow the rock wall on the right-hand side forward, dropping down from ledge to ledge until you reach the dirt track below.

Immediately lie prone and begin crawling through the tall grass on the right-hand side of the track, following the path as it bends around to the left, heading north-west. When you reach the tunnel, pass on through and take a sharp right once you emerge into the open on the other side. Keep the rocks close to your right and follow them all the way up the incline, staying low in the grass.

Shortly, you'll spot a long, sloping concrete structure to your right. There's a broken wall at the end closest to you, with a staircase leading into the complex. Check that the coast is clear (pay particular attention to any patrols walking back and forth along the top of the building), then cautiously make your way up the steps and into the shadows beyond.

Inside, crawl down the steps to the left. At the bottom, continue sneaking north-west and then, as you near the large open doorway ahead, locate the concrete slope to the right. Make your way up and follow the walkway forward until you reach the crack in the wall to the left. Finally, slip through the crack and pass back out into the open air.

Need help with The Phantom Pain? Our Metal Gear Solid 5 guide and walkthrough explains how to complete every main story mission, and explains their many optional objectives. We also have lists of Blueprint locations, Tape locations, Key Item locations, how to unlock S Ranks and a Metal Gear Solid 5 Achievement and Trophy list.

Cross the airfield and rendezvous with Emmerich

You'll emerge overlooking a vast airfield. Lie prone and slowly crawl forward in order to get a better view of the area. Your goal is to reach the enormous concrete structure to the north-west, as indicated by the yellow objective marker. First though, you'll need to make it safely across the airfield, avoiding the numerous enemy patrols.

When you're ready to continue, drop to the ground and edge toward the large building directly to the north - approach carefully, however, as there's a sniper keeping watch to the west. Once you reach the building, duck through the doorway on its south-facing wall. Inside, crawl north, passing beneath the trucks, until you emerge out the other side. Keep low and continue moving north, using the metal fencing and tall grass as cover.

Once you reach the large pylon up ahead, stop and look west. You're now directly alongside your goal - you can enter the building via the small tunnel directly ahead. However, a number of guards stand watch outside, so you'll need to deal with them first.

Keep low and continue north, moving around the pylon. Approach the trucks then take a left, crossing over to the other side of the road. Next, head clockwise around the large concrete building and eliminate the guards standing watch outside the tunnel entrance to the right. When they're down, slip on through the doorway to reunite with your old pal Dr Emmerich.

After the cut-scene, approach the walker gear highlighted in blue on your HUD. Drop Emmerich to the ground and interact with the machine to continue.

Once you're safely ensconced in the walker, pick up Emmerich then exit the building via the now-open blast doors to the north. Back outside, take a right and storm across the airfield, obliterating anything foolish enough to get in your way.

Continue south toward the yellow objective marker, dealing with any hostiles that attack. Once you've made it past through the checkpoint gate and reached your destination, simply stand at the extraction point and sit tight until your chopper arrives.

Escape the Metal Gear, get to the chopper and head for Africa

When the cut-scene is over, you'll have one mightily persistent Metal Gear (AKA the Sahelanthropus) on your tail. Immediately leg it up the hill to the left (slightly behind your starting position) and follow the dirt path around to the right. Slip down the slope and rejoin the main road at the bottom. From here, take a left and race toward the new landing zone, as indicated on your HUD. Be sure to avoid any hovering white capsules as you go - they'll explode if you get too close.

Once you've reached the landing site and clambered into the chopper (bringing Dr Emmerich with you of, course), you'll need to hold off the Metal Gear using the vehicle's minigun.

Unleash a few rounds to obliterate the torpedoes that head your way, and take aim at your main target whenever you get the chance. Eventually, the Metal Gear will launch itself straight at you. When it does, start blasting away at its face - and don't stop!

With the Sahelanthropus destroyed, sit back, enjoy the cut-scene and ready yourself for the next leg of your adventure. You'll get the Questioning Huey [1] and Africa Today [1] cassette tapes (plus a couple of emblem parts) as a reward for your efforts.

When the mission debriefing is over, you'll find yourself back on Mother Base. Summon a chopper and hop on board to continue. Africa awaits!

- Read on to learn how to beat your first mission in Central Africa, Pitch Dark.

- Head back to the first page for the rest of our Metal Gear Solid 5 walkthrough.

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