Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
PlayStation 2
Nostalgia Factor:
Dating back to the original game’s release back in September of 1998, I have always been a huge fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. I avidly devoured both the original game and its sequel – Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It should come as no surprise that I was super excited to play Metal Gear 3 Solid: Snake Eater when it first came out. While most critics out there hail this game as one of the best, if not THE best game in the series, I have always been completely neutral on it. I don’t hate it, but it has never been one of my favorites either.
I’ve always been someone who wants to see answers. Certainly, Metal Gear Solid 2 raised more questions than it ever answered. I think one of the reasons I didn’t like Snake Eater as much when I first played it is because I was hoping for a direct sequel to MGS2. Going backwards with a prequel, when there was still SO much plot left out there to explore, was super irritating to me. I wanted to know more about the events that took place after the end of the second game, like what happened to Ocelot. I didn’t care about what happened 30 years ago. This game didn’t even have the “real” Solid snake in it. What the heck?
It didn't help that this game came out in back in 2004, AKA the perma-drunk/stoned portion of my life when I was living with my ex-girlfriend Jessica. I probably didn’t even know what the hell was going on half the time as I played this. My most vivid memory of the game from back then is the part where I had to face off with The Sorrow. For the life of me, I absolutely could not figure out what to do, and I kept dying over and over again, to the point where I thought my copy of the game was broken. A simple Google search nowadays would reveal what I needed to do in about four seconds. In 2004 or 2005, however, the internet was not as easily accessible. We certainly didn’t have it in our apartment. I ended up discreetly opening the plastic packaging of a Snake Eater strategy guide in GameStop, and looking to see what I needed to do. Then I put the guide back on the shelf and scurried out with a guilty look on my face. And you know what? I have no regrets about that.
Overall, my initial impression of Snake Eater was a middling one. As a game I enjoyed it, for the most part. As a Metal Gear Solid game, I was very disappointed.
In the years since, I have played this game from start to finish a small handful of times. My overall impression of it HAS improved over the years, but before my most recent replay I still considered it the worst out of the main entries in the series that I have played. Would playing it in 2018 change my opinion? Read on to find out.
Storyline:
The storyline for this game is actually quite simple when you stack it up against other games in the series. 30 years before the events of the first Metal Gear Solid game, Snake is sent into the forests of the USSR to rescue a brilliant nuclear weapons engineer named Sokolov, who wishes to defect from the Soviet Union. During the rescue mission, Snake's superior officer, referred to as The Boss, teams up with rogue supervillain Colonel Volgin. They nab Sokolov for their own nefarious purposes and use the Shagohod (an early Metal Gear prototype) to wipe out his old base. Snake is attacked and left for dead during the mutiny. He recovers, however, and it becomes his mission to track down and kill Volgin and The Boss, and to get Sokolov back and destroy the Shagohod.
When I first played this game, I had no idea that it was a prequel. I was very confused as to how Solid Snake could appear to be the same age 30 years before the first Metal Gear Solid game. The game doesn't come right out and say it, but using deductive reasoning you can quickly figure out that you aren't actually playing as the "real" Solid Snake as we know him. You are playing as Big Boss in his younger days.
Expect some twists and turns along the way, but as I said the game's plot is much more simple and straightforward than Metal Gear Solids 1 and 2. Characters you meet along the way are Eva - a mysterious double agent who appears to be on your side, a Fox-Hound like gang of enemies with unique special powers, and a young Revolver Ocelot.
Gameplay:
If you have played any Metal Gear Solid games in the past, you should feel right at home here. You control Snake using the analog stick or the D-pad, The left shoulder buttons bring up your equipment, the right shoulder buttons help you manage your weapons. The game introduces a close quarters combat mechanic that was absent from previous games. Rather than just punch and kick your enemies, you can now grab them, hold them up, knock them out, body slam them, slash their throats from behind, and much more. The body slam function was quite useful for me as I played.
The way you heal in this game is new to the series, and it is a bit annoying if I have to be honest with you. Rather than simply having a health bar, where when you run low on health you can pick a healing item and use it, there is now this weird injury/health/stamina system in place. Snake can endure things like cuts, bullet wounds, broken bones, and even poisoning. While on the surface this sounds pretty cool, it is a lot more labor intensive when you want to heal him. You have to pause the game, navigate a menu, come to the healing screen, and start using items to heal Snake's wounds. You can't just use one item either. If Snake is cut, you have to select the disinfectant, then the sutures, then the ointment, and then the bandage to heal the wound. This is very time consuming. If Snake has multiple wounds, you have to do this for each and every one of them.
There is also a stamina bar in place. The lower your stamina gets, the weaker Snake becomes. You have to eat things to keep the stamina bar up. Good thing you are constantly killing wildlife like birds, snakes, rats, and fish. Eating these things replenishes your stamina bar. When your stamina is high, Snake's health bar starts to regenerate. When it is low, he becomes sluggish and unresponsive and easier to kill. Also, you can only swim as far as your stamina meter will allow. If you wait too long to eat the animals that you kill, they become rotten and actually hurt you if you decide to eat them.
There are, of course, items that will replenish your health bar too. But those are actually pretty hard to find here. All in all, I have to say that I am not a huge fan of the whole health/stamina/injury system. I like being able to catch and eat animals, but the fact that they only fill stamina rather than health, and that the game doesn't tell you when they are rotten is quite obnoxious. I would much rather have the simple health bar system back from the first two MGS games.
As is usual per the Metal Gear Solid Series, stealth is the name of the game. You don't want to just rush into areas and get into shootouts. You want to sneak around undetected. This game introduces new stealth elements to the series, like camouflage and face paint. I never bothered to mess around with them, because it never seemed to matter. I always got spotted everywhere I went, no matter how cautious I was. This happened a lot in MGS 2 with me as well. Maybe I am just bad at these kind of stealth games? It actually is pretty easy to shoot your way out of trouble in this one. Whenever I would get spotted I would kill everyone in sight until the alert would go away. Or I would just keep running until I triggered a story cutscene. Whatever worked for me. I wanted to stealth it up, and I tried, truly. But it just wasn't meant to be.
Like previous entries in the series, you will encounter a series of bosses as you play. This game's bosses are pretty cool, not gonna lie. When I think of Metal Gear Solid 3, the boss fights are usually the thing that comes to mind. You've got a guy who controls bees, a creepy tree jumping guy with a long tongue, someone who makes you see dead people, and a Big Daddy looking dude with a flamethrower and a jetpack. The most memorable (but not in a good way) boss to me takes place with you squaring off against a geriatric sniper. He is constantly hiding and is an absolute PAIN to find and kill. Plus, the fight takes a super long time. It could take over an hour if you don't know what you are doing. Ugh, worst part of the whole game in my opinion. The final boss fight of the game makes up for it, though. That battle against The Boss in the middle of the field of flowers is stunning.
Graphics:
The game looked good for its time, and it still looks pretty decent. Nothing eye-popping. Character models are pretty standard stuff. The buildings and the locations all look pretty good. I would have to say Snake Eater's biggest strength is in its atmospheric effects. The rustling of the leaves on the tree, the wind as it blows through the tall grass. The dripping of water in a dark cave, and the reflection of your torch as it lights your path. There is a lot of attention paid to detail with this game, and it shows.
Each segment of the game has its own distinct visual style. Gotta give the makers of the game kudos for mixing things up. Your view is generally limited to a pretty small area as you play, but during cutscenes, you get a chance to step back and check things out. It is easily the best looking of the PS2 Metal Gear games. I wouldn't say there is too much of a huge jump in quality over Sons of Liberty, but a jump was definitely made.
Sound:
Everything sounds exactly as a Metal Gear Solid game should. David Hayter is once again back as Solid Snake, and it is always a pleasure to get to listen to his gravely voice all game long. The rest of the cast is brand new, but everyone does a tremendous job with their voice acting. All the characters feel like they belong right at home here in this game.
The game's music is great, too. I particularly love the Bond-esque Snake Eater song when you load up the game. In-game music is excellent as always, although there aren't as many memorable tracks in this game as there are in the first two MGS games.
Sound effects are fine. Gotta love the classic Metal Gear Solid alert sound returning once again. When I get spotted and I hear that sound, and the music changes to its frantic "you've been seen!!" alert, I still panic as I did when I played the original Metal Gear back in 1998.
Overall:
I really like this game. I do. But my opinion on where it stands when placed against the other Metal Gear Solid games has not changed. Maybe, MAYBE it is better than Sons of Liberty. Maybe. This game definitely did not annoy or frustrate me as much as that one did. Thinking about it more, it is probably right up there with that game, neck and neck. But it doesn't stand a chance against the original Metal Gear Solid game or Guns of the Patriots. And I haven't played any of the other ones yet.
Just because it is not my favorite Metal Gear game doesn't mean it is not a good game. I do like it. I can see why so many critics out there consider this game to be one of the best in the series. It is a fine game. It just isn't as interesting to me. The whole combination: the setting, the storyline, even the time frame the game is set in. Not as interesting. Is it possible that I missed the convoluted messes that were the plots of Metal Gears one and two? Maybe.
I'd still recommend this to anyone interested in the Metal Gear series. It might even be a good starting point for someone who is new to the series and has never played any of the other games before. Its simplicity and the fact that it is a prequel makes it very beginner friendly.
Best Metal Gear Solid game? No. Still a really damn good game? Heck yeah.
Final Grade:
B
If you liked this review, please check out some of my other game reviews:
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