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It’s impossible to separate Hideo Kojima fromMetal Gear, andMetal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eaterdoesn’t even try. Aside from a few new menu options - we’ll get to those later - and the clearly updated visuals, the first and only real indication that this isn’t the exact same game from 2004, or theSubsistenceversion from 2006, or theHD Versionin 2012 (which was the version also included in last year’sMetal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1) is shown by the game’s title cards.
“Directed by Hideo Kojima” is replaced by “Original Directed by Hideo Kojima” and a splash screen of the “This content may contain views and opinions considered outdated, but are presented without changes because…” variety. Other than that, strap in, it’s time to playMetal Gear Solid 3. Again.
As I mentioned in mySilent Hill 2remake previewrecently, there are two different ways to remake a game, and now thatMGS’sembargo has passed I can finish my thought: it’s fascinating Konami picked both ways at once. While Bloober Team’sSilent Hill 2is a from-the-ground-up remake most comparable to Capcom’s handling ofResident Evil 2,Metal Gear Solid Deltais strictly a one-for-one adaptation ofMGS3, with only minimal changes to everything not centered around the game’s graphics. It’s doubly interesting thatSilent Hill 2retains its name while being a different game, andMGS3gets a new name (with a triangle!) despite the fact that it’s nearly the same exact experience.
You’ve Eaten Snake Before, Haven’t You?
If You Liked Metal Gear Solid 3, This Is That
I only had an hour and a half to playMetal Gear Solid Δduring a preview event hosted by Konami, which was just long enough to get through the game’s introductory Virtuous Mission a good one and a half times. Because of this, I can’t speak about how the game has adapted things like the Cure menu, the various boss fights, or anything at all that happens post-Snake being thrown off the bridge. What I can say is how that opening area felt -it felt like that opening hour ofSnake Eater.So much so that I skipped a few cutscenes because, well, I’ve been listening to them for 20 years.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater - Is The Original Cast Returning?
When the Snake Eater remake was revealed with a dialogue-less cinematic teaser, it led to some speculation regarding the original cast’s return.
It’s an interesting feeling. The game looks gorgeous, and the “new” 3rd person camera (we had a version of this inSubsistence, right?) makes it far easier to scan the environment forenemies and snakes to eatthan it was previously. However, underneath that visual sheen and remarkable attention to detail (again, this feels likeexactlythe same game most of the time, down to retaining the same specific points where the different jungle “rooms” fade in and out as they did in 2004)Metal Gear Solid Δfeels oddly hollow.
I was fully on board up until I grabbed an enemy. Something was different, it felt - and I discussed this later with another journalist who was at the event to confirm I wasn’t misremembering things - slower, more clunky than it should have. I’m not saying grabbing enemies and the various intricacies of CQC were always smooth and fluid, but I swear the act of picking up and putting that enemy back down should not take ten seconds, especially when it can happen from a simple accidental button press. It was then that the whole concept offully remakingMetal Gear Solid 3from the ground-up in Unreal Engine 5 started to worry me.
Presented Without Context
Does Metal Gear Solid 3 In 2024 Make Sense?
WhenMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eateroriginally launched in 2004, the game’s opening menu screen asked players if they preferredMetal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3,or if this was their firstMetal Gear Solidgame. This was the setup to a neat gimmick where, if the player selected the option “I like Metal Gear Solid 2,” they would begin the game wearing a mask of the then-divisive (long story)Metal Gear Solid 2protagonist, Raiden. A Raiden-like character is also introduced later in the game as a blatant response from Kojima directed at that divisiveness. However you felt about the implementation of these ideas, Kojima was undeniably in conversation with the audience itself in these moments, and that is what made theMetal Geargames so interesting.
The option to select “I like Metal Gear Solid 2!“still exists here.Metal Gear Solid Δalso adds to this list games which have released in the years since, such as “I like Peace Walker"and “I like Metal Gear Solid V.” Selecting these options gives new easter eggs and bonuses, like a banana-print camo set which makes any food instantly delicious, but none of them are saying anything. The Raiden Mask still appears if you selectMGS2, but now you also get a special camo which prevents any equipped suppressors from wearing out. No explanation as to why, no meta reason beyond just “game need bonus item,” and for any other game, for any other series, I think that would be fine. But this isMetal Gear Solid 3.
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It’s weird that we’re doing this without any sort ofinvolvement from Hideo Kojima. That’s definitely a part of it. Even if it was just a remake, or a remastering or whatever we’re going to end up callingMetal Gear Solid Δ, you know Kojima would have brought something interesting to the table, even if it was just him inserting himself as a mission objective again. I was hoping to see some neat new additions which indicated the team was carrying on Kojima’s legacy of these odd inclusions, but save for one particular thing mentioned below, what I saw was just graphical updates and good, logical gameplay improvements.
To reiterate, this is fine. Besides the sluggish pick up/put down animation I mentioned earlier, everything else feels and plays great.
Finally, The Gameplay Tweaks MGS3 Sorely Needed
All The Small Things Metal Gear Solid Δ Does
Despite the reservations listed thus far,Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eaterdoes bring some welcomequality-of-life changes to theMGS3experience.Players can now set their favorite camouflage combinations to a quick-select menu, allowing them to swap camos on the fly without ever having to pause the game and go to the camouflage screen. A similar quick-select function also applies to the radio, which isn’t quite as useful but still helps to speed the experience along.
As you can see in the images above,Metal Gear Solid Δhas moved Snake’s health, stamina, and camouflage information from the top-left of the screen to the bottom-center. On the one hand, this is fine. On the other hand, it feels like a very strange and ultimately unnecessary change to make.
Spending too much time going in and out of menus was one of the big complaints players had aboutMetal Gear Solid 3, especially the Cure and Camo menus, and combining this update with those new “special” camouflage bonuses will likely make sections of the game far more enjoyable than they have been in the past. I’m really intrigued to see if the Cure menu will be updated in some way that makes it less tedious to manage, and I like the idea of the “persistent battle damage” mentioned by Konami, although I didn’t really see any examples of it during my gameplay session.
Why MGS3 Is The Best Metal Gear Solid Game
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater marked a change for the franchise, and to this day it remains the most unique Metal Gear experience out there.
Metal Gear Solid Δalso contains a new form of collectibles called GA-KOs (pictured above) which are like little rubber ducks wearing gilly suits. Out of everything I saw while playingSnake Eater, these give me the most hope for the rest of the experience. This is the kind of weird, random nonsense I would expect from anMGSre-release, and I hope that there are more things like this Konami is keeping under wraps.
The Rest Of Metal Gear Solid Delta
Now It’s Time To Leave The Capsule, If You Dare
I asked a lot of questions about what else players can expect in the fullMetal Gear Solid Deltatitle, like whether any sort of online mode like what we had inSubsistencewould appear (no comment) or if there would be new NG+ features (also no comment). It’s clear Producer Noriaki Okamura and the entire development team at Konami have a lot of respect for the original game - Okamura says it is his favorite in the franchise - and that shows in how faithfully they have tried to adaptMGS3for a modern audience. The jungle is lush, the character models are stellar, and Ocelot’s howl finally looks as ridiculous as it deserves.
Ultimately, at this point it’s still too soon to say whetherMetal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eaterdoes enough to really justify buyingMGS3again, at least for me. If you haven’t yet jumped into the world ofMetal Gear, however, this is undeniably the best-looking place to start.
