Looking at: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

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While doing research for yesterday's article on Half Life 2, it was brought to my attention that it's also the tenth anniversary of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. MGS3 is particularly important to me because it's the only Metal Gear Solid game that I've actually played, an issue I now wish to remedy.

I didn't play MGS3 when it came out. I didn't even play it during it's console's life cycle. It wasn't until earlier this year, after receiving a PS2 as a Christmas gift did I dive in. I was excited, I'd never played a Metal Gear Solid game before, and MGS3, being a series prequel looked like a good place to drop in.

I'll admit, I had no idea what I should've expected. One of the reasons I picked MGS3 was because of this video:

I was so confused, perplexed, and intrigued that I had to know what was going on, and what was the big deal with this series.

I can honestly say I still don't know.

Virtuous Mission

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The infamous Box makes a return.

Unlike the other games in the series, MGS3 takes place during the cold war, specifically in the mid 60's. You play as secret agent Naked Snake, so named because he's dropped behind enemy lines with almost no equipment. Naked Snake is a central character in the future of the franchise, but here he's just an agent with a job to do. That job is shutting down a secret Soviet tank capable of throwing (literally) nukes right at the US.

It's hard to classify...everything about MGS3. On paper it's a stealth game, and you can certainly play it that way. But like any good stealth game you're also allowed to just play however you want. The game provides you with plenty of tools to just shoot your way through everything.

More then just trying to classify the gameplay, it's difficult to classify the story and characters. Again, on paper they're all grim, serious secret agents behind enemy lines. But MGS3 is filled with weird humour, and most of your "serious" conversations are absolutely bizarre. Talk to your health specialist and she'll give you detailed descriptions of the food you should or should not eat, and all Snake cares about is if it tastes good. There's a pervasive weirdness to everything people do and say in this game, and it's really hard to tell if it takes itself seriously.

Snake Eater

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A gunfight with series favorite Revolver Ocelot.

That sense of weirdness spreads to the actual gameplay too. Like I said, MGS3 is technically a stealth game, and that's certainly the best way to play. There are plenty of tools to help you avoid or eliminate your enemies silently, and there's even the option for a non-lethal playthrough, should you be so inclined. There's also the option to kill everything and everyone, with weapons like the AK-47, M37 shotgun, and the M63 light machine gun. The shooting handles well after a slight learning curve, and using the games cover system will allow you to outlast and out shoot whatever comes your way.

Perhaps the strangest addition to the gameplay is the survival elements. Naked Snake will need to take care of himself throughout the mission, meaning you'll have to eat regularly apply medical treatment when injured. It's strangely hardcore, especially the medical examinations, and probably paved the way for more modern survival games.

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It's a stealth game, but it doesn't have to be.

MGS3 also features a camoflauge system, where you can blend in with your environment by changing your clothes. It's an interesting idea and well implemented, and it makes sense in the absence of more modern sneaking technology. Or, alternitivly, you can walk around like John Rambo with a machine gun and ignore this mechanic.

Graphically there's a lot of charm to MGS3. When it was originally released ten years ago it was pushing the PS2 right to it's limits, and the scope of it's detail is impressive. The terrain feel realistic, it has a rudimentary physics engine, and character's change and react based on where they take damage. There's a lot of fine detail to everything, and it still looks great, even on the original PS2 version.

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You fight a man that controls hornets. This is normal.

It's worth noting that the version of MGS3 I played was actually the Subsistence version. This version comes with a fully 3D camera, a function I can't imagine the game without, as well as some other goodies. To my knowledge it's actually very hard to find a non-Subsistence version of MGS3, and both the HD version for the Metal Gear Solid Collection, as well as the 3DS re-release are both based on the Subsistence version.

SNAAAAKE!

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A good 70% of the game right here.

I feel like talking about MGS3 in to much detail gives away most of what I really liked about it. It's a spy fantasy, but it feels like a parody at times.It's down-right bonkers, but yet intricately composed. I know this is the norm for a series with questionable homo-erotic relationships, cyborgs, naked cyborgs, and just a whole whack load of crazy seeping through every pore, but to me MGS3 is a special game, even within the MGS series. It's grounded in it's crazy, and almost believable at points. I'm still waiting the day that I can experience more of the series, preferably on PC, and I'm deffinitly looking forward to the two upcoming MGS games for PC, but until then you'll find me in the Russian jungle, eating snakes.