The latest entry in the Metal Gear franchise is, for lack of a better term, solid.
Hideo Kojima, the producer of the games, released “Metal Gear” on the Nintendo Entertainment System back in 1988. The main difference between his game and others on the market was that it introduced an element of stealth instead of mindless action. Players took control of Solid Snake, a member of the special-forces unit FOX-HOUND, as he infiltrated an enemy base and triumphed over his former mentor, Big Boss.
Since then, the series has undergone many changes. The franchise was revived in 1998, 10 years after the original game, with “Metal Gear Solid.” Kojima said he was retiring after “Metal Gear Solid 2” in 2001, but he returns yet again to helm the latest Metal Gear. Two entries later and “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” stands as quite possibly the best stealth/action title to ever be released.
Set in 1964, deep within a Russian jungle (Russia has jungles?), players fill the shoes of Snake (voiced by David Hayter, “X-Men”). Snake’s mission this time around is to infiltrate an enemy base and rescue a scientist being forced to develop a weapon of massive power by a Russian militant organization. While this sounds like an incredibly generic narrative, things quickly get much more complicated. Without ruining too much of the amazing plot, friends become enemies, enemies become friends and Snake loses an eye in the process.
Game play is every bit as tight as in past outings, which is a relief. The general mechanics of sneaking, crawling and hiding from enemy sight returns, but is no longer in the urban setting seen in prior games. “Snake Eater” features jungles, caves, swamps, mountains, trenches and a few large bases sprinkled between. Instead of donning a cardboard box and hoping guards don’t notice Snake (though this can still be done), players have to crawl around in tall grass and conceal themselves behind trees and other more natural hiding places.
To go along with the new settings is a new camouflage system that allows Snake to change his face paint and outfit to better obscure himself from enemy patrols. It’s a cool feature, but the execution is a little bothersome. To change camouflage, players need to pause the game and go through a series of menus to select a different outfit. Playing dress-up is great fun, but pausing the game every few seconds in order to maximize Snake’s stealth gets rather tedious.
The radar system from the two previous Metal Gear Solid games has been completely removed and replaced with three other methods of monitoring enemy positions. Snake now has a sonar device, a motion detector and an enemy sensor. This is pretty frustrating at first, simply because it seems much easier to get spotted by the Russians. After a couple of hours, however, players will certainly begin to get a feel for the best ways to sneak around unnoticed.
One gripe with this game is that stealth is a lot less necessary than in the other games. At many points it’s just as easy to run around Rambo-style and just mow down Russians with a machine gun. A game that advertises itself as “Tactical Espionage Action” would hopefully focus a little more on the tactics part and less on the action, but that’s not the case.
Where “Snake Eater” truly shines is its graphics. Konami outdid itself this time in making some of the most realistic looking environments to be found on the Playstation 2. Water effects are breathtaking, as the weather changes that occur randomly. Suddenly it will start to pour outside, then become foggy soon after. The atmosphere of this game is incredible, really pulling players into it.
The game’s soundtrack is once again outstanding. Harry Gregson-Williams (“Shrek 2”) returns to compose music for the title. Everything from the main theme to the intense music played while being pursued by attacking guards sounds spot-on. This superb score really makes “Metal Gear Solid 3” seem less like a game and more like a film … which is what many people complain about.
Therein lies the problem with the Metal Gear franchise. Gamers have been upset in the past because of Kojima’s tendency to focus a lot on plot and less on actual game play. People joke that often they would watch a half hour of cut-scenes only to then experience 5 minutes of actual play-time, but at times this was surprisingly close to reality.
“Snake Eater” does a better job of evening out the game play to cut-scene ratio, as well as making the movies feel more interactive for players. Oftentimes a cut-scene will pause for a second and wait for the player to complete an action or will allow players to see the events from Snake’s point of view by pressing the R1 button.
One particular scene finds one of the main bosses asking Snake to kill him/her after the battle by putting a bullet in his/her head. The scene pans out and Snake stands still until the player pushes a button to fire the shot. Things like this not only bring players closer to the events of the cut-scenes, but make them feel responsible for all of Snake’s actions.
Fans of the series will undoubtedly fall in love with this game, as it surpasses previous entries in terms of length, difficulty and storyline. Those who haven’t played any of the other games won’t get as much out of the story as others, but will still enjoy the experience “Snake Eater” offers up. In the end, it’s another quality game from Kojima. Here’s to hoping he doesn’t “retire” from the franchise again.
Grade: A/B
