1. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Release Date: 2004

	What's Ahead: We didn't actually get to play Metal Gear Solid 3 at E3, and the game is still a ways off. Nevertheless, it was the single most talked-about PS2 game among our editorial staff, and the one for which we have the highest hopes. But judging from everything we've seen, and from all we've learned directly from Kojima, we're confident that Metal Gear Solid 3 marks a shift in a very good direction for the series. Right now, stealth elements are more common than ever in games, but many people are starting to loathe them. Metal Gear Solid 3 seems to be emphasizing the ambush instead of the typical stealth gameplay, in which you just wait for an enemy to turn his back. Simply put, the game looks really entertaining and intense, and we're eagerly looking forward to seeing how it shapes up.

We had a hunch we'd see the likes of Metal Gear Solid 3 for the first time at E3. After all, the week before the big show, a brief trailer for the game leaked out, essentially confirming that the game was in development. However, this leaked trailer was actually pretty disappointing--it simply showed Solid Snake deep in the jungles, gunning down enemies with little regard for the sort of stealthy tactics he's best known for. No story was alluded to, either. Was this even for real? Some speculated that this leaked trailer for MGS3 was all part of designer Hideo Kojima's elaborate plot to mislead his fans once again, just as he did with the series of flashy trailers for Metal Gear Solid 2--which took gamers everywhere by surprise when it turned out to be focused on a completely different main character than the trailers implied.

Skeptically, we sat down at Konami's pre-E3 press conference to confirm whether MGS3 would make an official appearance at the show, and whether the game would look as simplistic as the leaked trailer gave on. Turns out we were right on one count and dead wrong on the other.

Metal Gear Solid 3 unfolded before us in a dramatic 10-minute trailer, one that was markedly different in nature than the Hollywood-style cinematics used to show off Metal Gear Solid 2. This one consisted mostly of gameplay, not cutscenes.

Here we saw Solid Snake in a variety of situations never before seen in the highly acclaimed Metal Gear series. Most jarring perhaps is the realization that Metal Gear Solid 3 will be a game of survival, in which Snake will need to hunt for his food to stay alive--we saw him biting into raw fish and even serpents to sustain himself. This new, primal twist to the series complements new gameplay options that will be all about guerilla-style warfare and survival against all odds. Snake will be able to sneak up and brutally, silently slay enemy troops using just a knife, stalk his prey from underwater, use camouflage, pick off targets while hanging from vines or branches, and more. Metal Gear Solid 3 may not be a drastic improvement on MGS2 from a graphical standpoint, but the gameplay seems to be considerably enhanced, and the whole tone of the trailer emphasized this point. So, just as the Metal Gear series helped usher in an era of gaming characterized by cinematic excess, it's great to see the series return to its roots and refocus on providing unique gameplay experiences first and foremost.

Not that we aren't wondering about the plot. Evidence suggesting that Metal Gear Solid 3 takes place in the 1960s caused many to wonder whether the main character truly is Solid Snake. In an interview with GameSpot, Kojima stated plainly that Metal Gear Solid 3 would indeed include numerous surprises for fans of the series, and that the jungle settings shown extensively in the trailer are only a portion of the environments that will be seen in the finished game.

We know one thing for sure, though: Now that we've gotten this first taste of it, we can't wait for Metal Gear Solid 3.