What a brilliant game. It's definitely one of my favourite games of all time.
One of the other things i thought was realistic and unique was your survival kits. If you take some damage, you can just expect to get a medipack and keep walking about, you now have to heal yourself and perform realistic medical actions. For example, if you get shot in the arm, you might have to get a knife to pull out the bullet, get some disinfectant and then put a bandage around your arm. Afterwards, you need to heal. Also, Snake gets hungry, so if you hear a strange rumbling noise, it'll be his stumoch. EVEYBODY NEEDS TO EAT! Once he's eaten, he'll make a comment about the food saying whether it was tasty or disgusting, you can even get food poisoning if your not careful! You also need to get camoflarge. Unlike the 2nd Metal Gear Solid where you just wear the same costume, you now have to change suits and wear different face paint to stay camoflarged. You can find more in different places in the game, or unlock some in the 'Snake Vs Monkey' bonus game, or download some through the net. If your in a grassy area, it's best wearing plain green camo, if you in a dark area, it's best wearing black camo. It goes like that. A % in the corner of your screen will tell you how camoflarged you are. However, your never invisible, if you move about too much while your in the grass, it doesnt matter how camoflarged you are, the guards will find you.
One of my favourite little tricks on this game is the 'Faking your death' trick. You take a fake death pill which will kill you for a shortish length of time, the guards that were attacking you will check your pulse and then walk away reporting your death. You can take a quick revival pill and begin walking off again. (Tip: When you fake your death, a message will show 'Snake is Dead', then the letters will begin to change, take the revival pill before the words spell 'Time Paradox' otherwise you really will be dead, and it will be too late to revive.)
There are many great and strange characters to see, including Snakes new crush EVA who Snake likes to take a LOOK at if you know what i mean. The bosses have very cool names which are given to them because of what they are, bosses like 'The Fear', 'The Sorrow', 'The Pain', 'The End', 'The Fury', and a memorable character, Ocelot, who fans of the other MGS games will remember. None of these characters are 'just there', each character has their unique personality and they give you the feeling that you know all about them, and that you want to know more. Vulcon is perhaps one of the most evil characters on the game as he hates Snake so much, that he'll do ANYTHING to kill him. however,an old friend of Snake's known as 'The Boss' has a great, upsetting but wonderful story to tell throughout, and it's only as you complete the game, that you'll fully understand how brilliant the story is. The character Eva is also very cool, shes smart, nice looking, and will do anything to help Snake as he saved her life too. She however, has a past she needs to tell...
The game is amazing and it really brings a slight tear to your eye at the end. It took me 12 hours to complete, so it's got it's hours too. If you don't have this, you dont have a PS2, just a black box that plays games, BUY THIS.