A real piece of game! One of the best PS2 games ever. Only the first MGS game is just one step better...
Note: When I say the first MGS is a step better than this game, I don't mean the PS1 version, I mean the upgraded GC version, "Twin Snakes". (You can read that review too so you understand why.)
Now when you got a little feeling how much I like these games, it's time to only talk about this game: MGS3: Snake Eater.
First, all of you who doesn't allready know the changer of the game:
This is a "spy game" -where you sneaking around a lot. But it also a great adventure and action game on the same time.
You play as Solid Snake, code name: "Naked Snake", a tough guy who works for FOX, before that he served CIA. The year is in the 60's, and the world is in great danger, it exist missiles in wrong peoples hands that can destroy our whole planet. That was just a little bit of the story, and I must say it's a very great story!
You will play a lot outside, in the jungle. It's a really beutiful atmosphere out there, and you can nearly feel the sun when you play, -and this is one of the biggest difference from the past games. You play much more outside here than inside, in the other games you are inside in different buidlings a lot more than outside. In this game you must eat and recover your injurys:
You have one line as shows your health status, like the games before - but you have also a line below how show your stamina status. This both things compares to each other. For example: If you are very hungry, you will lost stamina quickly and after a while also health. If you are injured, your stamina and health status goes down very fast, and it's here you must recover your damages. And if you have very low stamina, it will be much harder to aiming with your guns, you can't keep the gun still.
Everything from burn damages, broken bones and if you have eat wrong food and become poisoned on that way, you easily use your "recover screen" and make you clean again, but ofcourse you havn't infinity with bandages and things like that, -so try to not be injured.
Back to the jungle, it's a lot of new things here too, now you can change your camouflage wherever you want. And you will see how much risk in percent you are to be discover by the enemies, so with other words, if you want to hide in area with much grass, you just change your clothes/makeup to match that "green colors". And on that way it will be much more difficult for the enemies to find you. The same about the risk in percent to be discover depends if you standing or lie in the grass.
Ofcourse some few things is the same from the past games, you can still hide in different boxes, you can crawl, that's good to not be discovered because it doesn't make any noise.
And you can still smack down your enemies and then draw them away and put them in lockers. (So nobody elses of the guards will see that guard you just "took away".) The lockers is also a great place to hide for you too.
If some enemy will discover you, you are in deep trouble, he will call for backup and you will meet a lot of enemies, and that isn't so good...
One of the greatest news in this game is that you now can use "CQC", it means "Close Quarters Combat", it's ofcourse close-range fightning.
You can take an enemy as your hostage, and this is very funny to do...
When you take an enemy you can choose to do much different choises:
- When you have someone asyour hostage, the other enemies front of you doesn't anything (If they got a chance to save their scared friend and put you down, ofcourse they will.)
- You can directly cut the throat of him.
- You can take him and say "Speak!" And on this way you can get a lot of very necessary information, example what the bosses weak sides are and a lot of different radio frequency numbers, -then you can use the radio frequency to open locked doors etc. (Some enemies is tough enough and will not talk, so just kill the bastards directly.)
- You can smack him down immediately. It's very good to do that when you have very little with time, -when the enemies is all over around you.
-When you have taken your hostage, you can both put your knife near his throat at the same time you can put your gun pointed forward with the other hand.
- You can do a few more things, but I tell you:
All this "hostage keep" things can be very hard in the beginning, but after a while it will be easier than ride a child's bicycle.
Like the other MGS games, Hideo Kojima (the producer of these games) offer very, very much of cinematics (movies) in the game, and they are not only many of them, they are very long too! But the most important thing, it doesn't matter how long or many of these cinematics it is if they not is good... But let me tell you, they are totally wonderful! Kojima is a king on make cinematics in his games. This game feels like a movie, -but you are in it and can change things in it... The graphic in the game is also so good the PS2 can handle, I have only two words about the graphic: Great and Wonderful!
The voices in the game is on top too, it can't be better, the only thing how could be a little better is the music, it sounds to much "MGS1 and MGS2" -It's like they only took the background music from the past games and put in it here. The theme song is good too, but it sounds to much of "James Bond" - play it and you will hear it directly. I don't say the music and backgrounds music is bad, not at all, but it could be better...
You will see the game from "bird-perspective", little like "third-person" but you can still, wherever you want change it to "first-person", and that's pretty necessary when you aim with your guns. But you can only see from first-person when you stand still or something like that, you can't keep it and go away, you must always stand still to see from that perspective.
Like the other MGS games in the series, the bosses in these games is one big part that making the games so great that they are. And it's not an exception for this game, you will also here meet many different bosses.
Every each bosses is different from the others. Example, you will meet a very old man in the jungle called "The End". He is a part of the forest, and can move to different places in the jungle very fast. He is also the master of sniping. It's a very huge area, so the "The End" can be on many different places... It can take a while to beat him. But such a boss! I had never seen a boss fight like that before! (That was just one example, the other bosses are also great and very funny to meet!)
This is a really great game, and one of the best PS2 games.
And if you own a PS2 -
Buy this game right now!