Perfecting elements from the previous games, Naked Snake's rise in the ranks to Big Boss is an unforgettable experience.
Before Solid Snake became the renowned spy, there was his father/predecessor Big Boss. And before Big Boss became such a prominent figure, he started out as Naked Snake. Naked Snake is sent on a mission to rescue the Soviet defecting scientist, Sokolov, who is being held captive by the USSR into making the Shagolhod, a tank like weapon with capabilities to launch nuclear weapons. To make matters worse, Snake's mentor, simply known as The Boss, defected to the Soviet Union and provided her new benefactor, Colonel Volgin, with nuclear missiles and the capabilities to finish the Shagolhod. After failing the mission by getting thrown off a bridge and nearly killed, Snake is sent on Operation Snake Eater to put Colonel Volgin to a stop, destroy the Shagolhod, and kill his mentor all for the sake of clearing the USSR's suspicions on the United States.
Throughout your journey, you meet an unforgettable cast that almost made me nostalgic of FOX-HOUND from the original Metal Gear Solid, code-named the Cobras. Many of these characters are based on human emotions and traits and provide some unforgettable boss battles. Along the Cobras joins a young Revolver Ocelot, who serves as a rival to Snake, always wanting to better him at combat but failing every time. Most of your allies in the game are support through radio signals (considering how the 60s didn't have nanomachine embedded codecs), starting with Major Zero, who is Naked Snake's version of Colonel Campbell; Paramedic, who gives you medical help and spouts information about movies, most of which Snake has never seen and ends in some humorous dialog; and Sigint, who provides help on weapons and camo. You also meet up with EVA, who is a United States defected solider, and eventually becomes a close ally and love interest.
The thing that works so wonderfully about the story is how fantastic the characters are and how they make the story so much more engaging. The set up is a classic spy thriller filled to the brim with betrayal, great characters, and heart. I normally do not care too much about the story, but this game had me attached to the characters. Naked Snake is a great character, but his interactions and connections between other characters is what makes him stand out. Colonel Volgin is a wonderful villain and a complete sociopath who you just want to see get killed due to his sadistic nature towards his comrades and allies, an example being that he punches people stuffed inside barrels repeatedly as a sport. And The Boss herself is a wonderfully elusive character, who you want to see more to learn about her connection and bond with Snake. It's just a story that is filled with action, comedy, and heart and something you can rarely find so well done in a game.
And yes, there are plenty of instances of humor thrown in there, even having Kojima taking a jab at himself. For instance, many of the Raiden haters will have a good laugh to see a similar character named Raikov being the feminine lover of Colonel Volgin. Others may be amused by Snake and Paramedic's discussions about movies and how Snake has no idea about anything Paramedic is talking about, while they both get interrupted by Major Zero's fanboyism over James Bond. And even a certain character infamously known for his bathroom sequences somewhat makes an appearance in this game (to my dismay). Of course, like the previous games, most of the humor is done in a dead serious nature by the characters, which makes it even more hilarious. The humor does a great job to break up the serious tone of the cast, yet blends in perfectly with touches of subtlety.
Being that this is a Metal Gear Solid game, there are still lengthy cutscenes (not as bad as Sons of Liberty), but to be fair, this is the third game in the Metal Gear Solid series and you should know by now that cutscenes will be prominent in the stories. Despite the scenes being long, Snake Eater probably has the most sensical plots out of the other games, exploring the themes of loyalty to your loved ones or for what you stand, patriotism, and trust. It's a very human and emotional story, making Naked Snake both a tragic and heroic figure. Originally, I was disappointed that I wasn't playing as Solid Snake, but throughout the game, Big Boss' mysterious past being explained just made me appreciate his character and flesh him out from the standard bad guy into a 3 dimensional hero. By the end, you will feel attached to these characters and stories and certain moments may make you tear up. I have never cried before at the videogame, but by the ending, I was covered in tears. Hideo Kojima does a wonderful job bringing emotion into this cinematic experience. Overall, this game has an absolutely fantastic story that goes deeper into one of the most prominent Metal Gear games.
Going into settings, the game looks absolutely amazing and Bluepoint's HD conversion looks fantastic. Right off the bat when Snake goes to jump off the plane, I can't help but be stunned at how good this game looks, especially when you consider its age. Aside from the introduction, the vast jungles also look amazing. While the earlier Metal Gears often prominently featured bases, Snake Eater entirely takes place in the jungles as you move towards your desired base to follow out your mission. The lush jungles are also complimented by great looking character models and wonderful special effects. For a port of a game that's nearly 7 years old, Snake Eater looks pretty amazing.
The only fault I can find in the graphics is that the synching between the mouths of the characters and the dialog is laughably bad, but that's really the only flaw that I can think of in the graphics department. Going out into the jungles and infiltrating bases has never felt this refreshing and honestly, I hope Kojima Productions continues using the vast forests as the main area, because Snake Eater nailed it in terms of tone and setting.
I am a huge fan of the music in the Metal Gear series and once again, Snake Eater sets the standard of the music in the series. Ever since Norihiko Hibino and Harry Gregson-Williams took over for the soundtrack starting with Sons of Liberty, the music jumped leaps and bounds in terms of quality. The adrenaline of being caught by the enemy is even higher with the amazing music following through as you're trying to escape the enemy's fire and attacks. Not only is the music amazing during the action, but Snake Eater has an amazing intro track that kind of reminds me of the classic Bond films, matching the spy thriller tone (along with some purposely nonsensical moments in the lyrics, with one part foreshadowing Big Boss' rise in the ranks right into detailing him eating a tree frog (hilariously in a completely serious tone)). And towards the end, when you reach the final areas, different variations of the Snake Eater theme begin playing and it makes you feel very nostalgic about the entire experience you've been having. The music not only is excellent, but adds so much to the experience to the game. Also, most of my tears from the ending ensued from the ending theme, which I will not dare spoil (the ending that is). I'll just say that after feeling so empty and heartbroken, the ending theme takes it much further and will leave you even emptier.
Aside from the music, the sound department stands very strong in terms of voice acting. David Hayter returns from his role of Solid Snake to voice Naked Snake, while there are a variety of new actors voicing the new characters, all of which fit their roles perfectly. There are a few mishaps with the dialog here and there, but overall the character's conversations are fantastic and well done, bringing in both charm and emotion into the mix.
Moving onto the gameplay, it retains the similar style of tactical espionage that we have all come to love, but takes place in the jungle setting. The jungle setting is just brilliant, making your encounters with enemies much more exciting and forcing you to use the lands and wilderness to your advantage. Due to the limitations of the 1960s, you do not have the convenience of systems and nanomachines pinpointing the locations of your enemies, forcing you to resort to other methods. However, to even out the limitations, the team at Kojima Productions have given you more than enough resources to make your tactical espionage more convenient. Traps in the Sons of Liberty like fire hydrants and pipes have been replaced with beehives and even throwing animals like snakes on your opponents to scare off or poison them. You can also use the grass and trees to blend in the environment and avoid enemy detection.
Stealth is highlighted through the new camouflage system, in which you go through a series of menus to put on different suits and face paint to blend in the environment. There is a camo index that shows how well you're surrounded in your environment, and the higher the index number the less you stick out. Using the camo system is extremely crucial in fending off enemy soldiers and encountering large numbers that can potentially prevent Naked Snake from completing his mission to become the legendary Big Boss. The system works surprisingly well, and whenever you manage to evade an enemy inches away from you through your camo and deception, you get an overwhelming sense of excitement.
Another refinement in the gameplay comes into the controls. You still have your standard run, shoot, odd placement of the first person view in your control scheme, but new to your controls in a refined system of close quarters combat, called CQC. With CQC, you can do a variety of new moves that differ from the standard kill or subdue, such as grabbing an enemy to interrogate them for some useful info, slitting their throats, using them as a human shield, or my personal favorite of slamming their heads into the ground for instant knockouts. The system is somewhat confusing to get used to (due to some of the actions being based on the pressure you press the buttons or the direction you're holding on the analog stick), but eventually, the system will come naturally to you and it becomes a trilling and fun experience that allows you to take down your opponents with ease.
The AI in Snake Eater also works quite well. Getting caught in their sights gives you a tiny chance to dash and subdue them before they yell for help or respond by shooting. However, with the combination of clever hiding with camouflage and the use of your weapons and CQC, your enemies do not stand a chance. Snake Eater also adds to the convenience by allowing you to destroy enemy storage camps containing weapons and other goods. Destroying them reduces the number of enemies, due to the lack of resources to support themselves.
And if you do happen to get caught by the enemies, you still have the alert system from the older games that reduces the less you are seen. Loud guns and making noise can get the enemies attention, though you can conventionally take the forces down with silenced guns. However, reducing soldier numbers will get the enemies to notice your presence due to their periodic monitoring. Getting through unscathed requires you be stealthy and put a moderation to your fighting.
While taking enemies down is all fine and dandy, you still need to worry about yourself. Due to the jungle environment, Kojima decided to have Naked Snake become dependant on eating food to keep his stamina up. You can acquire food through either hunting for animals and fruit or picking them up from soldiers. Food is absolutely necessary, as Snake's health recovery no longer comes from eating rations but the amount of stamina he has restoring his health. Lack of food also causes Snake to become much weaker and significantly lowers his strength and accuracy. By eating different foods, Snake's stamina is restored based on his preference on the taste. The tastier the item, the more stamina is restored for Snake. However, it is advised to make sure that foods that can become rotten to be consumed quickly or thrown away as Snake can get food poisoning and vomiting causes him to lose a large amount of stamina.
Snake's health recovery also depends on the injuries he sustains. Unlike the older Metal Gear Solids, Snake can't just go running into gunfire, stabbings, and explosions and just expect to get through it all with a ration. Snake can actually be affected by bullets and other wounds long after the battle and in the new injury system, he has to treat the wounds. For example, if Snake takes in a lot of bullets, you need to go into the menu and remove the bullets with the knife, add disinfectant, sew up the wounds, and wrap them up with bandages. Doing this will allow Snake to recover faster, though you can choose to ignore the wound and wait for it to heal naturally at the cost of regaining health slower.
The previously mentioned systems may sound unnecessary and convoluted, but surprisingly is very deep and efficient. Heck, I even made an effort to hunt new types of food and animals just for the sake of experimenting with what works best with Snake (along with some bragging rights). And whenever you defeat a boss with only a tranquilizer, you can unlock their camo, so you have an even larger incentive to take the challenge on. And treating your injuries and recovering health over time based on stamina is a lot better than hunting for rations and hoping not to get massacred in the gunfire. All of these systems could have easily been butchered, but the team at Kojima Productions took their time and effort to weave in all of these elements, almost making it come naturally into the gameplay.
The game itself is not incredibly long, especially considering how the cutscenes take up a good portion. However, once I finished the game I immediately started the game again wanting to try out different tactics with my new camo I acquired. If you want a bigger challenge, you can try to finish the game on the extreme setting or set personal challenges like beating the game without killing anyone. I can honestly say that this is the perfection of the Metal Gear system and the many ways you can take on the enemies makes you want to play the game over and over. That and the unforgettable story makes the incentive of rewatching the cutscenes even higher. Not to spoil the story, but the final battle is one of the most emotionally draining and heartbreaking moments in any game and the way the effort went to the story and gameplay makes you want to experience it over and over again. It also helps that completing the story unlocks new weapons and pieces of camo. And if you want to know Solid Snake's roots, you can also play Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, which makes this package even better. Metal Gear Solid 3 is a game you won't leave on your shelf collecting dust due to the absurd amount of replayability and fun you will have.
I've never said this about a game before, but I cannot find a single personal flaw in the gameplay of Snake Eater. It's as perfect as any Metal Gear can get and I would be trying way too hard to nitpick the littlest things. It's easily one of the greatest storytelling and gameplay experiences I've had and the emotionally crushing journey of Naked Snake turning into the revered and infamous Big Boss is one nobody will forget anytime soon. Dare I say it, I think that the characters and Cobra Unit might leave a larger impact than Solid Snake's encounter with FOX-HOUND in the original Metal Gear Solid. In conclusion, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is probably the greatest Metal Gear to date and a haunting and emotional journey that you will never forget.