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Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is an action-adventure stealth video game developed and published by Konami. It is the fifth main installment of the Metal Gear franchise directed, designed, produced and written by creator Hideo Kojima, the third numbered game in the Solid sub-series, and chronologically serves as a prequel to the entire saga, being set in 1964 and placing it over three decades before the events of the original Metal Gear (1987) for the MSX2.
The game's narrative follows Naked Snake, an operative for the special forces unit FOX as he is sent on a mission to rescue Russian scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, who was taken captive by his former Soviet employers and forced to develop a nuclear-equipped battle station dubbed the "Shagohod", which Snake is also tasked with disarming. His assignment escalates in urgency amid tensions between the United States and Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War, as the former is framed for the destruction of a Soviet research facility, and Snake must complete his objective for the purpose of clearing their name. He is also faced with confronting and eliminating his former mentor The Boss, who along with her COBRA Unit, defected to their side.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was originally released in North America and Japan in late 2004, followed by a European and Australian release throughout early 2005. It enjoyed a similarly immense critical and commercial success as its predecessors, Metal Gear Solid (1998) and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001). Likewise, it is regarded as among the greatest and most important video game releases ever made and is often regarded by both news publications and fans as the greatest entry in the Metal Gear franchise, receiving consistent praise for its story, characterization, presentation, and the numerous gameplay improvements over the other Solid games. An expanded version of MGS3, subtitled Subsistence, was released in Japan in late 2005 and worldwide throughout 2006. The Subsistence version was then remastered as Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - HD Edition, for inclusion in the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection alongside Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for seventh generation consoles in 2012. That same year, an enhanced port titled Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D was released for Nintendo 3DS, featuring reworked graphics as well as various quality-of-life additions from Peace Walker's gameplay systems. The HD Edition was ported to Nintendo Switch and other platforms in October 2023, being featured as part of the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 compilation alongside MGS1 and MGS2, as well as the two MSX2 and NES entries.
Gameplay[]
Snake Eater's gameplay is built on the foundation introduced by Metal Gear Solid and iterated on by Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, on the premise of the player controlling FOX operative Snake as he moves through a mix of natural and industrial environments that are heavily obstructed by enemies and obstacles that serve to impede his progress, all whilst attempting to remain undetected. As in MGS1 and MGS2, Snake is able to use the environment as a means of obscuring himself whether by means of crouching and crawling under various crevices to hide, hugging against walls while the player is offered a view of the activity in front of Snake, or using the series' trademark cardboard box as a means of quicker traversal while remaining hidden.
Compared to the heavier emphasis on industrialized facilities as settings in the prior Metal Gear games, a large majority of Snake Eater is set against a tropical jungle forest in the Soviet Union separated into various regions, and stealth in this title thus encourages more active environmental interaction in order to execute successful stealth and infiltration. With more importance placed on outdoor areas, a variety of new places for Snake to hide are introduced, such as crouching and crawling between blades of tall grass to avoid being noticed by soldiers, and climbing trees. Due to the game's 1960's setting, the advanced Soliton Radar system used by Snake and Raiden in MGS1 and MGS2 respectively, has been omitted in favor of a comparatively primitive motion sensor and sonar device for approximating the player's position relative to the surrounding environment and enemy locations.
Snake Eater introduces an additional component to stealth in the form of the Camoflauge system. Players must keep track of a special gauge called the "Camo Index" during gameplay, which measures the aptitude of Snake's obscurity from enemies and traps. Snake's camoflauge proficiency is improved by having him alternate between various suits and styles of face paint to better blend in with his surroundings, such as wearing Desert-themed facepaint when traversing rocky mountain ranges, or Woodland-themed facepaint when navigating through more dense forest regions, as an example. More practical forms of disguise such as head masks modeled after different animals that populate the jungle are also available for Snake to acquire and peruse.
MGS3 significantly expands on the hand-to-hand combat featured in previous entries with the implementation of "CQC" (close-quarters combat). When successful with surprising an enemy, Snake will force the soldier into a chokehold. The player is then able to proceed with multiple methods of how to either extract information or dispose of them efficiently without alerting others of his presence. Snake is able to incapcitate a guard, throw them to the ground and knock them unconscious, interrogate them for vital information pertaining to either the objective or survival tips, or slit their throat when equipped with a one-handed weapon such as a knife, for a quieter kill. The action performed is dependent on the degree to which the player either presses or holds the action button; simply tapping the button will trigger a standard melee attack from Snake, while applying further pressure has Snake hold the enemy in place either for interrogation or a kill depending on the motion of the analog stick, as well as being able to drag incapacitated enemies away for hiding their bodies in order to avoid drawing suspicion from accompanying guards.
While the previous Metal Gear titles represented Solid Snake and Raiden's health via a life bar that was upgraded in capacity upon defeating each boss, Snake Eater tracks injuries sustained across the entire body, be it physical damage taken by enemies or obstacles, or ailments such as sickness that are natural to the jungle environment. These impediments are treated through the in-game Survival Viewer accessed by pausing the game, where the player is able to treat these injuries and help him recover. Not doing so means Naked Snake will take significantly longer to recuperate his health. As an additional means of sustenance, the player must procure various flora, fauna and local wildlife in order to continually replenish Snake's durability, represented through a Stamina meter which gradually depletes depending on the intensity of gameplay and can cause longer-term detriments to Snake's performance either in traversal or combat situations, such as degrading aim accuracy using firearms, or being heard by surrounding enemies due to Snake experiencing a tummy ache for lack of food. These foods can be picked up and stored in Snake's backpack over time, but keeping certain foods in storage for too long may cause them to rot, by which point consuming them risks Snake falling sick and his stamina being further hindered.
External links[]
- Official site at Metal Gear Portal
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version at My Nintendo Store
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - Master Collection Version (Nintendo Switch) at GameFAQs
| Metal Gear series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | Metal Gear • Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake • Metal Gear Solid (Master Collection) • 2: Sons of Liberty • 3: Snake Eater (Master Collection) • Master Collection Vol. 1 |
| Non-Canon games | Snake's Revenge • Metal Gear: Ghost Babel |
| People | Hideo Kojima • Yoji Shinkawa • Shinta Nojiri • Mineshi Kimura • Harry Gregson-Williams • Norihiko Hibino • David Hayter • Akio Otsuka • Project Itoh |
| Related | Hybrid Heaven • Super Smash Bros. |