4-Mar-2005 We've talked a lot about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater; chances are, so have you. Of all the games we've seen in recent months, Snake Eater is the one we've been most concerned about, the one we thought might just fall flat on its arse.
Would the new changes to gameplay fatally unbalance the game? Would the jungle really look that good? Would it, in short, deliver? Now that we've played it through, it's good to say that yes, it is awesome; no, it doesn't fail in what it attempts; and yes, it even tells a better story than Metal Gear Solid 2. Here's why.
MAKE LIKE A TREE Chances are that although the first couple of hours of play are taken up with a lot of scene-setting, character-establishing cut- scenes, you'll be aching to explore the jungle itself. At first, everything seems different, alien, but as you progress you'll realise that there are a lot of similarities to the old titles in the series. Although the jungle takes up a large portion of the gameplay, don't expect a change in the fundamental way that Metal Gear works. This is still a top-down game at its heart, and you'll still be viewing the action from above as Snake crouches in the grass, climbs trees and does his best to evade the rather more exploratory guards. As such, it means the camera is a bit more of a problem than it used to be when Snake was stuck in corridors.
While you do have some limited control over the camera, it's not easily configured, and you can sometimes lose sight of Snake's goals when he's exploring some of the rougher terrain. And this, more than anything else, reminds you that while the trappings of Snake Eater are sleek and damn near perfect, and the gameplay is often sublime, it's still oddly old-fashioned. But it's simply unfair to compare Snake Eater to any other third-person game: the core of the Metal Gear series is hide and seek in a series of self-contained environments, and really Snake Eater is no different. And this just doesn't work unless you have a view from the top.
POINTS OF VIEW The biggest change in gameplay terms is actually the lack of a radar. You'll no longer get a simplified picture of your surroundings in every room with information on where every single enemy is looking. Now this isn't as serious as it sounds, because you have several communications items that help you spot enemies. But make no mistake: you won't be able to simply glance at the corner of the screen to check out where enemies are any more. The result is that gameplay is inevitably slowed down. You'll find yourself stopping as soon as you reach a new area and scanning the horizon in first-person mode, even if you aren't hearing the telltale 'ping' from your detector. It's by no means an unpleasant way to play - it arguably puts you right in the middle of the action.
The missing radar means that other areas of gameplay have been cunningly tweaked too. We're used to getting spotted being tantamount to a 'game over' screen, but even in fairly open areas, it's not too hard for Snake to take a couple of hits and scamper off into the undergrowth without alerting every guard in the jungle. And we'd be lying if this didn't mean that the tension is lessened a bit, especially when you learn to use the Close Quarters Combat system to take enemies down noiselessly. But it also adds a genuinely new feel to the game, too: instead of feeling like a defenceless sneak, you're transformed into a hunter of animals and men alike.
JUNGLE GYM And a-hunting you will go, to keep your stamina bar up and lessen the risk of running slower and having your hand shaking like a leaf while you're aiming. Once you've figured out the fairly straightforward mechanics behind hunting for food, it becomes a kind of in-game hobby rather than a chore. There's something immensely pleasurable about killing an animal and seeing it turn into an oh-so-precious ration box right in front of your eyes, like you've really created something from nothing.
We have to commend the way every last bit of wildlife has been perfectly recreated. The smooth, sinister undulation of a killer croc, down to the haphazard leaping of the smallest frog, to the smooth and undeniably animal-like movement of the snakes... it's all been admirably fashioned, and adds immensely to the experience of being in a living environment. Like any good game, it changes your expectations for future titles: we won't be able to believe in any jungle that doesn't come equipped with wildlife after this. And as for the looks... we hardly need to tell you how stunning it all is. You can't range anywhere you like, but the areas are often much bigger than the largest places in previous games, and they always look stunning.
SNAKE TALES Of course, Metal Gear Solid 3 isn't just a game, it's a story too. A story with more twists than the snakes you kill and stuff in your backpack, in fact. Fortunately for loyal fans of the series and especially for more casual gamers, the tale told here isn't quite as jaw-droppingly mental as the one from Metal Gear Solid 2.
Like we say, there are twists aplenty - Snake really doesn't know what he's getting into when he parachutes into the jungle - but you can at least expect to find a bit more closure than in the last game, with major character arcs resolved and secrets revealed. We're not going to give away too many details, but the most important new character is The Boss, a woman with a complex agenda and someone who Snake is continually forced to measure up to.
MAN ON A MISSION What's very clear from the outset is that the usual Metal Gear quality threshold has been raised even higher. The main difference with the Metal Gear series, and the reason each new play area is carefully packed between cut-scenes like fine china, is that every single individual mission has been designed to the nth degree. This is probably most obvious in the boss battles. Like previous Metal Gear Solid games, there's no one solution to each encounter.
The psychopathic minions of the Cobra group have powers that reflect their personality. From an early fight with The Pain, who uses - what else? - killer bees to attack, to your later showdown with sniper master The End, you'll find yourself approaching the bosses tactically rather than just wading in. Some approaches will be obvious, and often supplied by your plummy English commander Major Zero via your headset. Others will be downright obscure, but rewarding nonetheless.
GEAR AND LOATHING So what are our true feelings? Well, any Metal Gear purist will love what's on show here. There's no doubt about that. The sheer number of sly references and in-jokes is wholly unexpected, and the indefinable MGS 'feel' is here in spades. Even the hilarious Ape-catching mode is alive with it.
The story's not quite as convoluted and the graphics are never, ever short of stunning, whether you're crawling through a damp, frog-infested tunnel or taking on the might of the Shagohod tank. Essentially, Snake Eater is an awesome game by even the most demanding standards. It refines the formula more than it pushes boundaries, but does it so well that this in itself feels kind of revolutionary.
And as if that wasn't enough the European version comes with a number of bonus features, taking the package from stunning to strangle-me-with-a-snake unbelievable. Best of all is the Duel Mode that lets you take on each of the game's bosses whenever you please. Since these encounters mark the game's standout moments, Duel Mode is golden. Also brilliant are the new European Extreme difficulty setting, the bonus European flag camouflage paints and some extra levels for the Snake Versus Monkey mode. Even the Cutscene Theatre - which lets you replay any cutscene at any time - is welcome, thanks to the added quality applied to Snake Eater's storyline.
Overall, perhaps Snake Eater's greatest achievement for games in general is this: it makes it very clear that making an organic environment like a jungle is not merely a case of changing colours, textures and maps. It's a lush, chaotic place out there in the real, natural world, and computers are just at the very edge of starting to replicate what that's like. Snake Eater does it so much better than anyone else. Mr Kojima, creator of Metal Gear, we salute you. You've taken the time and used the your skills to create an amazing, absorbing action title with more than just skin-deep intelligence. Have a slice of frog.
PSW Staff
// Overview
Verdict
As finely crafted and luscious as any game ever, this is a premium slice of action gaming we can heartily recommend to everyone.
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