Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

aka: MGS3
Moby ID: 15735
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The Cold War, a situation created after the Second World War when the world was torn between East and West, is about to heat up as Soviets got their top scientist, Nikolai Stepanovich Sokolov, back due to agreement with the US government for withdrawing the nuclear missiles from Cuba. Now, with Sokolov in their hands, they're up to developing a powerful new weapon, and upon realizing the urgency of the situation, CIA formed a plan to recapture Sokolov. They dispatch the covert FOX unit to Sokolov's research facility, located to the south of the great Soviet fortress of Groznyj Grad. Led by former SAS member Major Zero, FOX is a next-generation special-forces unit that operates both as a specialized combat group and as a covert intelligence outfit. The FOX unit's modus operandi is to send a single agent, backed by radio support from afar, into enemy territory to carry out solo sneaking mission.

August 24, 1964, a lone soldier swoops down from out of the blue. The man's code name is Naked Snake. It's a one-man war now, and the future of the world may now rest entirely on his shoulders.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is the prequel to the entire Metal Gear series. Most of the series' defining gameplay elements have been carried over. As before, Snake must use stealth and wits rather than brute force to infiltrate enemy zones and eliminate his major adversaries. Action set-pieces and boss battles that require the player to figure out the enemy's weakpoints and employ unique tactics to defeat him are also present.

Several notable gameplay features have been added. Unlike the previous games, much of the action in this installment takes place in a large outdoor environment, the (geographically inaccurate) jungle. Snake is able to use camouflage: climb trees, hide in tall grass, or wear clothes that make him less noticeable. Snake can also grow tired and hungry; collecting rations or even hunting wild animals for food is necessary. He can sustain injuries (for example, breaking an arm), which must be treated in a specific way, as opposed to the single health bar of the predecessors.

Spellings

  • 合金装备3: 食蛇者 - Chinese spelling (simplified)
  • 메탈 기어 솔리드 3: 스네이크 이터 - Korean spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

314 People (282 developers, 32 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 90% (based on 79 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 122 ratings with 7 reviews)

Absolutely the finest game of 2004. A must-play.

The Good
MGS2 left many people (including myself) feeling a bit awkward. It was fun, of course, and sufficiently challenging, but there were some nagging issues: (1) The abrupt and unfortunate switch to Raiden, a weak and shallow character, early on; (2) a lack of truly showstopping boss fights, and (3) a plot which was needlessly confusing and even illogical.

Thus, coming into MGS3, I had my doubts. I feared that Kojima was suffering from the dreaded Lucas syndrome, and that Metal Gear was doomed to a long, ignominious downfall.

Thank God, I was wrong.

MGS3 succeeds on so many levels. The stealth gameplay has been further refined with the addition of close-quarters combat (CQC), which gives you more ways to deal with guards and bosses alike. The graphics are stunning, as is the music (the import soundtrack is worth the cash). But I'd like to deal with my three issues in depth:

(1) and (3) - Snake is your main man. It doesn't spoil too much to say that this Snake is the man who eventually becomes Big Boss (and thus "Snake" is his genetic offspring). He is a man who, in his own words (or at least a reasonable facsimile thereof), "Never had much interest in other people's lives." This game is the story of his birth, so to speak, into the world as it actually is. Despite his profession, he is an innocent, and his journey out of this blissful state is completely compelling. As he leaves the graveyard at the game's conclusion, you realize you have come full circle in the Metal Gear mythos, and as such MGS2 makes so much more sense. You understand why the Big Boss is who is he, why he did what he does, and his defeat at the end of the second game now feels tragic whereas before it just felt...like a let-down.

It's not too much of an exaggeration to say that I'm still thinking about MGS3's story months after finishing it. It's that good.

(2) - The boss fights in this game KICK ASS. Seriously, these are the best bosses in just about any game, ever. In particular, The End is a vicious old bastard, and your battle with him may frustrate, but damn does it feel rewarding when you beat him.

The Bad
Three things:

(1) - The camera needs to evolve. Perhaps Kojima should borrow a bit from RE4 - an over the shoulder view would make the experience so much more enjoyable.

(2) - At times, interacting with the game world is a bit too complicated. I counted several times when I mistakenly fired off the wrong weapon just because the interface is trying to do too many things. Ditto with CQC - I slit a few throats when all I wanted to do was drop a guard on his head. Oops.

(3) - The much touted survival system (in which you must feed Snake and cure his wounds) is a bit of a distraction. I had no real problem with feeding Snake, but curing him is silly and unrealistic.

The Bottom Line
Not just the best game of 2004, but an important milestone in gaming, period. Hopefully, more designers will stretch the dramatic potential of games. Only when this happens will this much-maligned medium attain the critical and cultural respect it deserves.

PlayStation 2 · by Lucas Schippers (57) · 2005

It's time you meet The Boss

The Good
This game surpasses its predecessors by a fair margin in virtually any field. The graphics capabilities have been squeezed out of PS2 to match the best they can, making a clearly visible different from already amazing MGS2, and making even games such as Splinter Cell 2 looking way below the belt. The music is fantastic, Harry really did a wonderful job with some of the tunes, especially with main one. And the "Snake Eater" theme is brilliant, sort of in a James Bond stile of opening, only in this game's case, it happens as if the game has been split into two missions (think Tanker Episode). Characters have more details from game's predecessors, especially facial textures and eye details. MGS3 is noticeably longer than the other two, and it also takes place in much more wide open space. The game is full of details, and it feels above all, very much alive. No game have ever paid so much attention to details of both main and additional graphics.

On the contrary to what I believed, that this game will neglect cinematics and launch a full scale gameplay preference, it is not how it works. Yes, it has heavily upgraded on the gameplay and it offers you far more than others did, but it still stays loyal to intriguing and complex story with tons and tons of long cinematics, and if I may say so, they're quite well done and on par with the other two games. I personally still prefer The Twin Snakes for some reason, but this game is technically leaving all the other behind.

The new additions I've been kind of skeptical about, such as having to eat to keep your stamina at the level, having to treat your injuries, using camouflage to enter the enemy territory unspotted, and such are really not quite hard to follow. You get easily accustomed to the rules and it all works fairly easy. Sure, it's still amazing with what speed Snake can heal, but once you see the soldiers you fight against (and I do refer to boss battles here), this game starts resembling more to a sci-fi in a style of X-Men, then a cold war situation. Of course, we got used to seeing cool bosses with unexplained powers in MGS games, to say the least, so it kind of wouldn't be right to leave Snake fighting only those that doesn't stand a chance against him.

To observe the nature around you is impressive in a way you can forget you're in a the middle of a one-man war. Seeing frogs jumping around you, or breaking the cohesion of the water while swimming, or various types of snakes crawling around the mountains or jungles, lots of fishes swimming in the rivers, poisonous spiders crawling in the prison, butterflies enjoying their one day of finality, squirrels jumping from one tree to another, grass moving at the every move of an animal crossing it, it really is impressive to say the least. But although there is a jungle out there, you'll have a map with you, and you'll run across many bases, ruins, tunnels, and other indoors in case you prefer setting closer to that in predecessors.

And of course, the best thing of all was... well yeah, The Boss. However, I am not referring to Snake here. He is not The Boss in this game so soon, not until he kills her. It's kinda sad in a way their relationship was so strong yet so hard to figure, so no matter what, I can't say I enjoyed fighting her in the end, but it was inevitable, you could see that coming right from the start, but yet there was no hard feelings in that battle. Two professionals fighting on opposing sides... or in this case, it's a bit more complicated than that. But it connects to the relationship of Solid Snake and Grey Fox, no matter the two of them were fighting each other, they were still friends, just due to situation they were on different sides. Things like that make games like MGS even more powerful.

Oh yeah, and it's quite wonderful how Snake here doesn't appear as all mighty like Solid Snake, he gets beaten pretty badly, especially by The Boss. And of course, it wouldn't be a MGS game without a torture scene... which will tell you how he got that eye-patch in the first place. In most unusual way, would never figure it out on yourself, lol, really cool twist.

The Bad
The fact I saw all those MGS3 trailers for 100+ times, literally, well you can guess that once I finally got the game my expression of joy was way below the required one. But maybe that'll teach me for the future... although something tells me it may not be so true.

But the only annoying thing in this game is actually something that's a part of MGS franchise no matter what, and that is live-scenes that are there to try and emphasize the story. I know Mr. Kojima had nothing but best interest in adding those, but they are boring and doesn't fit the game that well. It's like watching a documentary. I mean, even pure radio talk would be enough. But mixing their wonderfully directed cutscenes with bunch of old videos just doesn't go along that well. Nor did in MGS2, imho.

The Bottom Line
MGS3 lets you get to know the man from which our known Snake hero has become. You meet the Big Boss himself... and the true one from whom he inherited the title. The game is full of details and doesn't lack the quality that was proven in previous MGS games, in any aspect. Controls are fine, shooting is interesting to experience as your gun recoils much more when you're standing then crouching or laying down, and some cool new moves are added for CQC (Close-Quarter Combat). This games lets you understand The Boss a bit more and can kind of help you understand why he switch the sides and played nemesis in original Metal Gear games, and after this, it definitely makes you want to see more of it recreated, especially those original MG games and a confrontation of Solid Snake and Big Boss. I bet if that ever gets redone, it'll be a masterpiece of the franchise. Let's hope Konami won't just stop here and call it the conclusion of the series.

PlayStation 2 · by MAT (240759) · 2012

Too much drama for me.

The Good
I liked the graphics in this game. Everything looks sharp & fluid. A lot of work was put in for MGS3 to have some much detail.

The sound was awesome. You like you're hiding in the bushes with birds, frogs, and snakes moving around you. You can hear the wind blowing though the trees and grass.

Like the other MGSs, the characters are beyond words. The characters really draw you into the story. You just have to know where they've come from and whats going to happen to them next.

The Bad
There is a lot I didn't like about this baby.

First, though the graphics are great, several times the game would freeze and twice it crashed during while I was playing. I found it very annoying MGS3 would freeze right when I was focusing on a enemy to shoot before he got to me. The PS2 just can't handle the load without dropping a few balls, stop, go back to pick them up & then continue. Its not good to freeze during the action!!

Then there's the length you actually play the game. It's too damn short. I sent more time watching cut scenes than controlling Snake.

I didn't like all the stuff I had to keep up with. I have to feed Snake, cure Snake, take things out of Snake's bag, change Snake's clothes. . . What The Hell?! I thought I was playing MGS not the Sims!

And finally, I didn't like the drama. It was like I was watching a soap opera. I don't remember the other MG games being this bad. I wish they would just get to the point and let me play. Does Snake really need a love interest? He's Snake not James Bond.

The Bottom Line
Though I have a few issues with this game, Metal Gear Solid 3 is okay. I my opinion is not a great game. Hell, far from it! I would recommend as a rental before buying. You can beat this game in a day easily and the extra stuff you unlock isn't that great.

3/5 - Average.

PlayStation 2 · by jgusw (3) · 2005

[ View all 7 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
What's different in the 3DS version? CrankyStorming (2927) Apr 9, 2012

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Camouflage

Like Metal Gear Solid 2 with its dogtags, Konami held a contest where people could send in their suggestions for custom camouflage, where the winners would have their suggestions incorporated into the game. A special facepaint can be earned by selecting Metal Gear Solid 2

Development

After the release of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Hideo Kojima said that he would not direct this game. He wanted a member of his team at Konami to replace him, but none of them wanted to, so he was forced to change his mind and direct after all.

In an interview, Harry Gregson-Williams jokingly said that he might return to compose this game's music "if it's set in the Amazon". At the time, Kojima actually was planning to set it in the jungle. Kojima decided to use this as a way to get Gregson-Williams to return; he told him that what he said had been the inspiration for the game's setting. He didn't tell Gregson-Williams the truth until the music was nearly finished.

Ivan Raikov

Major Ivan Raidenovitch Raikov is a mysterious character in MGS3. He speaks no lines during the game, but behind the scenes he has a whole background of history that shows that he is undeniably gay with Col. Volgin, the main antagonist of the game.

Raikov has man effeminate features in the games. Not only does he sport the soft feminine features of a woman and well-groomed body, but his voice in the English version is extremely high-pitched.

Any fan of the MGS series also will see that he is almost identical to Raiden from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Not only does he look dead on like Raiden, but he also shares the same fighting style with him, and even has a poster of him in his locker. The name "Raiden" is even cleverly hidden in his name. Of course, Raiden was the infamous protagonist of MGS2, and today many debates rage on about his sexual orientation.

During cutscenes in the game, numerous references are made to Raikov and Volgin's relationship. When Naked Snake goes undercover, he knocks Raikov out cold and steals his uniform. When Snake is done taking off his clothes, he can be seen wearing a sporty thong. Then in another cut scene, Volgin grabs his crotch twice, and simply by feeling is genitals is he able to see through Snake's disguise, claiming "I know the Major better than anyone else." As well, during an earlier cutscene, the President is explaining that Volgin also goes by the name "Thunderbolt." If you take a look at Raikov when he's undressed, you'll see a thunderbolt right on the crotch of his thong. Also, because he is Volgin's lover, he subsequently has colonel-class authority even though he is only a Major.

The inside joke continues in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. Subsistence contains a number of "outtake" videos done by the crew, and one of them is about Raiden who travels back in time in order to kill Snake and become the main character for MGS4. In one of the scenes, Volgin, mistaking Raiden for Raikov (since they look almost identical), tries to have butt sex with him. Raiden is then seen running out of the room with electricity shooting out of his backside. During the online play, Raikov's special move allows you to grab a soldier's crotch, which will stun them for a couple of seconds. He is also the only character in the online mode who isn't affected by pornography magazines, which normally "distract" the other characters for a couple of seconds.

Its not obvious, but the signs are undeniably there. Raikov is indeed having homosexual relationships with Volgin.

North American version

Additional gore was added to the North American version.

PAL version

There is exclusive content for the PAL version: * Duel Mode - Battle through the game's Boss Fights independently * Demo Theatre - Watch all the cut scenes in sequence * European Extreme difficulty level * 2 New Levels in Snake Vs Monkey Mode * New Face Paint and Camouflage Designs not available in US or Japanese versions

References

  • The codename of the character "Major Tom" is a reference to the 1969 song Space Oddity by David Bowie, which is about an astronaut called Major Tom. In the game, Major Tom is even asked "Can you hear me, Major Tom?" This phrase is part of the song's lyrics. Major Tom explains later in the game that his codename was taken from the movie The Great Escape. In the movie the prisoners had three names for the three tunnels they built, Tom, Dick and Harry. Major Tom explains that he mistakenly identified the tunnel named Tom as the one the prisoners escaped from. Tom and Dick were the tunnels that were discovered by the Nazis. Instead of asking Snake to call him Major Harry, he just shrugs it off and changes his codename back to Major Zero.
  • The date of the "Virtuous Mission", 24 August 1964, was Hideo Kojima's first birthday. It was originally 24 August 1963 (his exact birth date), but was moved up a year because he wanted the 22 November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy to factor into the story.
  • When Snake talks with Director Granin in his office, the theme playing on the radio is the Metal Gear Solid theme. Also, the specifications he shows to Snake are of Metal Gear REX from Metal Gear Solid. There are also figurines of Metal Gear REX, Metal Gear RAY from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Jehuty from Zone of the Enders Z.O.E visible in the background, along with a photograph of Granin with his American friend (the grandfather of Hal Emmerich, Metal Gear REX's chief engineer in the original Metal Gear Solid).
  • In the mini-game "Snake vs. Monkey", Snake asks Colonel Campbell to ask "Gabe" or "Sam" to carry out his assignment. This is a reference to Gabe Logan, the main character of Syphon Filter, and Sam Fisher, the main character of Splinter Cell.
  • If you call Para-Medic (SAVE) in the cave, you will eventually get on the topic of the 007 film From Russia With Love. You will be interrupted by Major Tom, who is evidently a big fan of the film. He'll even suggest a few hilarious Bond-esque gadgets to Naked Snake.

Volgin

During some scenes in the game, Volgin ominously says the words "kuwabara kuwabara," a Japanese mantra which, according to Japanese superstition, will ward off lightning. This fits for Volgin's character, since his body uncanny electrical abilities, and he would superstitiously say the words to be safe from lightning that his body attracts. Volgin says the words whenever it starts to rain.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2005 – Best Hero of the Year (for Snake)
    • 2005 – Best Story of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2004 – #4 Game of the Year
    • 2004 – #2 PS2 Game of the Year
    • 2004 - Most Amazing Comeback of the Year (PS2)

Information also contributed by Macintrash, Matt Neuteboom and MegaMegaMan

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by MAT.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Apogee IV, timebender, CaptainCanuck, DreinIX, —-, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, FatherJack.

Game added December 4, 2004. Last modified February 23, 2024.