Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The Good
Though my favorite MGS will always be the first one, Snake Eater is an equally strong candidate. The graphics are jaw-dropping, the music is memorable and cinematic, the cutscenes are stylish and are kept at a reasonable length and the character animation is superb. The jungle around Snake truly feels alive as it is filled with little details, plants and animals to hunt.

The stealth aspects of the game work better than ever. The Soliton Radar might be gone, but now you're forced to rely on your eyes and ears more. The enemies might be the smartest I've seen since the first Half-Life, and now they see and hear much better and know how to use cover. The ability to target specific body parts of enemies works even better than in the previous installment, and the CQC moves, while tricky to do, are not only satisfying but useful, too. The boss battles, where firefights become a necessity, are once again creative and challenging.

And the story... while not as deep and meaningful as in the previous parts, it's still complex and full of memorable characters. It is one of the only games I've seen that have actual character development, with Naked Snake slowly turning from a tough, womanizing but still idealistic and even somewhat dorky soldier into a psychologically broken man. War, love and betrayal are still strong themes in the game, and the game really feels like it has a message to tell.

The Bad
Mostly just minor things. Some Codec-calls and cutscenes are still a bit too long and you can't pause them, the camera angles are a bit unpractical, shifting through the "Food" and "Cure" menus constantly can be a bit of a chore and so on. Even on Normal difficulty, Snake is a bit too tough as bullets seem to barely graze him, but that can be fixed by raising the difficulty level, so it's not a real problem.

The Bottom Line
This game has everything. An amazing and moving storyline, great gameplay with loads of variety, as you can choose from countless different playing styles to get past the enemy - or you can just shoot everyone if you want. It's also probably the best-looking game on the PS2. Recommended to everyone!