This is a much more consistent game than the previous two, but there’s two things I really did not like and one of them I feel very conflicted about.

1. I really dislike the art design direction that this game has gone in. The idea of setting a Metal Gear Solid game in a jungle setting is fantastic, but I don’t think the PS2 at the time had the power to render these areas in anything but a mush of brown/green that the enemies blend into. I understand that you could look at this as improving the stealth elements of the game, especially with the removal of the radar also. However, I have very mixed feelings about this choice.

2. One thing I have no inner conflict about is the Volgin and Shagohod boss fights followed by the EVA escort mission. This sequence takes up a couple of hours of the game with the cutscenes as well as the actual gameplay and it’s horrendous to play through. It’s such as a shame, considering my previous comment about the consistency of the game as a whole.

Now that I have some complaints out of the way, I want to throw some high praise around, starting with the choice to go back in time and tell a more stripped down and grounded story in a different setting. I also love the survival elements, the camouflage and how Snake feels more human and realistic than Solid or Raiden. Additionally, I feel this game has the best boss fights of the series so far, with The End and The Sorrow being the obvious stand outs.

Despite my issues with moments towards the end of the game, the actual conclusion is the best in the series so far. With your defeat of The Boss and the reveal of the purpose of her defection and sacrifice. It’s a strong story and relates back to themes from the previous games about soldier’s being pawns.

I feel that the reason technology is so coveted in the universe of Metal Gear, is that unlike a blood and flesh soldier, it can be more controlled, and control is the name of the game.

While this game can have glimmers of MGS1's charm and didn't annoy me nearly as much as 2's Big Shell, I found the game to be good but not great.

Probably the most damning aspect of the game is its gameplay and how little any of it actually matters. While the game probably shines in gimmick runs on harder difficulties, if you're just a schlub who wants to simply beat the game on it's normal difficulty, you can just walk forward with little to no resistance no matter how alerted guards are. It is a little funny to see how little of a fuck you can give about anything and still manage to clear areas, but that sense of joy won't cover the game's full runtime.

The story also gets a lot of praise but outside of some wacky moments and enjoyable cartoon characters, I found it hard to get invested in any of it? I blame this feeling on the various Kojima trademarked exposition dumps, especially the final cutscene vomiting out a bunch of character motivations when I was mentally checked out at like... the motorcycle segment where I chucked stun grenades at enemies for like 30 straight minutes four hours prior to the end.

And speaking of the motorcycle segment, this game has a lot of story beats just ripped off from the first game which is absolutely hilarious considering the second game's entire meta gimmick and it's probably intentional hack writing and I'll give it up, fuck it.

The real takeaway I'm getting out of this game is that Kojima will never make something as funny or charming as the original Metal Gear Solid for me and I am in no rush to see how it all unfolds, even though I heard four is everyone's favourite.