While I enjoyed the story and setting of Snake Eater, I found myself mostly frustrated with the gameplay. I never felt as incompetent in MGS1 or 2 as I did in this game. I straight-up fumbled my way through the entire game, and I found that largely to blame to the removal of the radar map that shows enemy movement and placement, like the one present in the first two games. Sure, you get a motion radar, but it is tremendously more difficult to read compared to the radar maps in the original MGS or Sons of Liberty. I understand that they likely went with this approach to make it more appropriate to the technology of the 1960's; but for me, it just felt like the removal of a key system that helped me successfully navigate through these games. I think I set off alerts in nearly every single area I entered because I just could not accurately determine where enemy placement was. I don't really blame this on the game, I just blame it on my sheer inability to adapt to what this title was demanding from me. Still, that doesn't mean I wasn't any less frustrated. Regardless, the game allowed me to progress through most of the game like a bull in a china shop, which I am thankful for, because it could have been even more frustrating otherwise. The progress never really felt satisfying though, because I never really felt like I was playing Snake due to how badly I was fumbling through each area. I might as well have been playing as Austin Powers instead, as it would have been more suiting to how I was progressing through the game.

Outside of the stealth gameplay, I did quite enjoy the survival aspects of the game. Gathering food to maintain your stamina gauge, utilizing different camouflage, treating wounds -- these were all things I mostly enjoyed.
Though, I must admit, having to frequently open the somewhat-slow opening menus to access these functions was a tad bit annoying. I also can't say I was a huge fan of the newly-added limited inventory space either, which also forced you to constantly go into the menus to manage.

Overall, despite my gripes and frustrations, I still enjoyed the game as a whole, and I loved the story and characters just as I did in the previous titles. I think I would have enjoyed the gameplay aspects more had I actually understood what I needed to do to be proficient. Otherwise, having come off replaying Sons of Liberty, I found that the story was much more grounded in Snake Eater, which I did appreciate. Toward the end of the game, I kept waiting for Kojima to reveal some bat shit crazy twist that melted my mind, but it never happened, and I was pleasantly surprised.

In the future, I would like to play through Snake Eater again, possibly after I've gathered enough information as to how to competently stealth my way through the game. I think once I understand what exactly I was doing wrong and started to actually feel like I'm in the shoes of Snake, I will probably rate this game much higher. But for now, I can't look past the level of frustration that I experienced.