Metal Gear Solid 2 ends in a way that makes it difficult to continue the story onward past that point, leaving any future game only one way forward; Going backward. Thus, Metal Gear Solid 3 acts as the starting point for the whole series, despite being a sequel to Metal Gear Solid 2.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is set in the early 60s, and the gameplay reflects this. Gone are the soliton radar and the Codec, leaving the player to rely on somewhat inferior technology in comparison to what the player had access to in previous titles. Taking the place of the soliton radar, the player must use devices such as the anti-personnel sensor and the motion detector to be able to detect the position of the enemy soldiers. However, these items have their own battery life, and become useless when the player depletes it. Thus, these items can’t be overused, and must be allowed to recharge when their batteries are running low.
Guns have a similar issue too when it comes to suppressors. Previous games would let you use the one suppressor you find for the entire game, whereas the suppressors you find in Metal Gear Solid 3 wear down with use, thus forcing you to be more deliberate with which guard you shoot. This contrasts with Metal Gear Solid 2, where guns like the tranquilizer and M9 could be used in a liberal manner when equipped with the suppressor, almost negating any difficulty the game had. Suppressors are generally hard to find as well, making Metal Gear Solid 3 a more engaging experience.
Snake Eater’s main gameplay philosophy revolves around the idea of survival, and thus the player must utilize whatever is around them to do so. You won’t be able to find rations as easily as you could have done in the previous two titles, and thus you must resort to hunting and eating the local wildlife to restore health. Unlike the previous titles, eating food does not automatically restore health. Instead, it restores your stamina gauge, and with that full, your health should slowly regenerate on its own. The animals that you hunt down or capture can expire as well, meaning that one can’t just stockpile food the whole game. There are food items that last much longer in the game, such as the Calorie Mate item, instant noodles, and the Russian rations. These however, are also difficult to find in comparison to just hunting down the animals present, so there’s a balance there. There is an item present known as life medicine that does restore the health bar, but these are sparse throughout the game as well and are best left saving for boss fights.
Combat is expanded as well, with the addition of CQC. Rather than just punch or choke an enemy, Snake can throw enemies to the ground to instantly knock them out, interrogate them, or use their body as a shield against other enemies. There’s also the added addition of the cure menu, adding a further bit of complexity into combat. If Snake gets injured in some way, the player’s health will decrease until they go into the cure menu to fix whatever issue they have.
Through these, the gameplay of Snake Eater becomes that much more fleshed out in comparison to Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid. There’s a level of strategy necessary here that wasn’t present in the gameplay of any of the previous titles, making it an incredibly engaging experience. This is doubly true for someone playing these games in order of release, as it challenges any previously held notions about how a Metal Gear game should play by forcing the player to be more careful with how they approach combat. It took some getting used to for me personally, but eventually Snake Eater had grown to have one of the series’ best styles of gameplay. Out of the first three Solid titles, Snake Eater easily has the most refined style of gameplay. The only thing I’d really think of that would improve Snake Eater’s gameplay would be the addition of crouch walking, as the open style of the map kind of necessitates it. Other than that, however, what is here is great.
I won’t say too much about the specifics of the story for those who want to go in blind, but I will say that I felt that it was a tad weak in comparison to the previous two titles, especially Sons of Liberty. That’s not to say that I don’t like the story or that I don’t think it’s great, as I do. Even despite what qualms I have with the story, it’s still easily one of my own personal favorite games out there, and likely one of the greatest to have ever come out. However, I do feel that Snake Eater was a bit ‘safe’ in comparison to Sons of Liberty, thus leading it to be the less interesting of the first three. I don’t blame it for being that way, and I personally believe that this was the most reasonable direction that they could have gone. I also feel as if Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 had more iconic highs overall, though that’s not to say that Snake Eater is a bad experience. Snake’s arc is fantastic here, and the characters are all extremely memorable. The music is fantastic. The world of Snake Eater feels lived in and alive in a way that other titles in the series don’t.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is an incredible experience and is very much worth playing. It’s not a terrible place to start due to it being a prequel, but I would recommend playing these titles in order of release regardless. Though one won’t be lost playing 3 first, it’s a much more rewarding and enjoyable experience having the first two solid games under your belt beforehand. Though it isn’t my favorite out of the first three Metal Gear Solid titles, Snake Eater is still easily one of my favorite games ever, and even despite it not surpassing Sons of Liberty in my eyes, still serves to be an amazing experience.
To summarize: Peak game. Would feed on a tree frog again.
Play this game.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is set in the early 60s, and the gameplay reflects this. Gone are the soliton radar and the Codec, leaving the player to rely on somewhat inferior technology in comparison to what the player had access to in previous titles. Taking the place of the soliton radar, the player must use devices such as the anti-personnel sensor and the motion detector to be able to detect the position of the enemy soldiers. However, these items have their own battery life, and become useless when the player depletes it. Thus, these items can’t be overused, and must be allowed to recharge when their batteries are running low.
Guns have a similar issue too when it comes to suppressors. Previous games would let you use the one suppressor you find for the entire game, whereas the suppressors you find in Metal Gear Solid 3 wear down with use, thus forcing you to be more deliberate with which guard you shoot. This contrasts with Metal Gear Solid 2, where guns like the tranquilizer and M9 could be used in a liberal manner when equipped with the suppressor, almost negating any difficulty the game had. Suppressors are generally hard to find as well, making Metal Gear Solid 3 a more engaging experience.
Snake Eater’s main gameplay philosophy revolves around the idea of survival, and thus the player must utilize whatever is around them to do so. You won’t be able to find rations as easily as you could have done in the previous two titles, and thus you must resort to hunting and eating the local wildlife to restore health. Unlike the previous titles, eating food does not automatically restore health. Instead, it restores your stamina gauge, and with that full, your health should slowly regenerate on its own. The animals that you hunt down or capture can expire as well, meaning that one can’t just stockpile food the whole game. There are food items that last much longer in the game, such as the Calorie Mate item, instant noodles, and the Russian rations. These however, are also difficult to find in comparison to just hunting down the animals present, so there’s a balance there. There is an item present known as life medicine that does restore the health bar, but these are sparse throughout the game as well and are best left saving for boss fights.
Combat is expanded as well, with the addition of CQC. Rather than just punch or choke an enemy, Snake can throw enemies to the ground to instantly knock them out, interrogate them, or use their body as a shield against other enemies. There’s also the added addition of the cure menu, adding a further bit of complexity into combat. If Snake gets injured in some way, the player’s health will decrease until they go into the cure menu to fix whatever issue they have.
Through these, the gameplay of Snake Eater becomes that much more fleshed out in comparison to Sons of Liberty and Metal Gear Solid. There’s a level of strategy necessary here that wasn’t present in the gameplay of any of the previous titles, making it an incredibly engaging experience. This is doubly true for someone playing these games in order of release, as it challenges any previously held notions about how a Metal Gear game should play by forcing the player to be more careful with how they approach combat. It took some getting used to for me personally, but eventually Snake Eater had grown to have one of the series’ best styles of gameplay. Out of the first three Solid titles, Snake Eater easily has the most refined style of gameplay. The only thing I’d really think of that would improve Snake Eater’s gameplay would be the addition of crouch walking, as the open style of the map kind of necessitates it. Other than that, however, what is here is great.
I won’t say too much about the specifics of the story for those who want to go in blind, but I will say that I felt that it was a tad weak in comparison to the previous two titles, especially Sons of Liberty. That’s not to say that I don’t like the story or that I don’t think it’s great, as I do. Even despite what qualms I have with the story, it’s still easily one of my own personal favorite games out there, and likely one of the greatest to have ever come out. However, I do feel that Snake Eater was a bit ‘safe’ in comparison to Sons of Liberty, thus leading it to be the less interesting of the first three. I don’t blame it for being that way, and I personally believe that this was the most reasonable direction that they could have gone. I also feel as if Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 had more iconic highs overall, though that’s not to say that Snake Eater is a bad experience. Snake’s arc is fantastic here, and the characters are all extremely memorable. The music is fantastic. The world of Snake Eater feels lived in and alive in a way that other titles in the series don’t.
Metal Gear Solid 3 is an incredible experience and is very much worth playing. It’s not a terrible place to start due to it being a prequel, but I would recommend playing these titles in order of release regardless. Though one won’t be lost playing 3 first, it’s a much more rewarding and enjoyable experience having the first two solid games under your belt beforehand. Though it isn’t my favorite out of the first three Metal Gear Solid titles, Snake Eater is still easily one of my favorite games ever, and even despite it not surpassing Sons of Liberty in my eyes, still serves to be an amazing experience.
To summarize: Peak game. Would feed on a tree frog again.
Play this game.
zerotoker
10 months ago