I was going into this game with the expectation that it would be a throw away title that doesn't justify its own existence in any sort of way, but I peace walked out of this incredibly satisfied.

The main story is presented in the form of very well defined missions and backed by seemingly optional bonus missions. At first I didn't really see the point in not having a more free flowing story like in Snake Eater, but as the game continues it reveals itself more robustly. A major theme of this game revolves around reconciliation and running from one's past through the eye of Big Boss. He rejects his title because he doesn't want to be reminded of his past or what the future may hold. Big Boss is a broken man, and we experience the many foes and friends he interacts with prodding at certain angles of him in order to get what they want. Much to the discomfort of Snake becoming the Big Boss, we as a player must also learn to become him as well my managing Mother Base and choosing which missions to clear and how. This allows for a multitude of ways of completing the game, but violence is still treated with dignity and seen as a last resort/coward's way out kind of deal. The game's very video-game like structure to the story affirms this and provides very doable yet challenging objectives to fulfill in order to grow as a player, but also as Big Boss.

There are five chapters full of missions in this game that are the main story, although the game "ends" after Chapter 4. The way to unlock Chapter 5 is by building Mother Base by heroically completing objectives, but it is an "optional" story chapter that isn't completely necessary for the game itself hinted at by the credits after Chapter 4. Even after all is said and done, Kojima urges players to really spend time developing their skills alongside Snake's so you both may become the ultimate form of who Big Boss really is. This is a very intimate way of connecting the story's heavy thematic material with seemingly mindless and rigid gameplay since its meaning is well-defined and entirely constructive.

The gameplay itself still is my biggest issue with the game though. There are a lot of settings you have to toy around with before perfoming the game like a regular PS3 game and not like a PSP one, and even then they don't feel seamless. A lot of the gunplay is clunky, Big Boss is incredibly slow in the face of large scale attacks that you need to dodge, and the hit/alert detection feels a bit too undefined as well. Many of the boss battles with tanks, AI mechs, or helicopters feel very long as well. Every single mission in this entire game is multiplayer though, and always prompts you to try the level with other people before you play. Since this game is 10 years old I couldn't use this online system at all, but I definitely would have if I could. I was able to beat many of the optional missions but many others I know for a fact I will never be able to beat on my own just due to the sheer amount of health the bosses get towards the late game. Having such a insurmountable restriction on getting 100% completion in a game that urges you to feels really strange for me, I wish I could've experienced this in its prime.

Overall though this is a fun game that pulls a lot of really interesting punches with the story. The fact that Kojima brings some of his strongest anti-violence themes, visuals, and scenes to this project made everything I did feel important, even the more grindy base building sections and boss battles. Using Snake Eater as such a deliberate and integral part to this game's story may come across as pandering to some, but I see it as a realized way of providing depth to not only Big Boss himself, but to the purpose of why things operate they way they do in the world of Metal Gear Solid and by an extension, our world.