Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PlayStation 2, 2004)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Once again the master video game producer Hideo Kojima (the MGS series & Final Fantasy 7 to name a few) has created another masterpiece. Stunning to the senses in every way this game takes the series to a time and place it has never been, the jungles of the southern Soviet Union at the height of the cold war. While time and place have changed, all of the elements that have made these games great are present with several excellent new additions. There is an great cast of characters, a huge variety of outdoor and indoor terrain, intense boss fights, an intriguing and evenly paced plot, frantic firefights, stealth action and of course the cut scenes.

Snake Eater pulls you in from the very beginning with one of the best opening scenes in any video game, the world's first HALO jump and it's over the Soviet Union. After Snake plunges through the thick jungle canopy the game takes a second to explain some of the new mechanics; mainly camouflage, treating injuries and eating food/stamina recovery. Stamina is an important part of this game since Snake's performance and the speed that his health goes up is based on how much stamina you have (there is life medicine too). The stamina bar is easily replenished if you eat some food at any point through the game, as long as you have food in your pack. Throughout the game there is flora and fauna that can be killed or captured and eaten, all with different effects (most replenish some amount of stamina). During the game all different types of injuries will need to be treated with a wide array of medical supplies and medicines, injuries will heal over time but they will affect Snake's performance negatively. Camouflage is my favorite of these new features and there are several different uniforms and face paint schemes that are good in different environments and conditions, some with special effects. All of these features are accessed through the menu and are easy to use at anytime, which is my only complaint; you can stop in the middle of a battle, eat some food, remove a bullet, bandage the wound, change your camo and then go right back to the fight. But that is only a very minor issue. These new features have only enriched the MGS experience and Snake Eater has expanded on all of the classic elements of the series.

The gameplay and controls are top notch as always and the world is highly detailed with excellent sights and sounds. There is a vast arsenal of weapons and equipment from the 1960's for you to choose from depending on what you have to deal with and how you want to do it. If you want to be stealthy you can use CQC (close quarters combat), your knife, tranq gun and several weapons that can equip a silencer (including the XM-16). Of course there is a sniper rifle and a full complement of explosives and heavy weapons (RPG, AK-47, Shotgun, etc). CQC is another one of the high points of Snake Eater including throws, slit throats, broken necks, human shields, interrogation and more. There is an excellent cast of characters including some that fans of the series will recognize; some right away, some not until later. And for any fan of the series the jaw dropping moment comes only at the end when you realize what happened and who Big Boss really is…