Metal Gear Solid 3 : Snake Eater

[Mofoman]

I'd go as far to say that this beats anything this gen visually, the first true exploitation of the emotion engine is made hee, nothing else on the ps2 even touches this visually....it reall is THAT good.

[Pjam2003]

*SPOILERS*






























I have to say I was surprised on how many beats snake takes when volgin gets his hands on him. Really was a graphic and violent scene! He really went all out, and then afterwards when hes hung up he gets even more beats and gets his right eye shot out! Snake has it real bad in this game.

Phil.

[Concept]

What a pay off in the final few hours for the frustrating early parts.

A hugely satisfying ending too.

Spoilers (highlight to read): I was slightly mift throughout the game that the patriots theme in MGS 2 wasn't furthered, but in the last couple of hours Snake Eater thankfully brought more light to their history and motive. And the final 20 minutes were quite the mind-**** from Kojima - Although unlike MGS 2, more in a coherent what-the-****-you've-outdone-yourself kind of way. It brought all the separate pieces together in an expertly and quite powerful fashion in terms of direction, and you can understand and sympahise with the reasons exactly why Big Boss eventually turns his back on the US and goes solo. Everyone's playing him, and for motives which entail his personal feelings when he isn't aware until after the fact - Boss' death and the fact her sacrifice passes by without recognition for one.

[Izayoi]

I didn't 'get' why the the intro had the red leaves and red '3' until I got to the end. I did notice that the snake in the intro has no skin, that was a nice touch.

(SPOILERS)
The fight with The Boss is fantastic. So atmospheric, and the battle itself is genius, a 'Snake VS Snake' battle. Countering The Boss' CQC with ur own is so much fun, but she doesn't half dish out the pain if you mess up. It shows that an online Metal Gear is possible. One-on-One battles utilising camo and stealth. Sorted.

[Concept]

That part you specifically mention was superb. Like a number of the other boss battles in the game, linear but also freeform in the way you can approach them (remember The End? ).

However, the part which stood out for me towards the end was the absolutely insane 30 minute chase sequence, where the Shagohod chases you, hunts you down, and then having to race away to the lake under pursuit.

I also like the way the game ended - With a real sense of closure and span. I think it was a wise move by Kojima to intersect a voiceover, and collage of different moments from outside of the jungle to give a real impression of the effects from the mission, and how it impacted on Snake's perception.

[Concept]

Also:

I particularly enjoyed the way in which you had to solve beating The Sorrow. It was arguably a more impressive twist on the boss format than what you have to do to beat Psycho Mantis in MGS.

[mezzanine]

Where the hell is the sniper rifle? I'm told it's in the small building in the south but there's only ammo in there ft:

[Izayoi]

It should be in there. Check your Backpack, you may have picked it up, but not taken it out of the pack yet.

[Adam]

How do you view the intro?? I started a game but only saw Snake jumping out of the plane, I left it on the title screen for ages and it didn't start either?

[Izayoi]

Keep playing

[Adam]

Ah it's like that is it cheers

[Kotatsu Neko]

Spent an hour playing it.

What a terrible game.

Well, I didn't like MGS2, and thought Twin Snakes was horribly dated (although I enjoyed MGS1 back in the day).

I was thinking, when MGS1 and stealth was new, we accepted clunky controls and terrible, fixed camera angles. The genre was new, the games stylish, we liked them. But now, post Splinter Cell, it's a joke. All I want to to is ROTATE THE CAMERA AND MOVE WHEN I'M AIMING! Surely not too much to ask, we have the technology!

After all the glowing MGS3 reviews, I though they would have fixed the problems of MGS2, but no, they've just swapped boxes for trees and removed the radar. It still boils down to exactly the same repetition. Sneak, get spotted, restart. Repeat. Get past section. Sneak, get spotted, restart. Repeat. and so on.

Definately not one for me. An hour of nothing but frustration.

Back to Metroid Prime 2, Half Life 2, and Viewtiful Joe 2. Nice, playable games!

(rant over)

[mezzanine]

You can move while aiming. You just can't use the 1st person view to aim at someones head. You should be using a gun like the shotgun while being chased, for close encounters

The overhead/behind camera is a direct result of this being a Japanese character driven game. Is every action/adventure in the future going to be forced by the market to turn into a FPS? How bland. The enemy soldiers have a very limited LoS, just be careful and you won't wander into their view.

As for the comments on control and repetition, well I can only think you must be playing a different game to me.

[Kotatsu Neko]

Splinter Cell isn't an FPS, and you see more of Sam in game than you do Snake (the camera is closer). But it gives the player total camera control, removing those completely retarded MGS situations where you are running towards the camera with no idea what is coming. Or running sideways. Equally bad. It's just terrible game design.

What would it take to allow the right thumbstick to allow the camera to circle the character? Not much.

I've only played for an hour, but the repetition was pretty striking. Feels so tired, and graphically is very mediocre. Stylish of course, but a fuzzy, muddy, low resolution mess of browns and greens. Contrast to the jungle section in Pandora Tomorrow. Like a different generation of hardware entirely.

Cut scenes are beautiful as ever, but I don't think I'll be touching this one again.

[mezzanine]

Well, the right thumbstick moves the camera. I don't know why you'd want to rotate the camera, as it never gets stuck behind objects and things like the trees fade transparent at the bottom of the screen.

Do you have Halo 2 as well as the ones you mentioned? Snake Eater does have a tricky beginning, no wonder you find it difficult to get into if you've just bought/playing so many new games at once.