When is this movie being made in to a game?
User Rating: 8.5 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater PS2
Hideo is a great guy, really. He does his job well, proving his worth ever more. Kojima is an accomplished story writer, and his games boil down to just that -- incredibly long, preachy plots penetrated by hoary game play. Not that overwrought story lines are a bad thing, but when I am literally playing to trigger the next cut scene, the story better be really, really compelling. Snake Eater kicks off with an overly long introduction. Twenty minutes of cut scenes and radio chats later, I am plopped in to the role of Naked Snake, or Jack, and dropped from air to ground in the world's first High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) jump. Post landing, Snake finds that his survival backpack had been snagged in a tree. The search for the pack serves as a small tutorial to some simple game play mechanics. This begins the Virtuous Mission -- a prologue of sorts which sets the stage for future events and reveals many of Snake Eater's characters. So now, after that twenty minute cut scene, the first game play starts up. Alright, I retrieved the survival kit -- ahh crap! Another radio conversation! Thankfully, all of these chats are voice acted, as reading through a Bible's worth of text would terrify many players. The Boss, Snake's mentor and best friend, talks about Close Quarters Combat (CQC) and Snake is reminded of his mission -- to rescue Sokolov, a Russian weapons scientist, and get the hell out of the Russian jungle. Finish the cut scene and on to the next screen. Now that I have escaped the pre-animated tangle that is Snake Eater's opening segment, game play kicks into full gear. The first noticeable departure from the series' previous entries is a somewhat movable camera. Kojima has always kept a static camera for cinematic reasons, but it can sometimes be hellish to commandeer through tightly guarded hallways with only a small heads up motion display. This time around, the view can be shifted from far to near using the right analog stick and the R3 button will freeze the camera's position. A moveable camera is highly useful in the foliated jungle environment. But in the end, first person view will allow for a larger scale look around. Knowing the location of enemies is vital; Metal Gear Solid 3 lacks the constant motion detector used in Sons of Liberty and the original Metal Gear Solid which makes this process ever more difficult. There is a helpful motion detector which uses up battery power (this energy is spread over the numerous power-hungry gadgets Snake carries), but along with guards, it registers the expansive fauna. This brings me to the next, and most significant, change in Metal Gear Solid's game play. In addition to a health bar, Naked Snake has a stamina bar. Depleting overtime with action as well as various ailments Snake contracts, the stamina meter should be watched like a baby crawling through a minefield. With all the declining of Snake's stamina, surely there must be a way to rejuvenate it. And there is! Pressing the DualShock's start button calls up an eight second load time which calls up a menu. By choosing the food option from the menu, Snake can gulp down any animal or snack bar captured. Different food stuffs will affect Snake's stamina recovery in varied ways. From the horrible Russian ink cap to a delectable calorie mate, stamina gains differ with Snake's comment upon eating. Also, Snake will gain tolerance to nasty foods after being fed them many times. Snake has to live off the jungle. The fact that he must be manually fed furthers this aspect. The menu loaded when the start button is pressed gives many other options along with eating. One selection and game play affecter is the camouflage sub-screen. Yet another new element to Snake Eater is the ability to blend in with surroundings. By accessing the camouflage viewer, you can swap out Snake's clothing with a variety of patterned outfits. The camouflage index, a useful if unrealistic tool, spot checks the visibility in current conditions. Along the way, more camouflage can be found, but it is not terribly necessary. Camouflage does not play much of a role during game time unless you are trying for few alerts or kills. Hell, it's entirely possible to run and gun through the entire game -- this tactic certainly gets you to the game's meat, the cut scenes, quickly. Camouflage is quite interesting and new, but its usefulness is limited by Metal Gear Solid's loose grasp on realism. Further delving in to the menu screen, a cure option can be found. Throughout Naked Snake's journeys, in a world where five bullets to the chest mean minus one fourth a health bar, he will be inflicted with some damn serious wounds. Any of these -- broken leg or burn -- can be instantly cured in the cure sub-screen. Various items collected along the way are used to heal wounds, and it seems as though I never run out of bandages or splints. Curing can be cumbersome and seems unwarranted most of the time, but it is another element that makes me feel like I am truly in the jungle. Also new to the series is an item carrying limit. In the menu Snake can be equipped with various gadgets and weapons found along the way, but only eight can be out at one time. Another unnecessary feature -- it hardly gives any tactical options. A map screen can also be called up. It offers no real advantage other than showing the location you need to get to. This is somewhat redundant given the game's linearity. Whoopee, done with the cursed menu. I am as sick of it now as I was during game play. Getting on with Metal Gear Solid 3's main attraction, the story, I find myself playing the game more and more throughout, but BAM another degrading-of-game-play cut scene. Honestly, the game play feels like a side of fries when compared to the meaty hamburger goodness of Kojima's story. On comes the second chapter of Snake's adventure. Operation Snake Eater places Jack back into the Russian jungle, but even more items must be procured on site. With this chapter comes a new dimension of Metal Gear Solid 3 -- a sort of return to classic ways by sending Snake to take on indoor operations. The tight areas rally up the use of a new feature of Konami's game; CQC is its name. Using a CQC ready weapon, different moves can be pulled on enemies. Throat slitting, interrogating -- it is all there. CQC adds another dynamic to the game play and can turn a terrible situation in to a great one. See, it is not as though I absolutely abhor Snake Eater's game play. It is quite grand if aged. Action does not hold up as well as the emotion of seeing Snake and EVA sharing a loving embrace before death. To top off the kick-ass story, Konami has utilized the Playstation 2 to its full potential. In-game the graphics are stunning. Every blade of grass moves as I slither over it to dodge a ill-patrolling guard. Ill-patrolling because the guards can sometimes be complete morons. One can stand right over top of camouflaged Snake and not notice as he pulls out an AK-47 and introduces face to bullet. All for the sake of unrealism -- a trademark of the series. And not a bad one at that. I commend Harry Gregson-Williams for writing beautiful music for Snake Eater. Kojima wanted a Hollywood-esque soundtrack for the series and Greg son-Williams achieved this vision. From the singing in the main theme to the infiltration and caution tracks, Metal Gear Solid 3's music is awesome. Every scene is matched perfectly to sound. I think the voice cast of the game did excellent as well. All the characters speak as they look. Most voicing is on tone and in mood, which is superb. The series is known for awesome voicing; the newest entry does the same. This above average voice acting coupled with Harry Greg son-William's magnificent score are well enough on their lonesome. Konan went the extra step and made every sound effect in the game be perfect. Never does the crawl through grass feel off or the bang of a rifle feel off. Each effect seems to have been meticulously recorded and matched. All of this creates a super experience indeed. In the end, the game play of Metal Gear Solid 3 is very changed from previous installations. This does not keep its simple battling from seeming mediocre in comparison to other action games though. It stands well on its own, but the intensity of story dulls it somewhat, making playing the game more of a rigorous chore to watch the next cinematic. I never really took Snake Eater, or any Metal Gear Solid games, for an action romp. Instead I expect a brilliant, twisting plot full of intrigue. If you are looking for that in a game, Snake Eater is for you -- but do not begin the game expecting genre redefining stealth. Snake Eater is excellent at what it does. Kojima put together another thrilling story of love, hate, and maniacal plots to rule the world that will not be soon forgotten, no matter how passé the action is. Hideo Kojima should do games. Movie Gear Solid 3 gets: Three parts movie, two parts game play (out of five) 
