Hungry? Why wait? Shoot a frog and chow down.
User Rating: 9.7 | Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater PS2
Story - One of the best stories ever told in a video game. The Metal Gear series has always been know for cinematic storytelling and it doesn't end here. MGS3 is up there with MGS1 as far as the story goes. Even though this game takes place in the past (the 60's), many characters from the series are here. Many questions are answered throughout the game, and many are left unanswered. I've played many rpgs, this game is close to the Final Fantasy games on how epic this story really is. I also found MGS3 to be less confusing than previous games in the series. It all pans out to a great conclusion. Gameplay - Stealth. Action. Camouflage. Survival. Hunting. MGS3 has a lot of variation in gameplay and it all pans out great. The new feature of camouflage is the most inventive. You must change outfits and face paint to blend into your enviroment. Makes the word "stealth" mean a lot more here. You will come across different outfits and paint during the game, but you want to look around in each section. There are very easy to overlook. Another new feature is first aid. Healing yourself and treating your wounds. You use different items such as bandages, serums, stomach med., splints, etc. by healing broken bones, treating cuts, bullet wounds, leeches, snake bites, burns, the list goes on. Yet everytime you need healing you have to press start, but the way the system works it makes it very easy. You will be back in the fringes of the game in no time. Then there is hunting. You must hunt to keep your stamina up. Snake doesn't like all the snakes, frogs, mushrooms, and other animals that are out there. When this occurs Snake lets you know that it is disgusting. Then you come across some animals that Snake loves and you get huge stamina gains. Last but not least, the boss fights. MGS3 has no doubt the best boss fights to come along in years. Very original and forces you to try different approaches to see what works best. Note: don't kill The End when he is in the wheelchair near the dock, if you do, you will miss out on the best boss fight in the game. Very awesome stuff. Other than all the new features, MGS3 plays a lot like MGS2. Graphics - The jungles are just plain beautiful. Of course next gen systems will look a lot better than this, but no other game has tried to create a living, breathing jungle setting as lush as this. All in game cutscenes look really good, very polished and a sense of changing camera angles. Difficulty - MGS3 has a few frustrating parts. If you wanna go stealth through the entire game, expect it to me a lot more frustrating. They saved the hardest part of the game for the end boss fight. I was ready to throw my controller, but I didn't. Length - Took me a little over 25 hours, definately the longest game in the series. I imagine if you try the stealth approach through the entire game, you could be here a lot longer. Plenty of reasons to come back after it is all said and done, to collect things and kill more frogs. Overall: This game reminded me why I love gaming so much. Immersion and being told a great story. Basically MGS3 sits up there in my favorites games of all time. 
