Metal Gear Solid 3 is an impressive game and it's a worthy addition to the Metal Gear Legacy.
Its sequel, Metal Gear Solid 2, had much the same, although significantly less game and more story. It also introduced strange new elements, while the first game's characters and story was all reasonably plausible the sequel really stretched the reality of the player through story and characters.
Metal Gear Solid 3 isn't so much an evolution of the series though. While the stealth gameplay is definitely what you'd expect, other things like the new camouflage system and the survival system are less impressive.
Partly because they have flaws in both design and implementation. The camouflage is a great idea, and it was designed well but it detracts from the experience because you need to move through a 'start' menu to alter it. This slows things down and inevitably breaks the illusion that the series is known for.
The survival system is implemented quite well, at least the stamina system is. In that every physical activity's strength is based off your stamina and over time practising said activity will drain stamina. The problem is in regaining stamina, i.e. eating. The food system is similar to the camouflage system's problems. You have to enter a pause screen and this causes the gameplay to stall. Nonetheless the system is decent although it's more of a distraction as opposed to a Metal Gear evolution.
The stealth is only hindered by one thing, the camera. The open environment of this new Metal Gear makes it so much more important to be able to look around with ease. Unfortunately the staple top-down camera of the games isn't up to this requirement, you'll find yourself only taking a few steps through an area before paranoia causes you to shift into first person to look around.
The second new feature of stealth is the new close quarter combat system, CQC, which is surprisingly developed and easy to use. All contained within one button the system is natural and clever. It also gives you a huge advantage over your average enemy; and that's a good thing. Because you'd expect Snake to be a one man army as he supposedly is.
That leads onto the next part of the review, while previously I've discussed gameplay, the story is also very important as any fan of Metal Gear games knows.
And while this story may not be as mind-boggling as the second game's and the majority of the characters are lacking, and when I say lacking I seriously mean their lack of story actually damages the story, the experience is still impressive and memorable.
You're playing Snake's father technically, that from which he was cloned, and therefore the game is set in the 1960's. And Snake (yes, he is also called Snake) goes through a lot in his adventure and the story emphasizes what he goes through. He is emotionally and physically destroyed at times and this is felt by the player through the cinematography and the survival system, respectively.
Graphically the game is superb on the playstation 2 and indeed far above that of the average game on any format. The sound is equally impressive; everything sounds real, the jungle, the weapons and the people save for a few voice actors.
Even though the elements of the game aren't necessarily brilliant on their own; together they are more than the sum of their parts. This means that the game is great, brilliant even, but not quite as impressive as the previous titles in the series.