GamesStealthMetal GearWith Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, one of the greatest games of all time is getting a pretty great remakeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesStealthMetal GearWith Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, one of the greatest games of all time is getting a pretty great remakeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Konami)
How do you explain Metal Gear Solid to someone who’s never experienced it? At first glance, it’s a near-impenetrable explosion of gravelly-voiced protagonists, cardboard boxes, and giant exclamation marks – with robots lovingly sprinkled atop. Yet for those who explored Shadow Moses, Big Shell, and Tselinoyarsk the first time around, Kojima’s seminal stealth saga feels less like a video game, and more a sacred text.
In recent years, however, the legendary soldier’s mythos has begun to wane. Now almost a decade since Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain first hit shelves, a whole generation of gamers have grown up in a Snake-less world. With Gen Z not knowing their Volgin from their Ocelot, we find ourselves in a time of unparalleled Kojima crisis. Sensibly then,Konamiis hoping to right this wrong, remaking Snake’s cold war classic, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for shiny modern hardware.
With its release date still nowhere in sight, I received intel about a top-secret demo for this new ‘Delta’ Metal Gear Solid 3 remake project. As a grizzled F.O.X veteran, like Chase and Status before me, I eagerly returned 2 Jungle, re-donning my bandanna, tuning my codec, and grabbing my Mk2 tranquilizer, one last time. As I popped on my headset and picked up my mission apparatus, there was one question ricocheting around my head – has Konami lovingly restored this timeless classic, or merely fumbled the cardboard box? It was time to find out.
Kept you waiting, huh?
(Image credit: Konami)
There’s a giddy thrill to returning to MGS3: Snake Eater in 2024. As the camera pans round to a gas mask-wearing Big Boss, Major Tom and the rest of his pilots chatter and grimace with a new lease of life. As the iconic score kicks in, my excitement rises, and the goosebumps bristle… before I’m parked in front of a lengthy cutscene, like an unruly toddler with an iPad. Ahh, It’s like Kojima never left.
As my cover is blown and I get into a hairy firefight, bullet scrapes and rifle butt bruises don’t seem to register. Crawling through the thick muddy bogs, however, leaves its murky mark, and as I emerge from the thick sludge and roll out of reach of an alligator’s jaws, the mud clings to Snake’s sticky uniform for several screens. It’s this decision to lean into the cinematic that Konami feels gives Snake Eater new life: “When people play [Snake Eater] in this day and age, we don’t want it to feel like a 20 year old game – old and clunky,” explains series producer, Noriaki Okamura. “We want to make sure it feels exactly how they remember it – like the vision of Snake Eater in their minds.”
Cutscenes feel newly dynamic, allowing you to zoom in and out of each glistening 4K scene as you please, positioning the camera at bizarre angles to soak in minuscule details, like a zoom-happy YouTuber. It’s something I particularly enjoy when I meet Snake Eater’s crew of iconic oddball villains, the Cobra Unit. These absurd antagonists now teem with eccentricity. The End’s eyes bulge like something ripped from the pages of manga horror writer Junji Ito, while The Pain’s hornets look newly sickening. Even Volgin’s scars look more fearsome than ever, lightning zapping out of him with a realistic sizzle. Much like its forebears, MGS3: Snake Eater has always delighted in snapping between realism and utter nonsense, and so far it seems that original oddball spirit remains lovingly intact in Delta.
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Shedding its skin
(Image credit: Konami)
Yet somewhat ironically, the lavish visuals also serve to highlight some of Snake Eater’s creaky PS2 origins. While loading between stealthy vignettes is predictably snappy on PS5, each new tiny playable zone breaks the shiny 4K illusion, sending you back to the limitations of 2003. Sprinting between tree cover to tree cover before suddenly hitting the loading screen shatters the feeling that you’re off exploring a vast jungle. As you crawl, roll, and dive across each area with modern eyes, it feels closer to exploring a squared off section of inner city park than a dense tropical wilderness.
Thankfully, though, the characters move with modern grace. It’s why, for Metal Gear Solid Delta, the team decided to completely overhaul the original’s stiff animations and unwieldy control scheme. “Initially, we thought that we would just be improving the graphics,” Okamura explains, “but when you see the game with very good graphics, a lot of the clunky parts starts to poke their head out… once we saw the original character animations with very realistic graphics, they looked a little bit old, so we knew we had to tweak the original code.”
Luckily, the team had some legendary heroes of their own to help guide these changes: “Having some of the staff who actually worked on the original game really helped,” says Okamura. “They could shine light on what we could change and how we could change it, so it was great to have them around to guide us in that way.”
You’ve created a Time Paradox!
(Image credit: Konami)
WhileCapcom’s excellent Resident Evil remakes opted for a remix approach, cutting, changing, and adding where the studio felt necessary, Konami has instead gone for a purist approach to Snake Eater’s story and core mechanics. Yet mercifully, Delta brings that classic gameplay inline with 2024 standards. Playing with the modernized controls option, Snake Eater’s infamously clunky combat now handles much like in The Phantom Pain. You can shoot while crawling backwards. Close Quarters Combat (CQC) no longer feels as awkward as it once did, allowing for smoother takedowns that make high level stealth play infinitely more attainable.
(Image credit: Konami)
The more Otacon-minded of you out there will be pleased to hear that Konami wastes no time in laying its graphical cards on the proverbial table. When you boot Metal Gear Solid Delta, you are given the option for a 30FPS visual mode – a dynamic resolution scaling between highs of 4K and lows of 1440p – or a 60fps mode, scaling between 4K and 1080p. If however, you opt for fidelity, the 30fps mode seems to be pretty solid, despite halving the frame rate of the PS2 original. After the less than competent ports of the recent Master Collection, here’s hoping both modes deliver.
21 years later, there’s still nothing out there that feels quite like Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. From its blend of Cold War history to James Bond cheese and anime excess, it’s a beautifully absurd creation, and one that absolutely deserves to be experienced again. While its relentless barrage of hands off exposition may be a tough pill for newbies to swallow, thanks to the stunning new coat of paint and modernized take on CQC, Metal Gear Solid: Delta is shaping up to be the definitive way to experience Big Boss' origins.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is set to launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2024. While you wait, go back and play one of thebest Metal Gear games.
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GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension"2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package"3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure"4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years"5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths"1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show"2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie"3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action"4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien"5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite"1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat"2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses"3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist"4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands"5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension"2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package"3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure"4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years"5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths"1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show"2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie"3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action"4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien"5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite"1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat"2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses"3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist"4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands"5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension"2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package"3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure"4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years"5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths"1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show"2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie"3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action"4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien"5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite"1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat"2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses"3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist"4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands"5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
GAME REVIEWSMOVIE REVIEWSTV REVIEWS
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2
Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3
Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5
Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2
Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3
Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5
Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
1
Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2
Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
3
Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4
Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”