I remember first playing this game on the 3ds as a young kid, getting halfway through before my younger brother accidentally deleted my save, so he could go on to beat it. I then remember shrugging it off, and never giving metal gear all that much thought until finally playing the original game a few years back. Since then, I’ve been hooked, loving each entry, and updating my Metal Gear Obsessed younger brother with each game I cleared. He kept urging me to play through MGS3, but I never seemed to be in the right place or time to give it a shot. After years, and after finally picking this game up for the PS2, I sat down with my girlfriend, popped it in, and played through Metal Gear Solid 3 over the course of 20 or so days.
I have a lot to praise the game on, so let me get my few gripes out of the way first. Firstly, the camera angles in a few spots make it hard to determine where enemies I’m trying to avoid are, and not being able to fully control the camera makes it difficult to backtrack in certain areas without alerting the guards. I eventually learned to get around this by using the first-person mode more often, but I still wish I could control the camera myself. (An issue that I see has been remedied in later remakes of MGS 3) Secondly, the graphics, while they have aged better than other PS2 games, still have their weak points. In sequences where I needed to aim in the first person, especially during chase sequences, the murky and muddy visuals made it difficult to tell what I was aiming at, and where I was being shot from. Generally, this is one of the best looking PS2 games I’ve played, but it has got its ugly bits. Lastly and least importantly, while I love the Cure system in the game, and management of healing items to fix broken bones, cuts and bullet wounds; having to open through 2 menus and click on 4 different cure objects just to heal my bullet wound was very slow and interrupted the core action. I wish there was a separate menu in game that allowed for me to quickly patch up my wounds without halting the game mid battle to restore my health. One would argue that you could bind the cure items to your quick menu, but it consumes far too much of your 8 available inventory slots, only to heal one injury no less. Now that I’ve gotten my few complaints out of the way, I want to talk about all there is to love and about Metal Gear Solid 3.
As usual, Kojima’s writing is both fun and equally as engaging. The characters are a blast, ranging from in depth, with believable motivations, to downright campy and fun. (My favorite campy characters being both Volgin, and The Fury) The game also carries a strong anti-war and anti-nuclear message, that is pushed to its limits in scenes with The Sorrow, and The Boss herself. The thematic message flows throughout ever facet of the game, but especially in both gameplay and writing.
I would be remiss to skip out on discussing the hilariously forced, but meaningful 3-minute ladder climb halfway through the game. All I can say is, What a thrill.
The soundtrack itself is full of atmospheric tunes that help immerse the player in Naked Snake’s mission, whether you’re sneaking through an enemy base crawling with soldiers or gunning down a giant nuclear warhead machine. Aside from Snake Eater and Way to Fall, my favorite track is probably Ocelot Youth – Confrontation.
While I had some difficulty with the Camera Angles and Cure Menu, everything else about the gameplay is spectacular. Such an extreme level of care and detail went into every aspect of the game. From each piece of equipment you can collect and its application, to the various camouflage you can wear, the various ways to bring down enemies, distract them, scare them or hold them at gunpoint, the styles of play available are nearly limitless. I remember picking off enemies with a sniper rifle from across the map, only to accidentally shoot the walkie-talkie out of the hand of an alerted guard. In just one playthrough, I still feel like I have only scratched the surface of what is possible with the mechanics available, and I know I will have to revisit this game sometime in the future.
I know I cried like a baby at the end credits, but this game really blew me away, even approaching two decades after its release. While MGS3 may be my favorite, and may be the best of Kojima’s works (Cold take, I know), I think my girlfriend and I had more fun playing through MGS2 together, with all its cheese and Mad bombers on Rollerblades.
At the end of the day, this may be the best game I play this year, and certainly deserves the legendary status it has garnered. How could I give this game anything, but:
Final Score: Solid 9
