Warning: Potential Spoilers
My first thoughts of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater were pretty much the same as what I hear most people say about the game, it was “different”, very different! At first, I didn’t like it. It seemed as if we were going back in time with the graphics at first glance and things just didn’t seem right with a Metal Gear Solid game being set in the jungle. The codec message portraits of the characters were drawings again, much like Metal Gear Solid, but at least with the original you could blame the drawings on the PlayStation’s lack of power. But MGS3 had no excuse, it was a PS2 game. Not only that but MGS2 had already looked so good on the PS2, it had set a high standard by which we’d pin our hopes on MGS3. (Note: I must say however, I played this on a 42″ Plasma almost 3 years after its release, and we all know that PS2 graphics don’t look all that great on a HD T.V. Had I played it on an old tube/CRT television my views would be a LOT different as MGS3 set massive standards as far as graphics are concerned. Take a look at these screenshots for example - they are simply stunning, it looked nothing like this on my HD T.V.)
But if you delve a little deeper, you start to realise that it was all part of Hideo Kojima’s plan. To fool you into thinking you were actually infiltrating a Russian base in the mid 1960’s. Although the cut scenes of old military footage look dated, overlaid with browns and dark colours, after a while you start to appreciate them and you soon realise that this game is not one that is out to ‘wow’ the individual with pristine and diverse colours (that appeared in MGS2), and its certainly not fooling you into thinking that you’re in the comfortable surroundings of a futuristic bulletproof building. No, rather you are in the wilderness, alone, amid the jungle, and no one will help you get out easily! This is survival tactical espionage. And it turned out, for me, to be addictive!
So we all know that the Metal Gear Solid 3 storyline had a lot of speculation and press surrounding its Big Boss orientated storyline. This is the first Metal Gear title that doesn’t involve Solid Snake in any way. This may sound like a bad thing, especially seen as Kojima was highly criticised for the introduction of a new lead character in MGS2 - Raiden. We can however, appreciate that the lead character is like for like and the same as Solid Snake. But this time, we get to delve deeper into why Solid Snake was genetically cloned on Big Boss. We get to appreciate, as the story progresses, what made Big Boss such a legendary soldier.
It’s hard to review something without giving vital story details away, it’s also something that I don’t wish to do because there are plenty of sources of literature and resource for finding out plot details both online and in books.
However, I can say that the premise for the game is basically to give you a good idea of who the man is behind the legend of Big Boss. Because MGS3 is based upon Big Boss and his most successful mission, it gives you a sheer sense of awe and inspiration.
It helps you realise why the “Les Enfants Terribles” were cloned on him. And after playing through MGS3, it helps you realise how Solid Snake is such a phenomenal soldier and how Liquid and Solidus are so physically and emotionally strong. It’s because they are genetically identical to MGS3 protagonist, Naked Snake, or Big Boss as he later becomes known.
The Virtuous Mission
- August 24, 1964
We start off being briefed by the Major, Major Tom as he likes to be known in The Virtuous Mission, after a famous tunnel in the Steve McQueen War classic “The Great Escape”. However, he quickly becomes aware that his codename was more ill-fated than he thought and changes it to Major Zero for Operation: ‘Snake Eater’. The Virtuous Mission follows a familiar trend set up by MGS2, where there is a small infiltration operation (the Tanker episode) to kick things off and get you to familiarise with your surroundings just before you start with the ‘bigger’ mission, i.e. in this case the ‘Snake Eater’ Mission, much like MGS2’s Big Shell infiltration.
Along the way, we learn more about the Major and meet Paramedic, a medical expert and a good source of well deserved respite with a good chat when a much deserved breather is needed. She takes the place of Mei-Ling and Rose but Snake manages to keep his distance unlike the claustrophobic relationship between Raiden and Rose in MGS2. Perhaps more importantly, we get to meet Snake’s mentor and long standing patriotic soldier, The Boss.
Without dwelling too much on the intricacies of the mission, Snake finds himself in the middle of the Soviet jungle in search of a scientist named Sokolov who has secretly been working on a nuclear-equipped tank called the Shagohod.
After his search ends, the major reveals that all communication with The Boss have mysteriously been lost and Snake is faced with a rope bridge showdown with his former mentor and her new found co-conspirator Volgin. We get introduced to a swarm of hornets and an all together (in true Metal Gear style) freakish experience when we meet the Cobra Unit for the first time. The Cobra Unit consists of The Boss’ co-veterans and friends from the battlefield including The Pain, The Fear and The End. These are later added to the death toll, after various ‘Boss’ fights, alongside The Fury and the already dead (?), The Sorrow.
A confused Snake comes to blows with The Boss, who betrays his trust and changes sides; he ends up braking limbs and ends up on a heap in the ravines of Tselinoyarsk. This is perhaps my favourite scene of the game (also the one that inspired one of the banners on this site!). Moments later, Volgin launches two Davy Crockett Nuclear shells into the Soviet as they escape with the Shagohod and Sokolov.
Needless to say, the U.S. are blamed for the attack as the aircraft that deployed Snake in the first place was in violation of their airspace, Kruschev holds the U.S. responsible and orders the President to find a quick cover up or reveal the real culprit before the Soviet Union take it further.
Operation: Snake Eater
- August 30, 1964
A week later, the Major calls in to brief a recovering Snake on his next covert operation, ‘Snake Eater’. This time, it is to stop Volgin, destroy the Shagohod and eliminate The Boss. As much as killing his former mentor grates with Snake, he is more than a little intrigued to find out what is going on and why she decided to defect.
As well as Snakes pencil pushing friends on the radio, he manages to ally with a young lady that goes by the codename of EVA. Snakes first mission is to rendezvous with Adam and Eva at the same place where Sokolov was rescued, EVA turns up after a showdown with the Ocelot Unit, an elite unit within Volgin’s GRU, led by the one and only Ocelot himself.
Snake confronts a young Ocelot, with whom he has a strange mentor/adversary relationship with. Snake ends up teaching him a few tricks and on the other hand, Ocelot hates him but respects him for it. The two come to a mutual hate/respect standoff and it is a pleasure to witness such a great character development throughout the game.
As the game progresses we encounter the remaining members of the Cobra Unit - The Pain, The Fear and The End. We also talk to the very bitter but invaluably helpful Professor Granin, Sokolov’s main adversary in the scientific field and the scientist/architect behind Metal Gear. Granin’s raw bitterness stems from the fact that Sokolov’s “inferior” battle tank, the Shagohod, was the preferred weapon of choice for the Russians.
Granin’s Metal Gear however, has a longer lived destiny and it is the mech that the series is based upon. It is often described as “an all-terrain, nuclear-equipped, walking battle tank capable of launching a nuclear warhead from anywhere on the planet” and as time progresses it becomes the main target for the series protagonists, and the main source of power for the antagonists.
After our chat with Granin, he helps us along the way and we eventually rendezvous with EVA in the mountains and defeat The Fury to advance to Groznij Grad, the factory base that Sokolov is being held captive at, and the location of the Shagohod.
The mountains and Groznij Grad are perhaps my favourite sections of the game. They are, at times the most testing and grueling parts of game play. In fact, the realism of the mountains, i.e. the rough terrain, real feeling of being in a harsh climate, the violent environment etc. all adds up to an amazing experience whilst playing this beautiful game. One thing that made me sit back was the sight of a gas masked soldier walking around with a flame thrower. A truly brutal image in this sort of setting, if I’ve ever seen one! I don’t know why but it left a lasting mark. This extreme setting and surrounding environment coupled with the amazing landscape that awaits us on the other side of the mountains and it really is as I say…a beautiful game.
We all know and love the sunset scenes of MGS2 in Big Shell, but the Groznij Grad sunset scene as we walk with EVA to the rear of the mountain is truly breathtaking and the intense amount of intricate detail are truly magnificent. Just to soak it all in, I took out the binoculars and had a scout around! The detail is phenomenal and those of you looking for Kerotans will have noticed one around there too!
Without delving into it too much, Kerotans’ are bonuses, if you shoot all existing hidden Kerotan, you are rewarded at the end of the game, I can’t remember what it is at this time but it’s good! A stealth suit or something of that ilk! Any strategy guide will tell you all the ins and outs of every secret contained within this gem of a game. A particularly good strategy book is the Piggyback guide - check out my MGS3 Strategy Guide page for more info on the guide itself.
Onwards and upwards, on our travels to Groznij Grad we meet The Fury, the last of the (alive) Cobras and probably the easiest boss of the game (that’s if you didn’t cheat your way out of defeating The End (see strategy guide)). We reach Groznij Grad, and find Sokolov and indeed ourselves in a spot of bother!
It’s at this point we see perhaps one of the best emotional scenes of the entire series, the point at which Snake proves his worth as a soldier and really shows that he’ll never back down. We feel for him as he endures the torture scene with Volgin and a gunshot goes badly wrong and tears up through his left eye. Only EVA shows her emotions, the rest of the group show no remorse and we’re left scarred along with Snake, as we see the true nature of the violent antagonists we’re dealing with.
Approaching the end of the game, we escape the prison cell. It’s at this point you’d usually hear talk from reviewers (not that I’m a reviewer of any sort) about Johnny Sasaki, a regular character in various reincarnations that pops up throughout the series. I personally don’t rate the character and he doesn’t do anything for me, not even provide comic relief! Sorry, just my opinion!
We proceed to the sewerage system and make our way to the Jungle to rendezvous with EVA. After a mesmerising cut scene and showdown with the Ocelot and his elite Unit, we end up in the spooky hollows of a nearby lagoon. We meet a recurring character throughout the game, who has remained mysterious, yet we’ve already managed to learn a lot about him, even though we’ve not been able to piece together the jigsaw.
The Sorrow is, in my opinion, the most understated, yet crucial characters of Metal Gear Solid 3. He barely has a part to play in the story here, yet his back-story and character arc is so deep that he is pivotal to the Metal Gear saga. He was first mentioned on the bridge of Tselinoyarsk by The Boss, “Sorrow, is that you?”, this is because she felt his presence there. She knew that only a few years earlier, she had to kill him in those ravines as a matter of duty. Being the patriot she was, it was her job. However, the story goes deeper than that.
We find out from EVA, after our first encounter with Ocelot at the beginning of the Snake Eater mission, that he was born on a battlefield and the woman now had a snake shaped scar. Later The Boss reveals her Snake shaped scar and that her son was born on a battlefield. She tells us that the baby was the product of her and The Sorrow’s relationship. Of course, by this point, we have already played Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2, we know that Ocelot is to become the main antagonist of the entire series. It is from this genesis that he became what he did.
It is the revelations about Ocelot’s origins amongst other defining moments in the game that are so cleverly placed that it seems fitting to mumble to yourself with a triumphant “Oh Yeah, that makes sense!”
We proceed to meet EVA and we eventually end up back in Groznij Grad. This time it’s not to save anyone, we’re out to destroy the Shagohod! We encounter Volgin and eventually The Boss in our final match. Screenshots would not do this scene justice and I consider any screenshot of the final location a spoiler just because it is so damn beautiful! Seriously, play the game and experience it for yourself, it is simply amazing. Again, it is one of the most amazing scene’s I’ve witnessed in a video game and is one of my favourites from Snake Eater. Meanwhile, you’ll just have to settle with a screenshot from the first cut-scene in the Snake Eater mission!
The crescendo for me, is when EVA explains everything to Snake. I personally felt sympathy for Snake and had a deep respect for him, not to mention the mixed emotions over EVA’s betrayal and The Boss’ undying loyalty for her country.
I cannot recommend the soundtrack enough, it’s probably the best of the Metal gear soundtracks available and if only for the last few songs, it’s worth it! I love the music of EVA’s reminiscence and for me this was the ultimate ending for a Metal Gear game and I cannot comment until I play Metal Gear Solid 4, but I can only live in hope that it will come even close to the Metal Gear Solid 3 ending.
Character Gallery
