Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence is the "Director's Cut", if you will,
of the already amazing and critically acclaimed 2004 release, Metal
Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. If you've spent any amount of time with
Snake Eater then you already know what an incredible experience that
game can provide. So, you may find yourself asking, "How can Snake
Eater possibly have been improved?". I'm here to provide you with that
and answer and more.
One of the things that made Snake Eater so
fresh and reinvigorating for the MGS series was the change in setting.
The previous games in the series took place in the not too distant
future. Not only that, they always had the main character, Solid Snake,
infiltrating a military base of some sort or the like. Snake Eater on
the other hand took the series into the thick and lush jungles of the
1960's era Soviet Union. This slight shift in setting brought all new
gameplay options to the table. Gone is the Soliton Radar System of the
previous games, which lets Snake see where enemy sentries are at any
given time, and their field of vision. To replace that, in Snake Eater,
Snake has access to several gadgets, sonar etc., which used together
grant the same effect. Though, it's much tricker to pin down an enemies
exact location as you can only have one device equipped at a time.
Snake Eater also brings the Camouflage System. While in the field Snake
has access to different sets of camouflage which grant varying degrees
of cover to Snake depending on his surroundings. If Snake can match his
Camo closely to his surrounding he can appear almost invisible to most
enemies in the game. Snake Eater also adds another another innovation
to the series via the Survival Viewer. Using this sub-menu, Snake can
perform small medical procedures on himself. Things such as setting a
broken bone or removing leeches picked up while walking through a
swamp. He can also eat one of the many animals he may have captured or
killed while in the field to regain lost stamina.
Through all
these innovations Snake Eater missed one mark. Snake Eater retained the
same camera as previous games in the MGS series. In the jungle setting
of Snake Eater this camera becomes problematic. The organic nature of
the environment made it difficult to clearly view the action. Herein
lies the really the only improvement that could have been made to Snake
Eater. With the release of Subsistence the camera has been changed
dramatically. For the first time in the MGS series, the camera is now
fully controlled by the player. After spending just the first few
minutes playing Subsistence is becomes clear just how dramatically this
affects gameplay. On the one hand, the game seems just a bit easier
because of it. But honestly, it really isn't. It's actually more fun.
The camera does exactly what a camera should now, and thats to give the
player a clear view of what is happening on screen. Stalking enemies is
so much more fun now than it ever was before , all thanks to the
addition of a simple player controlled camera.
The camera isn't
all that has been added, though. The second disc of this package,
called Persistence, contains ports of the original MSX versions of
Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake'. This disc also contains the
long awaited and anticipated online mode of Metal Gear Solid. Metal
Gear Online, as it's been dubbed by fans, is worth the price of
admission alone. There are several game types to choose from including,
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, a Capture the Flag game, as well as
Sneaking Mission which pits one player, as Snake, against the other
seven. This mission type is probably my personal favorite. The controls
in the online mode are basically the same as the single player game.
So, Metal Gear fans should have no trouble jumping in and taking part
in the action.
The only thing Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence
has against it, is the exact same criticism that has been tossed at the
rest of the games in the series. That is that the cutscenes and
conversations over Snakes Codec, a device he uses to communicate with
his mission commanders, can be extremely long winded. The first 20-30
minutes of the game are mostly spent watching cutscenes and listening
to people talk. This doesn't bother me personally, but I have known
some to completely write off this series for that alone. If you're like
me however and love a good story in your games, then you will be blown
away. The story contained here in incredibly intricate. Though it
starts slow, it slowly builds to breakneck pace and doesn't let up
until its over.
Metal Gear Solid 3:Subsitence delivers on all
fronts. Contained here is an amazing single player experience, an easy
to pick and play online mode, and plenty of other extras to keep you
busy for a long while. Regardless if you're a fan of the Metal Gear
Series or not, this is one videogame you owe it to yourself to
experience.
