Hello, you must have been in a coma if you haven't heard of this game. I just thought I'd do you the favour of catching you up on some other things that have happened since you were unconscious. Acid washed jeans are no longer in style and Van Halen has broken up and Ronald Reagan is no longer president. In fact, he's dead!
All tasteless jokes aside, Metal Gear Solid 3 is simply going to blow the competition out of the water. Hideo Kojima's final foray (Right...) into Solid Snake's world is going to be the benchmark of stealth-fantasy action adventure, dress-up games for years to come.
Where as the previous games have been action, with a healthy dose of stealth, this chapter will reverse that trend by focusing much more on the stealth aspects of the game. The main aspect of this is the dressing up bit, which has the familiar ring of GI Joe tea parties, and serves a very central part of the gameplay. Snake now must blend in with his surroundings in order to survive.
In order to do this Snake must find and change into different camouflage patterns, ranging from basic forest green to bright red brick and fire patterns. In the upper-left hand corner of you screen in a camo index, which tells you how hidden you are from your enemies. Standing against a brick wall with the leaf camo on is going to give you an index of 0%; while laying down on the forest floor will give you an index of 90%. Standing, moving or equipping weapons all lower your index, while objects like face paint up the percentage. Get it wrong, and you're spotted and killed. Get it right, and guard will walk right by use, blissfully unaware of your presence.
The setting for this game is different than the others, with the gray corridors of the first two being replaced by a living, breathing jungle. Animals walk around the forest, trees sway and rivers flow all around you. Truly a peaceful setting in which to shoot somebody.
In fact, animals are such an integral part of this game, one of the main aspects is right in the title. Despite being very homoerotic, Snake Eater describes one way of gaining health back after a particularly nasty firefight. If you look closely you can see Snake wearing a alligator head as part of his camouflage. One video shows him frightening away a guard by crawling into a hollow log, with just the snout of the head sticking out. It's good to know that the series hasn't lost its trademark humour either.
The time frame of this game is another switch from the formula of the past two. Now set in the 1960's, MGS3 will tell the tale of the original Snake, the legendary Big Boss. As much as I hate prequels, I'm sure Kojima will find a way to screw with our heads, and make it entertaining enough for me to forget the whole continuity thing. Set for a release of "whenever the hell it's done" Snake Eater is one of my most anticipated PS2 games in development right now. MD
