The Metal Gear Solid series has delivered some truly impressive titles over the years, but its best one still reigns supreme after more than two decades. While the franchise began in 1987, but went through a resurgence during the sixth generation of consoles. By 2004, the series had experienced a resurgence thanks to Metal Gear Solid, which set the stage for plenty of other releases over the subsequent decades.
With almost thirty games spread out across spin-offs and re-releases, the series has come to thoroughly define the espionage genre in gaming. However, the series still hasn’t matched one of their ultimate highlights. 21 years ago, Konami released the best entry in the series. It was so good, it didn’t just earn rave reviews and sell millions of copies, it also predated one of modern gaming’s biggest trends and remains one of the best games of an entire era in gaming.
Debuting on the PlayStation 2 in 2004, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remains a benchmark of the franchise and one of the best games of its era. Serving as a prequel to the original series, Snake Eater shifts focus away from Solid Snake and the recently introduced Raiden to focus on the origins of Big Boss. The “leader turned villain” antagonist of the original game, Snake Eater was a period-piece spy thriller set against the backdrop of the Cold War.
Players were dropped — literally, out of a plane in the game’s opening cutscene — into the Russian wilds to face off with a dangerous villain who could turn the long-simmering conflict nuclear hot. Snake Eater was a fascinating game, Hideo Kojima and Konami firing on all cylinders, delivering one of the most unique examples of Metal Gear Solid‘s potential. That it’s almost all done naturally by building on the game design that the team had been refining in previous titles. The added survival mechanics to reflect the jungle layout was a major step forward for those now-common game mechanics were ahead of their time, further immersing the player into the natural landscape.
The game pushed the PlayStation 2-era graphics to their peak, with a cinematic approach that benefited from the more expansive approach to the jungle setting. The tone of the story is unmistakably a Metal Gear Solid story, with all the quirky, creepy, and memorably weird touches Kojima’s known for. It’s also a perfectly committed period piece, using the setting shift to tell a very well-executed throwback thriller. The score by Harry Gregson-Williams and Norihiko Hibino creates a deeply immersive experience with their music choices, further sucking the player into the stylish approaches that make the game feel like stepping into an original and artistically-minded James Bond film.
Snake Eater Was A Highlight Of The PS2’s Cinematic Era
Snake Eater was part of a very impressive string of titles for the later days of the PlayStation 2 era, which saw a lot of creators push the boundaries in stylish approaches. For some of them, the true push came from their embrace of pure spectacle and scope. Shadow of the Colossus proved how big the area could become, while franchises like Viewtiful Joe and God of War highlighted the range of worldbuilding styles available to developers on the system.
Snake Eater was a key example of that, producing a game that felt both consistent with the franchise’s core gameplay and with the espionage fiction that inspired it. Snake Eater did that with the spy thriller, in a way I don’t think I’ve seen replicated so well. There’s a nostalgic approach to the visuals and the world-building, especially as the player fights their way through the increasingly unique bosses like the patient-to-a-fault sniper the End or the flamethrower-wielding cosmonaut. Snake Eater‘s presentation was keyed into this overall tone, to the point where even the visuals seem slightly tinted compared to the more crisp colors of other entries in the series.
It’s something that’s even reflected in the more muted sunlight and camo — an element of the visuals that was lost in the shiner, more modern look for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. The game was so committed to the James Bond-style presentation, it even opens with a Bond-style musical opening. Snake Eater was a strong early example of using the increasingly advanced 3D effects of the era to not just push for realism, but style to match the substance. It felt authentically retro, while still retaining the natural freshness of Kojima’s singular tonal aesthetic and the craft of the team as a whole. It’s a one-of-a-kind game, the highlight of a universally solid franchise that has never felt so tightly and well executed. It’s strange but built out of familiar tropes, compelling and immersive — with the style of an artistically-minded film and gameplay challenges of a well-crafted design team.
Currently ranked highly with a 91 score on MetaCritic, the game’s Subsistence re-release is currently ranked as the 13th highest PlayStation 2 game among critics. It was well met with approval by critical fans, appeasing gamers who had been confounded by Raiden’s starring role or the philosophical musings of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The more streamlined story still told a story full of the franchise’s off-kilter sense of humor, but appealed to a broader audience thanks to the execution. It expanded on the lore in exciting ways and laid the groundwork for the epic and bittersweet Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
It’s perfectly cheesey and deeply compelling, and remains a highlight of that era. Even when compared to modern advances, the distinct look of the game remains memorably appealing. The game’s popularity with critics and audiences alike set off an entire chain of prequel games set in the Metal Gear Solid universe, which allowed the series to give closure to Solid Snake while still carrying on the adventures of Big Boss. While Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is a solid remake that recreates a lot of the original in a more modern form, the original Snake Eater from 21 years ago remains one of the true highlights of its era and the best executed entry in the Metal Gear Solid saga.