Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was released in 2004, and it’s safe to say that the development behind it was harrowing. Hideo Kojima is an auteur video game director who wants perfection and creativity in his games. That’s why they can sometimes take a while to come out, as changes happen all the time.
While Kojima is not involved in the remake, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, it’s still great to see this game being resurrected for a new generation. So, in honor of the remake, let’s take a look behind the scenes at how the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater came to be.
Kojima’s PS3 Ambitions
Couldn’t Wait Any Longer
Hideo Kojima wanted the Metal Gear Solid series to progress with each new console. Since Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was on the PS2, he wanted the next game to be on the PS3. However, he grew tired of waiting for the next console to come out, and decided to use the PS2 instead.
In an interview with GameMaster in May 2005, which was briefly shown in this Did You Know Gaming video, Kojima explained how the size of PS2 discs meant that his team had to drastically cut back content. There was a radio station planned that, when listened to, would have hurt Naked Snake. Kojima and his team would have recorded themselves singing.
The Concept Of The Game’s Jungle
Know Your Environment
As the third game on PlayStation hardware, Kojima and his team wanted to do something different with Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater that not many developers had attempted up to that point. In an online interview with GamePro in August 2003, Kojima talked about the ideas for the jungle setting, and also how weather would have played into the environments dynamically.
In the final game, the weather was preset depending on the zone Snake entered. In a Eurogamer interview in April 2004, Kojima also talked about how the team was taught CQC and how to survive in the jungle to help inspire them while developing the game.
Naked Snake’s Dreams
Guy Savage Wasn’t The Planned Mini-Game
In a later section of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, players can activate a dream sequence while Snake is in jail. This will trigger a mini-game known as Guy Savage, which is a hack-and-slash game akin to Devil May Cry or Kingdom Hearts. Originally, Kojima wanted this dream section to feature Gradius, but Guy Savage was chosen instead.
Shuyo Murata, one of the writers, directed the Guy Savage section of the game. Much later, it was revealed by Famitsu during a 2011 event to promote Zone of the Enders HD Collection that Guy Savage could have been a very early prototype for Zone of the Enders 3. With a proper English converter, fans can learn more from this Famitsu event.
The Infamous Torture Scene
It Could Have Been Longer
Most Metal Gear games include a torture scene, and some even have interactivity. Kojima wanted players to be able to interact with Snake’s torture scene in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, but all they could do was watch it happen. Plus, it was much shorter than originally planned.
Kojima told this to PSM in their February 2005 issue. He discussed how players could have answered Volgin during the scene, but didn’t elaborate much further. Regardless of what it was supposed to be, the scene is still important. It shows how Snake lost his eye, via Revolver Ocelot, and how he eventually got his iconic Big Boss eye patch.
The End
Kojima Loves A Good Sniper Fight
The End is the most fascinating member of the Cobra Unit, since he’s ancient but still a gifted sniper. In that same interview with PSM from February 2005, Kojima discussed his love of Stephen Hunter’s novels about snipers. The Master Sniper is one example that inspired Kojima to create a two-week-long battle against The End.
Due to the team’s feedback, Kojima had to give up his vision of this epic boss battle as they weren’t having fun. What remains is still exciting, and he would eventually put in an even more elaborate sniper battle in Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain via the encounter with Quiet.
Cut Characters
What Could Have Been The Cobra Unit
Yoji Shinkawa is the concept artist for the Metal Gear series, who is as integral to the series as Kojima. Shinkawa has art floating around online from various entries. There are a few early versions of The End and The Fear, showcasing younger depictions. At one point, The Boss would have been partially nude with a snake tattoo on her chest.
Most interesting are the cut characters from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater who don’t have a lot of detail added to their biography. There was a female character, No. 2, nicknamed Snake Eyes, who could have been part of the Cobra Unit. No. 8 was wilder yet as some sort of winged pterodactyl-like man creature with a big beak.
A 3DS Feature Could Have Made It Onto The PS2
The EyeToy’s Capabilities
In EGM’s January 2005 issue, they conducted an interview with Kojima and asked about Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater’s development. Kojima discussed his desire to include the PS2 EyeToy in some way, but didn’t elaborate on how. Fans speculated that it could have been used to take a picture of objects that players could then upload to create camouflage patterns.
They believe this because that’s what the 3DS version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater included, using the portable device’s camera. Speculation aside, Kojima did share cut concepts for camouflage in the August 2003 issue of EGM. He wanted players to apply paint on Snake’s face manually, but this was cut as it didn’t work properly.