|
Published
by Konami
Developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £39.99
Metal
Gear Solid 3, an introduction.
Technically
this is the introduction but if you need an introduction
to the Metal Gear Solid series you must have just arrived
from another planet. Few titles can attract such attention
and high praise than the Metal Gear Solid series has over
the years. Although it's roots pre-date the arrival of the
Sony PlayStation, the real explosion in popularity came
with Metal Gear Solid that arrived on Sony's little grey
box. The game attracted gamers like few games had before.
It was a mix of stealth and a great story that felt like
an interactive movie. The sequel arrived on the PlayStation
2 and was again very impressive although most felt it wasn't
as good as the original game. After a conversion of Metal
Gear Solid for the GameCube it's time for the latest title
in the series on the PlayStation 2, Metal Gear Solid 3:
Snake Eater.
What's
the game about?
Metal
Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is set during the Cold War crisis,
or rather the aftermath of it. In the game the reason hostilities
subsided was because the US handed back Nikolai Stepanovich
Sokolov, a scientist who had defected from the Soviet Union
to the US. However the US were unaware that the Soviet Union
wanted Sokolov back because he was the brains behind an
awful weapon and without him the weapon could not be completed.
Almost too late the US realises the grave error that has
been made and in a bid to prevent disaster the CIA order
the FOX unit to make an attempt to rescue Sokolov. Of course
the man they send in to make the rescue is the one and only
Snake. As far as game stories go the one in MGS 3 is a very
good one and will surprise you with its twists. Snake will
encounter enemies such as Ocelot, Volgin and many more plus
one particular character who he always looked up to but
has now betrayed him and the US.
What's
good about the game?
After
having to play through most of Metal Gear Solid 2 as Raiden
and not Snake it's a big relief to just control Snake this
time. The story is a lot more interesting this time around
too, although it wasn't bad in MGS 2. There's quite a few
new features here as well. Snake will have to find his own
food to recover his stamina and there's a variety of wildlife
that he can kill and eat to sustain himself. You'll have
to be fully aware of how visible Snake is at all times and
to this end a percentage indicator will show you how visible
he is (the closer to 100% Snake is the less chance there
is of enemies seeing him). Snake can paint his face in a
variety of styles and change his clothes in order to increase
his camouflage rating (it can also enable Snake to wear
disguises too) and it adds a nice level of strategy to the
game. Snake can also heal himself by performing on the spot
surgery. It's not just a case of using a health pack either
as Snake has access to bandages, suture kits, ointments
and splints amongst other things. You'll get to view Snake's
skeleton to see the damage he's picked up and you'll also
have access to his medical records that develop during the
course of the game. Snake can also use close quarters combat
meaning that he can hold both a knife and a gun but as fans
of the series will know it's always preferable to use stealth
over full on combat. There's also a Snake vs. Monkey mode
where you'll have to capture the monkeys from Ape Escape.
It's actually quite a fun mode and will keep you busy for
a while.
What's
not so good about the game?
One
of the big complaints with Metal Gear Solid 2 was that there
was too much dialogue and too many moments where you simply
watched what was going on instead of being involved in what
was going on. Metal Gear Solid 3 isn't quite as bad in this
respect but for the first part of the game at least, you
will spend a lot of the time watching cutscenes and you
don't get to control Snake half as much as you'd like to.
Thankfully though the story is more interesting than in
MGS 2 and being able to interact with some of the cutscenes,
albeit in a very minor way, does improve the situation.
You still can't play in first person mode which is disappointing.
Yes fans of the series will be used to how the game plays
and yes you can go into first person mode to aim but compared
to games such as Splinter Cell, the third person mode in
Metal Gear Solid 3 is not the most intuitive and certainly
doesn't do much for newcomers to the series. If you've seen
the game in the shops you may have noticed the 'With Net
Features' banner on the front of the case. Sadly all this
means is that you can download new camouflage items, which
is disappointing.
How
does it look?
Metal
Gear Solid 3 differs from the previous two Metal Gear Solid
games in that a lot of the game is played in an open air
jungle environment, whereas in the first two games you were
mostly indoors. Konami have done a great job with the environments
in the game and they all look quite realistic. Cutscenes
have always played a large part in the Metal Gear Solid
series and this time you can interact with them in a minor
way. In some cutscenes you'll see an R1 icon appear on the
screen and if you press the R1 button you'll see the action
through Snake's eyes. This makes the cutscenes feel more
immersive and should Snake be looking through a pair of
binoculars you'll be able to see what he sees. It also allows
for a few saucy moments such as when Snake is talking to
Eva. Pressing the R1 button will allow you to admire her
cleavage or peek at her leather panties. Of course this
isn't of the utmost importance but it does add a sense of
humour and gives you limited interactivity during some of
the cutscenes.
How
deaf gamer friendly is the game?
Thankfully,
and like the previous games in the series, MGS 3 is subtitled.
Whilst this is great, I do wish they had colour-coded the
subtitles, at least for those cutscenes when it's not obvious
who is talking. The game could really do with visual clues
for important environmental sounds especially as there are
plenty of threats from not just human enemies but also hidden
wild creatures such as crocodiles, which can really hurt
Snake. There are some control tutorial video clips that
don't have any speech but do have a text description of
the controls, which of course is fine for deaf gamers. When
Snake eats an item he'll comment on how good or bad the
food is, amongst other things and these comments are not
subtitled, although there is text to tell you if the food
is rotten for example.
Final
Thoughts.
The
third game in the Metal Gear Solid series doesn't disappoint
and the millions of fans this series has will certainly
be happy with the game. It still has that cinematic feel
to it and you'll want to play through the game just to see
the story unravel. Whilst many see the series as the first
real stealth series it does feel dated when compared to
the Splinter Cell games. For the most part this is because
you can't play the game in the first person mode which means
being truly stealthy is still more awkward than it should
be. However you can't argue that it's an excellent game
in more ways than one and it's definitely a game you'll
go back to when you're finished.
Overall
Game Rating: 9.0/10
Deaf
Gamers Classification:
(Click
the letter or here
for details)
As far as the subtitling is concerned
I have no complaints with MGS 3 but there are a lot of environmental
sounds that have no captions and this can make the game
more tricky than it should be at times.
|
