Metal Gear Solid - Snake Eater (Nintendo 3DS)

Info:
- Free of plot spoilers
- I have played MGS3 Subsistence on PS2 so this is not the first time i play this game.
- I HIGHLY recommend playing this game with the circle pad pro.

General MGS 3 introduction

Its all about stealthy gameplay but you can blast your way through if you want. The aim of this game is to complete your mission(s) without being spotted. This involves scoping your surroundings, wall hugging, crawling, using items such as scope and therm-goggles to evaluate your surroundings (for enemies and traps), taking care of enemies with silenced weapons, hiding bodies of dead/knocked out soldiers, wearing a disguise ect ect. There are amazing boss fights where you do not have to worry about stealth! You have to hunt for food to keep your stamina up which involves being selective of what you eat and getting used to certain foods. You have to take care of wounds and injuries in the survival viewer. You can wear different camoflage clothing and face paints to blend into the surrounding. You can interrogate enemies if you grab them unaware or force them to give you items if you hold them up with a weapon. The gameplay is some of the best around and the new added control features arguably make this the definitive version.

3DS Specific Review

Controls
The controls are very comfortable (especially with circle pad pro). Left analogue controls Snake, right analogue controls the camera. Hold Lz to aim and press Rz to shoot. Tap Rz (while not holding Lz) to perform a three hit melee combo. Hold Rz to grab an enemy into a chokehold. Once an enemy is grabbed you can either (D-pad left) interrogate at knifepoint, (x button) strangle for a knockout or (D-pad right) kill them. If you want to avoid the grab altogether then upon initial approach, hold the left analogue stick forward when you press Rz to perform a trip up which instantly knocks out enemies cold. If you tap Rz while running, Snake does an evasive roll which can hit enemies and also traverse him across short spaces or over waiste-height obstacles. L is item window and R is weapon window. b is crouch/crawl/stand. y is to switch aiming style while aiming (discussed below). In this edition, the survial viewer, food screen, camoflage screen, item and weapon screens and so on are much easier to access via the touch screen icons. Also there is now a more detailed map of your surroundings on the lower screen.

The three biggest additions to MGS 3DS are: 1) over the shoulder aiming, 2) that you can manoeuvre while aiming and 3) sneaking around while crouched - all of these additions draw on the MGS 4 design. You can aim your weapons in three ways (which can be switched in-game by pressing y). These are first person aiming, auto third person aiming (no reticule) and over the shoulder third person aiming (with reticule). All of these new control features work excellently especially in the open environments of MGS 3 and the different aiming modes are useful for different situations.

The main feature that is lost in this game (from MGS 2) is that you cannot do the "jump out and shoot" technique from the wall hug position. While wall hugged, you CAN peep around corners to look around but cannot shoot from around corners. To be honest i never really wanted or needed this technique in this game. It is much better suited to MGS 2 level design. In the more open environments of MGS 3 you will rarely want to do this manoeuvre if at all.

Graphics and Sound
The visuals are excellent - easily some of the best graphics on a handheld game. They are crisp and solid. Everyone who played the ps2 version is aware of the occassional slowdown. There is no exception here and there is a slight issue of slowdown at certain times but it didnt annoy me too much. The Soundtrack is very good and really pumps you up for some stealth action or an amazing boss fight. Voice acting is some of the best video games have to offer.

Replay Value
There are TONS of items to find in this game which you will not get on your first playthrough. And you get awarded special items and titles on each playthrough given how you chose to complete the game (how many times you were killed, how many enemies you killed or knocked out, how many times you were spotted ect ect or how many secret Yoshis you found!!).

The 3D effect
The 3D effect works well for this game - especially given the surroundings of the jungle: flowers, leaves, bushes, butterflies, bees ect... I found playing with the 3D turned off is just as fun and used it only at certain points.

All in all, MGS 3DS feels great to play especially with the new control features - arguably making this the definitive version. Its story is simply engrossing (I wont spoil it). I was unsure as to how such a massive title would work on a handheld console but lay your worries to rest. I give Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater 3DS 5/5 because of the sheer scope of high quality content and the excellent additions which improve an already great game.

Excellent game, the 3d effect can be jarring at times but it is still the game it was when it first came out. The story is fantasticly whack, the character quirky and the dialogue fantastic. The gameplay is stellar but can turn repetitive after a while though. Definitely worth buying if you're a fan of the series, you must buy it if you havn't played it before.

I am a lifelong fan of the Metal Gear Solid series, with 3 being my second favourite behind 1 so I was obviously salivating at the prospect of getting this on handheld but, for me, it is somewhat underwhelming. I'd also like to clear up, this is not a negative review but a critical positive one.

First off it's great to have such a respected title on the 3DS, especially a sneaking/shooting (tactical espionage) style of game that handhelds have always lacked; I love being able to play one of my favourite games out on the move. It has lost none of its atmosphere or story in translation to 3DS which is great. The overall game and experience is good and enjoyable, especially for fans of the series. The graphics are also respectable considering the 3DS's hardware, the "generation" that the game is from and how true it is to the original, although I have noticed that the textures can be pretty low in areas.

However there are still a number of technical issues that blight this otherwise good title. There are still FPS issues, admittedly less so than the demo but they are still present. Demanding cut scenes and fights can cause the game to slow down noticeably which has broken my immersion on quite a few occasions. The 3D is also fairly sub-par compared to other titles such as Ocarina of Time. Don't get me wrong it's still respectable, but the 3D is much less impressive than I anticipated going off pre-release information and reviews. It feels as though the game is using 2D images with some depth of field behind them to appear as though the game is using 3D models. That may sound weird but if you've played OOT and try this, you'll probably see what I mean. Another negative is that the game is pretty much unplayable without the circle pad pro, meaning that you will have to fork out another £15 to get the full experience out of this game, something that we really shouldn't have to do. Even with it the controls are a little awkward, with the sticks seemingly not being all that responsive when only partially moved. This has caused a few instances of Snake, on my game, to ocassionally start running when I'm creeping behind a guard.

Overall this game is worth a buy if you're a fan of the series or want a portable version of MGS3, however if you're on the fence I'd stick with the HD collection for the time being. It is good overall but due to a few technical issues that have irked me in my first playthrough I can only give a 7/10, or 3/5 since Amazon don't do half stars.