Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Developer:	Konami Computer Entertainment Japan (West)
Publisher:	Konami Computer Entertainment
Director:	Hideo Kojima
Release date:	November 17 2004
Genre:	Stealth action
Game modes:	Single player
ESRB rating:	Mature
Platform:	PlayStation 2
Media:	DVD-ROM
Input:	Controller
View of enemy with sniper scope + thermal goggles View of enemy with sniper scope + thermal goggles

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (commonly abbreviated MGS3) is a stealth-based game directed by Hideo Kojima and developed by Konami for the PlayStation 2. It is the fifth game in the Metal Gear series, released in North America on November 17 2004.

Gameplay details

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has revolutionary gameplay based on camouflage. There is a meter called the "camouflage index" to determine how visible the character is, on a scale of 100%. The player is able to put on various uniforms like "Tiger Stripe" or "Olive Drab" in conjunction with face painting. There is also a fake crocodile head to wear. Hideo Kojima has included a "Naked" camo, which basically renders the player character shirtless. This function is for "Rambo" type players, he says.

Also, the emphasis on weapons is higher than in previous installments of the Metal Gear series. In the game, the main character uses a shotgun, various automatic rifles, and grenades. This way, the player character can choose whether to sneak up on people with knives or just shoot them.

The game is set in the jungles of Russia, so the environment is a big part of the game. You can climb trees, hide in grass and swim in rivers and ponds. Also, you must survive off the land by capturing or killing plants and animals and eating them to increase stamina.

Storyline

Template:Spoiler The game takes place during the Cold War in the 1960s, in the jungles of Russia. Players will take the identity of U.S. CIA soldier "Naked Snake" to rescue a defecting Russian scientist named Sokolov, and to destroy the walking nuclear battle tank "Shagohod", a '60s version of a Metal Gear.

The game takes place in two missions, Operation Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater. In Virtuous Mission, a rocket scientist named Sokolov has been transported from the United States to the USSR. The storyline explains that this was actually a trade for the Soviets to withdraw their missiles from Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Under the orders of Major Zero (Changed to "Major Tom" at the start of the mission, the name taken from the movie The Great Escape), Naked Snake (from here on "Snake") is supposed to retrieve him, but must do it secretly. Snake succeeds in making contact with Sokolov, who explains that he is developing a new weapon that will give the Soviet Union the advantage in the Cold War, known as the Shagohod. On the way back to the extraction point, they encounter his mentor The Boss, who reveals she is defecting to the Soviet Union. Sokolov is captured by her, for she intends to give him to Colonel Volgin, her new ally. The Boss also has brought two miniature nuclear missiles, known as Davy Crocketts, for Volgin. Colonel Volgin is a member of GRU, the extremist faction in the Soviet Army, and a supporter of Leonid Brezhnev, whom he intends to replace Nikita Khrushchev with. He tells The Boss that Snake must die since he has seen his face, so that their plans to overthrow Khrushchev won't be revealed. Volgin steals the Shagohod and destroys Sokolov's testing facility.

Operation Snake Eater takes place one week after Virtous Mission. It is revealed that the gunship was detected by Soviet radar as it was rescuing Snake, thus implicating America in the explosion. Therefore, Khrushchev will declare war on America in one week if Snake does not eliminate The Boss and Volgin to prove America's innocence in the destruction of the facility.

Snake's first objective is to meet with a former NSA codebreaker called ADAM, who had defected previously. On the way, The Boss corners him and destroys his weapons. When he gets to Rassvet, the rendezvous point, he instead finds EVA, who is ADAM's partner. EVA reveals to Snake that she has infiltrated Groznyj Grad, Volgin's personal base, by posing as Volgin's lover.

Snake goes to Graniny Gorki, the former prison, where Sokolov is supposedly held. He finds the former director of Soviet weapon development, Granin, who is driven by jealousy of Sokolov's fame and access to research funds. He then gives Snake a key to rescue Sokolov and remove him from the country, thus removing Granin's research rival.

Snake eventually gets to Groznyj Grad, and must destroy Shagohod, and rescue Sokolov, while also facing a final showdown with The Boss.

The Philosophers' Legacy

The Philosophers' Legacy is a massive fund that was collected during World War II by various powerful and influential individuals in the United States, Russia, and China collectively known as The Philosophers. The fund itself is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and all three branches of The Philosophers are trying to get it for themselves. Volgin was made rich because his father was placed in charge of managing and laundering the Legacy. The main mission of Metal Gear Solid 3, while initially focused on the Shagohod, is actually about this fund.

It is revealed at the end of the game that the American branch of The Philosophers later becomes The Patriots discussed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

Beginnings of The Legend

With this new installment of the Metal Gear Solid series the player is given a chance to experience the history of The Legendary Soldier, Big Boss. It is an amazing experience to witness the transformation of a skilled rookie to the beginnings of The Great Legend. Even better is that the player is given more understanding of what caused this Great Soldier to become a "Terrorist" in Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Many answers are given of this man's past, yet more questions are presented. One of the most potent is the question, "Is Big Boss actually a 'bad guy'?" While the actions Big Boss took in Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land weren't the most peaceful, he was fighting back against the Philosophers and the overall state of the world. This game has added tremendous depth to both the character of Big Boss and to the overall Metal Gear universe.

Villains

• Volgin - A Russian nationalist, and the Colonel of GRU. His body carries an electrical charge of over one million volts. He has control of a Davy Crockett nuclear warhead, give to him by The Boss. Volgin takes control of the Shagohod. He is also bisexual, as hinted in-game with Colonel Ivan Raidenovich Raikov.
• Ocelot - Is Revolver Ocelot from past Metal Gear Solid installments. He is the Major of the Ocelot unit of the Spetsnaz. He is a very skilled gunman. He uses the Makarov, and then the Colt Single Action Army on advice from Naked Snake. He hinted to be the son of The Boss and The Sorrow.

The Cobras

• The Boss- A woman who is Snake's mentor and teacher. Her codename within the Cobra Unit was The Joy, since she brought joy into her battles. Hinted to be the Mother of Ocelot.
• The Pain - Controls hornets. Previous to joining the Cobras, he worked with bees. His lust for pain led the Boss to approve his joining the group.
• The Fear - Superhumanly agile and double jointed in both elbows. A master of simple booby traps and projectile weapons. Compares himself to a "spider."
• The End - The fictional "Father of Modern Sniping." He is 100 years old and is an autotroph. He can therefore remain stationary for extremely long periods of time while the moss growing within him makes food for his body.
• The Fury - Was a Russian cosmonaut horribly burned during a secret mission in the late 1950's. He wears a space suit and uses a flamethrower and jetpack. He is a pyromaniac.
• The Sorrow - Is a ghost. He appears at certain points, often behind The Boss, who is unaware of his presence. In life, he was killed by the Boss on a mission. This happened despite the two being lovers. Hinted to be the Father of Ocelot.

New Features

• A "Survival Viewer" - The Survival Viewer is a major change from the other versions in that it enhances the gaming experience and provides for a number of new features.

1. Camouflage - The camouflage delivers the increased ability to venture stealthily throughout the game. The player can change the look of Naked Snake's face and uniform to blend into the terrain's surroundings, gain the special abilities a uniform can provide or just change his look for an unspecified reason. In May 2004, Konami started a contest on Metal Gear Solid 3's official website. This contest, called the Camouflage Campaign, allowed fans to design and send in a camouflage pattern for selection to appear in the game (and the designers' names would appear in the game's credits). The competition ended in July, and four designs were selected out of the 5,482 sent in. Additional new camouflage patterns are available online for download through a PS2 modem or network adapter.
2. Backpack - In this game, you can only hold a certain amount of items and weapons at a time. With the backpack, you can change those items and weapons.
3. Cure - Through the help of the game's para-medic, Naked Snake can heal himself (and EVA, later on in the game) whenever he is wounded, burnt, etc. using a range of medications and field surgery techniques.
4. Food - Metal Gear Solid 3 uses more than just regular health bar this time. The game utilizes a stamina bar, in which over time Snake's stamina will deteriorate. He has to eat food found around the map in order to survive, and can eat them through the Food section in the Survival Viewer.
5. Map - Shows the topographic map of the area you're in with added detail for to spots you've visited.

• Close Quarters Combat (CQC) - A tactical fighting system which enables the player character to execute various moves on the opponent. There is a fairly wide range of moves, with techniques including flipping and disarming, throwing, neckbreaking, and holding the enemy hostage with a knife for interrogation purposes.
• The ability to change the camera angle - Unlike the other Metal Gear Solid games, where you have a very fixed field of vision (unless if you go into first person view, which would yield other vision restrictions), Metal Gear Solid 3 lets you move the game camera around. Your surrounding vision is increased slightly, but only in the direction you are pointing the camera to.

Leaked document

In March 2004, users of IGN's message board for Metal Gear Solid discovered a list of the game's characters on Showfax.com, a website that provides sides (information about roles) for actors and voice actors.

Soon, the actual sides became available for purchase. These listed every single major character in the game, along with detailed biographies and actual lines of the game's dialogue. Information on the sides became widely circulated on the Internet and later became known to fans as the "leaked document."

Said document can be found here (warning: possible spoilers).

Three main theories exist regarding the leaked document:

• It is a complete fabrication and not created by Konami. This was believed around the time the document surfaced. Many fans thought the information given in the document must have been phony because it was too outlandish for a Metal Gear game, and that Kojima, known for the measures he takes into maintaining complete security regarding his games, would have never allowed such a leak to occur. However, the fact that many things shown in various trailers and the game's official website match what is given in the document has proven that it is not fake.
• Kojima intentionally released the information. Along with the belief that Kojima wouldn't allow material to be leaked, this is partially due to the "paranoia" from which many seem to suffer, due to the secrets revealed in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. It is thought that Kojima is trying to mislead and deceive fans (which he claims to enjoy doing) with the information.
• The information was actually leaked and was beyond Kojima's control.

After the release of the game, it has been proven that almost (if not) all of the document is correct.