Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

When Metal Gear Solid came out for the original PlayStation back in 1998, it changed the way people played action games. Later on, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty reinvented the stealth action genre for that platform long before Splinter Cell changed the rules with its focus on game play rather than long cut scenes. Now comes another game in the series, called Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Set in Cold War era Russia in the early 1960's, this game centers around Snake, a guy with a mission: to save the world from nuclear destruction and corruption by defeating members of an evil group that spoiled a previous mission involving a rescue of a Russian scientist. Your mission is to find the people that will kill Snake in order to rule the world. Those bosses are really challenging and will test your wit and skill. You also must survive your stamina by eating food by hunting animals and eating rations, noodles, and space food! You will also learn how to use close quarters combat (CQC), a new fighting method introduced for the first time in an MGS game, which is quite remarkable (MGS introduced the radar system, MGS2 introduced the grip system).

After playing this game (and finishing the game on Easy mode), I think this game was much better than the fiasco that was MGS2. Relying more on historic events, great characters, and innovative game play that will intrigue players for months to come until the next Splinter Cell game arrives, Metal Gear Solid is a cinematic video game experience you will never forget.

Coming soon: A review of Halo 2.