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Monday 14 January, 2008
SUMMARY
Metal Gear Solid 3 has the player assume the role of “Snake” on his mission to prevent nuclear war. In order to successfully do so, Snake must avoid detection by the enemy using camouflage, hiding places and stealth.
GAMEPLAY
I have always been a fan of the Metal Gear series, and so I was very excited with playing the most recent of the series. The game’s main character is Snake who is the rugged, tough main character full of bravado. As a main character, he is exactly what you would expect of an action hero, able to take on countless enemies and still have witty banter with pretty women. Yet none of the characters ever become one dimensional, the revelations about the main cast’s true motives and loyalties keeps the story interesting and exciting throughout the entirety of the game.
The game’s ability to build suspense at the possible discovery by a guard or the exhilarating boss battles keeps the game interesting and fun to play multiple times through, as well as attracting spectators to watch your mission’s progress. However, the flow of the game is broken sometimes and some movement complications can impede the usual flow of the game.
DESIGN
Metal Gear Solid 3 is a game on a truly grand scale, I ended up playing for hours longer than I had intended because of the engaging storyline, exciting gameplay, and stunning visuals. The story of political intrigue and espionage will continually keep you wanting to know what happens next. The best parts of the game are the inventive boss battles with soldier who can control hornets or become invisible and when Snake needs to dispatch pursuing guards. These parts allow you to take advantage of the nifty gadgets and techniques that snake has up his sleeve such as land mines, stun grenades, and judo throws to their full extent. Though some of the most entertaining parts were the humorous dialogues snake has with his support team, usually revolving around 60’s contemporary culture or alluding to other elements in the MGS series (such as the cardboard box). This game has some of the most stunning cinematics I have seen in a game;the combination of fantasy (Russians who shoot lightening and giant robots) and history (Cold War and JFK's assassination) that they alone will make up for some of the snags in the gameplay.
However, there were some snags that detracted from the rest of the game, namely in the camouflage system and movement. The camouflage system allows Snake to wear multiple different camouflages for varies types of environment; a necessity if one is to get far in the game. Yet the terrain can shift suddenly, thus making a previous camouflage unfavorable. This leads to frequent changes in camouflage in some areas of the game that can stifle to flow by making the player go through various menus to change Snake’s attire only to do so again a couple minutes later. The movement mechanics can sometimes lead to popping up right in front of enemy guards, causing difficulties climbing some objects quickly or getting caught on walls which will usually get Snake caught which leads to death or losing a minute or two of game time waiting for things to calm down. Though in the end, these hang ups are infrequent and don’t detract too much from the overall gameplay leaving MGS3 as a standout game.
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