It can go without saying that Metal Gear Solid 3 is
a great game. First being released in
2004 for the PS2, the game saw a remake a year later with its Subsistence
edition. Not only that, but tack on the
recent release of the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, and you will be wondering
why they wanted to re-make this game for the 3DS.
Well, the good news is that the game works better on
the 3DS than the home console versions of the game. The bad news is that people will most likely
want to get their hands on the Circle Pad Pro accessory for the best
experience. (Making a $40 game a $60
one.)
First thing's first: this is basically the same Snake
Eater everyone knows and loves. So
everything will be familiar to veterans.
What IS new is the controls as well as some gameplay gimmicks that
utilize the 3DS’ features greatly. Not
only that, but add in updated graphics and you get something that looks
great. It is not exactly Resident Evil Revelations
status in terms of graphics, but the color palette looks much more vibrant than
the original PS2 and HD remake of the game.
The game’s newly revamped controls are a very nice
addition to this remake. No longer are
people going to fumble through the once out-dated controls. However, if people want to use the game
without the out-dated controls, be warned: they are very awkward to use. Circle Pad to move, ABXY to control the
camera, L to aim, R to fire, and the D-Pad to perform special actions such as
crouching and crawling and equipping weapons and items. The Circle Pad Pro turns this once awkward
control scheme into something very fluid and nice to use. All of Snake’s actions are at your
fingertips.
Quite literally actually, since the game’s HUD is
found on the bottom screen, thus eliminating any clutter on the top
screen. Which is good, as the screen is
small, and Metal Gear’s HUD would take up too much valuable real estate on the
screen. You can now select items and
weapons as well as certain menus such as the Cure and Camouflage menus without
having the need to go through the pause menu and backing out of two screens
every time you just need to do a simple heal or camo switch.
There are two new gimmicks to Snake Eater 3D that
make the most out of the 3DS system, the
first of which is the Photo Camouflage Maker.
This feature allows you to take photos with the 3DS camera and use a portion
of said photos as an effective camouflage.
This tool can be a bit broken as times, since certain patterns in photos
can cause Snake’s Camo Index to rise significantly more than the camouflage
already found in the game at certain times.
The other feature uses the gyroscope function to let Snake keep his
balance when walking on tree branches or wooden bridges. Sadly, the gyroscope function can be annoying
at times, as you do not want to be focusing more on keeping a steady hand
whenever you are on the go with this game.
This then leads into Snake Eater 3D’s biggest flaw:
it is not really suited as a portable game.
With all the lengthy cut-scenes, the constant distraction of outside
noise which can influence your sneaking at times, along with the fact that the
game features no auto-save function, makes this game one of those portable
titles that you’ll want to play by yourself in peace and quiet. Nothing is wrong with this, as the game’s
experience of sneaking through a jungle quickly becomes much more deep and
involving.
Snake Eater 3D is a great game for those who are
new to the Metal Gear Solid franchise, or even for those veterans who decided
to pick up yet another remake of this great game. Although not really suited for being such a
mobile experience, the game still delivers the whole Metal Gear experience in a
better way than before.
Find Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D on ebay | Amazon
Released: 2012-02-21
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Konami, Kojima Productions, HexaDrive
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