MGS3 has always been hailed as arguably the best game in the franchise, so how do you improve on it with a remake? Simple. You leave it alone and make it look pretty. That’s exactly what Delta has done.
Virtuous, the team behind Delta, openly acknowledged Kojima’s influence during their initial opening sequences. They even invited Kojima to play the game, confident in their faithful recreation of his vision. It’s clear the team approached the project with tremendous care, as if meticulously restoring a masterpiece, ensuring the core integrity remained undisturbed. Every element from the 2004 MGS3 is not only preserved well, but the attention to the details are what matters most.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
RELEASE DATE: August 28th
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation, Xbox Series, PC
Ultimately what Delta does is bring the beauty that Kojima envisioned in 2004, and updates it with 2025 technology to bring it to life. Those technical restraints that Kojima often referred to, when not completely being able to create what he had dreamed, seem entirely lifted. The beautifully drawn out scenes that MGS3 is known for are heightened greatly by the fresh coat of paint, and then added effects and color smoothing brings it to new levels.
This is what I enjoyed about Delta the most. While it sometimes feels like a 1 to 1 conversion, the team did pick up on some more finite details that Kojima laid out in the game. Hidden easter eggs in the visuals, small intricate details in characters, and overall presence in the environment. There are added animations to enemies reacting to gun shot wounds, and new animations for Snake himself. Everything is not only looking pretty, but it’s looking real smooth in the process.
At the same time a lot of the weaker points of MGS3 are still readily apparent to bring that nostalgic feeling back. I’d argue that Kojima today could probably out write anyone he came across today, but during MGS3 times, dialogue wasn’t his strong suit. That means the long drawn out exposition to open the game, via painfully long dialogue sequences, could still turn a few new fans away. Snake repeating himself after every statement on the radio? Yep, still there. And it still has really awkward sexualized scenes out of the blue? Absolutely. Hell you can still fool an enemy with “model” magazines (creatively updated for Delta with new pictures of the models by the way), and hide in obnoxious boxes in the middle of the jungle.
The most interesting aspect of Delta is the ability to see how much Kojima and everyone involved has grown. You can see the rough dialogue sequences, odd attempts at theatrics, and how Hayter became an iconic question maker. Even the gameplay itself has you step back in time to when things were not so serious, and not so filled with enemies. In fact, playing Delta right after I had played Death Stranding 2 was a tremendous experience.
That’s not to say the campy nature doesn’t sometimes catch you off guard. Ocelot purring to call in troops always gets to me, and some of the stylized powers of other characters doesn’t necessarily translate well once they are thrown into combat. But to take this away would be to take away what MGS3 is. The idea that it comes from a time when games were not needing to be “realistic” in every layer of their skin is what saves the game for me, and I simply enjoy it.
There are of course the crazy Metal Gear moments. Ocelot purrs into the woods before he spends the next five minutes twirling his guns. The Pain dances around and yells his next move at me. Enemies seeing me and then ignoring a giant box I’m hiding under. It’s all great, and that nostalgic feeling of games just simply being entertaining and not so “realistic” all the time is my favorite aspect of older MGS games. Does the campy nature always translate well to the photo realistic graphics? No, but the ability for MGS3 to keep you engaged in the story won’t let you focus on it.
Metal Gear is ultimately just a movie you get to play, so the only real “upgrade” that is needed for them is to simply make them look prettier. And this is where Delta shines. Mountains, jungles, and facilities all make for epic landscapes. Cutscenes have become almost a Hollywood production. Kojima and MGS know how to quickly flip a switch from the campy moments, to moments that will tug at your heart strings. Being able to see these scenes come to life in beautifully recrafted scenes is something fans will adore.
To be fair it isn’t just a reskin of the old game either. With the newly added modern mode in the game we got some mechanical tweaks as well. Better controls, which resemble a lot of MGSV gameplay, alone make Delta the premier way to play the game. You can of course select Legacy mode and fight with the camera angles and poor outdated controls as well. There are even in between options which allow you to use certain aspects of both like the old school menu systems, or color filters. Some other minor changes find their way into the new mode though, which fine tune the overall game and don’t make it feel so dated. It’s simply the best way to play MGS3.
And in terms of playing, MGS3 is just as good as I remember it. Instead of big open areas, you are on a linear path and each area is presented to you in an open like nature. You have to pass some guards and not alert anyone. No area is heavily dense with enemies, but every area presents a unique challenge that is simply fun to figure out. Some moments were like instinct, I remembered how to beat bosses or where hidden things were and I went right to it. Other times, thanks to the updated mechanics, felt fresh and new. Playing MGS3 today is still so satisfying because it is a stealth based game with strategy behind it, and no other game really comes close to offering that experience. (Besides, Splinter Cell, but when will we see that again?)
In other aspects though I do wish something more was done to update the game entirely.
Things like shooting animations, or enemies not being the brightest. Issues constantly peak their heads up and show the dated nature of the game in both modes. There are also moments where the AI goes haywire and potentially disrupts your stealth approach, which could be concerning for anyone attempting harder trophy runs. And honestly, while I enjoy the game hasn’t been touched in many ways, I do wish some of the boss battles were updated. The game swings from basic boss battles, to some of the most intense battles in the series, but if these all just had a tiny touch up I think Delta would have been a GOTY title.
It’s these odd moments that make Delta feel like it’s a game trying to be new, but is too afraid to alienate fans with too many changes. However, with how careful they were to keep the vision of Kojima intact, I think certain aspects would have been a welcoming change. And to say I wasn’t smiling the entire time I played the game would be lying. I loved everything about this game in some way. So while I do wish they just took that big step, I’m also happy they didn’t. Could this game use a total revamp like Konami did with Silent Hill 2? Sure, and I think there are many aspects that could be improved upon. However Virtuous and Konami knew the fanbase they were dealing with and this safe bet option doesn’t disappoint either.
Overall the only real disappointment I had with Delta was the North America version of the collectors edition. Seriously wish we got the statue/bust….
***Incoming Call***
Major Tom: “Snake, did you want to give away a free code for Xbox?”
Snake: “Yeah.”
Para Medic: “Tell readers to find the Cinelinx Review post on Facebook and comment “They’re not cookies. They’re scones,” and one lucky winner will win an Xbox code!”
Snake: “Not cookies, but sconesss?”
Major Tom: “Yes Snake.”
Snake: “Got it!”
