Available on:<\/strong> PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (as part of the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection<\/em>)<\/p>\n Ahh, my favourite MGS game. Which may be odd, since it features several noteworthy differences from the rest of the series: a) it\u2019s mostly set outdoors in a jungle, b) it doesn\u2019t involve Metal Gear as a final opponent, and c) it includes some gameplay elements that are either new or haven\u2019t been reused since. Heck, it doesn\u2019t even feature Solid Snake.<\/p>\n Apart from the ladies, young Revolver Ocelot also makes an appearance (although he\u2019s rather annoying this time around), and the familiar group of sub-bosses is more memorable than the MGS2 ones. The Boss used to be part of a Soviet special forces squad, the Cobra Unit. Each member of the unit is named after a specific emotion which they associate with combat. There’s The Fury, The Pain, The Fear and The End; The Boss herself used to be The Joy, and there’s a defunct member known as The Sorrow as well. Each has a characteristic way of fighting to go with it, which makes for some exciting boss battles. Special mention goes to The End, the extremely old snipe I must, however, mention something that I found particularly grating. The game does a surprisingly good job with its Russian. Most of the place names are believable, and they\u2019re even transcribed correctly on the loading screens 99% of the time. Even most of the character names are realistic. But then\u2026the game throws the ludicrous \u201cAdamska\u201d at you during the final cutscene, a Russified parody of a name that doesn’t even sound right, as, not only is “ska” a typically Polish name ending, but it also usually occurs in last names. For women. And they were so<\/em> close to getting it right.<\/p>\n![\""Badass"](\"https:\/\/grafskaya.club\/mysst\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Badass-is-his-middle-name.jpg\" "\\"\"Badass\"")
<\/a>Let me qualify that last statement: it doesn\u2019t feature Solid Snake in name only. The protagonist is Naked Snake (\u2026no comment), who will later become known as Big Boss, arch-nemesis and biological \u2018father\u2019 of Solid (and Liquid and Solidus). If you\u2019ve played the first two games, you\u2019ll know that they\u2019re not so much his children as his clones, so essentially, you\u2019re controlling a character who looks and sounds exactly like Solid Snake. And everyone calls him Snake anyway.<\/p>\n<\/a>The main opponent is not Metal Gear simply because it hadn\u2019t been invented at the time. Its predecessor is involved, though, bearing the much more pedestrian (har har) name of Shagohod (literally \u201cwhich moves by walking\u201d in Russian). The game is set in Cold War USSR and involves Snake\u2019s former mentor \u2013 known as The Boss \u2013 defecting to the Soviets, while he has to prevent a nuclear incident from escalating into outright war and rescue a Soviet scientist who had defected to the US, but was subsequently used as a bargaining chip to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis. This setting serves to increase the series\u2019 similarity to a Bond film. This is further enhanced by the inclusion of a hammy, Bondesque theme song with hilariously preposterous lyrics like \u201csomeday you go through the rain, and someday you dine on a tree frog\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a>This brings us to the main gameplay mechanic and the reason behind the game\u2019s title. Since Snake gets dumped in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back and his gun, he has to rely on the local flora and fauna to survive. In addition to his Life meter, he has a Stamina meter, which gradually depletes and affects his aim accuracy, among other things. The only way to recover Stamina is to find some grub. However, to complicate matters, not all foodstuffs have the same nutritional value. Some are downright poisonous (this, however, can be used against enemies), some Snake just doesn\u2019t like the taste of and therefore won\u2019t recover much Stamina from (but he can get used to the taste over time and even grow to like it), and some require skill to catch (e.g. Gavials or the elusive Tsuchinoko). Other foodstuffs, like the False Mango, have medicinal properties, and the Russian Glow Cap mushroom can even recharge batteries\u2026which makes you wonder whether those nukes in the Shagohod aren\u2019t leaking. One thing to take into consideration, however, is the fact that, although Snake can catch up to three live animals, he has no way of actually preserving food, meaning that it will spoil after a while (signalled by flies appearing on its menu icon). Specifically, as the game has an internal clock, if you quit and come back to that save later, you\u2019ll be guaranteed to find every non-industrial food item spoiled. And while I must applaud the game\u2019s realism, it can become aggravating to constantly have to renew your food supplies.<\/p>\n<\/a>I mentioned medicinal properties, and this is another feature specific to the game: Snake can get seriously wounded or poisoned, which will affect his Life meter until treated. Each type of injury requires a specific treatment routine (e.g. disinfecting or suturing). Again, bonus points for realism, but it does mean that you have to keep an eye on your medical supplies.<\/p>\n<\/a>Other than this, the controls are very similar to previous games, so you won\u2019t have any difficulties if you\u2019re a veteran of the series. One difference is the absence of a radar, due to the fact that the game is set in the \u201860s. Instead, you can use a motion detector system, which basically performs the same function.<\/p>\n<\/a>However, the stealth element has received a significant upgrade with the addition of camouflage. Snake can change his outfit and even his face paint to blend in with his surroundings. These are indicated at the top right of the screen, alongside a camouflage percentage. Obviously, the higher the better, and crouching or lying down will increase the percentage further. You can find new outfits and face paints as you progress, and picking the right one in any given situation is a definite tactical plus. Although you do have to wonder where exactly he stows all those outfits (in particular, the crocodile cap\u2026).<\/p>\n<\/a>As far as characters are concerned, the game fares a lot better than its immediate predecessor. For starters, you\u2019ve got EVA, who acts as a competent sidekick for Snake, even though her status as the game’s official ‘femme fatale’ wouldn’t have been diminished if she’d zipped up her overalls at least a little bit more. The villain department can also stand proud. The Boss is a strong, charismatic presence throughout the game, miles ahead of anything Solidus Snake could ever hope to achieve. Unfortunately, the game ends up contriving a completely ludicrous reason (that is NOT how a caesarean works) for her to flash some cleavage as well during Snake’s inevitable confrontation with her. It’s a dent to her credibility, but as it occurs through no actual fault of her character, I just try to ignore it.<\/p>\n<\/a>r, whose boss battle involves Snake trying to sneak up on him over three separate areas. This is rendered more difficult by the fact that he\u2019s an expert at camouflage, can recover stamina from sunlight, relocates every time Snake shoots him and has a parrot that acts as a spotter. However, the game\u2019s internal clock can be used to humorous advantage here. If you save during the battle and come back to the game after a week, The End will have died of old age.<\/p>\n<\/a>Each MGS game has its own theme: the first one dealt with genetics, the second with memetic engineering. Snake Eater<\/em> is about moral and cultural relativism. This is exemplified by the many defections throughout the game and drives home (with a baseball bat) the fact that different sides of a conflict result from different cultural circumstances, and that those circumstances can change. This is particularly relevant for Naked Snake, since he will be considered as a villain in later games. I found this to be a more compelling thematic than the two preceding ones, even though it\u2019s treated in the same hamfisted, overdramatic way as every plot point in MGS. And, of course, silly humour still abounds. For instance, instead of dog tags, the collectibles in this game are toy frogs named Kerotans (“kero” is the sound a frog makes in Japanese), scattered in hidden locations throughout the game. Shooting all of them\u2013and there\u2019s a handful of infuriatingly difficult ones towards the end\u2013grants the Kerotan codename at the end of the game, as well as the Stealth camo (which makes Snake invisible) for subsequent replays.<\/p>\n<\/a>Be that as it may, I must still commend Snake Eater<\/em>. It delivers everything that makes MGS fun and does so in spades. It\u2019s possible that the stronger Bond parallels made me enjoy it more, but whatever the reason, I had a blast playing this. Especially due to the fact that I’d seen the infamous “Crab Battle<\/a>” video prior to starting.<\/p>\n