Reviews// Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

If you were to compare this to a bigger toybox style game like GTA or Jak III, you could easily think that something more is needed. MGS3 isn’t the most varied experience, but it does what it does very well indeed. It’s almost certainly the best stealth based game yet created and it has plenty of wonderfully unique touches. The ape hunting mini-game is just one such whimsical and charming addition to the formula that serves to remind PS2 owners that this is clearly one of the console's most important franchises.

The whole thing does only last for about 15 hours, and some will be hungry for more, but it means that the wider audience this game will capture might stand a chance of seeing the fantastically stupid and unbelievably compelling storyline reach its conclusion. It also means that what is there has been very nicely tuned. And as long as you don’t expect much more than a stealthy jaunt through a jungle with a few oases off boss-battling, then you’ll be rightly pleased. If you happen to be a Metal Gear fan already, you can put this straight on pre-order.

SPOnG Rating: A

It may be a boring stealth game but it’s a ruddy good one. It’s as close to Crocodile Dundee as video gaming has come and creeping around in the jungle is infinitely more enticing than creeping around a big metal rig was in MGS2. It’s one of the PS2’s best looking games to date and despite being the third in the series, it does feel like a brand new game. Look forward to the PAL release!