It was back in the winter of 2004 when Konami released one of the most revered video games of all time, “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.” At the time, “Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty” was not seen as the post-modern classic that it is today. That game took a good decade or so to be reassessed, but “Snake Eater,” that became an instant classic. In some ways it’s hard to believe that was nearly 20 years ago, especially given the game’s intricacies in storytelling and gameplay. But the game industry has advanced significantly in two decades and Konami has decided to take advantage of that by remaking “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater” and today they dropped some footage of what the game is looking like, in-engine.
Let’s get one thing straight, this game looks gorgeous. Konami and co-developer Virtuos are designing the game in Unreal Engine 5 and it shows in how beautiful everything looks. Games in the late PS2 era and into the PS3 days often tended to have muted color pallets; emphasizing a kind of grittier and “real” looking environment. This stylistic choice was in hindsight, not great and you can see from the recent footage how much more vibrant everything is compared to the original.
This is a pre-alpha build, so one can hope that things stay looking this great, but some companies have pulled stunts like this before and a game gets a graphical downgrade by the time it’s done. Konami’s track record over the last decade or so has been shoddy, but if they’re serious about committing to major releases like this, then hopefully the final product will look this strong. Fortunately, co-developer Virtuos has worked extensively in porting games and have a strong history of delivering the goods.
Of course, questions remain about just how faithful this version will be to the original and how it will play. “Snake Eater” was the game that brought CQC (close quarters combat) into the series, giving players a variety of melee options with a bit more complicated button presses. Trying to carry over that feel will really be the test to see how this game turns out, regardless of how beautiful it looks.
The Metal Gear franchise as a whole has been pretty far removed from the realm of remakes for the most part. Aside from ports and remasters, the only real game to get a full on remake was the first “Metal Gear Solid” when it was remade for the GameCube as, “Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.” It effectively took the original game and remade it in the engine used for “Metal Gear Solid 2.” It completely changed the feel of the game for the better or worse depending on who you talk to.
It’s a tactical choice to be remaking “Snake Eater” given its place in the chronology of the series. It introduces the character of Big Boss in a way that is accessible to new comers but also ties in strongly to the overall mythos. If Konami can hit this out of the park, it could open up the door for future remakes. Considering that series creator Hideo Kojima is persona non grata at Konami and won’t be spearheading any other games for the franchise, this seems to be the ticket for milking some money out of the cash cow. But hey, if it looks this good, it’ll be hard not to throw money at it!
