Ten years on from the point where it looked like the Metal Gear franchise would never return, it’s about to return. Coming back from a decade-long hiatus (yes, I’m deliberately erasing Metal Gear Survive from my memory), the legendary stealth series is gearing up to take centerstage again with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3 that is perfectly positioned to prove beyond doubt (yet again) that the 2004 game remains a stealth masterclass to this day with the sort of timeless design and excellence that few games in the genre have been able to match up to in the two-plus decades since it released.
Of course, this isn’t the first Konami franchise to return from a hiatus of late, and not the first to do it with a remake of arguably its most widely beloved game. Less than a year ago, Konami and Bloober team wowed one and all with a remake of Silent Hill 2, a survival horror spectacle that turned out to be a far better game than Bloober Team’s previously spotty track record had led many – ourselves included – to believe it would be. Though Metal Gear Solid Delta isn’t necessarily taking the same approach. Silent Hill 2 struck a great balance between sticking to the original script and bringing its own ideas to the table, serving as a remarkably expanded and overhauled remake that kept the original’s core intact.
But where Silent Hill 2 straddled the line between those two paths, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is committing itself almost exclusively to just one- that of faithful recreation, rather than radical reimagination. On one hand, you have to admit that that can raise some issues that, for many, might not be minor by any means. Take, for instance, the fact that Metal Gear Solid Delta will, just like the original, separate screens and areas from each other, rather than making the entire play space seamless the way you would imagine things to be in a AAA game releasing in 2025. For those who were hoping for a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake that would not only recreate, but upgrade its gameplay experience, that’s likely a frustrating decision on Konami’s part, and it’s a position that I do have sympathy for.
At the same time, I can’t help but take some solace from the fact that Konami is choosing not to mess with perfection. Because, really, in so many ways, that is what Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater achieves from a game design and stealth gameplay perspective- perfection. Playing the original classic today even in its original form, it’s hard not to be blown away by how good and fun it feels to play. It’s a tightly designed, compact experience that wastes none of itself on anything that doesn’t contribute to its incredible gameplay core. Purely as a stealth experience, Metal Gear Solid 3 is still right up there as one of the best games in the genre even today- not just because of its legacy (which is unimpeachable, to say the least), but also because of its astonishing enduring quality.
So yes, it is somewhat of a bummer that Konami isn’t taking the opportunity with Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater to do some really ambitious gameplay reworks, and that the remake is, from a gameplay and design perspective, going to play things quite safe. But a) playing it safe is exactly what Konami needs to do right now with Metal Gear, given the state that the franchise has been in (thanks to Konami) this past decade, and b) the game that we’re going to get is still Metal Gear Solid 3, and Metal Gear Solid 3 is – I cannot stress this enough – an absolute blast.
There are obviously parts of the original MGS3 that do need updating. As great as it is, it is not a perfect game, and especially by today’s standards, there are parts of it that are pretty rough and janky. But thankfully, those parts of the game are getting the facelift that they require. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater’s centerpiece is going to be its massive, radical visual and technical overhaul, which, from all that we’ve seen so far, is breathing new life into the game. Overhauling the visuals, modernizing the experience with quality-of-life upgrades, and sanding out its rough edges with passes of polish might not be the most exciting way to deal with a major, flagship remake- but where MGS3 is concerned, it’s a smart approach. Update the parts of the game that need it the most, and the parts that are still great – the gameplay and the design (not to mention the unforgettable story, of course, but that’s a different topic) – will be able to shine brighter than ever before.
“But look at Metal Gear Solid 5!” you say, and you know what? It’s hard not to agree with that at least a little bit. For all of its flaws and inconsistencies, Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain is an absolutely spectacular stealth game – one of the very best ever made – and it does so with completely seamless open world design. A Metal Gear Solid 3 remake that built on those foundations (but, you know, with a more densely populated world that didn’t have the hammer brought down on it partway through development) was the dream for many, and indisputably, if done well, that would have been an exciting way to bring Metal Gear back.
But again, that’s not something that anyone is ready to trust Konami with just yet- and that clearly includes Konami itself, too. And if the alternative to a faithful Metal Gear Solid 3 remake was no Metal Gear game at all, I’ll gladly take the former, because, at the risk of repeating myself MGS3 is still an incredible stealth game- one that can stand up to the biggest and AAAest modern games out there, and barring some very rare exceptions, come out on top every single time.
If Konami continues remaking more Metal Gear Solid games – which, let’s face it, they probably will if Delta proves to be a critical and commercial success – expectations would be high that they’d be more ambitious with their remaking efforts. But as their first mainline Kojima-less Metal Gear outing after the franchise was given a swift and bitter (and public) execution years ago, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is smartly playing to its source material’s strengths, which is allowing it to take the safest possible route. That route might be a bit too unexciting for many, especially given how successful the less conventional remakes like Resident Evil 2 and Silent Hill 2 have been in recent years, but it is still a route that’s going to let us play through a stealth masterpiece.
Of course, that is all contingent on the fact that Konami doesn’t royally mess things up with Metal Gear Solid Delta. But then again, that’s the point- that first by picking Metal Gear Solid 3 as the game to remake, and then by choosing to stick as close to the source material as possible, the company is, at least on paper, giving itself the best possible chance of success. Whether things will pan out that way remains to be seen, but we’re cautiously optimistic, at the very least.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
