User Reviews (21 - 31 of 270)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

This is pac man

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: May 16, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I liked the other Solid games a lot, but I just couldn't enjoy playing this one. The number one reason, like other reviewers have said, is the camera angles. All the enemy soldiers have such an advantage over you, as they are walking around AND can see everything in front of them, while you can only see above you when moving. It's like the enemy soldiers are playing Doom, and you're playing Pac-Man.

Oh, and the controls... who's idea was it to make, like, every button do two or three different funtions, depending on the length of the press, the force of the press, or the friggin temperature of your thumb, I suppose? Go ahead and try to grab that soldier you just snuck up on and interrogate him. See if you can do it and not slit his throat or throw him to the ground.

And Snake can't auto-target with the handguns anymore? Didn't he used to adjust his aim if the enemy was a foot or two to the left or right? Not any more, pal. You gotta go into first person now, making it very easy to be snuck up on from behind.

The enemy soldiers will always find you. The camo is crap and a waste of time. You either just go guns blazing through an area, or find a nice spot in the weeds and wait in case MAYBE there's an enemy somewhere nearby. You never know. But you DO know that if they're there, they'll sure see you before you can do much else.

I couldn't even make myself get that far in the story, the gameplay was such a turn off.

A masterpiece as only Kojima-san can create

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I love all the metal gear games equally, but I'd have to say this game's storyline had me playing just to find out what would happen more than the other ones. Graphically its better than Metal Gear 2: SOL. The jungle environments are truly realistic and detailed. The camo system they added to avoid detection is unique. Gameplay wise, snakes gets a couple of new moves, in the form of CQC (close quarter combat) basically you hold an enemy and you have a variety of options at your disposal such as slitting his throat, knocking him out or interrogating him. The enemies in this game are smarter than before, they see and hear better and they better anticipate your battle tactics, forming flanks and battle positions and knifing you if you get too close. The sound is made by the same composer in MGS2:SOL and its perfectly fitting for this game. The "snake eater" theme is awesome and it was nice to hear the MGS2 theme song return in parts of the game. Storywise I feel this is easier to follow than MGS2:SOL while still harboring plenty of twists and depth. The ending also left me riveted and more satisfied than I've ever been with an MGS game. There are a lot of cut scenes but they are enjoyable to watch. Overall I can honestly say this is the one game I will remember most from the year 2004. A must buy for the casual and MGS fan alike.

Thrilling

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I'm not going to go into much detail here. Other reviewers have already covered Metal Gear Solid 3's impeccable quality with as much thoroughness as is necessary. The graphics are splendid. The music is moving. The action is riveting. And of course the attention to detail is there and as great as ever.

I can tell you this; I acquired half a dozen new games at the onset of this winter season, all of which have been excellent. Metal Gear Solid 3 was the last on my list to play. When I finally got around to starting it I was STILL impressed by the game despite getting spoiled on so many high-quality titles in previous weeks.

Konami has released another masterpiece in the Metal Gear series. The story in MGS3 takes place before the first Metal Gear game, but there are significant connections between this one and others in the series. Any MGS fan would be crazy not to own this one.

Absolutely Mesmerizing...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: November 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The only reason im writing this review is because i just finished it, otherwise i'd be playing it. Metal Gear Solid 1 was one of the greatest video games i have ever played. A game that seperated itself from games. The storyline, the gameplay, the action, overall immersion, music, and feeling unlike any other game in history (besides the original Blood Omen Legacy of Kain for PS1). Metal Gear Solid 3 brings many elements and memories from Metal Gear Solid 1 and redefines Metal Gear 2 in a completely different sense, and it brings them all together into one of the greatest gaming experiences you'll ever have to experince, past, present AND future. Any fan of the Metal Gear series knows what character you should be playing given the timeframe, which gives a greater sense to gameplay (and no more $%^$ing raiden!). Your on a solo sneaking misson in the middle of nowhere in these grand and beautiful jungles to recover a scientist by the name of Sokolov. You must not be detected by your enemies. To do so you will find absolutely ingenious ways of luring them to you (or not) and bringing them to their ultimate fate to ensure your presence is unknown. Ways such as placing TNT in their food supply warehouses, destroying it, forcing them to starve. Then perhaps placing a poisonous dart frog or mushroom found in the jungles you were deployed in in front of them, so when they go into a ravenous frenzy eating it they die..you then sneak by undetected awaiting your next enemy to find more clever and ingenious ways to bring down your foes to ensure safety. Use camoflauge and paint your face to resemble the environment around you while your enemies walk by without a thought of your presence. Then sneak behind them grab them by the throat drag them behind a tree out of view from the enemy stick a knife to their neck and demand information about his comrades their tacticts and ways to bring them all down. This "game" or as i like to call it "experience" is completely unmatched in every sense of the word.

But enough about the gameplay (even though this is the pumping heart of Metal Gear Solid 3), what about the graphics? The music? The story? The detail? Well for one the graphics will drop a jaw, definetly. The jungles are absolutely lush, the grass moves with the wind, it smashes under your feet, snakes slither around right over your head on branches, enemies blink and their eyes move around looking and focusing at different things, absolutely pushing the PS2 to its further most limits and throwing the envelope out the window. The music will raise an ear, definetly. It is the best soundtrack in the Metal Gear Series period (excluding the opening track with the female vocals which kind of fits more with a recent James Bond flick than the epic Metal Gear series and the lyrics are laughable when their not intended to be)other than that the other tracks are unforgettable and filled with emotion. The story will shed a tear, perhaps, depending on who you are (but will definetly make u want to at least). Especially at the end when a certain turn of events arrive, the music really draws you into the heart of this man called "Snake" and you start to realize and ask yourself "what kind of 'video game' is this?". The feelings and emotions felt in this game are unmatched, from envy, to sorrow, immersion, revenge, hate, and the overall sense of power you get from being under the cloak of invisibility. You feel "snakes" pain and you experience his trials and tribulations as the greatest soldier to ever exist. And this... is the greatest game to ever exist, period. The Deity of video gaming.

-Unmatched
-Undefeatable
-Unimaginable

Best Of The Best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 21, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was by far the most realistic game (except you wouldnt be alone!) that has been done this year. The graphics were superb and game play was awsome. There are so many hidden things and cammie and face paint to unlock it will have you replaying the game over and over! But with all great games there is always set backs. the only one i can complain about is the camera view at times leaves you in the open and you dont see the enemy before they see you! but the Blood and guts! DEEP DEEP story line. (longest movie clips in game history!)make up for it. you can operate tripod mounted 50 cals. and cannons. the explosions in this game are the best i have ever seen too. This is my first review and probably last. But They went and made a great game this go around and hopefully this will help someone make up their minds to by this game. Because it is a great one to have.

MGS3 DEMO Review/Preview

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 29
Date: October 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

As can be seen in the subject above, this review is a critique of the Demo of the game. Therefore, keep in mind that the reviewer has not played through the entire game yet. Just the first prolougue level. Also know that the demo probably contains some glitches and imperfections that will probably be fixed in the full version. Now, with that said, on to the review!

First, I should say that MGS2 fans will immeditatly become dissapoited with the first few playable seconds of the game. The quick, snappy constant-60fps action of the old game is now gone, and moving Snake around the first level is a much slower, chuggy experience. Aiming is slower but not neccesarily as precise, cycling through the inventory dosnt feel quite as quick and easy as last time, The first cutscene can't compare to the cinematic brilliance of the first cutscne in MGS2, and the loading times in-between cutscenes is quite a hassle as well. Not to mention that is takes over 30 seconds to bring up the screen for the Codec as well. The screen resolution has also been lowered significantly, making aiming and combat more straining on your eye. Cycling between crouch, crawl, and standing postions has still been left as the confusing and time-consuming procces that it was in the previous game.
However, once those first impressions wear off, the game suddenly flutters it's wings and unfolds to become a beautiful masterpeice. While I won't give away any story elements (as if any of those can be gained from the demo), Soviet-occupied Pakistan looks absolutly brilliant: you can see all sorts of leaf-shaped shadows get thrown across Snake; beams of soft, pretty sunlight shoots through the thick canopy of trees on top of you; the tall blades of grass quickly and beautifully get knocked off to the side when frogs, snakes, or even bullets travel through them. Beehives hanging off of trees can be shot to quickly and easily dispatch of near guards; Apples, mushrooms, rats, frogs, and yes, snakes, can all be eaten and are easily found crawling everywhere in the jungle. Overall, the detail and effort put is wonderful, and you can easily tell that the developers put mountains of time into crafting just this single demo level. The enviroments to be found in the full game should truly be fantastic and I absolutly can't wait to see them. On another side of the graphical area, some individual guards look really pitiful, and the first-person gun models are absolutly HORRID! The first-person models specifically for the rifle-weapons look incredibly blocky, are poorly textures, and have strange firing animations.
As for gameplay, there is an absolute bevy of fun to be found here. There are several available weapons, and each one functions completly differently and is obviously made to be used in a different situation. As was stated, the first-person models for the rifle weapons are very fugly, but when fired, they all sound incredibly realistic and look fantastic when fliyng through tall grass. One definate change in gameplay is that survival is now a vital aspect to keep in mind. Snake is givin no food or water at the beginning of the mission, and is instructed to find it himself. If he gets hungry, his aim will be shaky, he wont be able to grip onto branches as good, and his life will go down faster, and re-generate slower. If worst comes to worst, Snake can eventually die from starving to death. Hunting the food is rather easy and quick, all you do is scan the area with your thermal gogless for nice, red life and shoot it. Once the poor creature dies and starts turning into a black spinning hovering box that says "YOUR FOOD" on it, you just run into it and it gets inserted into Snake's inventory. In fact, the process is so easy and quick, that it becomes an almost forgettable task, and this is where the challenge of it comes from. Several times, when I wandered into an intense firefight, I said "Damn. Why did my aim get so bad suddenly.", and then took a look at the stamina bar and realized how fraggin' hungry my charachter was! Eventually, you'll have "Hunt for food" as a rudementary task to do when guards arnt looking in your direction. Edible creatures and plants seemed to be all over the place in the demo level, so hunting for food in the full game should come as no trouble. One thing that did bother me though, was that snakes, rats, and frogs wouldnt ever try to bite me. If I'm crawling directly on top of some dangerous jungle python in real life, I'd expect it to bite me. Oddly enough, even though they're about to get eaten, snakes (the long, slithery creatures) love Snake (the american super-spy), and would never ever want to bite him.
As for the stealthy sneaking and intense, loud firefights this series is known for, MGS3 delivers. You still look down at Snake from an overhead 3D view that can easily turn to the left or right with a turn of the L-stick. Press R-1 and it seamlessly swoops down to Snake's first-person view, usefull for getting a closer look at guards, or just to cap their heads off easier. Snake is now given an assortment of 7 camaflaugue uniforms that can be easily changed in just a few milliseconds. Each one is usefull for being worn in a specific variety of terrain, such as tall grass, thick, brown soil, or even when you're pressed up against brick walls. You're also givin a handy meter that tells you how effective your current camaflaugue is depending on where you're standing and what position your in. If this meter is up to say, 95%, guards can't see you hiding in the grass unless they're actually walking on you. Of course, that can change depending on what stage alert they're on. As in previous MGS games, guards in MGS3 go through several alert stages if your found. Once a guard sees you and an exclamation point suddenly flashes over their head, you've got 90 seconds to get out of their sight before they quit looking for you. Once thats done, you've got 90 more seconds to avoid a more slower, leisurely chase. After this, the guards go in another stage of 90 more seconds where they pitifully and slowly try to find you, an event that can be easily avoided in this last stage of alertness. Instead of being shown as a meter below a radar at the top of your screen, these stages count down on an actual timer in the top-middle of the screen. In fact, they're isnt a MGS radar at all in this game! This comes as a blessing to me, sicne I thougt the radars in the previous MGSs really gave you an unfair advantage over the guards, and the suspence and un-predictability of sneaking through a guard-filled peice of land is greatly increased with the absense of the radar.
For the times when you are locked in the middle of an intense firefight, aiming your gun seems much slower than in the last games. A low resolutin makes pinpointing a guards face right down the barrel of your tranquiliser much harder, and you still have a very tedious and unconvential method of crouching and crawling. Press X to crouch. Move the stick to crawl. Don't move the stick to not crawl. When crawling, press X again to crouch. When crouched, press X again to stand. As can be seen, it can be confusing trying to figure out when to press X and when to not press X but move the analog stick instead. Plus, there is no way to crouch-walk. You can only run along, or crawl along. You can barely move the stick to walk instead of run, but why can't they simply let you run after crouching, and bind the crawling to another button? This crouching system is probably the game's major flaw, as, it out and out sucks. Several times guards can walk over and melee attack you, knocking you down. While down there, you'll start mashing X really fast in an attempt to get Snake back up faster. Oh joy, you just made him get on his belly and crawl 2 feet to the left instead! Plus, the transition animation between crouch, crawl, and stand position is rather long and it can be VERY, i mean, ULTRA-VERY frustrating to try and get back up quickly and easily while in a firefight. But, I guess since this is supposed to be a stealth game, you're not supposed to be in firefights, eh? Anyways, they could've easily fixed this by simply mapping the crawl to a different button instead of having to cycle to it by pressing X over and over again.
Overall, the demo for MGS3 was a fantastic experience. Codec conversations were nice and long, the music was so dramatic that it was almost was corny (as was the opening cutscene-compared to the subtle, dark, and more movie-like opening cutscene of the MGS2), guns are very loud and make very satisfying effects, and a cigar is one of several inventory options. All of those features are stuff MGS fans are gonna love in this game, and even first-time MGS players won't be turned off either. Overall, I can definatly tell you that this game is gonna end out being awsome. The shoot-em-up fans might be turned off by the horrid gun models and crouching system, but the guns also make such fun firefights, special effects, and painfull-looking ragdool effects that lovers of that genre should love the game as well.

Naked Snake! CQC - Close Quarter Combat Advanced A+

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

To think I almost gave this 1 star! "Metal Gear Solid 1" October 1998 designed to save the Playstation1 from the Ninento64 "Golden Eye" (released in September 1997) was a new type of `cinematics' game that the N64 cartridge could not do (playback of movie scenes on a disc is "MGS1"), MGS1 is about 4 stars at best or five if you really thought it was the bee's knees, maybe the preferred "Golden Eye" for 5 star treatment. Playstation2 hype, Christmas 2001 "MGS2: Sons of Liberty", created a big five star stomping fan base (see the reviews), but most of us could see how phoney "MGS2" was. I gave "MGS2: Sons of Liberty" 3 stars back then (maybe much less now considering), boring cinematics and constant in-game radio stops made it horribly annoying; flat game play often simply unplayable out of restriction. Quite limited in movement considering the excitement, the character of Raiden was also not Solid Snake either. The oil tanker was cool as a map for the first hour but not the whole game! In 2005 I played "MGS3" for thirty minutes and boxed it shaking my head. I went back to it again for another attempt last week. Let me explain. All is forgiven... and then more some.

"MGS3: Snake Eater" is a Solid Five star game, the best MGS experience besides not even being MGS at all at times (this is why it is better), maybe as good as the experience of playing "Half-life 2" till the end, I am not a MGS fan (still not; skipped `MGS2.5: Substance' totally) but I played this like it was the best thing since "GTA: San Andreas" or slice bread. The video cut-scenes are the finest on the PS2 yet (or any game for that matter; some elements are PS2 rendered; wear the zombie mask camouflage for best cut-scene effect!), "MGS2" had great graphics, but MGS3 is all about the all-too-very real jungle and wildlife around you (Yes PS2 graphics are nothing compared to a PC ATI 256mb pro card, but Snake Eater lives!) LISTEN NEXT - William Ewart Fairbairn, General List, was born February 28, 1885 in Rickmansworth, Herts, England. Prior to the Second World War, Fairbairn was the Chief Instructor at the Shanghai Municipal Police from October 1907 to March 1940. Fairbairn joined SOE in March 1942 with the rank of Captain, having previously been an instructor at the War Office Special Training Centre in Scotland in July of 1940. He founded CQC (see review title). CQC is employed in MGS3 as a means to effectively fight and ground the enemy with Judo type throws and holds and "Tenchu" style executions, use him as a human shield or interrogate the enemy for mission information (yes you heard right), you can also select several types of camouflage (play `Barbie' every other new area you explore, but still come out feeling more like a man) MGS3 has the most realistic jungle terrain accomplished in a game since "Far Cry", as you crawl your way very slowly through miles of Russian woodland for a few days (literally), also hunting the wildlife to feed yourself and a self-administered x-ray medical scan system that allows you to select treat various wounds with different medic tools, I came out the other side of this EPIC INSTANT CLASSIC thinking that there is a future revolution in gaming waiting to happen as a result of Solid Snake, you should support this game! Why? Solid Snake gets you doing things in the jungle that you have never done before in a `game'. At one stage I could see my own vomit on infrared because of a bad animal I killed and ate. This hot zone gave me away to a sniper called `The End' who eradicated me because of it. Towards the end of the game things get more urban. I hope MGS4 is in Tokyo City but just like the jungle here! I find the following most logical. You must find your own way but - see map, camouflage gear (check halfway through map again), first-person quick look, infrared look, sonar ping, crawl, kill rat food, ping again, crawl slowly to bad guy, CQC grab (Choose CQC mode), interrogate, kill, CQC ground smash three other enemies there and then, hide in bushes, set TNT, crawl away, detonate if bad guys come, eat hunted food, try CQC three more enemy, accidentally fail with CQC on one who alerts six other enemy, take them out with up to twenty weapons of various types or CQC them all, blend into the jungle and run away, the choice is yours until you get to the other end of the map where a video will play and although the story is ten times better than MGS2, it is still Japanese, so these things will always remain illogical to us Westerners, still works better than most PS2 attempts, at times Manga quality, this is one of the most memorable games I have played in my lifetime.

Set game to `easy' and learn CQC before weapon's culture. Use your sonar, map and equipment and play the game SLOWLY (not GTA madness!) as in crawl for miles and miles in the right frame of mind and you will appreciate how significant things really are. I just hope that we see MGS3 PC with huge MULTIPLAYER jungles for many players! Get that going and it will 0WN MY BROADBAND! Developers, do you hear? Take note.

Pros:
- The first true stealth game you will ever play.
- Likely the last true stealth game you will play in 2005 until MG4... maybe.
- CQC.
- Russian Jungle
- Can actually take on HL2 and Halo 2.

Cons:
- HIGHEST PS2 LEARNING CURVE. Takes hours to break in properly. Intro does not appear until a few hours.
- Does not last forever.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Prequal? or Sequal?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: February 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

First of all, let me be direct, Metal Gear is my favorite series in gaming history every since Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation. It's intricate plot, realistic characters, gameplay, and music rivals all games of all genres on nearly any level.

Now, allow me to explain that while this game has yet to come out I have already allocated it five stars.

In the first Metal Gear Solid (MGS), you play out as the legendary hero of "Outer Heaven" (Metal Gear), agent Solid Snake. You are sent in from the U.S. government to Shadow Moses, Island Alaska to quell a terrorist insurrection at a Nuclear Disposals Facility. As you make your way past genetically enhanced guards and fight members of your old unit, Foxhound, you hear of the return of one of the Military's greatest black projects, Metal Gear: a nuclear equiped bipedal vehicle capable of launching undetectable nuclear warheads at anywhere in the world and it's been seized by the terrorists! Filled with treachery, deception, love, rivalry, revenge, sniping, shooting, demolitions, Metal Gear Solid is perhaps the pinnacle of games/stories to ever hit a console system in the world.

Then there was Metal Gear Solid 2: The Sons of Liberty. Gameplay quality was heightened to a wonderful high as the player could now fire in first person mode. Hold up guards and threaten them for items. Hide fallen enemies in lockers. Hide in the lockers themselves, hang from railings, etc. Unfortunately, however, the storyline of Metal Gear Solid 2 did not live up to the first game whatsoever. While the first hour of the game is filled with fun snake-play action, the story quickly turns it's focus ten years into the future from the opening sequence of events to a new rookie member of FOXHOUND, codename Raiden (A.K.A. "Jack the Ripper"). Raiden's story is filled with plot twists, deception, love, revenge, etc. But unfortunately the player is introduced to this character halfhazzardly and very bluntly in my personal opinion. The problem is is that those who have played Metal Gear Solid know their hero Solid Snake, they know his past, his troubles, his triumphs and his falls. Raiden . . . we know nothing about him and yet we are expected to accept him as the warrior he is. Now, granted, Kojima does a fine job of developing Jack, but his character is not yet the hardened warrior that Solid Snake is, and thus, even then, he's lacking. Overall, the gameplay of Metal Gear Solid 2 is excellent, the storyline of Metal Gear Solid 2 is poor.

Kojima, however, has left us hanging as to what is next for Snake,now that Raiden's story has come to an official end, what will happen to our old friend Snake who we've missed for about 4 hours of gameplay :(

Well now, we're not sure, according to Metal Gear Solid 3 trailers, we're looking at the 1960s era where a "Snake-looking" individual is fighting off enemies in Viet Nam Style territory. Gameplay wise, Metal Gear Solid 3 looks like another improvement. The terrain allows for Snake to use camoflauge, hang and snipe from treetop, feed on snake, alligator, fish, and the like, create traps for enemies in the wilderness, etc. etc. etc. But my main concern is the storyline. Is Kojima taking a break from the current day storyline to tell the story of Big Boss? (snake's "father"-explained in MGS).
Is Kojima telling a past story (ridiculously young snake?)
Time travel (pfft, I hope not)
Or is it the more likely option: Kojima is screwing around with our minds again and we won't know til the last minute whether or not the story is any good from the start (just like mgs2).

Despite this, the gameplay looks like it will compensate for a poor story, but nonetheless I hope that there will be an amazing storyline to help explains the whole patriots conflict, which seems to be what Kojima was alluding to in the last minute of mgs2 (reference mgs2 storyline).

Other Metal Gear Titles not sited nor explained: Metal Gear, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel, Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, The Documentation of Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes.

the best yet?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: December 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Please note that I am writing this review at only 3/4 through the game.
I have been a huge fan of the metal gear series for quite a while, and while this is presumably the last in the MG 'solid' series, this game pulls out all the stops. first off, the game takes place in the mid- 60s, so all those fancy gizmoes you took for granted in previous games are gone. Fear not however, because this game proves once and for all that it is very possible to beat a MGS game without the radar. The jungle setting is fantastic. I had my doubts at first (like you all probably did) but after waging jungle warfare, I don't want to return to the constricted metal corridors of the past. The camoflage and food system is great in conveying a "survival" theme, making you feel like you are really there, but is hardly ever overbearing, and it never takes away from the gameplay. The new cure system is used well also, making getting shot, cut or burnt a much larger deal than it was in past instalments. bullets now have to be removed and disinfected, and wounds wust be sewen up, meaning that you have to keep your medical supplies in check. The game offers a much more managable story this time round (nothing like MGS2), involvig a fair share of (genuinely suprising) twists and turns, but nothing to really push the game over the edge of being unbarable. The story is also much more emotionally envolved this time... for the first time in a metal gear game, I actually found myself caring about characters in the game. The game largely focuses on Snake (aka. Big Boss) coming to terms with himself, and understanding and all together choosing for him self what makes a good solider, and ultimatly a good man. the only real complaint about this game that I have is that the camera can be slightly frustrating in some parts (you won't notice this too much once you become involved in the game) Like all Metal Gear games, this one feature production values that are over the top, with amazing graphics, and even better cut scenes, this is a MGS game for the record books. Overall, this game treads into new and dangerous territory, and develops a style that is very different from the past MG games. Simply put, if you are a fan, there is no way you could be dissapointed with this game. If you are a newbie, You won't be able to appreciate the game as much (even though it is a prequel, there are some parts you just won't understand without past knowledge), but will enjoy it all the same for a touching story, and fantastic gameplay. Don't take my word for it. go rent it and see for yourself.

You will laugh at Splinter Cell upon completion of MGS3.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: January 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

and why? Because no espionage game has it all - plot, characters, graphics, gameplay - like this one.
Thief is considered by many hardcore gamers to be the O.G. of the stealth-action genre. While it did bring new mechanics to the genre, I beg to differ. Metal Gear was one of the top NES games back in the late 80's, and while the gameplay incorporated a bare-bones approach to stealth, the story was incredible - a bit of James Bond meets the mech from hell, anyone?
Well, James Bond would crap his double-o drawers if he were to ever encounter the Big Boss. Metal Gear Solid 3 is the climax of the Solid trilogy, and holy hell does it deliver.
Did you like the radar system in MGS1 & 2? If you did, you are a spoiled brat, and Konami says: "no soup for you!" - or in this case, no radar for you. We're taking this back to the 60's, kids. Use your eyes and ears, as well as gadgets like an active sonar, that will send a ping and briefly relay the locations of every living thing nearby back to you. That includes wildlife, which reminds me...hope you brought your appetite. Eat alligators, frogs, mushrooms, birds, crabs, spiders, bats, snakes and all sorts of yucky stuff to regain your stamina. Rations aren't aplenty this time around, so you'll have to use means like this to improvise. Oh, and tranquilize your food, because dead animals do rot, and rotten food gives Snake a tummyache.
You really will want to use stealth this time around, because getting shot in the face can be a nasty boo-boo. You'll have to dig the slug out with your knife, spray antiseptic on it, stitch it up and bandage the wound, or else your life will drain, and replenishing your life is pretty much impossible unless you have a rare life medicine, or unless your stamina is high. It almost adds a light RPG element to it. Proper camouflage is also essential to staying hidden from enemy eyes, so you really have to think about lots of things in this one. Run-and-gunners will probably get beat down - most times I got spotted, I just reset the game, because it was basically over. And THIS is the only drawback I had. But who do you blame there - the designer or the gamer? I blame me - because I was dumb enough to venture into dark territory unprepared.
The story? Wow. Not only does it conclude the trilogy with a bang, but provides a few laughs and heartfelt moments. I only wish there was a Japanese dialogue option, because Snake's English voice made me take the story a little less seriously. But the ending (or all of what I'd consider to be the ending - from after the battle with Volgin to the very end, though there is more playable) will make your jaw drop, at one point or another - and is drawn out over over an hour, including cutscenes (at least when I played). The predictability you may expect? Not there. The confusion of MGS2's ending? Nope. It all makes sense here. In my over 20 years of gaming have I never witnessed a more moving ending to a game. I finished this game over a week ago, and still....wow.
To all the closed-minded skeptics who say video games are for losers and kids, this game has a better story and action sequences than most movies I've seen, and the ending is just riveting. Adrenaline on a disc, I'd like to call it. And if you have played this game, and found it too tough or annoying in some parts, so did I. The payoff comes during the last 1/4 of the game.
I could say a lot more about the game, like the wonderfully designed boss battles (especially The End and The Sorrow), gorgeous graphics, and another beautiful Harry Gregson-Williams score, but you should get the picture by now. I loved Splinter Cell before this, but now all it is to me is a lesson in trial & error.
Rest assured, this Snake does not bite.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next 

Actions