One of the PlayStation 2's most memorable games becomes an even richer, more rewarding experience -- and a better game -- in Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. This reissue of the original version adds one very significant new feature to the 2004 game, along with a brand-new online mode and loads of other great extras, including emulated versions of the old 2D Metal Gear games. The result provides more than enough good reason for series fans as well as new players to take the plunge.
At the core of MGS3: Subsistence is the 2004 game, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It's the same game as before, a roughly 15-hour single-player action adventure that has you, as top-secret operative Snake, stalking through jungles in search of a weapons scientist and his diabolical creation. Complex stealth mechanics, intense one-on-one showdowns against powerful boss opponents, a uniquely absorbing storyline, and a remarkably cinematic presentation are among the highlights. This is still among the most visually stunning, most thought-provoking games on the PS2. It's slow going at first, thanks to some forced, long-winded dialogue and ham-fisted voice acting, but the game just keeps getting better as it progresses, culminating in a truly spectacular last several hours.
The 3D camera makes a great difference to gameplay.
The only new addition to the core game is the third-person camera perspective, which lets you freely rotate your viewpoint around Snake using the right analog stick, or snap to a behind-the-back view at the touch of a button. Countless other action games have used this same setup, but this is the first time it's been applied to the Metal Gear Solid series, which has always used fixed overhead camera angles in the past. In the original MGS3, the camera made it so that you could often be spotted by enemies lurking offscreen, forcing you to constantly switch to a first-person view to see what was coming up ahead. In Subsistence, the gameplay just feels less restrictive and more natural. On top of that, the new camera angle even does a better job showing off the game's outstandingly detailed characters and environments. Tellingly, the developers made this new camera angle the default. You can revert back to the old camera by clicking down on the right stick, but you'll probably find it's very hard to go back.
As strange as it sounds, even if you've played through the original MGS3, the new camera angle can be reason enough to make the game worth playing through again. Key action sequences, such as the battle against the Ocelot commandos or the tense and methodical sniper duel against The End, are reinvigorated thanks to this simple, arguably long-overdue addition. But then there's Metal Gear Online, which is like a whole separate game and could easily justify the price of admission by itself. Metal Gear Online is generally an excellent spin on the conventions of multiplayer shooters, combining the sort of action you'd expect from other online shooters with some distinctive Metal Gear twists.
There are five different modes of play: sneaking mission, capture mission, rescue mission, team deathmatch, and deathmatch. Deathmatch is probably the only one of these that isn't compelling, since it's particularly chaotic. Sneaking mission pits one player as Snake, who must retrieve a microfilm and reach an exit point before an opposing team takes him out. Capture mission is a tug-of-war-style game of "capture-the-frog," in which two teams must fight to keep a froggy doll safely in their bases for the longest period of time. Rescue mission has one team defending a rubber duckie while an assault team must grab it and haul it back to base; this is the only mode in which players stay dead until the end of the round if they're killed. The two deathmatch modes are your basic free-for-alls. Online play supports up to eight players in a match, and it's easy to quickly get into open matches in your mode of choice using the game's lobby system.
Boss fights are still enthralling.
MGS3: Subsistence adds a number of other worthwhile extras. There's a demo theatre on disc one, which lets you watch any of the game's cutscenes (including some of the hidden ones) in any order. You don't even need to finish the game to access them all, so first-time players should be wary of spoiling the plot for themselves here. There's also a new duel mode, letting you take on all the boss battles from the game out of the context of the main storyline. You get a score based on your performance, and you also get access to a wide variety of weapons, making these battles both fun and highly replayable. In addition to that, MGS3's goofy minigame, Snake vs. Monkey, returns with several new levels for you to run around and capture monkeys in. As with the main game, the new camera perspective makes this mode more entertaining all around. Subsistence also features a "Secret Theatre" mode, containing a number of bizarre, often hilarious parody videos poking fun at different aspects of the game. These originally appeared on the official Metal Gear Web site, but it's great to have them for posterity, and they really help drive home the series' subversive, self-deprecating sense of humour.
Finally, Subsistence packs in English-translated versions of the original Metal Gear game and its sequel, each one originally released for MSX computer systems in Japan. These are different from and better than the Nintendo Entertainment System games you might remember if you've been playing games for a while, and since MGS3 serves as a prequel to the entire series, they actually help tie together the story to some extent. In particular, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake shows the series starting to mature in terms of the quality of its storytelling and the range of actions available to its main character. Today, these two games are more of a curiosity than anything, but it's great to have them included as part of the package.